Speedy Satirical Winter Olympic Commentary

Finally, Olympic moments worthy of satire! :-D

Yesterday, American speed skater Shani Davis became the first black to win an individual gold medal in the Winter Olympics, a point MSNBC has seen it fit to make one every ten minutes. When NBC's Melissa Stark interviewed Davis after his victory, he barely smiled and kept his answers stale and flat. Geez, I've seen living statue mimes project more emotion and warmth than this guy. Al Gore showed more anger when he had the Presidency stolen from him.

Davis's stoicism has rubbed his nominal teammates the wrong way. He's had little to say either about them or to them. There's also an internal rivalry involved. Davis's refusal to skate in the team event coast Chad Hedrick a chance for a gold medal in that event and robbed the American team of a medal of any color. Hedrick and Davis were accused of selfishness - Hedrick for being robbed of glory, Davis for not being a team player - but Davis has compounded the the animosity with contradictory statements for his reasons for not competing in the team event. First he said he didn't want to take the place of another team member (he was originally not slated for a place in the event) and deny someone else the chance for a medal, yet his defection from the team skating race effectively eliminated the Americans as contenders. At the same time, Davis reportedly said he was only concentrating on his individual race because he didn't feel obligated to compete with, rather than against, the other American skaters.

You know, even Nancy Kerrigan wasn't this nasty to Tonya Harding, and she had good reason.

Davis's overall behavior at these Games makes Kerrigan look humble by comparison. The former resident of Chicago's South Side now lives in the upper-middle-class Windy City suburb of Evanston, and the reputed waspishness of the place seems to have rubbed off on him. You know, I'm glad a black person won an individual Winter Olympic gold medal, but did this guy have to be the first one?

Right now, I'm watching men's ice hockey, U.S. versus Sweden. Unlike Shani Davis, I find Olympic team events refreshing for a change. :-p