TURIN, Italy - Forgive Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick because they tried to put on a show, tried their best to stick to the party line and pretend it was all overblown, a media concoction.
They talked like they had been told what to say. And, until the very end, they said all the right things.
Just like the race they had just run, though, they had trouble finishing.
Under the hot lights, the script fell apart.
Finally, they just couldn't stand it - or each other - anymore.
You might have suspected that when they sniped at each other a few days earlier. You didn't have to look far for a clue when they refused to even acknowledge each other on the podium after winning medals in the speedskating 1,500.
For the better part of a half-hour press conference Tuesday night, though, they didn't crack. Until the end.
Davis stormed from the room, muttering about his teammate. Hedrick said he felt betrayed.
NBC was looking for some drama from an Olympics that so far has proved less lively than an episode of "Skating With Celebrities." It got it from a pair of speedskaters who have nothing in common except the color of their uniforms.
As feuding teammates go, it didn't rise to the level of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. It wasn't Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent, or Barry Bonds and whoever was sharing the locker next to him. It wasn't even Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan; no one got whacked in the leg here.
"This is not a heavyweight boxing fight," Davis insisted.
That's too bad because Don King could really use these two. Get them in the ring quickly, though, if you don't want to waste some good bad blood.
Because, by next week, America will have moved on and forgotten them both.
That's the downside of toiling in a sport most Americans couldn't care less about except every four years when Olympic medals are on the line. It's hard to blame them because there's nothing terribly exciting about watching guys in tight suits skate around an icy oval two at a time.
Give Hedrick and Davis some credit for changing that, if only for a few days. They may have let an Italian slip by them for the gold medal in the 1,500, but they provided a show afterward that was more than worth the price of admission.
The two are the stars of a speedskating team that is doing its best to save the United States from embarrassment on the medals table in Turin. Ordinarily, that might get them a passing glance, but add in a good feud and you'll at least bring media starved for a good story to the Olympic oval.
Not surprisingly, they can't agree on whether that is good or bad, either.
Hedrick is a former roller-blader who didn't take the ice until four years ago and thinks rivalries are great. Davis is more old school, taught to race against the clock and ignore the guy in the next lane.
"It's not like we're going to fight each other and roll around in the snow," Davis said. "We're adults."
They didn't look much like adults after Davis won the silver and Hedrick the bronze in the 1,500. They took the medal podium on either side of Enrico Fabris and made a point not to even look at each other, much less shake each other's hand.
Still, both insisted everything was fine and they were just tough competitors. They kept insisting it, even though it was clear they didn't believe it, and neither did the assorted media crowded into a tiny room.
The charade finally ended on the last question of the night when Davis allowed that Hedrick might have been a good teammate and shook his hand after he won the 1,000. He then stormed from the room, grumbling as he left.
"I'm done," he said. "He shakes my hand when I lose. Typical Chad."
Hedrick wasn't going to take that sitting down. Actually, he was sitting down, but he seemed to still be thinking about Davis' refusal to skate in the team pursuit with him last week, a decision Hedrick believes cost both him and his country an Olympic medal.
"I felt betrayed in a way," Hedrick said. "Not only did Shani not participate in it, he didn't even discuss it with me."
It's hard to pick a favorite in this fight.
Davis comes across as self-centered to a fault, wrapped up in the small world of skating where he has spent the last 17 years. Hedrick, meanwhile, seems petulant and holds a grudge far too long.
But you can't argue with the results. These guys can really skate.
They've won four medals between them - including two golds - and Hedrick is favored for one more later in the week in the 10,000.
There's nothing wrong with a little feud if you can back it up.
And, unlike Tonya and Nancy, no one's been hurt.
