One thing that people my age (mid-40s and over) remember about the Olympics growing up was the stylized "Good vs. Evil" bullshit that was touted whenever an American squared off against a Russian.
Hence the 'Miracle on Ice' victory of the college kids against the almighty "Red Army Machine" -- which turned out to be full of decent guys who could really play hockey and about which the only real tragedy is that some of them didn't get to come and dominate the NHL. I mean the 'Miracle on Ice' is an awesome story, but the Soviet hockey players were not exactly the East German female swim-team.
And then there was Russian weight-lifter and jovial fat man Vasiliy Alekseyev who symbolized nothing more than that some people love beets too damn much.
But the Cold War is over, dead and buried, and we won by TKO. U-S-A! U-S-A! -- though as a technicality it also royally fucked us over at the same time as we choke on our military expenditures and ever-awesome overseas occupations.
Anyhoo, NBC seems determined to try to make a Commie-Monster out of a Russian men's figure skater.
I'm sorry NBC, but I just don't fear the Russians ability to out do us in the realm of sequins and feather-boas.
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