The (non) Dream Team

First off, I just want to answer some "fan mail." To IUgymnast03: No, having your boyfriend beat up an Indiana Daily Student columnist is also not a sport. Moving on . . .\nIn case you haven't been watching, the United States has absolutely cleaned up to the tune of 103 medals at the Athens Olympics. That's all well and good, but I'm more concerned with the events we didn't win. Sure it's great that athletes from our country won gold in prone shooting and the "fan-friendly" sport of fencing, but they also failed to win events they had dominated for years. On the track, our men's and women's 400-meter relay teams failed to win gold, we failed to even qualify in baseball and were embarrassed in another sport we invented -- basketball. \nThe so-called "Dream Team" dropped games to Lithuania, Argentina and Puerto Rico, which is alright because when I think about good basketball, Puerto Rico is the first place that comes to mind. Instead of reveling in the courageous performances of Shawn Marion and Lamar Odom, let's focus on the guys who turned down a shot at gold to spend their summers avoiding terrorism by going to various tropical vacation spots.\nApparently being introduced by Will Smith at the Video Music Awards was more important to Shaq than winning glory for his country. Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace won an NBA title with the Pistons and head coach Larry Brown this year but decided their coach needed to work for his gold medal, so they "regretfully" declined. Jason Kidd wanted to spend time with his wife and kids, which I could understand, if they weren't at all of his games! Even Doug Christie thinks he's whipped. \nRay Allen would have added much-needed outside shooting to the team, but he decided to sit this one out rather than save his country from inevitable embarrassment. And beloved local boy Jermaine O'Neal also avoided Athens because apparently he felt Carlos Boozer needed more playing time. \nAnd speaking of Duke University, why can't we have college players added to the roster as back-ups instead of spoiled NBA players who complain about playing time? Are you telling me that a shooter like J.J. Redick would not have helped take pressure off of a terminally confused Tim Duncan? After two weeks on a boat, Duncan went from best player in the NBA to George Leach. \nIf college players aren't a possibility, how about we add some NBA role players? You know, guys who can actually contribute coming off the bench. Michael Redd is an emerging superstar who can (gasp) shoot the ball, and Tayshaun Prince showed his value by providing outside shooting and great defense during Detroit's title run. And does anyone else think it was crazy not to play LeBron James more? All he did when he entered the game was spark an incredibly anemic offense and liven up a sleepwalking team. I'm not saying that this team wasn't trying, but like Terrell Owens said, "If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat." \nAfter the bronze medal game, captain Allen Iverson seemed content with the bronze, saying, "You want to win the whole thing, but you've got to cherish the fact that you were able to win something." They call this guy captain because the team was staying on a yacht, right? \nBut should I really be this upset about not winning the gold in a sport we invented? You obviously haven't seen me at IU football games.