No, the American Olympic medalists aren't all a bunch of rich kids

[cali]

Bode Miller isn't. He grew up in a cabin in the NH woods without electricity or running water. He learned to ski on Cannon Mtn., a rough and tumble area owned by the state with no snowmaking and won a scholarship to CVA, a ski academy in Maine.

Hannah Kearney isn't. She learned to ski at her local area. Her dad is a carpenter. She won the gold in women's moguls competition.

Hannah Teter is another medalist who didn't grow up in a privileged way. Her father is on the road crew of the tiny town she grew up in. Her mom is a nurse.

Shaun White doesn't come from money. Neither does Seth Wescott or Kelly Clark. They all won medal this year. Past Olympic gold medalist Ross Powers didn't grow up rich. Shani Davis didn't either.

Yes, there are, I'm sure, lots of privileged kids on the winter olympics team, but there are also a lot of winter olympians who don't come from a pampered background.

[GoCubsGo]

1. Thank you!

I really don't understand all the Olympics-bashing I have been seeing here lately.

[cali]

3. there ae some here who apparently have a bias against winter sports

beats me as to why.

[GoCubsGo]

7. There also seem to be some that have a bias agaist sports PERIOD

Fine, whatever. I don't understand why they feel the need to crap on it for everyone else.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

28. Competition isn't seen as "progressive" by some here. (EOM)

[KonaKane]

57. "Some say". Very FOX News of you.

Don't you think you should be more honest than that crowd and actually NAME the people you are talking about, with your evidence?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

64. Sorry if I haven't bookmarked all relevant topics for future reference

It was "some here", by the way. You've got your own way of spinning things now, don't you?

[KonaKane]

65. Why don't you just come out and name them, then?

Isn't that more honest?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

69. Name who?

People's usernames? I don't sit here cataloguing what "Joe27564923" or "ILUVMYCATS" wrote.

Are you going to claim that no one has come to these boards to say they dislike sports because it fosters aggression and bullies, for example?

There was one in thread yesterday, if you are so interested. I suppose it won't be enough for you.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7765644#7766232

[Thothmes]

45. probably the geek kids in gym

[Codeine]

61. I was a geek kid in gym.

Now I'm a middle-aged bald geek dude! I didn't care for sports then, but as an adult I've discovered a passion for soccer that's nearly pathological.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. I haven't seen any of that. Of whom are you speaking?

[cali]

19. look around

and then there are those who are just ignorant and post stuff that reflects that.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. Who are you talking about?

Really, I haven't seen any anti winter games posts.

Stupid abounds in some threads. Arrogance in others. Assholery in still others. But no anti winter games threads.

So who do you mean?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

29. Just the other day someone posted Bryant Gumbel's rant....

....from a few years ago about how the Winter Olympics were not about the world's best athletes and were also racist.

And there were plenty here agreeing with it.

[fishwax]

43. well, for the record, Gumbel didn't say that the games were racist

It was weird to see that quote from four years ago pop up again with no acknowledgment that the quote was four years old. I did a google search and saw it show up on many right-wing sites and blogs, so it seemed pretty clear that the intent was simply to sow discord.

[Posteritatis]

37. A spike in it started around the election

Palin's kids play hockey, therefore hockey's evil, therefore winter sports etc.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I have nothing against the Olympics. I love watching, but the way they are

covered is another matter. I wish they would spend more time showing the actual competition in the various sports and less time idolizing the individual personalities. It seems to me that the lion's share of the coverage is spent on the top two or three competitors for the events instead of event itself.

[jwirr]

2. Many children are sponsored by the rich from their own community.

In Duluth there used to be a wealthy family that sponsored various children in both skating and other winter sports. A rather unpleasant example of this is the DuPont sex offender who supported the wrestlers in Delaware. He had ulterior motives but most do not.

