"It's Not Cool To Love America" At Olympic Games...

New York Times SELENA ROBERTS February 11, 2006 at 08:42 AM
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So how is the United States represented here? With the image of Bart Simpson.

In a window of the People's Pub, a small joint with candles on the tables and Budweiser on tap, there is a painting of the mischievous Simpson with a beer in his hand.

He is more than window dressing; Bart is a beloved American here. This is not an easy feat considering the anti-American undercurrent in the Olympic movement.

The latest example of that occurred yesterday when Jim Easton, who, granted, hasn't had an animated moment in decades, lost his executive board seat among the International Olympic Committee powerbrokers when he was defeated, 57-36, by South Africa's Sam Ramsamy in a secret ballot. That left America without a seat on the board.

"To say the United States has less influence in sports is, in my humble opinion, not the case," said Jacques Rogge, the I.O.C.'s president. "Frankly speaking, I don't share that perspective."

To share perspective is to have perspective. No wonder he fails to see how America's Olympic might has been shrink-wrapped since July.

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