Was Shani Davis Wrong?

AofG Update -- Crazy Cozmo here: After painful AofG 80 posts, Shani Davis went Gap Band on Chad Hedrick after finishing 2 & 3 in their last race. Davis and Hedrick were playing nice in front of the press for a good 30 minutes. Then, he just blew Hedrick off the podium with "I'm just gonna throw this out there...it would have been nice if after the 1000 meters he could have been a good teammate and shook my hand. Just like I hugged him after he won the 5000 meters" and then walked off the stage, and coherently mumbled "Kill Whitey." (Ok, ok, I made that last part up.) Then, Hedrick followed by ripping Shani for missing the opening ceremony and not getting into the "Olympic spirit."

He might as well have said "I know you are but what am I?"

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From Deadspin.com:

American Shani Davis won a gold medal earlier today in the 1000m speedskating event, becoming the first black person to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history. Debi Thomas won a bronze in figure skating in 1988, and Vonetta Flowers won a gold medal as a member of the women’s bobsled team in 2002. Joey Cheek, the guy who donated all of his prize money from an earlier gold medal win refugees Darfur, finished second, collecting a silver medal and $15,000 more to donate.

Of course, the medal was not awarded without a little bit of drama. Another American skater, Chad Hedrick, was mad at Davis because Davis skipped out on an earlier relay event, leaving Hendrick, who was hoping to challenge Eric Heiden’s record of five golds in one Olympics, stuck with a slower skater, and ultimately doomed to lose in the quarterfinals. Someone asked Hedrick afterwards if he was happy for Shani Davis, and he said, “I’m happy for Joey.” Dick.

So, do the relay dudes have a right to be pissy with Mr. Davis? My answer? No Fucking Way. You can run the team angle all you please, but the fact of the matter is that all of the blood, sweat, tears, and dealing with what I've heard has been some ridiculous racial bullshit, is something that I'm sure Shani did largely without the help of any of his fellow skaters. He took care of himself, he made history, and to all the super self-absorbed pricks like Hedrick who think Davis should've jeopardized his shot at glory for them I'm sending a very hearty GFY.

Comments

[UC]

I'm happy for Davis as he is a fellow South Sider and, by all accounts, he's a decent guy - but total dick move on his part. Unacceptable.

You get all the way to the Olympics, after all that training, and then you tell your teammates to fuck off because, maybe, your feelings were hurt by someone along the way.

Wah, wah, wah. Cry me a river.

There was a thing on Davis on the Chicago news last night. They had cameras at the party where people in Chicago who knew him gathered to watch. Other than his family and direct friends, it was a whole bunch of white people. Some were interviewed and they were people who knew him all the way back to his days as a kid coming up in the speed skating circles. They were happy.

I'm sick of people using this racial bullshit to act like the world is out to get them. Yeah, dipshit, the world is out to get everybody. Life can suck. For everybody. Get over it.

That doesn't mean you have to get to the Olympics and then ditch your teammates because it somehow makes you feel tough. Christ almighty. Get over this shit already. PATHETIC!

Selfish.

Then again, Davis did his victory lap in a White Sox cap, so we're all good.

[UC]

By the way, Jackie, if a black dude had done this to other black dudes, you'd be ripping him a new one for being a baby/primadonna.

But when a black guy does it to white dudes, it's somehow taking a stand.

Ridiculous. And very typical.

[Uncle Leo]

Forget the olympics...

Can we get some Yankee talk going?

[daveNYC]

Since hanging your team out to dry seems to be cool now, does this mean that Scottie Pippen is out of the dog house?

[Babu Bhatt]

I was ging to post my thoughts, but they would just be redundant after UC's post.

"You can run the team angle all you please, but the fact of the matter is that all of the blood, sweat, tears, and dealing with what I've heard has been some ridiculous racial bullshit, is something that I'm sure Shani did largely without the help of any of his fellow skaters." -JC

Yeah WTF-ever. Before you go throwing around phrases like "ridiculous racial bullshit" you could at least throw some examples out there. I'm guessing you have absolutly NO PROOF whatsoever of any "racial bullshit" this guy had to deal with. I looked everywhere couldn't find anything.

