(U-WIRE) DEKALB, Ill. —
By this time, all talk of pairs skating, pairs of gold medal winners and pairs of scandals
deserves at least a pair of sighs.
After all, in the throes of a slow news week in which the world’s attention is on Utah of all places, the controversy involving Russians, Canadians and crooked judges everywhere has received more ink and airtime than an O.J. Simpson-Mike Tyson celebrity golf outing.
But, please forgive all those hard-working reporters sent out with liberal expense reports and visions of gold medals in their eyes. The case of Russians Elena Bereznaia and Anton Sikharulidze and former silver-medalists Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada taps into one universal appeal: the art of the screw-job.
With each regretful judging revelation and smooth interview, it’s easy to forget even what started the whole thing. With Americans out of the running for anything resembling a medal, the crowd and the continent backed the Canadians. However, despite what experts called a clearly superior performance, the Russian team sat atop the medals podium.
The case of the pairs skating situation captures conversation just as the cases of the 1972 men’s basketball team and Roy Jones Jr. in 1988 continue to confound sports historians. In both cases, the clear winners had victory firmly grasped, only to lose the gold medal through official intervention.
Everyone can identify with those Canadians, even those few Antarctic humans at the other end of the world. Who hasn’t felt robbed and empty-handed? This isn’t a case of being the bridesmaid and never the bride. This is a case of silver looking more like fool’s gold.
Unfortunately, the whole sad trend will continue as country loyalties and deals dominate any sport that demands judging. And as long as people continue to care about such sports, the outrage will remain. The only solution, a pipe dream even for the most radical International Olympic Committee members, would be independent judges — if there is such a thing.
The IOC, still wishing these games will end without a memory after the placement process featured a nice American dose of corrupt electioneering, needs another black eye like pairs skating needs more than one gold-medal-winning team. And, just as Jones Jr. and those 1972 hoopsters know, the memory remains far after the rings leave town.