| Destiny and Sportsmanship
29 August 2004
Anything can happen in the Olympics.
Patricia Radcliff went to Athens and no one would believe she didn't
have the women's marathon in the bag, yet she didn't even get a
medal.
Tyler Hamilton came to the Olympics after having pulled out of the
Tour de France because of an injury a month ago and won gold in
the men's time trial.
Who would have ever thought a year and a half a go that Iraq would
be playing for the bronze medal in football? And after 52 years
without a gold medal, who would have thought Argentina would have
gotten gold in soccer and basketball?
The Lithuanians went to Athens to win the gold medal in basketball.
They are the reigning European champions, and after going 5-0 in
the group phase, they seemed to be on track. But Spain was 5-0 too,
and they didn't make it passed the quarter finals.
I was cheering for Argentina on Friday night. For a lot of reasons,
most importantly that I don't like the NBA or it's players and this
American team was not a team but a collection of excellent individual
players for whom the Olympics is something they have to do. However,
that backfired on us here in Lietuva because it seems we were destined
to play the United States again. Last night was an excellent game.
Both teams played incredibly. It was hands down the best game I
saw the US play in this Olympics and Macijauskas made 3-point after
3-point. One thing is for sure, if the NBA doesn't offer lucrative
contracts to Macijauskas and Jasekevicius after this tournament,
they truly are insane.
As the game drew to a close, the bar I was sitting in, and indeed
all Lithuania, became very quiet. But when the clock finally ran
down, they lit sparklers in the bar and they began chanting "Aciu!
Aciu!" (Thank you thank you). Outside on the street, people
sang the Lithuanian Olympic theme song and cheered "Lietuva!
Lietuva!!!" Though it was a little more sedate than last Saturday,
they were waving flags, cheering and singing all over the city and
I have to say that I'm pretty proud of the good sportsmanship my
country men showed. It's not to say that the country as a whole
isn't utterly shocked and dejected, but it's recognized that it
was an excellent game and both teams played extremely well. And
let's keep in mind, that the pool of athletes to choose from in
Lithuania is a fraction of that of the US, Italy and Argentina.
The boys did good.
I look forward to going to the Cathedral Square Monday night for
the welcoming ceremony for all the Olympic athletes. And incase
you didn't notice, Lithuania has a few other medals. Silvers in
heptathlon and pantaloon and gold in discus.
But that's the Olympics.
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