Fold Medal

Yesterday's performance for the US team in the 2004 Summer Olympics was quite possibly the worst day ever for the national team. In summary, there was only one medal won all day, and most embarrassingly, the men's basketball team lost in a poor display on the international stage.

I've discussed this before, as far as what's wrong with the national team, and what makes them different from the rest of the world. It may be useful to evaluate what the rest of the world thinks, but eventually, it will all come back to the same thing: the emphasis of the individual over the team. When you have Shaq demanding a trade from the best team ever and Allen Iverson not even participating in practice, you know there's a problem with today's version of the NBA. So many times, these athletes are obsessed with seeing their own image plastered all over the "plays of the week" or even their name in lights above their respective stadium. Who is an awesome player without an awesome team: an underachiever? That is what we have on this Olympic team, a team of underachievers.

There were problems from the very beginning. The slapdash way the team was thrown together, the dropping out of stars due to their own agendas, and even the fear of overseas terrorism threatened to undermine the "dream team." Although I was not happy to see them lose, I was almost hoping they would lose just so they could be exposed for their arrogance. They may have made personal sacrifices to play for the United States, but it doesn't hide the fact that they were spoiled, inconsistent, and even a little unproven. I'm not proud to say that I was hoping they'd get ousted, but I am a little offended that some could consider this desire a little racist. My ultimate hope, however, is that only good things will come of this, and the NBA will learn its lesson. Players will get better, teams will get better, and the games will get better; leading again to another gold medal.