When it comes to overt and forced displays of patriotism, the Super Bowl should serve as a cautionary tale for the Winter Games. Mostly, it should make everyone realize that sometimes enough is precisely enough.

Of course, one man's patriotism is another's craven jingoism, which means the Super Bowl halftime show had something for everybody. U2 played on a stage, surrounded by hand-picked shriekers and bounders (these scenes always look like tryout day for The Price is Right). Behind them, the list of victims from Sept. 11 rolled like the opening to Star Wars.

This, we were supposed to believe, was a tribute.

Over the past few months, we've come to expect -- and accept -- such shallow shows of "respect." We’re numb to the cartoonification of tragedy, whether it's at halftime of the Super Bowl or during the final segment of Dateline. Maybe we’ve become so accustomed to it that we've managed to smudge the fine line separating tribute from crass exploitation.

And maybe that's why we will tune in to the Winter Olympics fully expecting to be bombarded with nonstop patriotism. There's nothing wrong with it -- rooting for your own countryfolk is, on the whole, a better deal than watching beards turn to ice in Nordic Combined. And if you feel a little better about your country because it can produce a freckle-faced speedskater who can outskate everyone else's freckle-faced speedskater, that's fine, too.

Still, this year there's a real possibility (threat?) that patriotism could erupt into full-scale jingoism. There's a chance that other nations could look at cheesy attempts at patriotism and see the most blatant attempt at using nationalism to hijack the Olympics since 1936.

We won’t mean it that way -- just as no one involved in the Super Bowl halftime show intended to make a tribute look like a Saturday Night Live skit -- but appearances are appearances.

Remember: The Super Bowl was our thing; the Olympics is everybody's thing. It's probably best for those who run the show to recognize the difference.

This Week’s List:

After being around the game as long as he has, Bud should realize the only inevitability is Mike Morgan: Despite numerous setbacks -- both legal and with the public -- Bud Selig says contraction is "inevitable."

And speaking of inevitable: Within three days of the Super Bowl, the New York Post picked up the Bledsoe-to-the-Jets banner.

While everyone reflexively -- and perhaps correctly -- says that Jason Kidd and the Nets are the NBA's biggest surprise, save a little room for: Jordan and the Wizards.

To save you the dull, aching throb in the frontal lobe, here's a handy cheat sheet to the Enron hearings: 1) it was somebody else; 2) he was not aware of that; 3) he does not believe he was in attendance at the meeting in question.

And, in the big-corporation equivalent of the baseball player who pulls a muscle putting on his cowboy boots: The power was out during one of the most important Enron meetings (honest to God that's what they said) and everyone knows you can't hear anything when the power goes out.

Four words that send a man scrambling for the remote as if his teeth were on fire: "Clay Henry, Clay Henry ..."

By the way: Firefighters haven't used the equipment Clay's sporting since horses pulled the engines.

Just for the heck of it: Bill Koch.

More air time than Greta Van Susteren: Mark Cuban -- does NBC have something called a "CubanCam"?

And next week, we'll address how a bill becomes a law: Is it still within our constitutional rights to declare that Pat Summerall really won't be missed all that much?

If you think this is a good buy, you've probably placed a suggestive personals ad in "Flag Aficionado": The price for a ticket to Friday's opening ceremonies -- $885.

Dunk contest nostalgia: Terence Stansbury.

We like a good mystery as much as the next guy, but there comes a time when you’ve got to get on with it and tell us what the hell you’re selling: Mlife, where the ad campaign just ain't working.

And finally, it's one reason Chick Hearn decided early on -- no pets: NBC's Olympic hockey announcer decided to skip the Games because, according to NBC, his dog is sick.

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tim.keown@espnmag.com.