posed to glorify the athletes and the essence of sports and all that is good about them. However, these particular Olympics took on greater significance for many Americans due to the terrorist attacks. As one American journalist reports, “Olympic officials already have visions of emotional U.S. athletes standing atop medal podiums, belting out the national anthem, tears streaking their cheeks as they watch Old Glory ascend” (Shipley D01).
As a form of collective mourning for those lost in the terrorist attacks and a means of collective celebration over American ideals, it is hard to remove the emotions from September 11, 2002, from such Internationally broadcast events taking place on U.S. soil. Still, red, white, and blue fervor dominated the Olympic Games instead of an effort to remain value-neutral. Michael Elliott, writing in Time, notes about U.S. televised coverage of the games, “If the initial TV coverage of the Olympics is a guide, Old Glory will be stenciled on every second snowdrift in Utah. Meanwhile, corporate American and Madison Avenue have found a new theme: Sept 11 sells!” (84).
There can be no denying that the values of American society, freedom and tolerance, are universal. However, American ethnocentrism is not. Still, after Sept 11, 2001, many major events took
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