every day i walk by the security guard of a neighboring building. his name is leon. we give our nods and say our hellos but it usually doesn’t amount to any more than that. a couple weeks ago, leon stopped me and asked me if i had seen the beijing opening ceremonies. the gray-haired man was almost in tears reveling in the power that sport has to bring the world together…
kobe bryant. laker. ’nuff said. coach k. duke basketball. my problem isn’t with duke. it’s with coach k, royal jerk. they don’t teach you humility at church, krzyzewski? last night i stayed up to watch the gold medal basketball game. like he always does, kobe came up clutch. shot after shot became a dagger in to the heart of those slant-eyed spaniards. i asked my friends… “does this mean i have to like coach k now?”
i didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe, but the Redeem Team certainly did what they were supposed to do: show that our NBA stars are the best of the best. worth the millions we pay them? probably not. but we are a pompous nation living fat of the fat of the land. don’t the ridiculously overweight couch potatoes of america all deserve to share a piece of olympic glory. we pay these basketball players their salaries after all. winners by proxy?
sometime in 2005, somewhere between vienna and prague i lost my american pride… but you can’t help give a smile to america’s newest dorky heart-throb, mermaid phelps and even kobe dumping a half full water bottle over coach k. carlos boozer has a gold medal?! bittersweet victory indeed.