This guy shafted his teammates, thats a bitch move...but that does not bother me as much as you tossing the race card everytime controversy surrounds a black person.

[Jackie]

"Since hanging your team out to dry seems to be cool now, does this mean that Scottie Pippen is out of the dog house?"

No.

Hey Daveinnyc, on more than one occassion you've steered in the right direction, but this certainly isn't one of them. The two situtaions are far from the same. Most glaringly, which individual sport was it that Scottie Pippen was a part of?

Here's some, Uncle Leo. I hear that Jorge Posada and Randy Johnson were seen having dinner together in Chelsea. And although I'm thinking this is the year even the folks in the third tier last row will be able to see the pitchfork sticking out of Jorge Posada's back, I still rather have him at the plate in a big spot than Kelly Friggin' Stinnett.

As if Chad Hedrick wasn't all about himself..Punkass..The Us still got a gold or are you forgetting that?

[Jack Klompus]

Instead of both simply being "Olympic Gold Medalists," one has added "gutless" to his resume, while the other has added "whiny bitch." Way to go, fellas.

[UC]

How was Chad Hedrick all about himself? I'm guessing you know absolutely nothing about him.

Hedrick wanted to win another medal in the relay. I'm guessing that so did the other two dudes on the team. Davis hung them out to dry. So, yeah, I can understand why he's pissed off.

What was Hedrick supposed to do - smile and say everything is OK? He was screwed over by a dude who had the gall to train for months (years?) as a teammate before deciding to ditch them at the last second.

If Davis had a problem with some people, fine. But then don't be a part of the team at all. From the start. Total bitch move by Davis. He took his ball and went home like a little girl.

Dick move.

And, no, Jackie, there isn't any difference between Pippen refusing to take the court with his teammates and Davis telling his teammates to fuck off - no matter how hard you squint at it through your race-colored glasses.

[eric henderson]

It seems that race, the probable offender, or some other burr in the American underwear, has clouded us to some basic logic that would show the plain stupidity of hating on Davis for not competing in the Team Pursuit.

The major angle touted in the press was not a team angle, but rather the INDIVIDUAL goal of "getting Heiden's five" for Hedrick. Glad to see that slowly but surely, some journalists are beginning to see this guy as a whiner.

Davis doesn't whine - love him, hate him. Bill Russell did the same thing - talked to you straight, love him hate him. The problem is that most journalists have that "wanna be loved" chip on their own shoulders...complicated by an American public feeling largeley dissed by a black man not assuming a cultural American position that mimics their own. Hedrick is thus a clear, small picture, of the average American...the one that keeps our social progress average indeed, leaving merit and hard work aside for petty race games.

[eric henderson]

It seems that race, the probable offender, or some other burr in the American underwear, has clouded us to some basic logic that would show the plain stupidity of hating on Davis for not competing in the Team Pursuit.

The major angle touted in the press was not a team angle, but rather the INDIVIDUAL goal of "getting Heiden's five" for Hedrick. Glad to see that slowly but surely, some journalists are beginning to see this guy as a whiner.

Davis doesn't whine - love him, hate him. Bill Russell did the same thing - talked to you straight, love him hate him. The problem is that most journalists have that "wanna be loved" chip on their own shoulders...complicated by an American public feeling largely dissed by a black man not assuming a cultural American position that mimics their own. Hedrick is thus a clear, small picture, of the average America...the one that keeps our social progress average indeed, leaving merit and hard work aside for petty race games.

[MM]

I don't know about the racial aspect of this whole U.S. speed skating team, but hate to point out the obvious: there are not too many black olympians at the Winter Olympics, ever.

Anyway, Olympic glory is all about the indivdual unless its a team sport, like hockey or something. Why are people getting all bent out of shape over this? Any way you look at it all of these athletes want gold medals for their individual glory and mantle-- whether the medals come by team relays or individual races. Of course, to win in an individual race has far greater significance. It's silly to condemn those who would rather sacrifice their shot at individual glory for the team's sake! Gimme a break, this the Olympics!

Davis chose what was best for him, and by the results his choice was clearly vindicated with an individual gold medal. Besides, he holds like the world record for one of the events in speed skating, and it's not a team world record. He's an individualist who is black, and now an individual, Winter, Olympic, Gold medalist. Stop whining!

