BEIJING • Under a gray China sky, Crystl Bustos ripped a home run and suddenly it was time to party. The reigning Olympic softball champs were on their way to an 11-0 shellacking of Venezuela on Tuesday.

Bustos’ teammates sprinted from the dugout to hug her. Fans waved the Stars and Stripes. And danced. And shouted “USA, USA, USA.”

Ah, it’s great to be an American.

Or maybe not.

The International Olympic Committee voted to drop softball from the 2012 Games. Voters offered all sorts of cryptic reasons, but there’s a simple explanation:Anti-Americanism.

The rest of the sports world couldn’t stand the thought of players wearing red, white and blue romping to huge victory margins. Hate to sound like Sean Hannity – you know, a right-wing nut – but that’s the truth.

Yes, the Americans dominated Olympics softball to a disturbing – and boring – degree. The United States has won 15 straight Olympic games, outscoring opponents, 76-2. This dominance doomed the Americans.

Second baseman Jessica Mendoza sneered at the following contradiction. Excellence robbed her of the chance to chase gold in 2012.

“I thought the Olympics were all about overachieving and all about dominating and all about playing your absolute best,” Mendoza said, her jersey still covered with dirt. “If the Olympics are saying, ‘Don’t play your best,’ I have a problem with that.”

Not everyone shares her view. Enough countries were offended by the near-perfection of American softball to banish the sport.

America’s harsh rule isn’t the only problem. Even those enjoy softball – and I do – must admit it’s not jammed with thrills. The game, dominated by pitching and defense, fails to deliver riveting sports theater for TV.

Beach volleyball is all the rage on NBC. Why? Maybe it’s because young women prance in the sand while wearing almost nothing. That’s just a wild guess.

Meanwhile, modestly clad softball players must wave farewell to sports ultimate stage. This is not just, or wise. Softball is a worthy sport and the Olympic movement needs more team sports for women, not less.

Those who voted against the sport were shortsighted.

America’s utter dominance is painful to endure for everyone who is not an American, but this ease won’t last forever.Just look at basketball. For decades, American men heartlessly annihilated any team unfortunate enough to stand in their way. In the 1956 and 1960 Olympics,Americans rampaged to 16 straight wins by an average of 48 points.

It was beautiful, if you were an American. It was gruesome – and inspiring – if you resided anywhere else.

The rest of the world began chasing and eventually caught up. Argentina won the Olympic basketball gold in 2004. Spain won the FIBA World Basketball Championship in 2006. American excellence served as the catalyst for world excellence. It happened once. It could happen again.Mendoza, fresh from a demolition of Venezuela, was still seething.

“The Olympics are about beating teams by as many possible runs as you can possibly score,” she said.

Enjoy the rampages while you can, Jessica. Because of the world’s envy, America’s softball party is about to end.-Contact the writer: Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4985 or david.ramsey@gazettedev.gazette.com. Check out David’s blog at http://daveramseysez.freedomblogging.com.

The boat is made of plywood, steel and 30 plastic fertilizer barrels for flotation. Photo by