Source: USA TODAY

Jazmine Fenlator is an Olympic hopeful. She’s also Lolo Jones’ bobsled teammate. After Jones posted a Vine video on Monday cheekily complaining about her $741.84 check from the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, Steven Holcomb, a 2010 Olympic gold medalist, called Jones’ comments “a slap in the face.” Other athletes also posted criticisms on Twitter.

Fenlator, a rising star in the sport, reached out to Jones throughout the day as the two-time Olympic hurdler prepared for the U.S. championships which begin Friday in Des Moines. Fenlator, a driver, paired with Jones to win a silver medal at the World Cup season-opener in Lake Placid, N.Y. Like most of her teammates, she also juggles multiple part-time jobs while training in Lake Placid.

When asked by USA TODAY Sports to weigh in on the issue, Fenlator sent her thoughts via email:

“On today’s vine video, as her teammate and fellow member of Team USA, I personally did not take this video offensive although I can see how different perceptions were taken. Maybe this is because I know Lolo, was her roommate the majority of this past season and the intent was by no means to be malicious or degrade her peers and the sport. I saw it rather as poking fun through comedy at a situation bringing awareness of the struggles of full-time athletes training for the Olympics, the struggle for the opportunity to wear “USA” on their backs as a united front to be the best in the world (one that comes every FOUR years) and the struggle to make a name for yourself while following your dreams hoping to be an inspirational outlet for others along the way.

“Many members of the team took offense to Lolo’s vine as if it was a personal attack on them and the sport. Lolo has been nothing but humble since entering the sport, embraced its hard work and blue collar like references and has grown to truly love the sport. As she is getting ready for USA Nationals in a sport she has done for approximately 20 years, she reiterated to me in a text how much bobsled means to her and how she has grown to love the sport more and more since day 1 and can’t wait to be back. It’s sad how media outlets and the perception can be very skewed to what people want to make it out to be or those whom never have really taken the time to get to know an individual how easy it is for them to judge and point a finger. This is often the risk one must embrace when a public figure and using social media as a voice.

“Regardless of personal opinions looking at history, never once was an issue resolved because a person took the “safe” route of exploitation. Topics get attention by instances like Lolo’s vine. So now that there is attention on the topic of struggling to make ends meet while pursuing a goal/dream for the love of sport and maximizing your abilities to excel within that sport, I ask for people rather than judge how it was presented to become aware and help make a change.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

There’s a solid chance that the loudest ovation at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night will be for the opposing manager.

“If Mo gets in the game, maybe he can overtake him,” Joe Girardi said.

Don Mattingly is back in town. It’s the first time the Dodgers have ever played a regular-season game at Yankee Stadium, and the matchup of two iconic franchises will be highlighted by the return of one iconic first baseman.

“Donnie is one of the greatest Yankees that has ever played, and one of the greatest teammates that has ever put on that uniform,” Girardi said. “I know that I’ve always loved him and appreciated what he’s done, and the fans have seen a lot more than I have. I think it will be a great day for him.”

The Yankees seem more than happy to relinquish the spotlight for a while.

“Donnie, himself, was and will always be a Yankee,” Brian Cashman said. “A tremendous Yankee. Fans obviously love him. When he left here and went to the Dodgers, the new stadium got built ,and I remember Donnie coming back on an off-day or earlier in the morning before a game at Citi Field. He came over here to get a tour of the facility on an off-day or the day of a game situation. He wanted to get a chance to look at the new Yankee Stadium. So I know he’s been here. … He’s coming back, obviously, as manager of the Dodgers and life-long Yankee who’ll always be a Yankee. I just hope we can beat him. I hope we take every game that we’re playing these guys, and I know that he feels the same way. Listen, Yankees fans haven’t gotten a chance to show him the love, so he’ll get it when they introduce his name.”

Of course, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Mattingly was almost managing in Yankee pinstripes rather than Dodger blue.

“It was extremely difficult; the process was difficult,” Cashman said. “There were extensive interviews. Our entire baseball operations team put these guys through a pretty extraordinary interview process. I had, obviously, three candidates (Mattingly, Girardi and Tony Pena). … Part of the criteria that was already set up was people who had worked with me, had worked here, understood the politics here, understood New York. Being the manager of the New York Yankees involves a lot more than just managing game strategy. It’s also trying to manage the press, trying to manage the expectations that come with being a Yankee, the pressures of winning, the politics of the front office.

“… I felt someone from that group was going to emerge from that group and be successful, and I believe I made the right selection. Joe Girardi has been a great asset for us. It was a very tough call. The only thing that, for Donnie, was difficult, was that at the time he had never managed before. That’s a hard hurdle to get over when you’re trying to put forward a team that’s trying to win now. We’re trying to win immediately, and that’s an area where Donnie — he knows the game inside out, he had the right personality and demeanor, he has the resume as a former player, he knows the ups and downs and the struggles and players can easily relate with him on that. The area that was a very difficult hurdle for him at the time — and obviously he doesn’t have that anymore to deal with — is obviously at the time, he hadn’t managed a game in the big leagues.

“So was I going to be in a position to be comfortable enough to turn over 200 million dollars worth of assets to someone who hadn’t done that before in game? That was obviously something he was going to have to overcome in the interview process compared to Joe and Tony. But he, without a doubt, was worthy. He was there for a reason. For the Dodgers, I think he was a great selection by tapping him. Now he’s a finished product and ready to go, and like every team in baseball, if he has all his assets going and healthy, they have a chance to run with a real strong, championship-caliber situation, and that’s what they’re trying to get when they get all their horses back.”

Jennings writes for the Journal News in Westchester, N.Y.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.