Team USA might not have left their mark in the Olympic medal count, but it did manage to leave something for the people of Nagano to remember them by. At about 4 a.m. the day after Team USA was eliminated from the Games by the Czech Republic, an undeterminable number of members of the American squad decided to some redecorating of their dorm rooms in the athletes' village.

Total cost: somewhere around $3,000.

The new look wasn't something Frank Lloyd Wright would be proud of, however. The rampage through the dorms ended in broken chairs, emptied fire extinguishers and one tossed fire extinguisher through a fifth-story window and into a courtyard below.

A tremendous amount of America bashing quickly followed the incident, and for good reason. By no means should such childish behavior occur at an international event. It should be saved for more important events, like a frat party at Penn State on a football weekend.

But if you really think about it, things could have been a lot worse. Imagine, if you will, some of the more drastic moves they could have made, such as:

1. Taken several Snowlets hostage and created an international hostage situation.
2. Picked a fight with a member of the French men's figure skating team.
3. Impersonated a member of the French men's figure skating team.
4. Insisted the rest of the tournament be played with curling brooms and rocks.
5. Called Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto a big dork.
6. Blown out the Olympic Torch.
As of press time, no members of Team USA have stepped forward and claimed responsibility. On the other hand many players have expressed their disapproval of the actions and have demanded the culprits fess up. Brett Hull, for one, emphatically denied all wrongdoing in the incident. Team Canada's Theo Fleury said the incident was "typical" of the Americans. "Like a bunch of first-year kids in college."

Until someone does step forward, the image of American hockey players, and the nation in general, will continue to be tarnished.

READER POLL

Which of the following Team USA players do you think is least likely to be named spokesman for Motel 6? Jeremy Roenick Chris Chelios Tony Amonte Keith Tkachuk Mike Richter

In the meantime, LCS Hockey would like to ask you, our valued readers, for your input by answering the following question:

With the responsible parties for the room trashing in Nagano still on the loose, which of the following Team USA players do you think is least likely to be named spokesman for Motel 6?

[ issues | web extra | stats | nhl archive | home | chat | mailing list | about us | search | comments ]

1998 © Copyright LCS Hockey All Rights Reserved