[cali]

4. sure. but there are also programs like

Jake Burton's Chill Program which gets poor kids and inner city kids on the slopes and provides everything from boards to clothing to lift tickets. Ross Powers runs a program that sponsors underprivileged kids. And it is a different story for kids who grow up in skiing communities.

[sandnsea]

17. Argh, we were the boxing team in our town

Our boys sold raffle tickets, coaches sold ad spots on the ring and in programs, we begged for money to take boys to regional and national competitions when they won. Yes some wealthy people donated along with the not wealthy. That is hardly being sponsored by the rich in a community.

[jwirr]

31. I live in a very small community outside of Duluth and have not paid

much attention to this issue other than what is written here but I do know that both of my lower middle class nieces were asked to join the USA soccer team. One turned them down because she wanted to go to college instead and the other broke her ankle the week of the finals. They played on school and local teams and were not sponsored as far as I know.

[progressoid]

5. They're all in it for the money!

Especially those curlers! They want to steal the Nike endorsement deal away from Tiger!

[cali]

6. aargh. my eyes.

The Norwegians are clearly trying to blind their opponents.

[GoCubsGo]

9. They got nuthin' on some of those ice dancers.

A cavalcade of other horrors here: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/slideshow/ss.113#photoViewer=urn%3Anewsml%3Asports.yahoo%2Cgetty%3A20050301%3Aoly%2Cphoto%2C4964c5326570b36d329435e78afd20ad-getty-oly-2010-fskate-ice-dance%2C113%3A2

[ThomCat]

11. Those two are being criticized internationally for their routine being racist.

They are mocking native/aboriginal people as savages, and they refuse to change their routine despite the criticism. In parts of the routine, the guy does some deliberately ape-like gestures and movements, apparently implying that native people are animals, or like animals.

:(

I don't know if you can tell from this picture. But if you didn't see them on TV, Their costumes are mostly nude colored fabric, with ornamentation made up to look as if they are painted, wearing skimpy native loin cloths, tassels and leaves.

I was very, very happy when the next pair beat their score with their India folk dance (I think it's called "Kuchipudi"(sp?)) inspired routine.

I didn't get to see all the scored after that. But I did see parts of the routines. The pair dressed in Israeli folk garb were fantastic too. I hope they scored well.

[GoCubsGo]

12. I turned those two off

They were revolting.

[DevonRex]

16. Yes, they were. nt

[DevonRex]

15. I watched them and I was horrified by the stupid grins they had on their faces.

The costumes were horrible enough. But add the facial expressions and it's clear that they intended to present aboriginal people as stupid savages.

They insulted all aboriginal people, the viewers and ice dancers. And I didn't think ice dancing could get any worse.

Thank God for the American couple that came up next. And the couple after them. Those couples were athletic, artistic and dignified.

[WolverineDG]

34. They're currently 3rd

I think Canada is in 1st & a US team is in 2nd. The final event is tonight & I'll just bet they find a way for the Russians to win like they always do, whether they deserve it or not. :grr:

dg

[MagickMuffin]

50. US Champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White are sitting in 2nd place

Their routine was based on Bollywood music and dance. They went to a Bollywood gym in their area and she taught them the dance routine. They won EVERY competition last season with their Original Dance and Free Dance.


I'm so hoping they can win the GOLD! :applause: GO MERYL AND CHARLIE :applause:

[TuxedoKat]

62. The second and third songs in their routine

were from the movie "Devdas", if you liked the music. The movie and the soundtrack are both great BTW with incredible dancing and music. I think I read they spent $100,000 on one of the women's costumes too in that film too. Loved that ice dancing routine. Hope the US or the Canadians win the gold. I didn't like the Russians routine made me uncomfortable to watch it.

[AwakeAtLast]

56. The Canadian team was fantastic!

The USA team in 2nd place were very good, too.

