James Golden: Olympics is now about being the best you can for the media
Rush Limbaugh Show producer reminds Americans about how they used to marvel at athletes and now every news story is about everything but athletic achievement during Olympics
Former Rush Limbaugh Show producer James Golden – better known as "Bo Snerdley" – sounded off Monday, as the United States Olympic team collectively saw their worse performance in decades amid an increase of Americans' indifference to their nation's competition at the games.
On "Fox News Primetime," host Tammy Bruce noted how Team USA women's soccer players, including Californians Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, took a knee before a game that saw them get blanked 3-0 by Sweden.
Players from Great Britain, New Zealand, Sweden and Chile also took knees in protest before their games.
Bruce went on to note Team USA's men's basketball team's shocking upset loss to France, calling American coach Gregg Popovich – who also coaches the NBA San Antonio Spurs – a "rabid America-bashing leftist."
Popovich, 72, has called the United States a "racist country", critics of Black Lives Matter "ignorant", and routinely bashed President Donald Trump as "deranged"; comparing his 2016 election to the fall of Rome.
Golden, who hosts his own eponymous radio show on 77WABC in New York as well as "The Man Behind the Golden EIB Microphone" podcast, told Bruce it is disappointing to watch athletes shift the focus away from athletics and more toward impressing activists and the media.
"Normally I would say to you OK, I'm not buying it because athletes are so competitive and they are worried about their own competitive state and their own achievement that they wouldn't let these kinds of things hurt them – But then again, look at what they're being competitive with now," he said.
"The competition isn't about being the very best can you be on the athletic field. The competition seems to be about being the best you can be for the media."
He went on to express that there could also be disuniting "resentment" within Team USA from players who do not support the social justice politics of some of their colleagues.
"Now you are wondering what your teammates think of you if you are pro-American. Imagine that. And so here's what we're left with," he said.
"And you know this if you are a performer, if you are getting ready to do your show or any show and someone comes up to you before the show with some drama, any kind of drama, it's going to affect the way that you do your show. You can't help it."
"These are the most highly tuned athletes. Look what is put before them before they are on the world stage. It's a shame. Do you know what else is a shame? It's a shame when the women's soccer team lost there were many in America who said ‘Good, they deserved to lose’."
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Golden called sports a microcosm of the life lesson that "you can lose a battle but win the war" – in that there will be ups and downs, adding that he personally hopes Team USA will rebound after their first day.
"Remember when the Olympics were fun. We used to marvel at their performances, marvel at their individual achievements. Today, the news stories aren't about their achievements. The news stories are about everything but their achievement."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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