Halftime Blogging/Final Olympics Post

The vaunted U.S. Olympic "dream team" brought home the bronze today! I'm so excited. Actually, I was hoping they would come home empty handed. This makes me a bad person, according to Jason Whitlock of ESPN (via Say Anything).

Like many other panty-wastes at ESPN - (they may be a "sports" network, but they're every bit as leftist as CNN and MSNBC) - they are horrified that the public hasn't slavishly licked the boots of this year's dream team as in years past. Whitlock whines:

Americans do not have to support a group of black American millionaires in any endeavor. Despite the hypocritical, rabid patriotism displayed immediately after 9/11, it's perfectly suitable for Americans to despise Team USA Basketball, Allen Iverson and all the other tattooed NBA players representing our country. Yes, these athletes are no more spoiled, whiny and rich than the golfers who fearlessly represent us in the Ryder Cup, but at least Tiger Woods has the good sense not to wear cornrows.

Heavens to Betsy! It's another journalist exposing his own hatred for America (see the highlighted "hypocritical, rabid patriotism displayed immediately after 9/11") - and now we're supposed to be upset becuase he's pissed about the lack of support for this dream team? If anything, his cry-babying has given me one more reason to celebrate their collective failure.

For those of you who haven't figured it out, Whitlock infers that anyone who roots against the dream team is a racist, because the team has tattoos and cornrows. And, while he exposes his own hatred for America, we're supposed to tongue Allen Iverson's dumper no matter what - because he says so.

It's just another journalist providing another example of why journalists are considered as part of the same social strata as prostitutes, drug dealers and trial lawyers (see John Boy Edwards, for example). Jason, don't imply that we deserved 9/11 then attack the public for justifyingly flushing the dream team.

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but the reason I despise the dream team is their attitude. They showed up expecting everything handed to them - the olympics was just another stage on which to showboat their individual greatness and soak up the adulation of adoring throngs of fans. Their effort in competition reflected this self-righteous air of entitlement.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world fielded teams that actually wanted to complete and played team basketball. Rob from Say Anything said it well:

Team USA isn't well-liked by Americans because they're doing a crappy job of representing our country over there in Athens. They're playing on the world's largest sporting stage and they're acting like the games they're playing are mid-season contests against teams from the bottom of the standings. Basketball is an American sport and these men are supposed to be the very best players America has to offer, yet they've been taken to the cleaners a few times this year by foreign opponents.

Where's the hustle? Where's the team-play? Where's the desire to win? These things have been non-existent.

Mr. Whitlock needs to stop making excuses for this team. They're playing like a bunch of losers. They're playing like they don't really care. That's not how you inspire Americans. Americans don't like watching losers. We don't like watching people play sports with indifference.

The cornrows and tattoos don't bother us. What bothers us is their lack of respect for the game.

Now back to the football game - looks like USC may be knocked off their perch early in the season...