Not only were the Russian costumes distasteful, they were ugly and not made very well. They didn't fit right. :shrug:

[ElboRuum]

60. Ye. Gods. n/t

[Diclotican]

36. progressoid

progressoid


HEIA NORGE;) One of the few high lights in this Olympic games, when it came to Norway... Dam we who often got all the glory, we are behind when it came to gold medals...

Diclotican

[progressoid]

39. You guys are doing pretty well in curling.

Do those pants help?

[Diclotican]

53. progressoid

progressoid

True, they do pretty well this days in curling, but in our main events we sucks... Don't know why, but it looks like we are sleeping at the weel this time.. Oh well, can't get all the medals in Olympic all the time I guess:evilgrin:

Don't know if the pants help to win in curling, but it can't hurt either. And it defently is given the curling team something to show for.. They even want to give our king a pair of it. He and the queen are in Vancover to look at the games As he allways do when Norway are in the olympic games.. And he love wintersports also, so I guess he is a winner regardness if Norway win or loose:)

Diclotican

[KamaAina]

46. Your hockey team looked okay against the Swiss the other day

Vikingstad's hat trick was only the second of the tournament.

[Diclotican]

54. KamaAina

KamaAina

True, but I doubt we wil get some gould out of it, Hockey are tradionally not our best winter sports. But we can allways hope for a gould there too:)

Diclotican

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

52. My, aren't the Norwegians Mr. Fancypants.

[Diclotican]

55. ChimpersMcSmirkers

ChimpersMcSmirkers

It's a gimic, but a funny gimic then;)

Diclotican

[1776Forever]

8. I watched a documentary on Jim Thorpe the other day - Back in 1912 Olympics he was the exception.

But he showed you didn't have to be a rich "gentleman" to win! I was surprised that at that time almost all the competition except for the USA Team were rich men who did this for a hobby. How times have changed in this case for the better is great news! Everyone should be able to be as good as they can in anything! That is the American Dream!

[cherokeeprogressive]

33. King Gustav: You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world. Jim Thorpe: Thanks, King.

I love that.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. A lot of the athletes are sponsored by corporations, too

They're put on the payroll of a company, but their "job" is to work on their sport.

The rules on amateurism used to be ridiculously strict, based on the assumption that all the athletes were rich amateurs living off trust funds.

I recall Olympic athletes appearing on TV, being celebrity contestants on a quiz show, maybe, and there being an announcement at the end of the program saying, "Mr./Ms. Athlete is donating his/her winnings/appearance fees to the U.S. Whatever Their Sport Was Association."

Now they all have sponsors and endorsements and are essentially pros. Nothing wrong with that, though.

[fishwax]

42. many, though, actually do work at those jobs they're hired for

Home Depot, for instance, hires a lot of Olympians and Olympic hopefuls. They actually work for their paycheck, but their schedules are flexible and they get a full time paycheck for a half-time schedule. It's a good program for the athletes because most of those who are out of college have to pay for their own coaches, and it can be difficult to find work that will accommodate the demanding training and competition schedule.

[KittyWampus]

18. Ah, but some negative cultural legacies do live on and continue to impact sports & who participates.

Remember when DU'ers learned about who swims, who doesn't and why?

[Tailormyst]

20. I hit my first black diamonds on Cannon!

[cali]

22. it's a rugged place

well known for its boilerplate conditions. I've had some hairy moments on that mountain.

[Tailormyst]

35. I loved it

I was like 9 or 10 zipping down those 3 runs with all the moguls. My parents were sure I was nuts.

[moondust]

23. Lift tickets ain't cheap.

I suppose the assumption is that a lot of winter olympians in downhill events more or less grew up in ski resorts where somebody had to pay for a lot of lift tickets for them to get good enough to compete in the olympics. Obviously a person can learn to cross-country most anyplace that has cold winters or skate at an indoor rink, which are much more common now than they used to be.

[cali]

24. but they can be free

and they can be cheap. schools run no cost skiing including equipment here. Work at a ski area in any capacity and skiing is free for you and your family. If you're a resident, deep discounts are often available. There are programs run for kids who can't afford boarding or downhill skiing in nearly every town here.

