One of my favorite phrases is, “that’s why we can’t have nice things.” It sums up a lot in life, including pretty much every office policy about remote work. It seems it also applies to global sports, in particular the Olympic Games. As I’m sure you’re aware, we had a pretty nice run in the Winter Games over the past couple of weeks in Italy, one where the US finished second in the medal count with 33 overall, behind only Norway who apparently live on cross country skis.
One particular highlight for the Americans was the success of its men’s and women’s hockey teams. Both won gold medals over the Canadians in overtime. The women were favored, but the men overcame what most assumed was the best team in the world. Needless to say, both events brought their share of political discourse, which would have been true even in much friendlier times.
So when the men won in one of the closing events of the Games, it felt like a rare unifying moment for a nation under siege. I mean, who couldn’t get behind an underdog American squad somehow overcoming odds to let everyone yell U-S-A not tied to some political movement. Just like the 1980 Miracle on Ice, I mean, besides the fact that these are professional hockey players who we fully expected to make the finals and the only American hostage crisis seems to be of our own making. But otherwise, just the same. Finally, we can all come together as Americans and feel good about it.
That is, until Kash Patel. You likely know Patel as the bombastic head of the FBI. You know, the guy who gets into arguments at Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. Or one of those guys. Anyway, after the U.S. Men’s team won the gold on Sunday, Patel went into the team locker room and proceeded to act like a college freshman at his first spring break at Daytona Beach. It was exactly the kind of thing you’d hope the head of one of the most critical law enforcement agencies in the world’s superpower to do on a global stage – you know, shotgunning bottles of beer, spraying alcohol all over himself, jumping around, and joining in a rendition of a country song about American anger after 9/11. And he did it with the team, the guys who actually did just win the gold medal at the Olympics, like he was a defenseman in the second line.
And why was he at the Olympics in the first place, and how did he get there? Of course, he had a scheduled meeting in Italy right around the end of the Olympics, and would need to fly a private jet on America’s dime to be there. So why not stick around for the games, just in case a frat party breaks out. For good measure, the President called during this extended team celebration, which allowed for: a) Patel to throw out a celebratory F-bomb, and b) for Trump to make a backhanded comment about the women’s team, who, as you remember, also won gold.
The easy thing to do here is to simply remind the public how immature and obnoxious and unprofessional our federal leadership has become. I think I nailed that, as could anyone with a pulse and even a marginal sense of decency. But sadly, that’s not really the story here. What’s really unfortunate is that Kash Patel, in yet another moment of federally sanctioned self-indulgence, has robbed the American public of something we all deserved – dare I say, needed. A moment of national unity.
Yeah, it might be synthetic and sport might be an opiate, but just like a giant bag of chips after an awful day at work, we needed this. And thanks to an insatiable ego, instead of watching a bunch of hockey players celebrate in American jerseys, we instead get an inescapable view of the ugly American political divide, one where players now declare their adoration of Patel or their extended fealty to our leadership. That never needed to happen. And for the record, I don’t enjoy athletes saying they’re embarrassed by the American uniform either. But at least that is a statement of self-determination – not some hazing induced afterglow. And yes, the team was celebrated at the State of the Union, if you cared to watch. But by then, the whole affair, which should have been a moment of pride, just felt tainted.
And that is why we can’t have nice things.
Keith Strudler is the Dean of the College of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler.
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