Sully's Stuff

Don't Jacobellis

Jacobellis became a verb last night.

Jacobellis: verb. To lose while counting your chickens on the way to victory.

With a seemingly insurmountable lead, Lindsey Jacobellis inexplicably grabbed her board and fell while doing something called a "backside method grab," allowing herself to be bumped from certain gold to silly silver. It's a little bit poetic that the first "must see" moment of the Torino Olympics on NBC was a blooper, a moment of embarrasment where Lindsey Jacobellis seized the opportunity to join Bill Buckner and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After all, when you know the results in the past, there has to be something out of the ordinary to make you want to tune and see -- but after I read about I knew I had to see it. It was like Jerome Bettis fumbling on the 1 against the Colts without Ben Roethlisberger there to make the tackle.

But really, the day after, whose in a better position than Lindsey Jacobellis? Can you name the gold medal winner? (Someone named Tanja Frieden from Sweden...I had to look it up.) Can you name the American winner of the men's race that happened the day before? (Seth Wescott...again, had to look it up.)

Jacobellis is now in the perfect position. Many will remember her and her story. Her path to redemption in the 2010 games in Vancouver is brightly lit. Sure, she'll get tired of seeing the replay from last night, but she'll probably cash-in talking about it.

So be careful...as you approach triumph in your life don't Jacobellis. But don't feel too bad for her, it will all come out in the end.

posted by Sully @ 2/18/2006