My 76 year-old, Bush loving, lifelong Republican, who was "sorry to hear" that I was a Democrat, stepmother was just forced off Medicaid and into the new drug plan. Now she says, "I am sorry I ever voted for Bush." She hasn't even really seen the big bills yet.

My 86 year-old fundamentalist grandmother, born and raised a Democrat, wants George Bush to keep his paws of her Medicare and Social Security.

The tide is turning.

Does anybody have a quote of Hedrick saying he was chasing the 5 medal record? The media has said it, and has even twisted a few quotes of Hedricks to make it seem like he was implying it, but I have not seen a quote where he says it.

From Chron.com:

"You guys with the press have really put the pressure on me about the five gold medals," he said. "But the important thing is for me to go out and have fun. I went out today and competed and gave my all for my teammates. We didn't have the perfect team, but everybody did give a good effort. I'm not ashamed to walk away. We left it all out on the line.

"I feel bad for the other guys. This was their chance to win a gold medal."

Great Olympians are in the relays. Look at track and field, swimming, even in the short track skating, the greats perform for the team. All the guys on the relay team, even the ones who do the pre-lims, get medals. For some, that is their only shot. I will grant that maybe the relays should be the last events of a meet, but still you do them. Davis is wearing a shirt that says USA.

And Davis was just being a dick-head during the interview after his race. There was no need for that. I am sure he has blown some endorsements. Funny, NBC brought in a black reporter I have never seen before to interview him after the medal ceremony. I do not know what to say about that, but Davis seemed a little more talkative.

Sorry Matt, not only is that not a quote by him, it is only a reference to something somebody else might have said. They could not even say who might have said that. I rate that right up with Fox News saying "People have said...." I saw that quote from your earlier link, but discarded it immediately. Now if they/you had said who had said it, and could substantially link that person to being in the employ of Hedrick, that would be another story. But they didn't.

As far a Davis taking the place of others, they could have all still skated by mixing up the lineup. They do this in other sports relays, so that everybody on the list for relays gets a medal. I have an old friend who has a Gold from a relay where he swam the qualifiers to keep his individual silver company. Since we are not dominant in skating, Hedrick and Davis would have had to skate most rounds together for all of the skaters to get a medal. And lets be serious, nobody thought they were going to get that gold either. Bronze would have been great.

It seems it has been the press who has been pushing Hedrick for 5 gold medals, not Hedrick himself. Heiden has made mention of 5, but usually only as a response to questions from the media, and a positive response is the only response at that time. Don't hate people without reason. That is so like....... a Republian.

The challenge of team pursuit is putting a team on the ice that can work well together. Unlike relays in some sports, where the members compete in different legs, the team has to work together, like in cycling. You try to keep the weaker skater from putting in huge efforts so he can hang with the others. That is easier in cycling than in the more structured speed skating. The third skater for the US would not have been there if Davis had skated. They could have easily beaten the other team and advanced.

Why does everyone want to make Davis and Hedrick a race issue? They might just not like each other as people. If lots of people dislike somebody they know well, there is probably a reason. We are just guessing motivations.

Wow, Davis beats Hedrick for the silwer, and then at the press conference ends up whining that Hedrick didn't hug him after an earlier race? Wow! What a nut. Hedrick looked like he was trying not to laugh. He kept behind his water bottle, while Davis stompped away.

Well, at least Davis is done and we don't have to hear him anymore. Next he would telling us that Hedrick stole his teddy bear. Hedrick has one of his specialties coming up!

I did not realize that Hedrick was the team captain. Davis should really had discussed the situation with him. It was Hedrick's pursuit team. BTW, how does one get to be captain? Usually it is voted on by the other skaters. Just sayin'.