Almost as entertaining as the Olympics is the media covering them. One theme has really come through--if you're going to deviate from their expected norms you'd dang well better win. Otherwise they'll eviscerate you.
Going into the Olympics Bode Miller was a gifted non-conformist with the courage to find his own path to success. Now he's a over-confident, out-of-shape slacker who should be ashamed of his poor performance and partying ways. He's gone from media darling to media dog.
Sasha Cohen has been avoiding the media since the got to Torino, choosing instead to train. The media, desperate to create an Olympic hero, has grown increasingly irritated by her lack of face time, choosing to mostly ignore the other two teammembers. What coverage Emily Hughes gets is partly because of her having replaced Michelle Kwan and partly because of the Sarah Hughes tie-in. But they don't think much of her chances and so don't care to cover her any more than necessary.
So doggone it, Sasha had better win a medal or they'll brand her as a press-hating workaholic who took herself too seriously and drove herself too hard. Never mind the fact that if she had participated more in the interviews and nightlife and still lost they'd still insist she got caught up in her own hype and folded under the pressure.
On the other hand, if she wins she'll definitely become the heroine of the games, the Anti-Bode, the serious athelete who understood that sacrifices had to be made in order to win.
No, the media isn't in the news business. They're in the drama business. Win or lose, they will create the drama to go with it. They love a winner, but they're nearly as happy to lay into you with the steel-toed boots if necessary.
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