Shani Davis And Playing THE GAME
d_word
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So I was reading this article from Davis' homecity paper and start thinking ... what the fuck? I saw interviews with Davis and thought he was dood. But because he ain't playin along so easy, some people are getting salty at him. "I'm not angry at anybody," Davis said. "I'm up there and I have to go to the bathroom and you have to do a million and one things. It's frustrating sometimes. I understand you guys have to do your job, but I have to do things too."and"You are the first African-American male to win [an individual] gold medal at the Winter Games," Stark said. "How proud are you of that?" "I'm pretty happy about it," replied Davis, who looked away from Stark for most of the brief interview. "That's it?" Stark said. "Yeah," Davis said. Ha! This shit reminded me a little of Chappelle taking off, leaving his contract behind. There's a good time to say "Fuck it. I'm OUT." There's these expectations for everybody to play along and 'know their role.' Through my day job in media I see how this industry and the people in it run. THE GAME is real, and when some people say that they ain't playin along, I think GOOD. He's on some real schitt.Am I right? Y'all sympathize with Davis?
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P.S - documentary (with dutch commentary, but still pretty good) here:
http://portal.omroep.nl/mplayer?nav=vqcngEsHEzFaZtHjIcwcB
The Olympics are an INDIVIDUAL sport for the most part and he wanted to focus on winning his best event.
However, Davis is not handling the situation very smartly. He is letting all the nonsense get to him in his moment of glory. In fact, he could get the media on his side if he would wave the flag, enjoy his success and let them start picking on Hendrick for being such an asshole.
Case in point:
After Davis went Silver and went Bronze in the 1500, Davis played it great in the post game interview. Talked about the two guys being really competitive, just generally playing down the whole thing. Then, in the press conference afterwards with Hedrick, after 30 min of niceities, Davis fires off, "I just wish that HCad had shook my hand after the 1000 like I did for him after the 5000". Then he gets up and leaves the room. Bitch move. Hedricks response was ridiculous, "I think Shanni cost us a medal". Davis needs counsel that he is in a PR war and that "telling it like it is" ain't going to help his cause. Hedrick is the bad guy here stop giving him ammo.
Don't even get me started about purported rumors that his mom was wearing Dutch national colors to protest the treatment of her son. If she was this is not a good look. Do not give the assholes any ammo they are already looking to put him in the crosshairs.
this beef hurts both sides..you hear less about steroid runners than medal winners
The Chicago-born speedskater confuses the media and the public with his mood swings after winning a gold medal[/b]
By Melissa Isaacson
Tribune Olympic Bureau
Published February 19, 2006, 10:25 PM CST
TURIN, Italy -- The overhang above the main stage at Piazza Castello shielded Shani Davis from a blinding snowstorm as he accepted his gold medal Sunday night. But it couldn't save the Chicago-born speedskater from the blizzard of controversy that continues to engulf him.
Hours after Davis had won the 1,000 meters Saturday night, the American viewing public was treated to a tape of a churlish Davis in his first interview with NBC.
Davis also turned down the standard studio interview with host Bob Costas as well as the usual medalist rounds, including the "Today Show." But it was his exchange with NBC's Melissa Stark on Saturday night that had people wondering who the real Davis is and how much he cares about the image he portrays.
"You are the first African-American male to win [an individual] gold medal at the Winter Games," Stark said. "How proud are you of that?"
"I'm pretty happy about it," replied Davis, who looked away from Stark for most of the brief interview.
"That's it?" Stark said.
"Yeah," Davis said.
After a question about his mother, Cherie, was met with a similarly short response, Stark ended the interview by asking, "Are you angry, Shani?"
Davis replied: "No, I'm happy. I have a loss for words right now."
"All right," said Stark, clearly put off. "You sure do look happy."
In studio, Costas and analyst Dan Hicks remarked on Davis' mood.
"This is certainly not the kind of interview you're used to hearing from an Olympic gold medalist," Hicks said.
Sources said Davis indeed was angry, specifically at Costas, for critical remarks about Davis' decision not to compete in the team pursuit Wednesday. With Davis, the U.S. was expected to be in medal contention. Without him, the team wasn't close. Davis said he had to get ready for Saturday's 1,000 meters and that his teammates had not helped him get to the Olympics.
