As you can see from my previous posts, I am a die-hard Olympics fan. I am literally killing myself with lack of sleep to try and catch as much Olympic coverage as humanly possible. My work is suffering, my health is suffering, my friendships are being put on hold, and for what? All to see some random folks I won't remember a week from now go for the gold. Worth it? Hell yeah.
But if I keep depriving myself of sleep, I know i'm just a couple days away from becoming Jessie Spano in that one episode of Saved By the Bell. You know the one -- where she's on speed to try to balance her school work with her budding singing career. I'm not saying i'm on drugs or anything, but I am *this close* to screaming "i'm so excited! i'm so excited! i'm so... scared."
And while I can pretty much enjoy watching competitors from any country in their goal to become the gold medal champions, I have a soft spot in my heart for the good ol' US of A. Yes, that's me sitting there mouthing the words to the Star Spangled Banner along with the American athletes. Sure, they happen to be on the medal podium, while I happen to be on my couch, but it's all the same, right?
That's what makes my reaction to the USA men's basketball team all the more perplexing. I am rooting for this team to lose. Badly. Not just a give it a good effort and just come up short type of loss. I'm talking about losing the way that team from Necessary Roughness lost before they added Kathy Ireland and the dude from Quantum Leap to the roster. I want them to get beat down. By some team that has 5' 2" outside shooters, swishing 3's in the face of LeBron James and Allen Iverson. Beat down like someone who makes fun of Bobby Bouchet's mama. I want them to cry.
Does this make me anti-American? I don't think so. I think it just makes me anti-spoiled athletes who think they can just waltz into the biggest sporting stage in the world and walk off with the gold medal. This is the Olympics, damn it. People give a shit about winning. People wait their entire lives for a chance to make history here. People care.
None of these people I have just described happen to have the words "USA" on their jersey. And that's the problem. I can't root for these guys. They aren't what the Olympics stand for. They don't dream about standing atop the podium with the olive wreaths on their heads while the national anthem plays. They just dream about what type of spinners they can cram on their new Escalades.
This is why I need this team to cry. To feel pain. To really understand how much these other teams want this, and why it's so important. And maybe then, and only then, will USA basketball come back and rule the international stage. When we start to care again. There's always 2008, right?
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