I remember watching the Olympics when I was a child, seeing the medal winners on the podium, swelling with pride, with the knowledge that they not only represented their country, they performed better than everyone else in the world. I remember seeing the men and women fighting back tears, or letting them run freely in many cases, as they sang their national anthem, a testament to the country they love.
The other day, when I was watching the men's halfpipe, I saw the American guy win the gold, which is great. I saw him standing on the podium after he got his medal, when they raised the flags and played the national anthem. I saw a grin as big as could be. I saw the man trying to shed a tear, probably because he thought that's what you're supposed to do. I saw a visual representation of "Dude, I rock!" I did not see a man welling with pride at representing his nation in international competition. I did not see him try to sing the national anthem.
In short, I saw a guy who won a contest and is preparing for the next one.
I think that for the majority of people at the olympics, the international competition and the fact that you represent the best your nation has to offer, and that you're doing the best you can is what runs the show. What annoys me are the people like the man I mentioned above, who do'nt seem to get the point of the olympics.
Maybe I'm just an idealist, a purist, but would it be that difficult for the guy to learn the national anthem of the nation he represents?
In a similar vein, I'd like to see the papers, when they do the medal counts, not just count the medals, but name the medal winners. Show them that they mean more to their country than just a number on the sports page. They worked their tails off to do better than everyone else in the world, that deserves more recognition than "that's our 12th medal of the olympics, and the 5th Silver."
5 comments:
I disagree with your opinion of that snowboarder guy. To me it seems everyone gives those dudes a hard time (my wife included). I remember hearing him say things like "this is the best week of my life", "it'll never be better than this", "I saw my parents and broke down in tears", "I owe everything to my parents". I'm obviously paraphrasing. Just because the snowboarders have long hair smoke grasss and say "dude" all the time doesn't mean they don't love or care for their country and the olympics. I don't think you have to give your money away to prove you care. Just my opinion.
I don't doubt that he was excited to be in Italy, and I bet he was thrilled to be in the Olympics. I just think that he was more excited for his own personal benefit than the factor of representing his country. I used him as an example because his was the ceremony I saw that brought it to the forefront of my mind.
I suggest that the Olympics are more than just another competition, and that he doesn't understand what he represented outside himself. I could be completely wrong, only he knows.
I don't care about his hair, or what he smokes, or anything like that. If that's what he wants to do, and he's willing to put up with any consequences of being caught, then that's up to him. I don't suggest that his recreational activities bear on his patriotism, rather I say that the image he presented was not that of someone puffing his chest with pride at how well he performed as a representative of his country.
As for Joey Cheeks, I don't suggest that a person must give up what he's won to show the Olympic Spirit, either. I merely pointed to the gesture he made and said that it's more an ideal of what I imagine the spirit of the Olympics to be. There's no bright line between the two; it's a continuum that has a satisfactory middle ground.
I don't know, Steve--I saw his medal ceremony and didn't get the same vibe you did, but who knows? He may not even know--I can imagine that the moment seems so surreal and goes by so quickly that you barely know what you're thinking. (Sort of like walking down the aisle for your wedding or across the stage for your diploma.)
Here's my pet peeve: that NBC evidently thinks the American public is so shallow that all we want to see are competitions in which Americans are supposed to do well, and Americans be awarded medals. When I was a kid, they showed much more of the competitions and award ceremonies, and it was fun to hear other countries' national anthems and see the pride on their athletes' faces.
And in the same vein, I do not want to hear about or see anything that happened at the lat Olympics, nor do I want to know anything about American competitors' dogs/parents/dating habits/high school/prom, etc. SHOW US THE COMPETITION AND SPARE US THE DUBIOUS HUMAN INTEREST STORIES.
I don't know if most of the atheletes actually really care about representing their country, especially the first timers. I think the majority of them are thinking to themselves, "Dude, I rock!" Think of teenagers who join the military. Typically they don't do it for country, they do it for themselves. To get away from home, for the G.I. Bill, or a decent paying job. The only reason I joined was to jump out of planes (didn't get to do it though, recruiter screwed me...bastard). The atheletes in the Olympics compete because it is something they love to do and they want to win. Winning is the Olympic spirit.
On the human interest front, I'm sure everyone else saw what I'm about to talk about, but I hope you didn't. During the pairs ice skating they spoke of an accident the Russian couple had a couple of years ago. Dude dropped his partner face first on the ice. She was remained unconcious before being taken to the hospital. It was brutal, I can still hear the sound of her head hitting the ice. I had trouble watching the rest of the event for fear that would happen again.
I saw national pride when i was watching the Chinese figure skaters. The woman fell badly and hurt her knee..took a breakcan back on the ice and they went on to win a silver medal!! Amazing.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Australia won it's first gold medal in the mens moguls wooohoooo!! Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!
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