by Ken King

I have been waiting four long years to again watch the Winter Olympics and be fascinated by the shear velocity of the speed skaters, the outrageous flips and spins of snowboarders and skiers, the heart stopping thrills of the downhill races and jumping events, I have been enthralled by the speeds achieved on the icy tracks used by the luge, bobsled, and skeleton teams and individuals. It has been fabulous and exciting. Hell, I don't even mind watching curling (nothing more then a cold natured shuffleboard game) or the ice dancing and pairs skating. Most of the athletes that participate in the games seem to me to be somewhat maniacal in their thrust for achievement. Some of the stunts displayed and races have been nothing shy of impressive, and to be honest, somewhat scary. 

With all the greatness displayed by the majority of these fine athletes there is one thing I could do without, that being the sniveling and whining of a few of the participants who think they have been cheated out of a medal. Okay, okay, I'll admit that I thought the Canadian pair team did win their competition, but I have no idea of how they actually performed to the judging standard other then they looked good to me. Not being an expert on skating I have no clue when someone has screwed up unless you see them bust their butt on the ice or look so awkward that it is obvious even to my unskilled eye. While I could care less that there were rumors of judge influencing or collusion by the French and the Russian judges, I think the IOC erred when they issued the duplicate award. When Roy Jones had his medal stolen from him by the judges in boxing, it was accepted. When the US basketball team got screwed in 1972 by the referee adding more time to the clock, it was accepted. But now it appears that the IOC opened the door for more crybaby tactics of sore losers. The recent antics of the Russian Federation and the South Korean teams indicates a trend of the future for Olympic venues. 

What has this all led to now. Seems everyone who doesn't have a medal hanging around their neck is whimpering and whining that they have been cheated. It has gotten to the point that I think sniveling and whining should become a medal event. At least then some of these people could obtain that illusive gold, silver or bronze medallion that they are so hell bent to obtain. It is becoming so prevalent and universal that it should easily be included in the summer games of 2004. 

What has happened to the spirit of sportsmanship that was an essential part of sports when I was a youth? We have those that will go to any length to win, whether it be using performance aiding drugs, judge influencing, or out right cheating like the Korean skater attempted when he blocked Ohno on that last lap. Then when caught they claim that they have been wronged and cry loudly at how unfairly they are being treated by the American controlled games. 

I sure miss the good old days, back when no matter if you won or loss, it was how you played the game. If you gave 100 percent and still came up short you just accepted it. If an umpire or referee blew a call you just lived with it and tried to overcome the impact it had on the contest. Now we have lawsuits entering into the games over subjective rulings made by officials appointed by the IOC. I can't wait to see the judge that boots these cases out of court for the shear nonsense that they are. These young adults need to grow up and think about the rest of their lives instead of how they perceive they were treated while playing a game or skating a routine. 

This isn't happening just at the Olympics either, go to any athletic club sponsored event, school sporting event, whatever and you see parents trying to live their childhood again through their kids. They don't care about the once idolized sportsmanship, they only care about winning, getting a trophy for their mantle or medallion for the wall. They make all these little events seem like the end of the world unless they are victorious. Hell we've even had a recent death attributed to parental activity beyond the sporting event. From what I have seen we are on a steady trend to continue down this path unless someone steps in and brings the concept of sportsmanship back to the field, rink, arena, or whatever. I had thought it was one of the guiding principles of the Olympics, I guess I was wrong. Maybe the Americans can show the rest of the world that if you get screwed out of a medal by some subjective action of an official you learn to deal with it, overcome the impact it has and move on. After all these are only games.