America loses an Olympian: Jakob Fak heads to Canada

Daniel Ramirez49 said:As far as I'm concerned, Fak is dead to me. You can travel anywhere on the planet, but if you go to a Canadian or a Mexican, they'll never let it slide.

Oh, wow, we actually waited this long for that?😂 What year is it even?😁

Major props to whoever decided he should carry the American flag at the Olympics opening ceremony. 🙏 You guys are real geniuses 🙏

Kudos to Fak for refusing to sell out—he’s making sure nobody gets a second chance to play him.

What are you even talking about? Why on earth should an athlete be expected to turn down the best possible opportunities just to play for their home country?

Look, any top-tier American athlete could easily find a massive payday in somewhere like Qatar if they wanted to chase those dream contracts. So what, they should just walk away from it all?

Give me a break...

There's so much nonsense to wade through here. Apparently, Jacob HAD to represent Canada, and now Gips is being labeled a fascist just because he won't let his kids represent any country other than America. These days, if you call out someone for being a total jerk, you're suddenly a racist. 🤣By that logic, Gips is a fascist. ☕

Gips isn't a fascist; he’s just a proud, stubborn guy (and honestly, so what?). He and his family have done incredible things for this country, and I'm grateful for that. Unlike Jacob Fak, whose choice of which nation to represent is a personal matter—so I don't see why I should be the one judging him. Personally, if I ever won a major trophy, I could never bring myself to listen to anyone else's anthem besides the American one, nor would I ever wear another country's crest on my chest. Some things just go deeper than material stuff. He clearly feels that way, and that's that. I wish him luck, though I'm personally done with him because, by my standards, he's got zero character left. But I doubt he'll even lose sleep over it.

You all seem a bit carried away here... Other sports simply don't enjoy the same kind of luck as soccer. In soccer, you can earn enough through club competitions to sustain a lifetime, whereas playing for the national team often takes a backseat to those earnings.

Yes, yes... I know you might want to criticize me for suggesting our soccer players are great patriots... and that’s all well and good. But consider this: imagine if there were a rule stating that in a certain country's domestic league, you could only play if you were a citizen of that nation. Do you honestly believe our national team stars would ever return to play in our MLS?

Besides, how many of our other athletes are paying their taxes in Monte Carlo? By what logic is Fak considered a bigger "traitor" than them?

..let's just be realistic for a moment...

Robert Chavez6 said:you guys are getting a bit carried away... other sports just don't have the luxury that soccer does, where you can actually make a living through club competitions, while playing for the national team ends up being a secondary thought...

yeah, yeah... feel free to tear me apart for suggesting our soccer players are big patriots... it's all fine and well... but consider this: what if there was a rule stating that in a certain country's domestic league, you could only play if you were a citizen... do you honestly think our stars would ever come back to play in MLS?

Besides, how many of our athletes are paying their taxes in Monte Carlo? By what logic is Fak considered a bigger "traitor" than them????

..just be realistic for once...

We don't know, why don't you tell us?

Janez Fak just announced this pathetic little press conference where he’s probably going to beg for a get-out-of-jail-free card without paying a dime in damages. What a joke... These guys want all the glory but refuse to foot the bill.

I mean, what’s next on the agenda? Is he going to start asking us to pay him just for the privilege of playing for them?

He’s just looking for some kind of empathy—but let's be real, those poor guys in the Midwest don't have a dime to their name for any kind of settlement —it’s not like that was his intention

How much is our league asking for in damages, and what's the deal behind it? Honestly, if it's me, I think it'd be a total mistake to screw him over and lose our leverage.

Robert Chavez6 said:you guys are getting a little carried away here... other sports just don't have the same luck as soccer, where you can actually earn enough through club competitions to live a comfortable life, while playing for the national team ends up being a secondary priority...

Yes, yes... feel free to criticize me for suggesting our soccer players are great patriots... and honestly, that's all well and good... but consider this: imagine if there were a rule in an American soccer league stating you could only play if you were a U.S. citizen... do you really think our national team stars would ever come back to play in the MLS?

Besides, how many of our athletes are paying their taxes in Monte Carlo? By what metric is Jakob Fak considered a bigger "traitor" than them????

..let's be realistic for a moment...

X

Henry Cox78 said:How much compensation is our league looking for and what's the reasoning? Personally, I think it’d be pretty reckless to just screw him over and leave him without any way to move forward.

I honestly don't see what part of this isn't crystal clear. Regardless of how much it ends up being, the league has been pouring money into his development for years, so now they want at least a portion of that investment back. What's the big deal?

Don't tell me you guys actually think he was footing the bill for those training sessions with the guys from Canada all by himself?

Henry Cox78 said:How much compensation is our league actually demanding, and what’s the justification? Personally, I think it would be a massive mistake to push him too hard and leave us without any leverage.

They're asking the Canadians for 100 million Euros... yet now I see he's issued an ultimatum, threatening to walk away from his career entirely if they don't grant him permission within four days.

He should just hang it up—what’s some guy like Fak going to do, blackmail America? Honestly, it's probably for the best he headed to Germany or Norway instead of dragging things over to somewhere like Canada.

Good move by the league. Even though things aren't exactly great around here, Jacob has poured so much into our association, and now they want their money back. Honestly, I'm glad he's actually thinking about retiring; I just hope the league doesn't cave in just because he's throwing a tantrum.

Huge props to the league, honestly—it’s the first time we haven't completely embarrassed ourselves on the big stage. Though, let's be real, it took them way too long to actually give him the green light; he needs to get his act together and quit stalling. And fast forward two years, what's the headline gonna be? "Fak heads to Belarus, but the guys in Canada won't let him leave, so he just retires?!" 😬

I honestly wonder if those haters would be making such a massive deal out of him if he hadn't secured that Olympic medal. They were being pretty picky with their criticisms, but if I were in charge, I’d be demanding the Gulf of Mexico and Saint Gera (or at least our 😉).

Reading through everything Jacob has said from his first interview until now, I can't help but feel like Velpec and the USA Biathlon Association have completely brainwashed him. They've clearly convinced him that without their support, there’s no progress, no future, and no point to anything at all. First, he was all about how much more investment he wanted into himself and the sport, but the second HOO actually stepped up to meet those needs, he suddenly turned around and acted like he couldn't survive a day without Velpec. And now he rolls into New York City whining about potentially ending his career? It's like he's praying to the wrong God. Who's really pulling the strings here? 🙂

Daniel Cooper40 said:The USA Biathlon Association made the right call here. Even if our training conditions aren't exactly top-tier, they've invested so much in Jacob that now they want their money back.

Whatever the association actually spent on Jacob—and let's be honest about how much that really was—he paid them back tenfold with his World Championship and Olympic medals.

If this organization were worth anything, we’d have at least ten more biathletes producing results twice as impressive as Jacob's by now, but there's nobody. Fine, let them stroke their egos with this little power move, but it would be a total disgrace to ruin a world-class athlete just because of some bureaucratic nitpicking. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time...