i'm with shani...

shani davis somehow chose speed skating as his sport...somehow an inner-city black kid from chicago developed into one of the best in the world in a sport which caters to the over-privileged white kids growing up on the cities edge, not the forgotten youth left in it's center.

now he's catching a lot of flack from those over-privileged white kids because he didn't kiss their asses and carry them to gold in the team pursuit in turin. i can't even begin to imagine the shit he must have put up with from others in the sport and from the kids in his area to become a worldclass speedskater...

and then they wanted his help...i would've done the same thing. fuck them. what did they do for him? i've got a friend that deals with the an institution like that...(shameless plug time...her name is shannon...she hits a shuttlecock, hard...and the folks at u.s. badminton have done anything and everything to fuck her chances...so go to shannonpohl.com and send her money)...and after seeing what she has gone through, i don't even want to think of what they must of put shani through. and despite all this, he makes the olympic team, grabs a world record, and has himself poised for gold...and then comes america's next olympic hero, chad hendrick...hendrick got a gold earlier...but wanted five...and so when shani pulled out of the team pursuit and he couldnt do it himself, he got angry...and since the media had built him up, they followed suit...suddenly shani is being portrayed as a selfish asshole for resting himself for the one shot he may get at this...for resting himself for a race that so many hoped he would never race...he was the selfish one for not sacrificing his race for some schmuck who likely never would give him the time of day...hendrick wasn't the selfish one, insisting that everyone race for his try at a record...

and the media doesnt mention that by him not racing, another athlete got the opportunity to participate in the olympic games...so what if hendrick didn't get another gold...he obviously wouldn't have earned it, it would've come from the hard work of another athlete...and nobody would have talked about shani davis, they only would've wanted to talk about chad.

shani went on to win the gold in the 1000 meters, and you could see the pent up frustration and anger in an interview after he got his gold. and who could blame him? i can't say i get it...but i get it. that he would even be willing to race for the united states is a small miracle in itself. they never wanted him to be a part of the u.s. speedskating team, until they realized they needed his talent...i would've told them to fuck themselves too.

so raise your glass to shani davis tonight...and hope chad hendrick chokes...

i can't ask you to take me and be true, but i can ask you to love me as you do...