[eric henderson]

It seems that race, the probable offender, or some other burr in the American underwear, has clouded us to some basic logic that would show the plain stupidity of hating on Davis for not competing in the Team Pursuit.

The major angle touted in the press was not a team angle, but rather the INDIVIDUAL goal of "getting Heiden's five" for Hedrick. Glad to see that slowly but surely, some journalists are beginning to see this guy as a whiner.

Davis doesn't whine - love him, hate him. Bill Russell did the same thing - talked to you straight, love him hate him. The problem is that many sports journalists have that "wanna be loved" chip on their own shoulders...complicated by an American public feeling largely dissed by a black man not assuming a cultural American position that mimics their own. Journalists and other Americans have a prescribed way for Davis and other black athletes' patriotic behaviour.

Hedrick is thus a clear, small picture, of the average America...the one that keeps our social progress average indeed, leaving merit and hard work aside for petty race games.

Only in this context can we celebrate, let's see...Walt Whitman and the folks he inspired across disciplines and endeavours as a brash, free-spirited, American individualists while Shani Davis becomes villain.

He's not T.O.

I think he's an American and a patriot, just taking him at his word.

[UC]

Eric, I'm far from a speed skating expert, so I can't comment on Hedrick's rep. I just want to know why Davis waits until they're already in Torino to decide that his individual goals are more important than team goals.

I have no problem with Davis focusing on his event. That's fine, his choice. But he shouldn't have led others to believe he was on the team if he had no intention of competing with them. Again, this was a dick move. He could have let this be known months and months ago. Not when they're already in Torino. WTF? It's almost like he planned it to be a spoiled brat.

As far as the racial thing goes, I haven't heard Hedrick bring up race and I haven't heard Davis bring up race. This is a good thing. It sounds like two dudes who had differing views on skating, race be damned.

It's outsiders who make it a racial issue who piss me off - they hear a story that they have pretty much no clue about (speed skating?) and immediately make it a racial issue. They can't make it a racial shitstorm fast enough. They slobber over it. And then they wonder why racial problems don't go away.

Unbelievable.

Bitch away.

[SLaird22]

As someone who still competes in track, I can understand Hendrick's frustration. If a 4x100 relay team gets to, say, the state championships in high school, and one of their guys is a stud in the 100m and decides to concentrate on that leaving the alternate to take his place...I would be upset if I was on that team. Maybe public criticism wasn't the classiest thing to do, but if I were on that team I would be very angry.

[howard in nyc]

the strong opinions voiced regarding davis's character, motives, etc. just kill me. speed skating must be much more popular than i ever imagined, for so many people to be familiar with these guys (davis, hedrick) over their careers.

my knowledge of speed skating: i can name bonnie blair, eric heiden, and that dan guy who fell down. i read a black dude won the first individual gold medal at the winter games, so i was interested, and i read a couple of articles.

i learned on one hand, davis claimed to have been repeatedly screwed over the years. i learned on the other hand he and his mom have a rep for selfishness.

i don't know, instead of choosing sides, or falling back on the usual subjects when race is the issue, i figured i lacked the knowledge of the sport and of the players to make any kind of judgment as to who is/are the good/bad guys here. as opposed to scottie pippen, who's history i am aware of as an nba fan over the course of his career (of course fans never know, but i have a significant body of data to draw some logical opinions about pippen).

you guys really know this sport and these players well enough to have anything resembling an informed opinion?

[howard in nyc]

and one more thing.

of course this is about race. if davis is a white guy, and every other fact stayed the same, no one cares. no one is writing about him. to deny the racial factor is plain ignorant, not the work of 'outside agitators' (sorry, uc, i did not realize you were a speed skating insider)

if davis is a white guy, are you posting on an internet message board about him?

[UC]

"you guys really know this sport and these players well enough to have anything resembling an informed opinion?" - Howard in nyc

That's my point exactly, Howard. That's garbage. There isn't any evidence of racism, other than vague reports that Davis' mom said so (and she calls people Nazis and KKK members), so why make it the big issue so fast? Garbage. Why is the first thing to some people? Garbage.

