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This
year’s "Look for the Good" award goes, hands down, to Scott
Hamilton, figure skating champion of the 1980’s and commentator at the
Winter Olympic Games that just ended in Salt Lake City.
In a sport that’s all about judgment and criticism, Scott somehow
manages to call it like it is without dishing, ‘dissing or dumbing down.
When everyone else was empathizing with Michelle Kwan’s
disappointment, he confidently told audiences that "she gained a
bronze, she didn’t loose a gold."
And, he meant it. But
the height of his Hamiltonian charm came during the long program of US
figure skater Michael Weiss who is retiring after the 2002 games to be a
full time Dad. Weiss gave one
of those challenging performances that was not perfectly executed but took
guts. While he landed a couple
of those difficult quad thingies, he missed a lot of other moves in
between that he needed to secure to be in medal contention (he finished 7th).
In the end, Scott summed it all up by saying something to the
effect of "Michael’s the best father-of-two skater in the business."
What other sports announcer, or person for that matter, would even
think something like this let alone point it out on national television?
So
while the rest of us (present Chicks included) criticize and cringe as
athletes mess up moves we couldn’t do in a million years, Scott Hamilton
points out what we really need to notice.
Whether we’re rewarded with a medal or not, it’s our outlook
that makes our lives golden.
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