The New Ice Bitch Cometh?

It's Skategate Part II. Unbelievable. It's as if McGovern came back to run for office and bugged the Republican convention.

First Nancy was the victim. The poster child for all those poor anonymous soles who have been stalked by crazy lunatics. No longer the shy, quiet skater from Stoneham, she was the darling of America. Mary Tyler Moore in skates.

Who could turn the country on with her smile? Nancy, of course.

And then came the quotes.

First she attacked Oksana Bayul for her emotional display after skating a gold-medal performance, and then she attacked Mickey and his gang.

It was all on tape. No smoking gun here. The gun was on fire. She was caught red-handed.

So now she's Atilla the Hun, Ghengis Khan, Tricky Dick, Lorena Bobbitt. No longer the victim, she's now the perpetrator.

Tonya Harding is old news. There's a new bad girl on the ice.

It's all so confusing. Which depiction are we to believe?

If I ask her for an autograph, will she flash that toothy smile, pick a rose, quote some poetry and offer me a home-cooked meal?

Or will she attack me with her medal and scream "Why me?"

Of course, she'll do neither--because surprise, surprise, she isn't really as bad or as good as the press has made her out to be in the last month.

She's exactly like most of us, maybe just a little less diplomatic. Or maybe just a little more honest.

Let's be real, was her statement at the Olympics so evil? Anyone who has played competitive sports has bad-mouthed opponents after the game. It doesn't make us the next candidates to perform mass genocide. It makes us human.

Nancy was upset. She felt that she deserved the gold so she vented her frustration.

Unfortunately, it was heard by tens of millions of people, many of whom were sick of her already and were looking for anything to knock her down a peg or two.

And her offense to Mickey and company? She has a valid excuse. Look at the tapes. She appears to be talking to her mother in reference to the "stupid" quotation.

Even is she wasn't, have you ever seen one of these parades? Stupid, in retrospect, may have been a kind assessment.

In reality, Nancy seems guilty of bad judgement, lack of diplomacy, maybe even stupidity. But she isn't a threat to national security, a psychotic lunatic ready to strike at any of her enemies. [like, say, Tonya herself.]

But, of course, as these events show, she isn't Mother Teresa either. She has her imperfections.

So let's drop these ridiculous labels. Let's keep in mind what Nancy Kerrigan really is to most of us who have never met her: a wonderful skater who entertained the world with a spectacular performance.

Let's not put impossible standards on these women. Just let her live her life the way most of us are allowed: in quiet anonymity, without the constant hounding and critiques.

And most important, let's stop talking about Kerrigan. The Olympics are over, the flame has been extinguished, so can we at last put an end to Skategate?