As usual, Olympic commentators--like most sports commentators--are fouling the airwaves with bad grammar and ridiculous metaphors. To be fair, they have a lot of company in the bad grammar department; everyone from network news anchors to NPR reporters are out to destroy the English language.

Last night, I had to stop counting the number of times the women's gymnastics commentators said "exact same"--the job required a calculator. When one of the competitors flubbed her routine, a commentator said she "dropped the ball." Using a football metaphor to describe gymnastics is the height of language laziness. Last week, I heard a coommentator use a footaball metaphor to describe a tennis strategy. Isn't it enough that we are bombarded by football metaphors on a daily basis on the so-called news shows? Can't we find another way to talk about gymnastics and tennis?

The opening ceremonies brought the return of American language nationalism. The commentators were struggling over those nations whose names were "hard" to pronounce. Most of the names were pretty easy to pronounce for people with a decent education, but again--we are talking about television commentators. And even if they were hard to pronounce, wouldn't it be reasonably respectful to learn the proper pronunciations before going on the air?

On Saturday night, the American women's gymnastics team took a break and watched the movie, Miracle. Apparently, this experience motivated them to do a little bonding routine between events. It was hard to understand what the team members were saying, except for a big "USA!" at the end. They did this several times, with arms locked and heads together. There was something so utterly American about this routine. The Romanian women and the Chinese women didn't speak between events, except to give one another an encouraging smile. They were focused on doing what they were there to do, and they did it with skill and intensity. It is difficult to envision a group of women huddled together, yelling "Romania!"

American chauvinism is an ongoing problem, especially these days, with a cheerleader in the White House encouraging extreme nationalism. The Olympics are always political, no matter how much we want to think they are not. And while it is natural for Olympic athletes and American commentators to feel national pride, it is also important that the national pride of other countries be acknowledged and respected. This means pronouncing names correctly, and it means not making fun of small, unfamiliar countries, as the opening night commentators did. It also means acknowledging the existence of events at which Ameicans do not excel.