Three Cheers For Alicia Sacramone

I have a hard time watching Gymnastics. If just drives me nuts because I get so nervous. It is frustrating that very young people that can do such amazing things and under the biggest pressure one can imagine have to be so darn perfect. IT is a state of perfection that I think it is unmatched in any sport.

Well watching Alicia Sacramone last night about tore me up. I so agree with what I saw at the Corner a minute ago:

I Heart Alicia Sacramone [Mike Potemra]
I've been boycotting the Olympics coverage—in large measure because I think the Communist Chinese dictatorship represents a greater long-term threat to world peace and freedom than the Islamofascist cavemen (whom we are already defeating in Afghanistan, Iraq, and in fact wherever we take them on). But principle broke down last night when my girlfriend called to say that Alicia Sacramone was about to perform.

This U.S. gymnast is from the Boston area, and caught my attention when she glowered off the front page of a local Boston independent paper—she had a tough-girl look that reminded me of an earlier U.S. Olympian, the legendary Tonya Harding. Well, last night, she made a couple of mistakes that ended up costing the U.S. a gold medal. The AP reports that the U.S. team is blaming Chinese stadium officials for distracting her—maybe that's a fair charge, maybe not, I don't know. But Sacramone herself steps up to the plate and accepts blame, admitting she "lost [her] nerve." Last night, she was visibly close to tears—years of training and commitment had culminated in failure. But she recognizes that sometimes, despite our best efforts and intentions, despite—in her case—obvious amazing talent . . . we simply blow it. Of course it hurts, and it's okay to be disappointed and even angry—but not ashamed. She has nothing to be ashamed of; in her performance, and her subsequent comments, she's been a class act.
08/13 05:23 PM