If you lived on a college campus in 2003, you probably remember O.A.R. That was the American rock band's prime, though they're enjoying some extra attention these days thanks to an unlikely ally. Yeah, it's Russia.
Since we all have the attention span of a stoned college kid (Class of '03!), NBC Sports commentators have already shortened the team of "Olympics Athletes from Russia" to "OAR." Due to Russia's widespread doping scandal, the country was banned from the Pyeongchang Olympics. Athletes who proved to be clean, however, were allowed to participate under the Olympics flag and for that mouthful of a phrase-turned acronym.
And the new "OAR" has brought a renewed awareness to the original one, which stands for "Of A Revolution."
"It's been surreal, absolutely surreal," lead singer Marc Roberge told ESPN. "At first I thought it would be a cool coincidence, maybe somebody would mention it on TV or something. But now, every single morning I'm getting phone calls, emails, text messages. Family, friends, strangers. It's pretty wild to think somebody is watching the Olympics and thinking about us."
"They never say 'Olympic Athlete from Russia.' It's 'OAR' over and over and over," he continued. "This is the most coverage our band name has ever had. Everyone, everywhere, all around the world saying 'OAR.'"
Roberge is grateful — but he's no traitor.
"I mean, I'm not rooting for them. I want to see the U.S. win," he said. "But that makes it so weird. I'm watching the U.S. hockey team go down and get it pretty good from Russia and they just keep talking about 'OAR dominating' over and over and over."
