Shani Davis, A Smile Can Go A Long Way.

It seems that the biggest story coming from the Winter Games in Torin, Italy is the lack of viewers. Well, there are some very good reasons why Americans are choosing to watch alternative programming. The first being that we really do have a choice these days, 200 plus channels of choice. So whatever NBC execs decide to broadcast better be compelling enough to sit through. Sorry to say, but men wearing crush velvet and rhinestones, who float on and off the ice just doesn't cut it.

You also have to fault NBC for not having enough of a build up leading into the games. When ABC had the games they used their Wide World of Sports to introduce us to the leading characters in the events. When Franz Klammer came up on the hill we already knew who he was and were ready to root for him. These insipid human interest stories designed to get me to have some type of emotional response to the athletes should be delegated to a segment on Oprah not cluttering up your prime time coverage. Not to mention that it helps to get the story right, many Chicagoans were surprised to find out that Hyde Park and Evanston are in the ghetto. Believe me, if Hyde Park was part of the ghetto the Rev. Jessie Jackson wouldn't be living there.

Does anyone at NBC realize there is a 5 hour delay? How about editing some of the events so we can get straight to the action! Do I really need to see a hockey match between Latvia and Kazakhstan? I barely need to know the score, yet alone seeing every power play. But I have to admit I am falling in love with Curling, what a fun sport. Almost makes me want to go to Minnesota just to have a beer with those guys.

For the next games lets hope that the network and corporate sponsors put their money on the right horse and not one that just looks like a horse. The Bode Miller hype has been a complete disaster! No matter how hard you try, you can't get away from the Nike commercials. Though you have to smile when you hear him say "...You can either learn from me or not learn from me." Really? I think we all learned that it's not the best training practice to close the bars the night before your competition. And 'Be a Bodeist', that's on the fringe of being offensive. Let's just hope the Muslim radicals don't see that commercial, they will be rioting for the next month and I might just join them.

And finally, someone at NBC needs to learn that a bitter rivalry is not necessarily good TV. The Chad Hedrick - Shani Davis drama is more disturbing than interesting and the media just wants to fuel the fires. What's not being understood is that both men came to the games wanting to make history. Hedrick wanted to be the first speed skater to win five medals in one games since Eric Hieden did it in 1980, and Davis wanted to become the first black man to win a gold medal ever at the Winter Games. Lofty ambitions are good for anyone to aspire and inspire. But Hedrick doesn't comprehend that his ambitions are his ambitions and it's not right for someone to have to sacrifice reaching their goals just for his interests. The fact of the matter is that Davis trained for years for this opportunity, the relay race was the day before 1000 meter event, the best chance for Davis to medal in these games. Why should anyone risk fatigue or potential injury when they are so close to reaching the pinnacle of their career? Don't go saying "There is no I in Team", heard it all before. Speed skating has never been a team event. In fact, this relay race is a relatively new event. What Shani Davis needs is a good PR man to change the angry way he is handling the controversy. He is making Leon look like the most sensitive man in America since Alan Alda.

It's Morning in America Mr. Gumbel!

You don't hear very much from Bryant Gumbel since his exile (banishment) from morning television. But apparently at least one person viewed his Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO, where Gumbel's remarks on the Winter Olympics is quoted as saying:

"...try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."

Even more surprising than Gumbel’s correct usage of the word "paucity", is his comparison of the "white" winter games to a GOP Convention. It seems that Bryant has been out of "real news" reporting a bit too long. While you can make the case that "paucity of blacks" exists among the athletes at the Winter Games, you would be hard press to make that argument in the big tent called the Republican Party. Three of the highest profile election races this year features African Americans who are all Republicans. Early polls shows Lynn Swan and Ken Blackwell leading in their race to be become Governors of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and Michael Steele is making a strong case for victory in his U.S. Senate race in Maryland. What is even more amazing is that these men are running as conservatives in the tradition of Ronald Reagan!

Let’s look at what has happened since Bryant Gumbel stopped giving Americans their first look at the daily news. The 2004 Presidential Elections showed a 4% evaporation of the nationwide black support of Democratic candidate John Kerry. In the state of Ohio, George Bush won 17% of the African American vote thanks in large part to Ken Blackwell. A recent AP-AOL Black Voices poll showed Condoleezza Rice and Collin Powell finishing right behind Jessie Jackson as the "most important" black leader in America today. These are not just "token" voices; In addition to Powell and Rice, President Bush has brought to his administration J.C. Watts, Rod Paige, Claude Allen and Michael Powell. At the same time we have seen the emergence of outspoken social commentators like Armstrong Williams, Joseph C. Phillips, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and TV's Good Times star Jimmy "JJ" Walker.

Yes Mr. Gumbel, whether you want to admit it or not, as the average African-American combats the daily threats to their community caused by a poor educational system, crime and moral decadence, they turn more and more to conservatism to provide much needed solutions.

This is not lost on the Democratic Party leadership, which explains why Michael Steele is pelted with Oreo cookies at every rally and Hillary Clinton's "plantation" remark to a black audience in Harlem. But if claims of "Uncle Tom-ism" and race-baiting are the only answers the Democratic Party has to solve the problems facing African-Americans then they will continue to lose elections in November.