Bryant Gumbel's Olympic spirit.

[kandrathe]

Just wanted to share.  I'm about as liberal as lurkers get, and I think that Gumbel's comments are complete and utter crap.  These aren't quality athletes because there aren't enough blacks?  Sure, I can accept the fact that the dearth of blacks and other racial minorities on the ski hill DOES speak to the fact that certain kinds of people can better afford to pursue some of these more "equipment dependent" sports (it also speaks to the fact that there's not a hell of a lot of snow in the African and equatorial Asian/South American countries).  I'm pretty sure that's not a reason to demean what these folks do, which is often incredible.   

And, I hate to point it out again, but a lot of people do consider the hockey to be worth watching.
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I agree. Bryant hasn't heard of Janica Kostelic obviously. No silver spoon in her mouth. There are many Minnesotan's representing the US on the women's skiing team, and our highest hills are about 600 feet. The local hill most of the olympic bound people train on is about 300 feet high, and most of the equipment comes from sponsorship. Certainly many winter sports have a different accessibility than running a marathon, but most track and field has equipment and gymnasium costs.

My wife is an Ice Dancer, so I am bound by pain of death not to disparage "judged sports". But, why not include competitive judged events?