It isn't enough that we have to endure the inane babbling of jocks with over-inflated senses of self-worth. No, we also are feted with more of the same by those who write about those athletes. Usually, no one notices or cares, as in the case of Keith Olbermann. Rick Reilly, however, is widely considered to be the best sportswriter in America, though for the life of me I don't know why. Dabbling in politics as it relates to sport, he lays this pile of dreck on us, which is badly in need of fisking (my comments indented):

Dear Athens,
Well, we feel bad. We really owe you an apology.
So, sygnomi, as you would say.
Sorry.

Speaking for one country (apparently in the matter to be addressed, he represents the whole US, or is it the whole world?) to another, Reilly uses his audience's language in that condescending way that liberal leftists do, to offer that cure all lefty remedy for any perceived grievance - an apology.

Sorry about the way we acted. We were paranoid and stupid and just flat out wrong. Our bad. If you want, we'll sleep on the couch.

After apologizing, Reilly quickly descends into another favorite pastime of the lefties - self loathing. Well, not just limited to self, of course, as evidenced by the use of "we" - apparently again speaking for a much larger body than his own oversized head.

We mocked you, ridiculed you, figured you wouldn't be ready. We envisioned you as a bunch of lazy, swarthy guys in wife-beater T-shirts chugging ouzo instead of finishing the baseball dugouts. We were sure steeplechasers would have to jump over drying cement, pole vaulters over tractors, divers into 3 feet of water.

We were wrong. It was all done and it was beautiful. OK, so the swimming stadium never got a roof. Big freaking deal. Imagine: having to swim in an outdoor pool. Let's all sue. Besides, you know what? It was more fun that way. Michael Phelps was out there so much he ended up with raccoon eyes from his goggles. He looked like a snowboarder. "Cool!" he said.

We predicted women madly weaving olive wreaths next to the podiums as the national anthems started up. We foresaw painters sprinting along painting stripes just yards ahead of 400-meter runners. We figured beams would be falling on people's heads. Who knew Wrigley Field would be a lot more dangerous?

I hate to keep harping on this, but who again is this "we" - other than a few sportswriters who perenially find themselves with too much time on their hands this time of year, except every fourth summer, who cares about the Olympics enough to have engaged in this kind of hand wringing? Certainly not as large of a group as Reilly is speaking for when offering his above apology.

We were sure every street corner would have three or four terrorists, just kind of killing time, looking for somebody to kidnap. Some bozo said, "The only place worse to hold an Olympics would be Baghdad." Please. I guarantee you, we felt a helluva lot safer these three weeks in Athens than we do in L.A. Or Detroit. Or the Republican National Convention.

Again with the "we" - and what a clever turn of words to work in a slam on those evil Republicans. What a great argument he makes as well, and I quote, "Please."

We insisted you spend 1.2 billion euros on security. You had to put up blimps and cameras all over the city. You couldn't throw a bucket of grapes anywhere and not hit a soldier with a rifle. And nothing happened. Zero. The only incident was when our Secretary of State said he was coming to visit. In other words, if Colin Powell would've just been happy with his remote, you wouldn't have had a single problem.

Apparently the "we" now is the IOC. After just proclaiming how safe "we" felt in Athens, he bags on those who had the foresight to make it that way. We also are told now who "we" isn't - namely Colin Powell. He, not being part of we, apparently wouldn't have been as safe in Athens as he would be in Detroit or L.A., or Baghdad for that matter.

Why you had to pay for our paranoia, I'll never know. It's the world's problem, the world should have to pay for it. What small country is going to be able to afford to host the Olympics anymore with these insane security demands? From now on, if a country wants to send a team to the Games, it pays its share of security, based on its share of the gross world product. In other words, it's our war, we should have to pay for it.

Paranoia? Gee, what has happened during the Olympics that might have reminded us yet again what anyone might be paranoid about? What a moron - do I even need to point out the illogic of his statements regarding the level of safety he felt all the while bitching about the cost of security? Maybe Reilly has a point though, who were "we" to force Greece to take on these Olympics? Oh, you mean they wanted to host them of their own volition? In that case, in typically leftist fashion, Reilly apparently believes everything is an entitlement, including hosting the Olympics, and the rest of the world should ante up. Never mind that every time it is discussed, there is a long list of countries that want to host the Olympics, even with all of the odious requirements.

