Kathy is NOT happy with Chad Hedrick.
You know, I watched the press conference last night after the race – and I felt kinda embarrassed for both of them. Bickering at a press conference like little tween girls in pigtails. I’m a big believer in stiff upper lip and keeping your dirty laundry private. (Which is clearly why I have a blog where I post my high school diary entries, publicly.) Just to see them kind of snipe at each other directly following the race – argh. Very uncomfortable. Puts a pall over the whole thing, in my opinion. I mean, yay, compete. Compete with each other. Be ruthless. But don’t act like pissy little whiners, please, and ruin my fantasies.
I was so glad that the Italian won. I think both of the Americans are acting like spoiled little brats.
I know. It was really gross.
very embarrasing
Like – keep it together, guys! Even if that’s how you feel, keep it together! Take it outside and roll around in the snow, punching each other in the head if you have to – but ewwwww, the two of them bickering at the press conference was – I literally rolled my eyes watching it. Babies.
I thought Hedrick was worse that Davis. Davis at least gave Fabris a hug, talked to him on the podium, laughing … Hedrick was obviously very upset. He let the whole “feud” get in the way of what he wanted to do. Then he made up some excuse about why he came in third – because nobody else had been skating as much as him during the past week. Of course then he said, “There’s no excuse …” Uhm … then why did you just give us an excuse??
I’m not saying I think the Olympics should be one happy family with everybody all cuddly and supportive – but I thought those 2 behaved really poorly.
that was worse than the glaring ice dancers
hahahaha which I totally MISSED and I am so bummed I missed it.
She was like … glaring at her partner or something??
YES! Right in the middle of the ice! for several seconds…it was bizarre
They were having some kind of psychodrama … damn. So bummed I missed it.
I want to punch Davis in the head. Hard. And give him MS. Oops, no that would be karate…
Hedrick was a whiny baby last night, but Davis is a prick. The only reason he hugged the Italian was to piss off Hedrick and the rest of the world. And he pronounces the word “with” like this: “wif”. BAM!(invisible punch)
Like me punching Mr. Butler in the caf!!!
Well – and they were nearly thru the press conference and they held it together and Davis was the one who said, “I’m just throwin’ this out there … it would have been nice if he shook my hand … shown his solidarity wif me …”
wah wah wah wah wah
So yeah – it was neither man’s finest hour.
I cannot wait for Hedrick and Davis to vanish when these games are over, though I have to give Davis props for being savvy: hugging the Italian and putting on the happy show made him look like much less of a dick than Hedrick, who really drives me nuts. Either way, they are the polar opposites of the snowboarders, who I thought were great and fun and made me want to buy them rounds of drinks.
I’m gonna post on this in the next day or so, so I want to gather the rest of my thoughts, but I have to say that Davis strikes me as the better of the two. He gave an excellent (if brief) interview after his podium appearance (the fancy one in Turin) where he got his gold.
I’ll dissect later on at my place.
I love the snowboarders, too. They’re CLEARLY competitive – but they also just seem to have fun, too. Hard to imagine any of them getting pissy at a press conference.
They both could learn a lesson from their speed skating teammate Joey Cheek who used his gold medal press conference to remind the world of the genocide in Sudan… oh, and donated his Olympic winnings to the cause (i.e. putting his money where his mouth is)
The italian ice dancers who came out of retirement to skate were doing well in the short dance then he/she fell and she was so pissed – she gave him the look on the ice, in the kiss and cry, did not speak or look at him afterward – the next day for the long program – in the waiting area they kept not looking at each other – they physically avoided each other on the ice until the last moment – then they skated did well they hugged and it was over – but man o man if looks could kill he would be deader then dead. It was quite funny
The more I hear about it, the sadder I am that I missed it.
Now you wouldn’t see the curling teams behaving like that.. Just saying..
Welcome peteb to the podium, everyone!! The only man who has explained curling to me in a way that made SENSE!!!
Hahaha
And it’s not Canadian..
btw, Sheila, the semi-finals are on live in the yurt at the minute..
Well, call me shallow (Hello, Shallow!), but I am too overwhelmed by Chad Hedrick’s hotness to comment on his actions at any press conference.
Plus Shani Davis is working the Angry Black Man angle a little too much for me. I mean, I GET it that you’re a black man in a white man’s sport blah blah blah but that doesn’t excuse assholeyness. And the people that call you on your assholeyness aren’t necessarily racist, just observant.
Lisa, I completely forgave Russell Crowe for bashing some poor clerk in the head with a phone – merely because I find him hot – so I totally understand.
Speaking of the paucity of black athletes in these Olympics – did you SEE the backstory for Vonetta Flowers??? It was on last night and I literally sat there WEEPING watching the whole damn thing. The deaf son? The reunion with her family? Uhm – WEEPING??? Put a fork in me, I’m done.
There’s something really really nice about her anyway – I loved her from back in Salt Lake.
OMG. I was so hoping you were watching because I was SOBBING.
I didn’t see the reunion coming and was totally blindsided. How cute was it that the one little boy was SCARED because she was crying, and Vonetta had to say, “Mommy’s just so happy to see you!” ::sob::
Lisa – yes!! That was the moment that got me too. All she wanted to do was WAIL to the moon – but she had to reassure him – “It’s okay …” Tears don’t always = sadness. Mothers just amaze me sometimes – a BEAUTIFUL moment!!!!
I mean, I remember crying watching her get her medal in Salt Lake – the hugeness of that moment for her, but also for black athletes – her saying, “If this helps other black athletes take a closer look at trying winter sports …” Her tear-streaked face on the podium. FUGGEDABOUTIT.
Oh and the detail about him lying in bed, eyes closed, making the sign for “milk”.
Please.
I’m in tears all over again.
I am SO wif you on the whole Vonetta Flowers thing.
Tracey-HAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA!! Me too! I love her! I am wif you, too!!!!!
Point / Counterpoint: Shani Davs vs. Chad Hedrick
A blogger named Kathy, linked to by Sheila, has written a good diatribe against Chad Hedrick, which I felt would be a good starting point for the debate. First let me state for the record that I find Chad Hedrick
You know the more I think about this, hotness not withstanding, I’m on Chad’s side. I don’t think he was a jerk at all. (And about the Nike thing, that’s NIKE’s doing. If you’re sponsored by somebody, they REQUIRE you to put their logo front and center. It’s part of the deal. So I don’t think it’s fair to slam anyone for doing what it required of them in their sponsorship contract, even at the Olympics.)
Speed skating is a very small community, even internationally. These people are together, training and competing, pretty much 24/7. After a while, personality conflicts (which I think is the major problem here) boil over. Add the microscope of Olympic coverage to the mix? I think it would be surprising if it HADN’T combusted.
Do I think they should have been more discreet? Sure. But imagine 100s of journalists asking YOU the same question over and over again, bringing up the subject CONSTANTLY. You’re frustrated that you lost, you’re mad at your teammate, after the 50th time you’re asked about it, how easy would it be just to pop off?
Lisa – I definitely agree that the media pretty much kept this story alive, and created drama where maybe there was just a bit of healthy competition.