The United States has been a disappointment in the Olympics. And I'm not sure if there's anything that could make up for it. Granted, they look like they are doing fine in the medal standings (look at the number of athletes is all you need to do).

Both hockey teams didn't come close to doing as well as expected.

The "Golden Boy" Bode Miller ends up with jack.
And overall the U.S. skiing team has 2 medals.

The Apolo guy ends up with one bronze.

Thank God for the sport of snowboarding where we have a 1/3 of our medals.

Oh and the police are after one of our Olympians after getting drunk and punching a 'friend'.

[ February 24, 2006, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: illini n milwaukee ]

Then you have Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick's cat fighting plus the high five's shared by the other U.S. skaters when neither Davis nor Hedrick took the gold.

And then of course there was Sasha's choke job.

I agree. Disappointment all around; more so the way these athletes conducted themselves in Torino.

[ February 24, 2006, 08:52 AM: Message edited by: amazin12 ]

It is really interesting how the Games feel a bit disappointing all the way around for the States. However, the medal count is quite high and we have won some medals in sports like curling, bobsled, etc. Medals we might not have counted on in years prior.

However, the medal count is definitely propped up by snowboarding. This sport just came into the Olympics at Salt Lake I think. So, the question does loom -- how good could it have been?

Bode is probably the biggest disappointment. USA Hockey was in trouble way before the Games. Figure skating could have produced additional medals, but we do not have any dominant skaters right now.

Overall, there were a number of flat performances at the venues. Which is too bad for us.

Well, I'll say this. The women's hockey team was expected to finish second and instead wound up third. That's coming close to what was expected of them.

Bode Miller was not expected to win a lot, despite the media hype coming in. He has not skiied well at all this winter, and failed to finish a fair number of races in the World Cup series. He was a disappointment only in that the media hyped him up more than they should have, given his recent showings prior to the Olympics. I certainly wouldn't tag him with the Golden Boy label either, given his anti-establishment views. Isn't the Golden boy label reserved for those who can do no wrong?

Considering one of the top women skiers (Kildow) was injured in training, I wouldn't call her performances a disappointment.

And calling Cohen's performance a choke job is silly, given that she was injured and that clearly affected her jumping (she fell numerous times in practice and warmups before the final free skate). I doubt the pre-free skate falls can be attributed to "choking", so it's safe to say the injury had some affect on her.

I guess I think it's easy to skim the surface and call things a disappointment, but if you look a little deeper things aren't always what they seem.

I don't think the U.S. has been a disappointment by any means. 23 medals and counting... not a bad haul at all. Sure, it's lower than at Salt Lake, but being the home team always boosts medal counts. The US took 13 medals at Nagano and Lillehammer, 11 at Albertville, only 6 at Calgary... in fact, this is the second highest medal total ever for the US. Even if you take away the X-Games sports 8 medals (and 3 golds), that still leaves us with 15 and 5 golds... pretty freakin' respectable. 7 medals in mens speedskating is quite impressive.

In my eyes, we're only a disappointment when viewed from the NBC hype standards. If you only watch NBC's coverage, you would think we were the favorites in every event. Expectations were set ridiculously high by NBC as far as Miller, Ohno, Weir, Cohen, etc. go. While all were definite medal contenders, NBC's broadcast made you think they were all a lock for gold... so of course when they didn't win, it was a let down. Don't get caught up in the NBC hype, and you'll see this was a pretty good Olympics for the US.

I haven't been all that disappointed by the atheletic performances on the field but find the lack of sportsmanship or Olympic spirit exhibited by a number of US athletes saddening. From the Hedrick/Davis feud--and the mindless media exaggeration of it--and Bode Miller's vainglorious pronouncements to Mike Modano's public whining and Jacobellis' showboationg, a number of these people embody the ugly American stereotype.

~Adam

Adam - I couldn't agree more with your post. I watched Davis on the Today Show this morning and the cry baby Hedrick last week. Two disgusting spoiled brats. Instead of savoring a wonderful opportunity, they are acting like babies.