The many faces of Davis have caused public and media opinion to swing from one extreme to the other. In between, there are those who just want to understand a supremely talented young man who seems as happy one moment as he is angry the next.
Davis did stop to speak after receiving his gold medal Sunday night and generally was courteous and cooperative to two reporters from Chicago, neither of whom he might have known had been critical of him.
So what of that disparity: curt with some critics, cordial with others?
"I'm not angry at anybody," Davis said. "I'm up there and I have to go to the bathroom and you have to do a million and one things. It's frustrating sometimes. I understand you guys have to do your job, but I have to do things too.
"And then afterward you've got a flower ceremony, and then you have to talk to 5 million people. I mean, I appreciate the people wanting to talk, but nature is calling and I can't say that in front of the camera, so I just tried to keep it short."
You laugh because it sounds funny. And you want to take his explanation at face value except that after the NBC exchange, he stepped in front of the Dutch television cameras for an interview described as warm and engaging by someone who watched it.
An NBC source said Davis had been offered another chance to do a studio interview in place of the one he did with Stark but had refused.
"I hadn't really heard about it," Davis said. "But like I said, I have priorities, and my job as an athlete is to make sure I take care of myself the best I can because I worked hard to get to where I am now. And all of that stuff has a time and a place, and sometimes they don't really meet as smoothly as they should."
Nevertheless, Davis did a short interview with NBC's Otis Livingston after receiving his medal Sunday.
Peter Carlisle, Davis' agent, said he did not think Davis' behavior was significant.
"Every athlete approaches the Olympics in a different way," said Carlisle, whose client list includes eight-medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps. "He's still competing. Michael Phelps did very little with the media up until two months leading up to [the 2004 Athens Olympics], and then not much in Athens.
"The top priority of most athletes???otherwise they wouldn't get here???is do everything possible to do their best possible performance."
If Davis, who has a solid chance to win gold again in the 1,500 meters Tuesday, is worried about his public persona adversely affecting his endorsement potential, he's not acting like it. "I would have no idea because ??? I just wouldn't know," he said. "I haven't really thought about it."
Carlisle said it is not his job to tell his clients how to act to boost their endorsement potential. "It's not my interests, it's the athlete's," he said. "My job is to understand what the athlete wants to accomplish and respect their approach. But every athlete ??? their priority is to perform well first."
Davis said he is not worried about the image he portrays. "You can't please everybody," he said. "People are going to have their opinion about it. No one's perfect."
Asked if it is important for him to be liked and whether he would like fans to see him as his close friends and family see him, Davis said: "It's up to them. I'm not going to force anybody. People have their opinions, and some are right and some are wrong. Again, my priority is skating. All the other stuff is secondary to me."
Andy Gabel, president of U.S. Speedskating, said Davis' image "has nothing to do with U.S. Speedskating. How Shani represents himself or how he is viewed by the public is not about U.S. Speedskating. It's about Shani Davis."
And if for only a short while Sunday night, it was all about a 23-year-old accepting a gold medal after a lifetime of hard work and dedication.
"Yeah, I mean, here it is, you know? It's finalized," Davis said when asked if it had hit him yet that he is a gold medalist. "I'll never take it off until I get the box, so it's going to be going a lot of places with me now."
But, as he has these last two weeks, Davis held himself in check.
"I try not to get too emotional because I still have one more distance," he said. "I'll be emotional in the Closing Ceremony. But I've got a job to do, and I've got to stay focused, and this is just the fruits of the labor. I've been skating for 17 years, and finally I stepped up and when it counted the most, I was able to do it.."
[email]misaacson@tribune.com[/email]
costas was hatting on dude before he even won the medal. Fuck that
amen
i dont think he was scheduled for it. The story goes that he made it clear before the olympics he did not want to participate but that was never fully made clear to the team. not a question of individuality but a question of picking your events and prioritites
That webpage is cracked out. Is it affiliated with Davis?
"U.S. Speedskating and Chad Hedrick need to be exposed for their satanic plot."
lol
I know what you mean, but I think if you look closely, the hit rate for African Americans being consistently maligned in the press (whether consciously or unconsciously) is MUCH higher than that of Caucasians. People of color in general, but particularly African Americans. If those were 2 white dudes being petty with one another it would simply be a one comment bit by Costas or whomever, then deaded. There would simply be no story. No White sports dude is ever asked if he's angry unless he is leaving a court room.