[moondust]

25. Olympic class slopes there?

[cali]

26. well, let's see: Hannah Kearney: Gold medal

Hannah Teter: Gold Turin, Silver Vancouver. Kelly Clark: Bronze Vancouver. Bode Miller: Bronze Silver and Gold, Vancouver, Seth Wescott, gold in Turin, gold in Vancouver.

No, the slopes here in VT, NH and ME aren't Olympic class, but we turn out lots and lots of Olympic skiers and boarders.

[Gormy Cuss]

71. I don't know about VT or NH but Sugarloaf in ME hosted World Cup races

Sugarloaf is the mountain in the Carabassett Valley, where CVA (Bode's old school) is located.

[MrsMatt]

27. Lindsey Vonn

started skiing in Minnesota (Buck Hill). Not many mountains here.

[SoxFan]

63. Bode Miller learned to ski at a state-owned area

Bode learned the sport on the slopes of Cannon Mountain, which is part of Franconia Notch State Park in his hometown of Franconia, NH. The state owns and operates the ski area, which is known as an affordable yet very challenging place. A lot of middle class families ski at Cannon because it's more affordable than any other major ski area in northern New England, far cheaper than nearby Loon Mountain and Waterville Valley.

[DevonRex]

30. They're actually not bad if you buy season passes early and

that's your main form of entertainment. My kids saved up over the summer and bought their own. When they ski every weekend from October through May it's really cheap.

[Jennicut]

32. And I love watching them live their dreams.

[SoxFan]

38. Bode is wildly popular with the Cannon regulars

My dad is one of them; he has bought a Cannon season pass yearly since he retired. It's actually a challenging area, with some fast, icy runs, but as toe OP pointed out, it's got a blue collar vibe. Definitely different than Waterville or Loon.

[cali]

40. It's the Burke Mtn. of NH

lots of duct tape on jackets.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

41. Bullshit!

They're all rich.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7717897&mesg_id=7718508

[Lochloosa]

67. Clever

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

44. ZOMG, You mean I can cheer for them now????

I wasn't so sure after reading some of the miserable posts around here.

[cali]

48. heh. nope. no cheering

because even though Bode and the others didn't grow up in wealth, they've got the big bucks now.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

51. F$@#, I knew there was a catch....

[a la izquierda]

47. k & r

[KamaAina]

49. And, of course, all summer Olympians come from the inner city or from hardscrabble farms

especially in spoerts like fencing.

:sarcasm:

[leftyclimber]

68. I learned to fence in a $35/year community program that provided all the equipment.

I was the captain of my university's women's foil team -- the university paid all our entry fees and travel, but we weren't NCAA, so there were no scholarships. It worked to our benefit because we did not have limits on how many hours we could practice (although it wasn't the greatest for the GPA). I worked in the summers to pay my tuition (this was in the late 80s, when you could still do that at a state school) . My parents could not and did not support my fencing habit. My one credit card (one of those student jobs with a $750 credit limit) was constantly maxed out. My coach, an Olympic gold medalist in men's foil who grew up in poverty in Korea, worked out a deal with me where I tutored his daughter in English composition in exchange for fencing lessons. I rode the bus or walked everywhere.

By the time I graduated college I was starting to compete in international tournaments, which I did by getting a full-time secretarial job -- hardly high paying. I lived on 3k a year (one-bedroom apt, 3 people, lots of ramen) and spent the rest of my paycheck on travel, entry fees, and equipment (the stuff required for high level tournaments is not what parks and rec fencing clubs provide, so once you get to a particular level you have to have your own). My club -- which was through a city parks and rec department -- let me teach fencing after college instead of paying the membership fee. I coached at the university to get some extra practice time in. The club covered some of my local tournament entry fees. People from my fencing club would carpool for hundreds of miles to get to tournaments. In the club leader's VW van with no heat.

Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of little rich kids out there fencing, but a lot of us fencing on the national/international level were working in crap jobs, maxing out our credit cards, and doing our damndest to make the US team to finally get health insurance (I had it through my job, but I was one of the lucky ones). I'd say it was about a 50-50 split between rich kids and poor kids, and I'd be lying if I said that the 50% I fell in didn't resent the rich kids for getting to fence full-time. We just had to work that much harder, so we did. Because we wanted it.

Ultimately it was a lousy doctor that ended my Olympic dreams, not the money -- I would have lived like a pauper for the rest of my life if that was what it took. Just my luck I blew out my knee and ended up with the doctor who blew me off as a woman exaggerating the pain. Parents from the fencing club -- whose kids I taught, kids from every SES -- searched high and low for a doctor who would fix my knee. Unfortunately that doctor turned up a year after I injured it, but it took that network of parents to help me find the help I needed. At that point the knee was too fucked up to fence seriously any more because I'd been walking around on it for so long. So I "retired," unwillingly, from the sport I loved and still love. And I still don't watch the summer Olympics, because it's a painful reminder of what could have been.

And don't forget about the Peter Westbrook Foundation, which provides opportunities to fence in inner-city communities all over the US. Westbrook, America's first fencing medalist (bronze-1984-men's sabre) grew up in inner-city LA, learned to fence through the LA parks and rec department, got an academic scholarship to Columbia in computer science -- AND wasn't allowed to train at NYAC for years because he's black. He made do, too.

So spare me your sarcasm, dude. Not all fencers are rich, nor do all fencers come from rich families.

[KamaAina]

70. Yale '85 here

it always seemed that the same few schools were competing in the NCAAs: the Ivies, Stanford and a few elite state schools like UVa.

I actually saw the Peter Westbrook Foundation on 60 Minutes. I thought it was just a feel-good story in a week with no revelations of weapons of mass destruction or whatever. I had no idea it was making a genuine impact. Good on them!

The unheated bus and all sounds like quite a story. Time for a fencing movie? "On The Edge", perhaps? At the very least, it would make for a much better human interest story during the London Games than the usual tripe about how the synchronized swimmer's poodle died when she was 3. :eyes:

AND wasn't allowed to train at NYAC for years because he's black.

Of course, other sports have racist elitism, too. If you don't believe me, just ask Venus and Serena Williams' dad Richard.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not point out an unusual source of grassroots swordfighting: the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of medieval enthusiasts who take the Renaissance Faire concept to the next level. (The verdict on me the one time I tried it: "Tell him he's hitting too hard!") I wonder if any SCA fighters have ever transitioned into competitive fencing?

Thank you, and en garde!

[leftyclimber]

73. Not sure about the SCA fencers.

A couple of kids in the local club got interested in fencing through the SCA (they made lovely chainmail, too). And a few competitive fencers in my area used to go to SCA tourneys and get garb from Gold Key to go knock the snot out of the SCA-only guys. :)

NCAA doesn't have a lot of fencing scholarships, true, but there are several hundred thousand registered (with the USFA) competitive fencers in the US, and quite a few recreational fencers who don't compete (hard to get the numbers on that). Most of the competitive college fencers out there participate in club sports, like I did. Most tournaments are fencing-community-wide events, so the NCAA fencing stuff is more of a chance to fence with/against the same group of kids -- the ones who are being "groomed." Notre Dame and whatever university's in Rochester, NY are the two biggest fencing schools, or at least were when I was fencing -- Notre Dame because of the coach (5-time Olympian) and Rochester's because of the huge fencing club that is there. I do remember experiencing some serious smug satisfaction when I wiped the floor with the captain of the Columbia U. foil team at Nationals one year, though. :evilgrin:

Westbrook is in a class of his own. Genuine, sincere, modest ... I don't know anyone in fencing who doesn't/didn't respect and love him. All-around good guy. He does a lot of his charity work on the QT, but he makes a big difference in a lot of young lives, and I'd be remiss not to point out that a lot of the well-to-do fencing families (it tends to be generational) put a load of money into the Foundation to make it happen, much of it out of genuine respect for Westbrook as a person, and much of it because they love fencing and want everyone to be able to try it.

