Why No Love for the USA Basketball Moms?

The Olympics are everywhere, consume everything, and have taken over the lives of even your most anti-sports friends and family. USA Basketball is no exception; as arguably the most famous athletes in Beijing not named Yao or Phelps, the Redeem Team cast a long, tall, leaping shadow over the rest of the games.↵
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↵So why is it that, while every other athlete’s family members are the beneficiary of endless crowd shots, numerous narrative segments and post-race interviews, we’ve seen/heard/felt nothing from the families of Team USA? Littmann’s trying to cut me down with the pragmatic angle: Team USA is a major story in and of itself, so there’s no need to gussy it up or sentimentalize it. But hasn’t the Michael Phelps train already picked up just as much more momentum, even among the likes of LeBron and Melo? And still, we see his moms every five seconds.↵
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↵Because I’m all about the positive, I’ll refrain from crying racism, or worrying that Gloria James at the USA/China game could’ve provoked an international incident. I know the basketball is fascinating on its own, at least for this first week. But seriously, are there any athlete-moms who more deserve some NBC love than those of the National Basketball Association? Great, I’m moved that some gymnast’s dad had to wake up early every day to drive her to practice. The bio of most super-hoops-pros includes at least one family member who deserves to be sainted, or at least given some sort of medal for sacrifice.↵
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And plus, what’s more rad: Seeing families of NBA players included in the coverage, as they get the chance to experience a whole new angle on their sons’ success, or excluding them because their stories are irrelevant to the ratings? That is not the integrity these games were founded upon. These players weren’t born All-Stars, no more so than anyone else in competition; by NBC’s own laws of Olympic broadcast, that means family can’t be far behind.↵
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↵Unless, of course, NBA moms have been banned from the games. There’s your political smoking gun for the 2008 Olympics. They’re all in a secret prison somewhere with the Iranian team’s surly older brothers.↵