Central New Yorker Drawn Into Stupid Olympic Controversy

Erin Hamlin, the Olympic luger from Remsen was chosen as the flag-bearer for Team USA at Friday's Opening Ceremonies in Pyeongchang, South Korea. But, another U.S. athlete is claiming foul play led to the decision.

Speedskater Shani Davis, an African-American competing in his fifth Winter Olympic Games for the United States, tweeted his disappointment over the whole process:

I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018" (@ShaniDavis)

When a committee deadlocked 4-4 in a vote between Hamlin and Davis, a coin was tossed to determine the flag-bearer and Hamlin won the toss.

Both athletes reached the coin flip part of the process in the traditional fashion--they were nominated and then voted upon.

So, Davis' complaint would appear to be the equivalent of Tom Brady arguing about the flip of a coin at an NFL game.

To avoid a controversy like this in the future, maybe the U.S. should have an odd number of people casting votes, making it impossible to have another 4-4 tie. Imagine a U.S. Supreme Court with eight members instead of nine.

Here's hoping this is not a distraction and both Hamlin and Davis strike gold in South Korea. By the way, a U.S. flag-bearer for the closing ceremony has yet to be chosen.

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