What's Wrong Shani?
As I blogged last week, Shani Davis was a name to look out for during these Olympics. You may or may not know or care (judging by the Olympics ratings), but last night the Chicago native became the first black American to win Winter Olympic gold in an individual event by winning the 1,000 meter long track speedskating competition.
What was strange was his attitude after the race. He didn't look like an individual happy to win a gold medal, and was very abrupt and surly during his post-race interview. There's been quite a back story with this kid surrounding the Olympics, involving the politics within the U.S. Speedskating Federation (he trains in Canada), an outspoken mother and his decision not to compete in a relay-type event, therefore incurring the ire of his teammates.
An analyst for our station went so far as to call him a jerk on Friday, which I think is a little harsh with the limited knowledge we have so far. There's more to this story than meets the eye, and I think it will come out by the end of the Games. Unfortunately, my hunch is that race is somehow involved, meaning that America's not-so-secret albatross could again rear its ugly head for the world to see.
Tuesday he's scheduled to square off against American Chad Hedrick, who has developed as Davis' chief rival, and has criticized him publicly for not participating in the team events. Perhaps the networks will finally get the drama and ratings grabber it has been seeking.
posted by Marcus Riley @ 11:21 AM
4 Comments:
Not-so-secret albatross? What are you talking about? Americans are verrrrrry comfortable with race.
I thought to even strangers my post dripped with sarscasm, a humor technique I tend to employ from time to time.
Yeah, Americans love to front like they're down ("One of my good buddies is a black guy") but the truth is we will never fully be color blind in my lifetime.
I feel like we should talk about religion next. Or perhaps abortion. I've got a couple minutes to kill. Let's solve some shit.
Nice to see y'all work it out. No room for hateration in the LOU. Nickie 2dot, obviously you have plenty to say... why don't you set up your own blog?
Back to Shani, I wanted badly to support the dude, but I think he really does have some issues -- whether it's being overly sensitive, defensive, or whatever. But bottom line is, even if he was really wronged, or if there is a huge back story, it's irrelevant. The media beast wanted badly to build this kid up and make him the face of the Games. He may have some personal victory at stickin' it to the man and doing it his own way, but at the end of the day, I think he's stuck to himself. Nobody's going to give a shit about speedskating next week -- and Shani has probably cost himself millions of dollars in marketing opportunities, based on attitude alone.
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