Team USA: Who invited these guys anyway?

By Brian Carr
CBS SportsLine Senior Editor
Feb. 19, 1998

We should have known once Brett Hull started his whining act: The bratty kids were running this public relations field trip.

By
Brett Hull
At least now Brett Hull can watch the gold-medal game on his big screen TV. (Reuters)
all accounts, Team USA's Nagano practices were that of an overconfident, arrogant, and playful high school squad, not taking the competition seriously. They were World Champs, after all, so who needed to listen to coach Ron Wilson, even with his new drill-sergeant haircut?

Team Canada (last Olympic hockey gold: 1952) seemed focused and intense -- as well they ought to be after the 1996 World Cup humiliation. Once the Games started, we saw this passing of the torch coming a mile away.

No Lake Placid. No Squaw Valley. This U.S. team was bad.

It's not just that they lost; it's that they had little class representing the United States that is insulting.

We present the case for keeping Team USA's NHL "best" at home in Salt Lake City 2002.
What they're saying ...
'I'm disgusted by it. ... When you look at it, you're embarrassed the Japanese know that the American team, which was the largest team, had to display such poor ... manners.'
Erin Warren, U.S. luge team

'I'm upset with that because, as an athlete, you are obligated to a certain amount of being a role model, and something like this is a disgrace for athletes who have worked very hard to become Olympians.'
Mike Peplinski, U.S. curling team

'They were disappointed in themselves, and I think maybe the mood may have changed because they weren't playing the way they had hoped. ... They were embarrassed with their performance and they got out of hand.'
Moira D'Andrea, U.S. speed skating team

'I feel sad for them (U.S. hockey players). That's how they will be remembered. Athletes should be remembered as Olympians who competed with honor and had some dignity.'
Anita DeFrantz, vice president of American International Olympic Committee

Exhibit A: Brett Hull

At first, he threatens to "pull the plug" on Team USA's participation if buddy Bill Guerin isn't named to the team. Then he whines about the spartan conditions in the Olympic Village.

You know, Hull was born in Canada. No wonder they didn't want him.

Exhibit B: Standup defense

Those of us bleary-eyed late-night fans saw what mattered. In the end, we spotted spirited Czech Republic players sprawled on the ice, sacrificing their bodies to stop a slap shot or two for a goaltender who probably didn't need their help.

Then we saw Team USA's Brian Leetch play standup defense -- as in, I'm not committed to this Olympics thing, so I'm going to stay standing up while that puck whizzes past my ankles.

Exhibit C: Keith Tkachuk

"It was the biggest waste of time -- ever," Keith Tkachuk said after the Games.

With such inspiring words from Team USA's alternate captain, no wonder they lost.

Exhibit D: Frat boys unleashed

Not only do we have to hear about late-night escapades, but the latest to come out of Nagano -- Team USA players accused of trashing their rooms in a sophomoric fit.

And NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman insists the Games are a good PR move? Two words: Bush league.

Exhibit E: Ron Wilson's hindsight

Said Wilson: "I kept saying the first three games didn't matter. Now I look back and we should have done things differently."

Meet Ron Wilson, Olympic tourist.

Case closed

"The pressure was there, no question, Hull said. "But we should thrive on that; we're professional athletes."

They sure didn't act it. Bring back the U.S. amateurs.

See gold medal, women.

Brian Carr is a CBS SportsLine senior editor.