When I was working at the Wagoner Tribune, there was a guy who was a big-wig at the only car dealership in town that wasn’t just a fly-by-night used car lot (even though they never really sold any new cars despite being a GMC franchise.) He would often make somewhat racist and bigoted comments about President Barack Obama around people. As a journalist, you notice more and most of these people would smile nervously and/or look off into space as if they weren’t paying attention.
I have nothing against criticism of any U.S. President (and Obama had a lot to be critical of). No President is perfect, but most of the criticism was about their policies or job performances which is, was and always every Americans’ right. However, most of the criticism I heard toward Obama and his family was about their skin color.
And I’d argue vehemently that if John McCain, who ran as a Republican against Obama in 2008, had listened to his campaign workers and chosen Joe Lieberman instead of Sarah Palin, he might have won by a slim margin. Yes, Lieberman was moderate and but he was leaning more to the right. But Lieberman is Jewish and while people love Isreal they hate Jewish people. Yet, Palin is a woman and no matter if she was an effective leader (which she wasn’t), she still would have cost McCain some votes just on her gender.
In the 1990s, there was criticism that Bill Clinton was picking people for his cabinet, such as Madeline Albright and Janet Reno, because they were women. And it was coming from both sides. Women always have to do more to receive less credit and a lot of times the calls are coming from inside the house. I don’t know how many women I’ve heard say they think the President should “just be a man.”
Maybe it’s the conditioning from birth or just plain old jealousy, but some women don’t feel they should be allowed to do certain things other women have bent over backwards to get changed. And sports is one of those areas in which people still say is geared to be easier toward people with double X chromosomes. That’s what there is so much criticism about the very few transgender women who have been allowed to compete in sports.
Yet you never hear about transgender men who play sports. I wonder why that is.
For the first time in Olympics history, both the men’s and women’s hockey team won the gold medal. What should’ve been a great moment was dashed quickly with video of Kash Patel, the FBI director, celebrating with the men’s team. And to add insult to injury, a personal call between Donald Trump and the team mocked the women’s on their win.
The U.S. came in second behind Norway with 33 medals compared to their 41. That includes 12 gold, 12 silver and nine bronze medals. Yet the only one that the President called in about was the men’s hockey. Now, I understand his defenders will say he’s busy and the time change affects when the call could’ve been made. But the dumbass makes social media posts in the middle of the night as he’s nearly 80. He’s got the time.
And of course, it couldn’t be a simple “Congratulations on a job well done! We’re all proud of you with and all our Olympians.” Not in the least. He mocked the women’s saying he’s probably have to invite them also to the White House and State of the Union address as if it was a hassle. And the team members laughed.
In their defense, they probably didn’t think the phone call was being recorded and uploaded. But it’s 2026. Everyone seems to have a cell phone and social media account. Some players probably didn’t laugh and declined Trump’s invitation. But most players only said something when it made news and I really haven’t heard much of an apology.
The good news is that public opinion is mostly in support of the women’s team and against the men’s team. They’ve received outpouring of support from Stanley Tucci who made them a meal and Flavor Flav, as well as other celebrities. And the coup de grace was how the men’s team were treated by the President who didn’t even provide a cheap banquet dinner of baked chicken and rice pilaf. No, they got cheeseburgers from McDonalds and bottled water. That’s all. And you know those cheeseburgers weren’t fresh and hot.
As from the photo making the rounds on the Internet, you can see the regret in some of the players. Yes, they got invited to the White House but you do know that the President is sent a bill for all the food they consume, especially for private parties. So, if you think Trump is even going to pony up the money for gourmet burgers, you have another thing coming. I’m sure even with D.C. area prices, he didn’t spend $100 if that.
I’ve even heard people say because he did a commercial back in the day with Grimace, he worked out a deal to get free McDonald’s. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But Trump is the type of person who has screwed over many vendors and contractors so it’s likely someone else paid for the burgers.
The bad news is that this puts a stain on the win for the team as it was their first gold medal win in nearly 50 years. (To be honest, I feel that whole Miracle on Ice was some Cold War propaganda bullshit that got twisted. The game with the U.S. and the Soviet Union wasn’t even for the gold.) It’s very likely it will remain a blemish on U.S.’s hockey team for many decades. That means people who make the team in future Olympics will have this PR huddle to overcome.
No one likes a sore winner. That’s even worse than a sore loser. When the public went out and supported Nancy Kerrigan after her attack, she ended up showing her true colors both at the awards presentation and later at Disney World. Then there was gymnast McKayla Maroney who happened to be caught photographed with a look as if she wasn’t impressed during the presentation as she had won silver. Maroney later had fun with this by posing with Obama during a meeting. I’m sure it wasn’t sour grapes just a look on her face from a photograph taken out of context. But a picture says a thousand words. Look at the “Keanu Sad” meme or the “Triggered” women meme.
While I’d argue that we sometimes put too much emphasis on sports, most of the Olympics athletes are regular people. And there’s a great feeling for Regular Joe and Jane winning. It’s just too sad we have a President who hates women and people of color. There are none on the men’s team. And yes, hockey is one of the cornerstone sports of the winter Olympics, all U.S. medal winners should get an invite to the White House.
In conclusion, for those still thinking women’s sports isn’t as entertaining. Around this time back in 2009, I covered the girl’s basketball team area playoffs. It was the deciding game that would determine who would go to the state tournament in Oklahoma City. It went into four overtimes. The boys’ teams were standing in the hallways from the locker rooms watching and by the second OT, everyone was on their feet and cheering.
Neither team back down. But Wagoner High School advanced mostly on free throws from fouls that put them ahead. It was a great game and both teams played pretty well though they were probably tired. And in other news, I fought hard for women athletes to be included on the front page when they won tournaments or big titles. Yet I got criticism for not showing equal attention to boy’s teams that didn’t win because they played horribly.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 