I’m not sure what these two incidents show.

Incident Number One:

Yang, the bronze medalist, was wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his parallel bars routine. If he had received the proper score, he would have won gold and Hamm would have won silver. “U.S. Gymnast Asked To Return Gold,” CBS News Online, August 29, 2004.

Incident Number Two:

Three miles from the finish, the marathon leader was grabbed by a defrocked priest wearing a red kilt, green beret and matching knee-high socks. An American won a medal — something that hadn’t happened in 28 years. “Bizarre Attack Mars Marathon,” CBS News Online, August 29, 2004.

Perhaps nothing more than that Americans can get by with a little help from our friends?

For 10 minutes, the crowd booed and whistled, creating a deafening roar. American Paul Hamm, the all-around champion, was forced to sit around and wait, unable to start his routine because of the noise. “Olympic Gymnastics Judges Booed,” CBS News Online, August 29, 2004.

Hmmmm . . . maybe not. But now I don’t feel so badly that this was the first year in my life that I didn’t watch at least part of the Olympics.