Foil in the Oven: Team USA and the Death of the Olympic Spirit

I haven't been able to get excited about the Olympics in a long time. When I was a kid, my parents built them up to me as this really special event that embodied everything that was right about athletics. Perhaps it was only because I was young and naive at the time, but I can recall being really excited and genuinely feeling that "Olympic spirit" as I made it a point to acquaint myself with all of the major players in the events that interested me.

Of all the great individual performances that I have seen, Michael Johnson and his golds in the 400 meters stand out to me the most. However, the Olympic memory that still remains the strongest in my mind is seeing English sprinter Derek Redmond's father help him finish his race in Barcelona in 1992 after he had suffered an injury. Even at ten years old, I could feel the emotion of that moment. This was different than seeing a millionaire professional athlete play through an injury. This guy had devoted his whole life to his sport with the dream of competing at the Olympics. To see his father help him finish the race, and to see the ovation that he got, truly made me realize what a great event the Olympics were. The competition itself was secondary. This was a celebration of sport, and I truly believed that there was something greater that came from it. Again, I was young, so I may have just been naive. Maybe there was no real Olympic spirit. I certainly don't think there is now.

I'm not sure when exactly it started, and I don't have my own computer anymore to figure it out. But, I have to believe that part of it started with the whole Nancy Kerrigan/Tanya Harding fiasco. Think about it, athletes from the same countries trying to injure each other. That scenario doesn't seem to fit with the Olympic Spirit that I remember. Others tell me that it began in the 80s when it came out that athletes from the Soviet Union were doping, and it was discovered that the Soviet Army was essentially a training ground for Olympic athletes. Perhaps both of these examples just speak to a larger overall trend of the "win at all costs" mentality contaminating the spirit of this once great event. I don't know if it was money, or politics, or a combination of both, but somewhere along the line the priority seems to have shifted.

This brings me to USA Basketball.

I'll preface this by saying that I plan on watching all of the games that team USA plays. As an NBA fan, how could you not be excited about a roster that includes Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Dwight Howard. I get overcome with excitement just looking at the list of names. To see them playing together will be quite a spectacle, which I'm sure was the intent when the roster was assembled. Furthermore, almost all of the players on the roster have experience with the international game, which should serve them well in August. I expect a gold medal. But, to be honest, I won't really care either way.

I saw a press conference with Carmelo Anthony today in which he discussed how valuable his experience with the international game will be, and how excited he is for this team to start practicing. I was excited too. The possibilities for this team are endless. Then, he talked about how the team will bring home a gold medal. Suddenly, I felt a little bit empty. I can't think of this as an Olympic team. That I will no doubt enjoy watching them is due to the fact that I love the NBA. It has nothing to do with the Olympics. One of the things that made the Olympics so great for me as a kid was the fact that amateur athletes were competing. The emotion in the eyes of those athletes always seemed so real. We always say that we wish sports weren't about money, and on some level the Olympics used to give this to us.

But, what will a gold medal really mean to this American basketball team? Regardless of how things finish up, they have bigger, better, and more important things to return to when the competition ends. I'm sure they will not be staying in the Olympic Village during the competition. As is the case throughout the rest of their lives, I'm sure they will be waited on hand and foot and ensconced in luxury throughout their stay in China. This is, essentially, something exciting for them to do. It is a chance for them to increase their marketability. It is a chance for some of them, Bryant and Anthony come to mind here, to improve their image with NBA fans. Perhaps I'm being too cynical, but that's the way I see it. It's not their fault, they get paid millions of dollars to focus the majority of their time and energy on their NBA careers, and of course I don't expect them to turn down an opportunity like competing in the Olympics. I'm just saying that they shouldn't have had the opportunity in the first place.

I felt this way two years ago when I heard Mike Modano blast USA hockey after the US lost unexpectedly early in the Turin games. He complained about things like travel plans and family accommodations. Essentially, it sounded like the US Olympic hockey team was treated like the US Olympic hockey team, and did not receive the NHL all-star treatment to which Modano had become accustomed. There are lots of really good college hockey players out there who most likely would have paid out of their pockets to stay in hostels for opportunity to play in the Olympics.

Maybe this stuff shouldn't bother me, but it does. I can't help it.

I remember the original Dream Team, and of course I loved it. But, even then, I didn't view it as an Olympic team. It was more of a traveling entertainment show, like the Harlem Globetrotters. I still have my "Bird and Magic: Together at Last" and I ate more than my fair share of All-American Triple Cheeseburgers at McDonalds, but this was a celebration of individuals. This was not the Olympics.

I don't like expecting Gold medals. It feels too much like this is rigged. Maybe a team with Derrick Rose instead of J-Kidd, Michael Beasley instead of LeBron, Chris Douglas-Roberts instead of Kobe, and Tyler Hansborough instead of Chris Bosch wouldn't be a lock. In fact, given how good many of these international teams are, they may not medal. But, they'd certainly be exciting to watch. They'd be fun to root for. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to be there. And, who knows, they might surprise us and give us an Olympic memory that we would never forget. Regardless of how this TEAM USA fares in 2008, I'm quite confident that I will forget all about it once the NBA season starts up.

All that being said, we will watch, and we'll have the coverage here for you on ROOMOFZEN.