Attractiveness Quotient, Olympic Style

A while ago, I wrote something about how I couldn't believe how out of whack the attractiveness quotient is between young men and young women at this point. Basically, you see scuzzy-lookin' young men with long, bad hair dating normal, attractive young women. It is mystifying to me because, over the course of modern history, I believe that this is unprecedented.

Now, we get the Olympics and The Flying Tomato. You know, Shaun White, the American snowboarder who won a gold medal:


Now, after this dude wins his half-pipe gold medal (he doesn't seem like a "pipe's half full" kind guy to me, he seems like kind of "full pipe" kind of guy -- of course, I don't know him), he starts long-distance hitting on Sasha Cohen, the American figure skater, saying he didn't see her at the opening ceremonies, hopes to see her at the closing ceremonies and hopes that she likes gold-medal winners. Then she kind of coyly plays along, saying it's too bad he's staying in the Olympic village in the hills while she's at the one in the valley, while also saying that she does like gold medal winners. She then goes out and falls a couple of times in the free skate, but still gets a silver medal. Then she's interviewed by Bob Costas, who asks her if she's going to see The Flying Tomato at the closing ceremonies, and she says that she might be on the Tonight Show (come, Sasha, Letterman please, be cool, man) and says "so I guess I shall leave you with an ambiguous answer."

Now Sasha Cohen is a regular-looking, pretty attractive young
woman. I hope to God that she has prospects other than the Flying Tomato. Now please understand what I'm saying here. First, I'm very happy that the Flying Tomato is having a successful career and apparently is a multi-millionaire due to his skateboarding and snowboardings exploits. (It could be worse. After all, Chris O'Donnell and EthanHawke are multi-millionaires too and they don't have any talent at all.) Second, I'm not saying that pretty women should only date handsome men. I mean, aging rock stars, for example, need love, too. (Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter? Ugh. Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porzikova? Eeek. Mick Jagger, he of the currently unfortunate triceps, and anyone female? Yikes.)

What I am saying, though, is that young American men do not need to be encouraged in their currently horrendous grooming choices. Ms. Cohen had herself a nice opportunity to strike a blow for improving the world's attractiveness by saying, "The Flying Tomato, he might be OK if he'd wash his hair." Alas, she passed, expressed at least some insincere interest and thus encouraged the bad style choices of 15- to 19-year-olds all across our great land. And that -- not Ms. Cohen's missed jumps or Bodie Miller's 0-fer -- seems to me to be the big missed opportunity of this particular Olympics.