No class.

Agreed. I read yesterday about Mike Modano's whining about their families supposedly having to make all the arrangements and blah, blah, blah. Hey Mike! How many goals did you score in the whole tournament???? Thats what I thought. Shut up. wink

[ February 24, 2006, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: hockeyTom ]

I think the US has done respectably well.

First, the US has NEVER been a winter sports powerhouse, 50% of our population lives in climates where ice and snow simply do not happen in nature and, unlike other sports (baseball, football, etc.), the pool of candidates who are willing to give their lives to toil and be world class in financially unsupportable sports like ski jump is incredibly small. Contrast that to countries like Austria or Germany -- their entire populations live in the right climate and there are rewards (endorsements, etc.) for those who succeed even in the most obscure sports (biathlon, skeleton).

Second, NBC, in its focus only on American athletes, makes it seem as though each competition is an American's for the asking. It doesn't focus on the other 90% of the athletes and when Mike Jones comes in 27th in nordic combined, it appears to the average American that he was a huge disappointment.

Third, everyone is looking at Torino through their Salt Lake glasses. There was simply no way, even with sweeps by Bode and Hedrick and Cohen and Ohno, that the US would have duplicated its medal tally from 2002.

I think the US did reasonably well. And I don't think the athletes' behavior was all that reprehensible. I remember Ohno was infinitely more obnoxious in '02 and the US hockey team trashed their Olympic Village rooms after being shut out. They left Nagano via bullet train in total shame, an embarrassment.

[ February 24, 2006, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: aquaman ]

OK, for me, watching the Olympics on TV, was just grand......enjoying about 48 hours in total, and with a very snowy screen. So the US didn't measure up? Don't think so? Look at the medal count. Too much drama? Bring it on. Lousy commentators? So, alot of people would like to see Dick Button button his hole, but I think the guy is hilarious.

Hoping to go to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver..........anybody wanna go with me?

TRL
San Diego & Joshua Tree

My view is that we are too focused on the US athletes. I know that is partly NBC, but they show only what people want to see. I don't think people realize how important the winter olympics are to those small countries that excel in winter sports. Austria in alpine, Norway in x-country and the Dutch in skating are perfect examples. These games are huge, and the winners and even the other medalists become heroes, not just for 15 minutes like here, but for their lives. There were such incredible stories, like Janica Kostelic becoming the most decorated women's skier in Olympic history but breaking down when her brother, Ivica, won the silver medal in the combined. Or the Russian skaters coming through after having no support during the years after the wall fell. I will give NBC credit, they actually showed most of the nordic relay, after giving great coverage to the race between the Italians and the Norwegians in the past. And what about the Finns in the ski jumping, what a story about a team that usually dominates but ended up with only 2 silver medals?

I agree that the US came across as arrogant and whiny. I love the Washington Post blogger calling the speed skating feud Shani v. Hottie, he keeps referring to Chad Hedrick as the hottist hottie at the Olympics.

NBC has to get their ratings, but I always am amazed by the lack of coverage of the sport. Those of us who want to watch the Olympics as sporting events are stuck with NBC, what else can we do?

Friday's NBC Nightly News w/ that doofus Brian Williams had a special segment on the US athletes, describing them as selfish and arrogant. One sports writer interviewed--I don't remember who it was, but he was a black guy from either SI or TSN--called Bode Miller "the greatest flop in U.S. Olympic history."

Brian Williams tried to explain that "we are all to blame for hyping Miller." I heard that and said, "Wait just a minute! I didn't hype the drunken juvenile. The frickin' media and similar entities did that."

A comment from Bode, "Everyone wants to make a big deal about medals and winning in the Olympics, like that's what the Olympics are all about. Well, the medals and winning aren't what's important. That's not why I'm here."

OK, Bode, then WHY are you there? And just what ARE the Olympics for then?

Unbelievable.

