Shani Davis was good for his sport and good for the Olympics.
OK, so Shani Davis won't win a popularity contest among his teammates, and he won't supplant Brady Quinn as NBC's favorite athlete, but there's something about Davis I admire.
He's different. Not just because he's black and excelling in a Winter Olympics event, but because he doesn't mind being unique.
So he blew off Melissa Stark after winning the 1,000-meter gold, so what?
So he didn't skate in the team event known as the pursuit, so what? He didn't train for that event. He did train extremely hard for much of his life to excel in the other events.
So he may be slightly immature, selfish, arrogant and vindictive at times, who isn't? Those are human qualities. He's not perfect.
But I think there are two mitigating factors.
First, he won a gold medal. For all of the hype surrounding Bode Miller, it was Davis who backed up the talk. And for all the talk about Chad Hedrick going for five golds, it was Davis who stood on a higher platform at the medal podium. And he still represented the United States.
Secondly, the predominantly white media - myself included - doesn't know what it's like to be a black man in this country. Would we have chips on our shoulders if we shared Davis' life experiences? Maybe. Probably.
So good for Shani Davis. He made speedskating interesting during an otherwise vanilla Olympics. And he's one of ours.
I don't think I ever seen a more unlikeable bunch of Olympians ever. I mean these 2 speedskating clowns, Bode Miller, Michelle Kwan who shouldn't have been on the team to begin with, and so on.
I will say the media has put some interesting spins on Shani..from the talk of Hyde Park and Evanston being portrayed as "lilly white", to NBC's lecturing him on what he should do. I can't imagine what he's going through either - then again, I would look pretty PO'd if my mother was directing my life like his is doing. Poor kid...
I admire this kid also. He is a black kid on a huge stage and he performed in the events that he trained for and obviously excelled. Being black myself, i'm suddenly interested in winter sports just to see if this kid attracts more blacks to the winter games. As far as his mother goes, shame on her. She's obviously one of those people that need to be in a spotlight kind of like Kurt Warner's wife in football. Quite possibly she has been his mother/father figure so it is difficult for him to turn her away. That is the only smear on an otherwise remarkable story. A lot of blacks that I know salute this kid for his courage. We're not surprised about his mother's antics just slightly dissapointed.
I notice no one asked Sasha Cohen to take part in the Pairs Skating or Ice Dancing. She and the others were left alone to train for the events they prepared for.
And what's this about Davis costing Chad Everett 5 Gold Medals? Thad presupposes Everett would have won all five events, including the 1,000 and 1,500 Meter Races. Was Davis supposed to lie down and let Everett win?
I admit Davis could have made better use of the post-race interview. When a mike and camera are pointed at him, he should make use of the opportunity to speak to the public that barely knows him. Fortunately, he seems to have learned that.