The Best American Olympic Athlete: John Shuster
My favorite athlete of the Winter Olympics games was curling skip John Shuster.
American Athlete
Unlike these guys who train over and over to skate fast or swim fast and end up with weird looking physiques, Shuster looks like the average American. In fact, I think he showed us most what it would be like for a regular American to be thrown out onto the world stage to compete. He’s just a guy with a regular job who likes to play a sport in his spare time and ended up with all the world watching. And while anyone knows how to win, the best measure is knowing how to comport yourself when you lose, and Shuster and his team kept a sense of humor even after Olympic medals were basically out of reach. Shuster even bet a teammate $20 he wasn’t going to be able to make a shot (he won), and they really looked like they had fun out there as opposed to people like the Chinese who would probably be executed for failure.
So a sincere thank you to John Shuster and the rest of his team, Jason Smith, John Benton, Jeff Isaacson, and Chris Plys, for really representing America out on the ice.
(20 votes, average: 4.55 out of 5)
Loading ...
March 1st, 2010 at 11:14 am
I almost didn’t recognize him without his lucky hat.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:14 pm
The Canadian guy who won the Gold was bald and looked like he enjoyed plumbing in his spare time.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:17 pm
He merits a nod just for having the courage to sport the Jim Carrey “Dumb & Dumber” haircut. Give that man a Bud Light, for he is truly a”Real Man of Genius.”
March 1st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Look at that grin. He definitely hit on those drunken Canadian women hockey players.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:38 pm
So, why are there no great black curling players, why are they all white?…The staff of MSNBC, still whining, NBC Land.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I know John. He’s a great guy and a better curler. Most of the criticism leaved against the team was wholly undesired especially since most of the loudest won’t know how to throw a rock without falling and breaking something. Next time I see him I’ll buy him a beer for sure I only have one problem with him in that is his team kicked our miserable asses the last time we played against him.
[It was hard not to go on about all those missed shots, but he and his team did get three of the top teams into the world to a point where he just had to get one more stone on the button to win. -Ed.]
March 1st, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Real Americans doing Real american things. No state sponsored steroids, training, and all expenses taxpayer paid here.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Aahh, I remember when I was a boy, and my dad would take me to the curling events. It was always a great day, sitting with dad enjoying a truly American event. As they would say, there’s nothing like apple pie, Chevrolet and cur…umm…oh, wait…no, that was baseball. Never mind.
March 1st, 2010 at 4:02 pm
I am horrified to learn of the $20 bet! Did the man learn nothing from Pete Rose?
March 1st, 2010 at 4:38 pm
I recall my mother taking me to baseball games late at night, Son of Bob. She told me it helped me fall asleep.
March 1st, 2010 at 5:52 pm
I’m more for Chris Plys myself, but now that I think about it Shuster really was pretty good. Screw everything but curling and hockey though, let’s drop out of the Olympics in every other sport and just focus on curling and hockey.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Seems like a nice guy. Does he go back to his janitor job now that the Olympics are done?
Damn Canadians…
March 1st, 2010 at 6:17 pm
They did a great job and did the USA proud!!! Tipping one back for them tonight.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:23 pm
I would think you’d want to keep the Biathlon, just in case a James Bond chase scene breaks out.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:56 pm
I watched curling for like 5 whole minutes, by mistake….and it was women….and there was this realllllly hot Canadian babe…
so I’m still not gay. But seriously, don’t they feel foolish doing that in front of
millionshundreds of people watching on tv? I sure would.March 1st, 2010 at 9:35 pm
“I would think you’d want to keep the Biathlon, just in case a James Bond chase scene breaks out.”
We can keep biathlon, but we don’t need to fund it or anything. All I need is some cross country skiing lessons and I think we’re set.
“I watched curling for like 5 whole minutes, by mistake….and it was women….and there was this realllllly hot Canadian babe…”
Cheryl Bernard I’m guessing, the Canadian skip. Yeah, you’re right. She was really talented, she did a great job, and she looked good while she was at it.
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Nice to see a best of anything American in athletics and not be automatically out of the running for best American. Way to go USA Olympians, you done us proud.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:06 pm
The best thing about olympic curling is to tune in expecting to get a laugh at the expense of MSNBC’s resident loon Olberman only to see he has been preempted for guys madly brushing ice in front of an obese hockey puck!