Another collapse by Bode today as he straddled the gates and skiied right off the course, then raised his arms up to simulate a winning cheer. Said Bode about his time in the Olympics: "It's been an awesome two weeks here. I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level."

This guy is such an idiot.

Regarding the "too much focus on Americans" -- I get the point, but other countries focus on their athletes too. And I think that's generally understandable. After seeing Australian Olympics coverage of one Games, my viewpoint on what is too much by the U.S. broadcaster gained a new perspective!

I do want to give credit to NBC for cutting down the profiles this time. People have been griping about that since Roone Arledge/ABC started overdosing them in 1984.

Now about the rotten attitude of some U.S. athletes, I'd really like to think Shani's cheering for Chad yesterday was sincere, but I can't stop the nagging feeling that advisors started telling some of the American athletes to shape up or they can forget that Wheaties box.

[ February 25, 2006, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: NorthernSwim ]

I did read an article this evening that said the US Olympic committee was promising to "alter" its approach to the athletes in time for the 2008 Beijing Games. The clear tone of the article was that the US athletes have brought considerable negative attention to the team and that is going to change.

In terms of disappointing/doing well....

The US team (as I pointed out previously) has won a nice haul of medals. 25 total medals would be considered a great showing if you had polled anyone before the games.

However, the US team has won only 8 of those medals in sports other than speed skating and snow boarding. THAT is what has been disappointing for the US team. Many of the favored teams/athletes finished lower than expected.

And Bode is a big disappointment because he is the freaking reigning World Cup overall champion. He was the best skier in the world in 2005. He should have brought in at least one medal, and probably more. His lack of success is not just a commercial disappointment.

So, we have had other athletes fill in the gaps, which is great. But there has been disappointment in Torino for the US team.

Meanwhile, I do think the Games seem to be achieving success overall. Torino looks beautiful, there has been no major incidents like in Salt Lake, and the world can celebrate a great competition. The only negative thing I have read is that the food provided in the Olympic Village has been somewhat poor in quality for the athletes. That is unfortunate in a country known for its fantastic food.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Miller was hyped by the media to win a lot of medals, but if you look past the hype, it's not a shock or even a surprise to see him get shut out. He has not been skiing well this season, and that's far more important than the results from last season (when we was World Cup overall champion).

Last year ('05) he finished up the season ranked 1st in Super G, 2nd in downhill and grand slalom, 15th in slalom and was 1st overall. This season ('06) he's ranked 27th in Super G, 7th in downhill, 6th in grand slalom, 31st in slalom, tied for 2nd in combined and overall is third.

The overall standings are irrelevant, because they don't award medals for that in the Olympics. So basically, the only event he "should've" got a medal in was combined, based on his top-3 current ranking. The rest of this talk about him winning a bunch of medals was alot of media hype and wasn't based on how he's been skiing this year.

If the Olympics would've been held a year ago, he would have been the solid favorite to win or medal in almost everything. This year, not so much. And I'm quite sure he knew he didn't have much of a shot to win or even medal, which probably led to some of his dismissive comments regarding the medals.

The ski team has been a disappointment -- usually there are some surprise U.S. skiers in years when the U.S. team is not really expected to do well; frequently some one or more have come through, fired up by the Olympics. But this year when there were high hopes for several the two that came through were great but not up to the overall expectations -- Lindsay Kildow at least showed some grit. What great fun, though, out of Ligety and Mancuso! Julia ditched the tiara at the right time.

The food problems will get a big IOC raspberry in the final report no matter what other praise is deserved by the host committee. Recent Olympic hosts have arranged for huge variety for participants no matter what their local tastes. I agree; a real disappointment in a country that prides itself on cuisine.

Apollo pulled it off. So did Clara Hughes. And both were grateful and gracious -- and athlete attitude is the main topic of this thread.

Miller's comments regaruding how he enjoyed partying and having fun at the Olympics while gaining nothing shows how much it belonged to him.

I should think Bodes' biggest regret would be in having done that "60 Minutes" interview about 4-5 weeks back. Everything went downhill pun intended, for him shortly after that.