The fine folks at the Philadelphia Daily News sought out Samuel Dalembert's end of the story regarding his oddly timed dismissal from Team Canada. It appears Dalembert's traveling partners, sleeping arrangement, and eating habits caused the dissension.
Dalembert said his so-called entourage included a close friend, his girlfriend, and his high school coach from Montreal and his wife. "I don't have a 'crew,' " he said. "I have four nice people."
He said he upgraded his hotel accommodations when he realized his room was "so small, I could hardly walk in." "I wanted to be comfortable," he said. "There were no mandatory team meals, and I couldn't eat some of the food, so I ate with the people with whom I was traveling. Four people. They came to the games. They were the only people in the arena cheering for Canada. It's amazing to me what I'm hearing.
How dare you bring your private cheering sections! That'll teach you to take your wife to Greece. In all seriousness, there's no telling what really happened at this point. Dalembert's arguments are well-explained, but hardly account for coach Leo Rautins' claim that the team voted Sam out.
"There's 12 players on this team and everybody felt that (it was best), in unison in terms of the decision that was made, to not have Sam play," Rautins told Toronto radio station The Fan 590 Thursday.
The problem's resolved for now, regardless: Canada got slaughtered by Croatia this morning, and as such has been eliminated from Olympic contention. I have a feeling Dalembert's done with international competition, unless he and Quincy Douby decide to put Haiti on the map.
