Forget medal count, Canada is true winner

"Wilbon, why do you hate America so much?"

Because he hates America's capital.

When did Mike Milbury take over Mike Wilbon's blog.

Taking away from the United States' success simply due to its population is ludicrous. Looking at solely a country's population in contrast to its medal count in determining Olympic success isn't smart. Looking at expectations, culture, and resources is the key.

The U.S. just won the most medals ever by one country in the Winter Olympics. For anybody to take away from that, much less an American, seems harsh.

The past 2 Wilbon blogs have been biased and unfair, and have read more like persuasive blogs than anything else (pro-Crosby and pro-Canada). What's going on, Wilbon? And yes, i'd be saying the same thing if the past 2 blogs were pro-Ovechkin and pro-United States.

Mike,

It was a shame you couldnt make it here to Vancouver. Although you have been to other Olympics, I think this one would have truly surprised you. The positive energy here was spectacular as I'm sure your fellow journalists would have attest. With Vancouver being your favourite North American city I think this incredible event would have left you in amazement. And the weather was nice too!

it is very impressive that Canada has 14 people who are the BEST in the world at their winter sport while the US has 9.

NIce article. Its not often we Americans can look at ourselves objectively and see we are not the heroes of every story. If you consider that the US has more population than Canada, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and pretty much all of Europe COMBINED, then the medal count isn't all that impressive. A little humility goes a LONG LONG way. Maybe one day this country will learn that...

Wilbon, why do you hate America so much?

I still think they should weigh the medals by their value for the final count, much like Epyx did for those of you old enough to remember the Summer and Winter Games they released in the 80s. 5 pts for Gold, 3 for Silver and 1 for Bronze.

So the US 9 gold, 15 silver and 13 silver works out to 45 + 45 + 13 for 103.

Germany had 10, 13 and 7 which works out to 50 + 39 + 7 for 96.

Canada had 14, 7 and 5 which works out to 70 + 21 + 5, so they would tie the Germans.

Golds, then silvers should be the tiebreaker. If they completely tie, then a tie it is. In this case, the Canadians would be second overall.

First, let me begin by saying I truly respect Wilbon. Having said that, it seems that every time he writes about something other than football, basketball, and golf it is in a negative context. Maybe it is my imagination but I truly cannot recall recent positive comments from him if the subject was the Olympics, hockey, soccer, or baseball.

KOLBKL,

You make a fair point but Crofton's point is more relevant. Of the 37 medals earned in Vancouver, only 15 were in sports that did not exist in Calgary. 22 medals is still nearly three times as many as the 6 that were won in Calgary. Further, of the six medals earned in Calgary three were in speed skating and three were in figure skating so in every other sport the USA came away empty handed. USA was once a minor player within the Winter Olympic scene and they are now a major player as Crofton pointed out.

Crofton, you can't compare 1988 to 2010. How many of those medals that we won in Vancouver were in sports that weren't around in 1988? Or how about this: delete any Short Track Speed Skating and 'Extreme' sports from the 2010 count.

I agree that the efforts in comparable sports are ten-fold if not more in the Nordic and sledding sports. But I think folks can't lump Olympics together but instead must look at each sport individually for improvement.

I concur w/ Wilbon, it is hardly relevant to maintain "records" of medal counts anyway. This Winter Olympiad featured nearly double the number of events from 1988, so this count will continue to inflate.

Definitely agree on the existence of the attitude of wanting to put US at the top of the table whenever possible. That is truly what our essence is. The Spanish channel, for example, had Canada at the top and listed the rest by number of gold medals.

I would disagree, though, in your view that gold medals ALONE per the number of people in the country is an accurate measure of how well a country performed in the Olympics. Russia, for instance, was unhappy with its performance in these Olympics, but they don't compete very well in the ALL of the events. It takes a lot more than 4 years for these training programs to develop. You can't tell me that we should expect to be as good at long distance speed-skating as Holland or as good at cross country skiing as Norway (The Nordic combined medal was awesome, I thought). So, to be one of the top three in the world in 30-some events should not be overlooked. No other country achieved the same feat, in that respect. The greatness of that, I will leave to someone else to decide

I've got to agree with Wilbon on this one. Medal count is great, but will the sporting world really remember the Olympics when the US asserted newfound skills in the Nordic combined? Probably not.

Is there an American athlete for the ages who emerged out of these games? Unless you are among the five or six people not sick to death of Lindsay Vonn, or are overly impressed by that husky guy in the bobsled, there's no Peggy Fleming in 2010.

When we think back to 2010, I think and hope that we will remember the truly transcendent moments, like the two Wilbon cited, and not a medal count.

Hi I'm Michael Wilbon. I'm controversial. I'm the hardcore counter-punch to Kornheiser's attempts at humor. Being so pessimistic at this stage of my career will keep me fresh and relevant.

USA? Just not good enough. Ovechkin? Just not good enough. Sydney Crosby? Just can't promote that guy enough and in the Capitals' hometown newspaper no less.

Aren't you so very mad at me right now?

A little perspective here please. I completely agree about the amazing number of gold medals Canada won. However, it is ridiculous to discount the total number of medals won by the USA in these Olympic games. The 37 medals won is a Winter Olympic record so it cannot be discounted. In addition, the last time the Winter Olympics were held in Canada (1988) the USA won six medals, SIX MEDALS! Let's give some credit to Team USA for an amazing rise in just two decades. They are now competitive in events that were an afterthought twenty years ago (Nordic Combined, Bobsled, etc). USA has transformed from a Summer Olympic power to a Winter & Summer Olympic power.