I too am sickened by the fact that none of these pussy's feel any loyalty to their country. Say what you want about him, but none other than Allen Iverson has been one of the few ( I believe Jefferson is the other) that have been "Olympians" from day one. Iverson is brash, tattooed to the hilt, and not exactly what I'd like in a role-model, but the guy plays hard every night, plays hurt, and obviously has a desire to represent his Country.
I remember a few years back when David Duval was actually good enough to qualify for the Ryder Cup. His first question upon being invited was if they got "paid" for playing. WOW!
Again, for as big an asshole as he was on the court, John McEnroe was the most loyal and dedicated Davis Cup Tennis player that this country has ever had. John took the Davis Cup as serious as any major tournament that he played in. I heard stories about him pretty much begging Sampras to play. Sad that ever had to happen.
These guys just don't get "it." Some of my greatest memories of sports figures are from what they did representing the United States of America. Bruce Jenner, 1980 Hockey, Louganis nailing the "perfect" dive, Mary Lou and her final "10", Kerri Strug, Carl Lewis, Dan Jannsen, Justin Leonard, the list is just too long to continue. The most dominating Sports figure in my mind right now in the World is Lance Armstrong. How much does he get paid?
The USA probably needs to go back to using College players in basketball. At least it would open up tryouts for guys who want to play, not back-outs from guys who don't that would only be rivaled by somebody trying to get out of jury duty in terms of piss-poor excuses. Peace.