And our ignorance cost you more than just the billion or so Euros. Our Edvard Munch screams leading up to these games kept millions of people away. Corporations bailed on you. Fans chickened out. I know burly journalists who were too scared to come.

Fortunately for "us", not so burly journalists were full of bravado. Well, full of something anyway.

Sygnomi. Really. You did such a beautiful job on all the venues, arenas and stadiums and yet most of them were so empty you would've thought you'd stumbled upon a goiter seminar. At one basketball game, we counted: There were 307 people. One women's soccer game involving the U.S. started with fewer than 50 people. I had a friend call one night and say, "You better get over to gymnastics, quick. There's only 15,000 seats left."

Ooh, a sincere apology!

The shopkeepers told us, "We've never seen it so dead in August." Hotels came down on their prices by three-quarters. Shirt stores lost their shirts. It's too bad. It was a glorious Olympics. It really was. The opening ceremonies were fabulous. The nightlife was amazing. Even the stray dogs and cats couldn't have been friendlier. I got lost once and had to hitchhike out of nowhere, and a motorcyclist not only picked me up but drove for miles until he found me a cab. So, efharisto, as you say. Thanks.

I feel just terrible about the shopkeepers. Given that a large percentage of the country hates the U.S., it seems likely that many of the shopkeepers are part of that demographic. And contrary to what Reilly and his ilk would have you believe, it isn't all because of "our" war.

Somebody did a poll and found that 97 percent of fans were "satisfied" with safety and security, 95 percent appreciated the job the volunteers did and 98 percent had a favorable impression of Greece. The other two percent were Paul Hamm's family. And what did you get for all your trouble? Nothing but heartache. With 9,000-plus Greeks about to go delirious, our men's volleyball team handed you a giant buzzkill --- coming back from eight points down to win the fourth set and then the fifth to advance to the semifinals. The only really good game our men's basketball team played the whole time was against Greece.

More lefty self-loathing. Obviously, the American volleyballers should have thrown the game rather than be a "buzzkill." At least the basketballers did their part. Nice crack at Paul Hamm thrown in for good measure - no need to muddy the waters with any context for that issue - it would just ruin a cutesy sound bite to point out that judging errors are the only thing that made it possible for the "slighted" South Korean to get a meddle at all.

It was Greek Tragedy Fortnight on TBS. It started even before the Games with your heartbroken judoka jumping from a balcony, followed two days later by her distraught boyfriend. Your two best sprinters turned in their credentials to end a doping/conspiracy/motorcycle wreck soap opera that tore the nation up. One of your favorite weightlifters had to give up a medal for a failed drug test, then wept in front of the world protesting his innocence.

Three dopers on the home team, but Paul Hamm and our men's volleyball team are the bad guys?

And now you're stuck with about $8.5 billion in debt, a bunch of huge, expensive stadiums you'll never use (Hey, kids, who's ready to synchronized dive?!) and a whole lot of "Get Your Butt to Team Handball!" shorts nobody was around to buy. Other than that, Mrs. Kennedy, how did you enjoy Dallas?

All because Greece was "forced" to hold these games. Pity.

So, really, we're sorry. If it makes you feel any better, we all feel a lot more Greek now. We're all coming back to the States telling the wife, "OK, you be Athena and I'll be Zeus!", demanding our favorite restaurants reserve us a table about 1 a.m. under the moon, right near a 2,500 year-old ruin. We keep spitting in people's hair for good luck, crushing plates for no reason and hollering "opa!" in the shower.

Now "we" is Reilly and his cohorts at the Olympics, and he is telling us more than most of us would probably like to know about his plans for when he gets home, as he drops back into his condescending adoption of what he considers to be representative of Greek culture. Well, he does appear to have one thing in common with a majority of Greeks - disdain for the U.S.

No idea how to make this right for you, except this: We vow, here and now, we'll never make you host us again. See you in Baghdad, 2016.

I can't wait for him to apologize on behalf of all of us for liberating them from Saddam.

PS - Welcome, VodkaPundit readers! A little clarification on the name may be in order - I am probably more of an infidel than a cowboy. It is all explained in the "about me" section. Anyway, enjoy, thanks for stopping by, and hope to see you again soon.