Support our Athletes

You know what's been the worst thing about the winter Olympics coverage? The race to point out the next athlete to choke. Bode Miller? Choker. Sasha Cohen? Choker. Apolo Anton Ohno? Choker. The Men's Curling team? Chokers. Give it a rest already!

Steph had on the Today show this morning as we were getting ready for work and Katie Couric was interviewing silver medalist Sasha Cohen. Couric said she was at the event the night before and "wanted to hit someone" because they kept replaying Cohen's fall. You know what she did next? She proceeded to show the exact same footage of Cohen's fall on national television for 2 minutes! I thought (and hoped) that Sasha was going to hit her.

The Olympians compete in sports that practically no one in America cares about except for 3 weeks every four years (and a lot of us not even then). They make peanuts compared to the athletes in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. Heck, most of them, gasp!, work regular jobs like you and me to make a living. You think playing in a Super Bowl or the World Series is pressure? Those are team sports. You've got a whole team to share the blame, to deflect any criticism that arises. Furthermore, those events happen every year. Sure, they're a big deal. But they're usually not a once in a lifetime type thing. Oh, and not to mention the Olympics probably have about 20 times the audience of either of those events. Plus, if you lose a Super Bowl you can still go home to your solid gold house and wipe away the tears of disappointment with $100 bills which will then be thrown away because they have been tainted with your suck.

Most of these Olympians have one shot at winning and fame. They are all trying to stretch their 15 minutes into a lifetime. They are competing in sports where a fraction of a second or a moment's indecision is the difference between fame and infamy. There are no second chances. There are no late-inning rallies or 4th quarter drives. You get 1 shot, once every four years, to prove you're the best. Let's all cut these guys some slack and show some support instead of jumping on their backs and beating them down.