Larry Brown Has Decided to Blame Terrorism for the Bronze Medal in 2004

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There are many sayings about excuses. I can't use the one I'm thinking about here, but it turns out that Larry Brown, head coach of the 2004 Olympic team and current coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, has one too.

Understandable, under normal circumstances. After all, there has to be an actual reason for why the US didn't win gold. Of course, what makes his excuse slightly less understandable is when he tries to scapegoat terrorism.

According to former Team USA coach Larry Brown, it comes down to one word: Commitment.

"The thing is they got guys that are willing to make a three-year commitment, which I think is tremendous," Brown said of this current Team USA. "We had guys that committed (for 2004) and then all of a sudden 9/11 happened, and then there were injuries."

LB, buddy. Come on. Have you lost your freaking mind, man? There are lots of things for which 9/11 is to "blame" -- as much as you can blame a tragedy for anything: TSA agents, terrorism color coding, four extra years of Dubya, and, most importantly and seriously, senseless death.

What it is not to blame for is America failing to win a gold medal. Brown got a stout group of players capable of bringing home the gold, but the team was poorly assembled, lacking shooters and defenders, and wasn't coached properly. Thus, they floundered.

That being said, a little bit o' bitter is to be expected after such an awesome, emotional and patriotic run by the 2008 USA team. But still ... bad choice.

It's not even that he went and invoked 9/11; frankly I think the phrase has extended past South Parkian levels of discussion (meaning people can joke about the way it gets used for public manipulation) but that doesn't make using it as an excuse for losing a basketball tournament any better.

Terrorist Fist Jab Handpound: Sport Count

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-26-2008 @ 12:28AM

John Doe said...

Actually, I think some players did drop out of the 2004 Olympics due to security concerns.

I don't remember any of them specifically saying it was because of "9/11", though.

8-26-2008 @ 12:52AM

George B Vieto said...

The USA got the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics because Larry Brown did not utilize the talents of his players properly.

8-26-2008 @ 7:26AM

Doc said...

Basketball is played best as a team game ( like this
year) only problem is Larry Brown is always bigger
than the game.

8-26-2008 @ 9:21AM

nale said...

Will, If you are going to comment on Brown's claim you should actually find out and tell your reader's who the players who decided not to be on the team after 9/11.

As John Doe said there were some good players, maybe the shooters and defenders you say the team lacked that backed out. A good reporter would have included their names in a balanced piece. But as ususal you go for the easy headline and lazy reporting.

I agree Brown had the talent to win the gold and his handling of theyoung players was awful but his claim that 9/11 hurt the team is not without some merit.

8-26-2008 @ 4:37PM

chilai said...

Are you guys stupid? Don't you understand what he was trying to say?
He is using the 9/11 as a metaphore, as saying "we had guys who made the commitment but then a disaster happened (injuries, weddings, trials, etc etc) so lots of players were missing"

8-27-2008 @ 11:57AM

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