LONDON — Unless something unfortunate happens this afternoon, such as a bizarre transportation mishap that somehow delivers their bus to Greenwich, Conn., rather than North Greenwich Arena, the United State will win the basketball gold medal for the 14th time in the 18 Olympics in which the sport has been played.
It is a fine tradition, one with which the U.S. rightly beams with pride. Since 1936, with only four exceptions, the U.S. has been a runaway wire-to-wire front-runner.
The exceptions, in many ways, are far more memorable than the rules: the 2004 team that won bronze and simultaneously tried to lose as much international good will as possible; the 1988 team that took bronze and sped along the invention of the Dream Team; the 1980 team, coached by Dave Gavitt, that never got a chance to win anything thanks to the U.S. Boycott.
And, of course, the star-crossed ’72 team. This is the 40th anniversary of USSR 51, USA 50 — the game that had three different endings, only one of which counted; the one that ended the USA 63-game and seven-Olympics winning streaks. For 40 years the players have dealt with that gut-wrenching loss in their own ways, the same way American basketball fans have.
And for 40 years, the silver medals they earned have sat in a vault in Switzerland, unclaimed. The Americans refused to take the medal stand during the ceremony. They’ve refused all overtures to accept them since, an,d in what may make it a permanent gesture, the captain of the team, Ken Davis of Georgetown (Ky.) College, has had it put in his will that no family member ever is to accept the medal. Since basketball is a team sport, Olympic rules dictate that all team members must receive medals, or none do.
For 40 years, that has been none.
Look, I understand what a bitter loss that was. Almost every one of the members of that team have gone on to achieve enormous success — some in basketball (like Doug Collins and Bobby Jones), some as executives (Mike Bantom is an NBA executive) and elsewhere (Tom McMillan became a Congressman, Davis has been a successful Converse sales rep for 39 years).
Though the memory may haunt, it hasn’t hampered. Many of that team represent the Olympic ideal to a tee.
They don’t deserve to be looked upon the way the rest of the world looks upon them: as the highest-profile spoilsports in history.
It’s time for them to take the final, higher ground here. They are not the first team to ever lose a game, or a championship, by a terrible decision. Outside the ex-Soviet players, few believe they weren’t wronged here. Maybe that’s not as good as having an actual gold medal, and there should be empathy for the fact that they never will have it.
But they should be the bigger men now, 40 years later. Alter the will. End the boycott. Call the IOC. And accept the silver medals.
Emulate the way Armando Galarraga acted a few years ago when the only thing keeping him from a perfect game was Jim Joyce’s brutal call. We get it, we understand. You were robbed, you were rooked, you were done bad.
The world gets it, too. Now do the right thing. End it. Accept the silver. Be the bigger men.
Claim the permanent moral high ground. It’s time.
Whack Back at Vac
Jose M. Silveira: I want to congratulate the U.S women’s soccer team for their performance in the Olympics. They showed throughout the event how to play for the jersey you’re wearing, without selfishness, how to play to win until the last second of the game. They already were “the golden girls” to me.
Vac: I just wish these fleeting bursts of mega-popularity could somehow lead to a lasting women’s professional league.
K. Cooper: Nicely articulated article on Jim Thorpe, a true legend ahead of his time. Real eyes realize misinformation and extend the truth to the masses.
Vac: The IOC’s blatant refusal to restore his records shows it isn’t only a regularly bumbling organization, but a mean-spirited one, too.
@fgis2bz2pp: Have you ever seen Usain Bolt in person yet? He must create a breeze when he passes by.
@MikeVacc: You half expect him to be able to do the trick Superman did, running so fast he can rewind time by an hour or two.
Ken Milone: I just read “The Family Corleone” while on vacation down in Cape May and couldn’t put it down. Of course, the wife and daughter are mad at me. Something about not paying attention to them blah, blah …
Vac: Another worthwhile read, not new, but one that sustained me on the trip to London: “City of Thieves,” by David Benioff.
Vac’ Whacks
Today isn’t just the end of the Olympics, it will mark the end of a chapter of one of the great sportswriting careers ever. The great Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe cuts back to one column a week from here on out. Rarely do people you admire so greatly exceed what you think about them when you actually get to know them. It’s been my great good fortune to know, and to learn, from one of the giants of the keyboard. The press box already feels a lot less fun without him.
* I am proud of myself. Three weeks of being told “no” and “not here” and “turn around,” and not once did I tell anyone with a British accent, “You realize that in 1781 you lost the privilege of telling me what to do, yes?” I must be gaining patience in my old age.
* I can’t help it. Listening to the Russian national anthem still gives me night sweats.
* Hey, how have the Mets been doing since I’ve been gone?