Last week the U.S. Olympic Committee told Olympians to tone down post-event celebrations:
In a series of unprecedented meetings, the U.S. Olympic Committee is urging prospective Olympians to mute their celebrations, refine their behavior and refrain from public criticism during the 2004 Games in Athens in an effort to avoid provoking anti-American passions.
USOC officials fear unruly, taunting or inappropriate behavior by U.S. athletes during the Aug. 13-29 Games in Greece would at best evoke embarrassing condemnation from other athletes or international officials and at worst retaliation from anti-American groups.
I think this recommendation is warranted on grounds of general sportsmanship, but do we really need to make a political issue about it? If I was a Middle Eastern terrorist type, I don’t think I’d need a prancing sprinter to stoke the anti-American coals. There’s already plenty of fodder out there. Like 150,000 warring troops parked in the fertile crescent.
But I’m not the Middle Eastern terrorist type. So perhaps I’m not looking at it the right way.