I admit it.  I am on an Olympics kick.

Let’s talk about the “controversy” in speedskating.  It doesn’t matter that there is a new event in the Olympics – where, by the way, are people coming up with these new events like team pursuit?  Speedskating is an individual sport.  Get over trying to make it a team event.  The only “team” in speedskating, especially here in the states, is the fundraising mechanism for monies for training arenas and such.

Now, the “controversy.”  Every athlete that makes an Olympic team is there to win.  I don’t care if it is Chad Hedrick or the US Women’s Curling Team.  An athlete wouldn’t have spent years training, months in competitions to not want to win once at the Olympics.  So, it is no surprise that Chad Hedrick was unhappy the US didn’t go further in this new event – speedskating’s team pursuit.  No one likes to lose.  No one likes to travel thousands of miles to lose either.  But, that having been said, I go back to my theory that speedskating is an individual sport.

The media keeps playing up this irritation between Hedrick and teammate Shani Davis.  If the media would let it drop, it would go away.  It is a media dream, especially since there is no “big” name in figure skating.  Keep the controversy going.  Maybe throw in a “racial” question.  Work people up about the “problem.”

There is no “problem.”  There is a disappointment about losing.  There is a disappointment about losing to a teammate who didn’t help the team.  There may even be a little anger but there is also the anticipation.  There are more events to skate.  There are more events to win.

Someone should tell the media to move on.  Move on.  Talk about the other skaters.  Until this morning, I didn’t even realize Derek Parra was in Turin to skate.  Do the human interest stories on people like Joey Cheek.  Take the spotlight off the imagined and focus on what might actually get US residents to watch the Olympics.