"On The Edge" ... God, there's a flashback. That was based on an actual incident, when Matthias Behr's (Germany) blade broke and punctured his opponent's mask. My coach was there when it happened and used it as a cautionary tale about the dangers of broken blades and poorly kept masks. Behr quit fencing until he realized that he enjoyed all the perks that came with being on the German national team, at which point he made a rather rapid comeback.

I hate the "poodle" stories as much I hate the "kayaker living in his truck by the river and eating nothing but ramen" stories (I think that one was in '88). You either end up with a person who's experienced no real tragedy or a glorification of how desperately people will live to make the Games. There are a lot of people out there doing that in a lot of sports. Hooray! One of the pairs skaters is a couple who drives a tow truck and waits tables! :puke:

And finally, yes. There is racism in just about every sport. It's disgusting and needs to go. Westbrook was one of the reasons NYAC desegregated -- they realized what asses they looked like not letting an Olympic athlete into their club.

[KamaAina]

72. Addendum: You know what made me think of fencing?

Republican Stepdad fenced for Columbia. He grew up in a house that looks like the set for "Dead Poets Society". His family was influential enough that he was once considered for a Congressional seat.

Of course, that was over 40 years ago. The Ivy League has changed since then (I'm living proof!), and it appears that fencing has as well.

Of all people to tick off: she who has so often helped out my cyber-sis Lyric. Sorry...

[leftyclimber]

74. There are a lot of your stepdad out there fencing, still.

And it's an easy sport to go after because it does look like a money sport.

I have a cousin who got an academic full ride to Barnard in the '70s (that side of the family is made up mostly of loggers and millworkers, or were until the timber industry collapsed). She learned to fence there and was on the club fencing team. The only reason I know about Westbrook and NYAC is because he and my cousin used to fence together -- neither of them were allowed into NYAC, between the skin color and the plumbing! I idolized my cousin, wanted to give fencing a whack, and found out for the first time in my life that there was a sport I was actually good at. It took a huge support network of other fencers to make it happen, as has been the case with many of us. If anyone shows one iota of talent at the sport people will step up for them to some degree.

A couple of the high school kids in my area who were very good fencers came from families where dad made a cool half-mil a year and mom drove the kids around to private school and fencing stuff. The brother was a cool, funny kid who was embarrassed by the whole thing and the sister was a cast-iron b-word. Neither of them made the national team, and I'm not sure if they fenced in college. There were other parents sending their kids to train in Germany in hopes of making them the Next Great Medalist Hope. But most of us fencers were not well-off and really scrambled to make it happen. We had a couple of people in our area who were on multiple Olympic teams and still going -- they offered a helluva lot more help and advice to the ones of us who were scrabbling than the ones whose parents were footing the bills. It's a real mix, economically, although a few fencers really are rich assholes, just like most other sports. Ethnically, it's still mostly white and Asian, although there's starting to be more AA and Latino fencers coming in.

Pax, man. I figured it was lack of knowing, but after all I and many of my friends went through to try to get there I kind of blew up a little. Sorry about that.

[Zomby Woof]

58. There's a speed skater

I can't recall his name, but I do recall learning that his parents mortgaged their house FOUR TIMES to help pay for his equipment, training, and travel over the years.

On DU, people get to bash you for being rich, bash you for living in a trailer, bash you for having a southern accent, or bash you for just about anything that doesn't conform to their overly tidy and unrealistic worldview.

[Midlodemocrat]

59. +1

[Lochloosa]

66. Oh to be 20 again....

Those pigtails just do it for me.

Hannah Kearney