Brian McKeever, and the douche-bags of Cross Country Canada.

Having a bit of an arguement on this issue at the Olympics today. Thought I`d share my displeasure here...

Just a thought on Brian McKeever, the paralympian who made Canada's Olympic cross-country team, but was left out for this 50km race today: He SHOULD have been included! SHAME ON Cross Country Canada! It's just far too massive a story - the first Paralympian to also participate in the Olympics - to leave him out. Not even too massive a Canadian story. This is a major human story. 

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Then why bring him on the team? Why the big VISA ad campaign? The Olympics aren't just about who wins and loses. If it was, why do wars stop for this event? Why is there such good comaraderie between opposing athletes? The Olympic spirit has taken a hit here.
I was only interested in watching the cross-country skiing in the hopes of watching a huge historical moment. One that was guaranteed: rarely are we afforded such a luxury as a no-doubt historical moment. CCC robbed the world of this. It was a hugely important moment for the Paralympics, for people with disabilities all over the world. It would have been almost as significant as Barack Obama becoming president. THIS is a major part of the Olympic movement... make the world a better place.
As it stands - this is a "results" oriented statement - Canada is barely threatening the podium right now... far from dominating in this event. And a few of the guys are slipping back badly. Seems like perhaps they were gassed from previous events. Maybe a "lesser" athlete who is fresh is better than a higher-ranked fellow with nothing left in the tank.
Again, if it's all about rankings, don't bring the guy. Don't set yourself up for douche-bag status of using a massive, feel-good story to get investment in the team (VISA ads) and then not following through.
Last thing, once again... my major point in this: if you`re going to bring the guy, use his story, you pretty much become obligated to use him.

Further along the story: another point to ponder. It is NOT uncommon, for various reasons to knowingly field an inferior team. Example? Canada regularly selects players for it's international squad in hockey specifically to groom them for future competitions. Arguably, this would have been the case in Vancouver for Jonathan Toews. Seen as a lower-level selection as a forward, he probably won the job because he is also seen as a young star with loads of future potential, who could moderately contribute this time out. Funny thing is, he more than moderately contributed. He became viewed as one of the main cogs in the entire tournament picture. What if "lesser talent" McKeever had proved a big-game player as Toews did?


Now obviously, cross-country skiing is individual and as such, the "weaker team" scenario is severely hampered. My point is merely that there are circumstances that justify fielding a weakened team. It was not without this fear that Jackie Robinson broke the baseball colour barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Was it a shoo-in that the plan would work? Or perhaps... they waited for the right guy to come along that would 100% guaranteed dominate enough to eliminate all justification against his participation. Hmmm. Either way, the CCC choked on this massive opportunity, or they made a critical error in bringing along and allowing McKeever to be overhyped when he wasn't fit for the monumental task.