TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Forgive Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick because they tried to put on a show, tried their best to stick to the party line and pretend it was all overblown, a media concoction.
They talked like they had been told what to say. And, until the very end, they said all the right things.
Just like the race they had just run, though, they had trouble finishing.
Under the hot lights, the script fell apart.
Finally, they just couldn't stand it -- or each other -- anymore.
You might have suspected that when they sniped at each other a few days earlier. You didn't have to look far for a clue when they refused to even acknowledge each other on the podium after winning medals in the speedskating 1,500.
For the better part of a half hour press conference Tuesday night, though, they didn't crack. Until the end.
Davis stormed from the room, muttering about his teammate. Hedrick said he felt betrayed.
NBC was looking for some drama from an Olympics that so far has proved less lively than an episode of "Skating With Celebrities." It got it from a pair of speedskaters who have nothing in common except the color of their uniforms.
As feuding teammates go, it didn't rise to the level of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. It wasn't Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent, or Barry Bonds and whoever was sharing the locker next to him. It wasn't even Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan; no one got whacked in the leg here.
"This is not a heavyweight boxing fight," Davis insisted.
That's too bad because Don King could really use these two. Get them in the ring quickly, though, if you don't want to waste some good bad blood.
Because, by next week, America will have moved on and forgotten them both.
That's the downside of toiling in a sport most Americans couldn't care less about except every four years when Olympic medals are on the line. It's hard to blame them because there's nothing terribly exciting about watching guys in tight suits skate around an icy oval two at a time.
Give Hedrick and Davis some credit for changing that, if only for a few days. They may have let an Italian slip by them for the gold medal in the 1,500, but they provided a show afterward that was more than worth the price of admission.
The two are the stars of a speedskating team that is doing its best to save the United States from embarrassment on the medals table in Turin. Ordinarily, that might get them a passing glance, but add in a good feud and you'll at least bring media starved for a good story to the Olympic oval.
Not surprisingly, they can't agree on whether that is good or bad, either.
Hedrick is a former roller-blader who didn't take the ice until four years ago and thinks rivalries are great. Davis is more old school, taught to race against the clock and ignore the guy in the next lane.
"It's not like we're going to fight each other and roll around in the snow," Davis said. "We're adults."
They didn't look much like adults after Davis won the silver and Hedrick the bronze in the 1,500. They took the medal podium on either side of Enrico Fabris and made a point not to even look at each other, much less shake each other's hand.
Still, both insisted everything was fine and they were just tough competitors. They kept insisting it, even though it was clear they didn't believe it, and neither did the assorted media crowded into a tiny room.
The charade finally ended on the last question of the night when Davis allowed that Hedrick might have been a good teammate and shook his hand after he won the 1,000. He then stormed from the room, grumbling as he left.
"I'm done," he said. "He shakes my hand when I lose. Typical Chad."
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/to...ews?slug=ap-spe-timdahlberg&prov=ap&type=lgns
TURIN, Italy ? The smackdown between Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick didn't occur on the ice like everyone hoped it would.
But it did happen. And the world missed quite a show.
The real face-off between the two American speedskating stars took place about two hours after they were upstaged by Italy's Enrico Fabris in the Olympic 1,500 meters Tuesday at raucous Oval Lingotto, leaving Davis with the silver and Hedrick the bronze.
If the feud between the gold medalists had merely been festering, it splattered all over the cramped news conference room.
These guys really don't like each other.
First, a quick recap:
Hedrick, a cocky Texan, came into these games with the chance to match Eric Heiden's record of five Winter Olympic gold medals. He got off to a great start when he won the opening race, the 5,000 meters.
Another of his five events was team pursuit ? a new Olympic event. Much to Hedrick's annoyance, Davis skipped the team pursuit in order to focus on his individual events. The U.S. team, led by Hedrick, was upset in the quarterfinals by Fabris and the Italians, who went on to win the gold.
Three days later, Hedrick didn't bother to congratulate Davis, a quiet Chicago native, after he won the 1,000 meters to become the first black athlete to claim an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
Hedrick, who was sixth in the 1,000 meters, even spouted: "Once Shani beat me, I didn't care if I got a bronze. I'm here to win. It's all or nothing."
After the 1,500 meters, Davis tried to blame most of the fuss on the media (In that case, there's a lot of suspects, since there's an estimated 10,000 of us lurking in and around Turin).
So, it was suggested, if there's a perception that media stoked this, why couldn't the two kiss and make up?
After some rambling give-and-take between the two, Davis finally let Hedrick have it.
"It would have been nice if after the 1,000 meters, he could have been a good teammate and shook my hand, just like I shook his hand ? or hugged him ? after he won the 5,000 meters."
Davis stood up and walked out of the room.
Hedrick looked stunned, took a drink of water and gave his rebuttal.
"We had a great opportunity to win the team pursuit race. I felt betrayed in a way that not only did Shani not participate in it, he didn't even discuss it with me. As the leader of the team, I felt like we passed up a medal. I just felt betrayed in a way."
In terms of pure delivery, it was TKO, Davis. Had the news conference lasted a few questions longer, Don King might have made an appearance and punches might have been thrown.
Maybe it was a good thing Fabris won. That way, Davis and Hedrick were separated by the Italian on the podium during the flower ceremony and didn't have to stand next to each other. Davis and Hedrick did join Fabris on the top step, and the three put their arms around each other to pose for photographers. But the Americans didn't shake hands or even acknowledge one another.
In a way, both skaters have a point.
Although both are part of Team USA, speedskating is an individual sport. Davis had every right to focus on his events. And Hedrick, who seemed to thrive on the controversy, had every right to get upset about team pursuit, even if it does seem a little goofy.
And there's never been any rule that teammates, regardless of the sport, have to like each other.
Davis, who has been skating since he was 6, took several not-so-subtle shots at Hedrick before his final verbal punch.
On the subject of his future, Davis said: "I love the sport of speedskating, regardless of the people who are not long-term stayers at the hotel of speedskating."
Translation: Hedrick has been a speedskater only since 2002. Before that, he was an inline skating champion.
Hedrick said that while he plans to continue speedskating, he also wants "to get into some acting in Hollywood pretty soon."
When he saw an opening, Davis chimed in: "I'm not a phony person. There would be no way I would ever be a Hollywood actor."
At one point, Hedrick mentioned Michael Jordan.
Davis had another zinger:
"Speaking of Michael Jordan, being from Chicago, I'm a big Michael Jordan fan, but I've never seen him act in an unprofessional manner when it came to losing."
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/to...s?slug=bw-smackdown022106&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
, just right, or if your landing isn't smooth, you can lose a whole point.