And I disagree with your assertion that nobody would care if Davis was white. I think that two American dudes, who are both gold medalists, bickering through the media about one another is going to get coverage regardless of color. That's a story. Olympic gold medalist teammates don't often bicker with each other.

Does the fact that Davis is black make the story a little more juicy?

Yeah - and especially if you want it to, and make it so.

My beef is with people who make it so. Constantly. And without evidence. Garbage.

[pumpkin]

Congratulations Shani! You went for the gold and you got it! Screw Chad "Whiny biatch" Hedrick. He is a selfish cunt. He wanted you to sacrifice your chances at a gold to satisfy his greed. If the situation were reversed, would Hedrick have skated in a team competition the night before his event. Of course not. He would want to save his energy for his solo opportunity. Hedrick is not a team player. He was only out for self-interest. He wanted you on the team Shani only because he wanted a better chance of earning five gold medals. He is a selfish prick. So fvck Hedrick, Heiden and anyone else who questions your decision. You made the correct choice and I am happy for you!

[UC]

Pumpkin,

Or Shani could have two gold medals already.

And I think Hedrick is in five total events. Five. So it's not like he's avoiding the team relay events to save himself.

[Pumpkin]

Shani has a chance at another Gold Medal. So he might have his two. But if he had ran in the relay, it mignt have affected his ability to earn an individual gold. He has a right to preserve his energy if he wants to. Hedrick did not have an individual event in less thn 24 hours after the relay. So he had time to rest his body. Hedrick is not a team player. He is a "me" player. He is a punk and a whiny sissy.

[howard in nyc]

uc, let me speak slowly and clearly.

if davis isn't black
you are not posting about it.

i did not mention the word 'racist'
i mentioned the fact that he is black (and that this is america) is why people care about this controversy. including you. not racism. race.

[UC]

Howard, no need to speak slowly.

I'm not posting about "racism." Your boy Jackie is posting about it and saying that Shani "looked out for himself" after dealing with "ridiculous racial bullshit".

Well, where is the evidence? Jackie? Howard? Anyone? Is there any or are you just flapping your gums?

Is your evidence the fact that his mom is an apparent loon who fights with everyone and anyone?

Is your evidence the fact that maybe some big, bad white people somewhere along the line didn't like Shani and gave him a mean look?

Where is the evidence to support Jackie's decision to make this a racial issue? There is none.

I'll listen to the argument of Pumpkin. Maybe Shani just wanted to save himself. I see the point.

And I'll listen to the argument of Hedrick, who maybe thinks bypassing country for self is not cool. I see the point.

And I'll most certainly listen to the notion that the first black Winter Olympics gold medalist is a cool story. I most definately see the point.

But your boy Jackie went with his ever-present natural instinct to play the race card.

Garbage.

And don't tell what I would and wouldn't be posting about. Like I said, two gold medalists fighting is a story.

And, no, I'm not posting about Shani. I'm posting about people with race-baiting on the brain. (i.e., Jackie.)

[Ann Tye]

Davis won the race! He won! This was a victory of skill and talent! Why all this whining about his motives and his obligations to his team! I know nothing at all about speed skating but, to quote Wordsworth "my heart leaps up" when I see these beautiful shots of him making it on to victory! His was a class act and he deserves praise, not only for his athletic abilities but also for the years of training and for the discretion and judgment that triumped in the end. Shine on, "Shining" Shani Davis.

[Sean]

Face it people..in tennis people dont care who the doubles winners are..same in Speedskating..It's an individual thing.(See comments of the dutch guy who placed third and Cheeks) Probably if someone like Joey Cheeks had said that about Shani Davis, I would be more tempted to consider that,bUt the truth is Chad Hedrick is a selfish arrogant prick. He is upset that his chances to gain more medals were ruined. Shani Davis even said that he was not told about participating on the team until two days before..He had already had everything scheduled. If Chad wanted people to think highly of him he would have congratulated Davis on his win despite his problems with him..In that regards I believe Chad Hedrick showed unsportmanship conduct. Shani had made history and Chad had to try and steal that from him..He also tried to label him as unpatriotic..WTF? When was that a criteria for patriotism? Davis on the other hand did not say anything negative about Hedrick after his distasteful conduct.I dont see how anyone can give Chad Hedrick credit for this.despite their opinions of Davis et company.