An open letter to the US Olympic commitee
To whom it may concern,
I am writing this to voice my disappointment in hearing that US athletes are being told not to celebrate with the flag. And not to do anything that might be insulting or confrontational. This to me sounds a lot like cowardice, as though we are ashamed of who we are or ashamed that we have won an event. I know as Americans our image has taken a blow(although not rightly so) for some things that have happened around the world. But this kind of statement makes it seem like we are embarrassed of who we are or what we represent. And that plays right into critics hands and makes them dislike us even more. How about instead telling the athletes to be proud of their country and to act accordingly. To demonstrate things that make this country great, such as hard work, sportsmanship and a great celebratory spirit. We should not and are not ashamed of who we are or where we come from. This fact needs to be displayed to the world more than ever now. If this was the intent of your statement, it was not communicated well and steps need to be taken to correct this. Thank you for your time and I hope that the US will be represented in a great and honorable way this summer.
Jeremy Austin
posted by Jeremy @ 7:45 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I recieved this messege this morning via email:
Statement From United States Olympic Committee Chief Executive Jim Scherr Regarding U.S. Athletes Celebrating With The American Flag At The Athens Olympic And Paralympic Games"The United States Olympic Committee wants to make it absolutely clear that we have not -- and will not -- instruct our athletes to refrain from waving the United States flag during the upcoming Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games. Any suggestions
or statements to the contrary do not reflect the official position of our organization.
Athletes will be free, as always, to celebrate their performances in an exuberant, respectful way during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We will remind our athletes that they are guests of the Olympic movement, Greece, and the city of Athens and
to be good ambassadors of our country, their communities, families and sports. We want our athletes to be champions who conduct themselves with class and, if it is the case, to lose with grace and dignity. Additionally, we are reminding them to
treat the United States flag with the respect it deserves.
One of the proudest moments of my life was to put on my USA warm-up and represent my country at the 1988 Olympic Games. I know our athletes feel the same way today and we will not in any way infringe upon that honor.
Accomplishments of athletes and teams such as the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team, the great Billy Mills, swimming legend Janet Evans and countless others have inspired our nation. We are certain that the athletes who represent the United
States at the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games will do the same."
To whom this may concern:
I am writing this letter to voice my extreme disappointment at the men's US basketball team selection and perfromance. I take great pride in being an American and I feel that it is our responsibility to field the greatest TEAM that we can field, not just a bunch of one on one showoffs and newcomers. It seemed like the NBA just wanted to try to showcase some of their new talents to draw attention to the NBA rather than field the best possible TEAM to try to bring home the gold medal. We need to field a well balanced, dynamic team that are proud to be playing for AMERICA not themselves. I believe that most of the players on our team are here to showboat and win a medal for themselves not for America. We need to get guys in there that want to play and want to work hard for a medal and still will listen to the coach. I sincerely think (and I am not the only one)that we need to field a group of well-balanced, hard-working college All-Stars that play for their country and not for themselves.
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