Do not believe the party line served by the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, nor the words of United States Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky, who said: “Scotty left on his own accord. He wasn’t forced to leave.” Lago, the bronze medalist in halfpipe, was forced to leave, two sources close to him told Yahoo! Sports, and did so only to prevent an even greater escalation of a situation that already had been blown far out of proportion.
Lago is the smiling 23-year-old in the now-infamous pictures of an Olympic medalist celebrating. The photos are kids’ play, and yet because somebody caught Michael Phelps taking a bong hit, anything – anything – gets the USOC’s tighty-whities in a bunch.
Once the photos of Lago surfaced on TMZ.com, the USSA, in an effort to avoid USOC intervention, came to him with two options, according to sources: go home quietly and play the necessary political game, or go through a trial process and risk getting formally ejected. Lago, not wanting to torpedo any future Olympic opportunities, chose to return to New Hampshire instead of staying until the Closing Ceremony as planned, sources said.
Lago had tried to preemptively strike against repercussions. He issued an apology to the USSA on Friday morning when informed the pictures existed, sources said, in which he apologized for the lapse in judgment and said he was thankful for the opportunity to compete in the Olympics. It was not enough.
“He did something pretty foolish, but it’s nothing illegal,” Lago’s father, Michael, said from his New Hampshire home. “No one’s hurt. That’s really all that matters to me.”
Olympic athletes across all sports have been on high alert against behaving poorly in public after the embarrassment caused by Phelps. Athletes were warned repeatedly heading into the Vancouver Games to conduct themselves well, particularly with cell phone cameras ever present. Oh, how rich that it was a snowboarder, a participant in the one sport that brings verve to an Olympic movement that grows more constipated by the year.
Whether Lago broke any formal code of conduct is unclear. Rule 4 of the USSA’s code says: “USSA members shall maintain high standards of moral and ethical conduct, which includes self-control and responsible behavior, consideration for the physical and emotional well-being of others, and courtesy and good manners.”
“It’s important for athletes to not just follow a code of conduct,” said Sandusky, the USOC spokesman. “It’s more than just about an individual. They’re here representing Team USA.”
And Lago was representing his country in the best fashion possible: showing off the spoils of his hard work, allowing strangers to bask in the glory of an Olympic medal, enjoying life when it’s at its finest. While the photograph may have been in poor taste – a woman kissed the medal while Lago held it below his belt – by no means did it merit the sort of treatment he received.
Lago planned on spending the rest of his time in Vancouver watching hockey and hanging out with halfpipe teammates Louie Vito and Greg Bretz and soaking in an Olympic experience with exponentially more meaning thanks to his bronze.
Instead, the IOC used him. It hung Lago out, his pelt there for the rest of the athletes to see, and said: If anyone thinks about acting up – or, heaven forbid, celebrating – this is what happens.
No wonder the backlash among youth is so acute. The generation gap is evident. It’s not just that the IOC and NBC think it’s a wonderful idea to tape delay events completed for hours. It’s the general attitude toward snowboarders, the hypocrisy in pimping them for ratings and selling them out because they’re the easiest targets.
Lago got caught in the moment – and a compromising position. He hadn’t slept for 36 hours, TV appearances and media hits and all of the other Olympic duties calling. He fulfilled them, and with grace, honoring his friends Kevin Pearce and Danny Davis, both medal contenders before injuries left them unable to compete.
Lack of sleep is no excuse, of course. It happened. Lago owned up to it. And the USSA could have accepted the apology, broadcast it and let Lago move on. Only it didn’t, the power of the Olympic overlords forcing a rash decision.
“This was about one incident,” USSA spokesman Tom Kelly said, and it was an incident that, in the end, earned Scotty Lago millions of new fans. He was an American kid celebrating the way an American kid should – out on the streets, with the people, happy to give the world a look at his shiny new toy.
The suits turned him into a loser, a derelict, someone told to leave Vancouver and not come back. It’s a shame. The Olympics were better for having Scotty Lago. The same can’t be said for the people running them.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/snowboard/news?slug=jp-lago022010&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
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