Fine. Don't discuss it further. But, I hope you don't really think that this has anything to do with getting something for free or having something go my way.
A lot of us are working our asses off trying to grow the sport of weightlifting. It's hard to grow a sport if people don't know what it is, and it's hard for people to know what it is if they can't watch it. I can only hope that the attention this matter is receiving will prevent this situation from happening again. I'm CERTAIN that USAW isn't happy about this, and I am CERTAIN that they didn't want this to turn out this way. Now, it needs to be fixed for the future.
If you want to fly somewhere to be a spectator, may I suggest the North Carolina State Championships in September: http://weightliftingevents.com/ncchampionship2011/? There should be over 100 lifters there who are traveling from all over the country. We're expecting a good number of national level lifters, and there are cash prizes. We expect to show both the lifters and the spectators a very good time. Rumor has it that they are trying to put me in a dunk tank. I don't doubt that LOTS of people will pay good money to throw a ball and dunk my fat obnoxious ass underwater. You should come. Really.