Looking Back : A Long National Ego Trip of Olympic Proportions

I don’t like the Olympics. Period.

I think it’s a pile of expense and bullshit run by some smug, wealthy jackasses and wrapped in a nice sheen of nationalistic pride to make it saleable to taxpayers who will be asked to put up billions of dollars to bring them in. It’s a complete farce.

So I’m not exactly neutral.

That out of the way, why in the Hell am I seeing “Remembering the Olympic Games!” nonsense everywhere I look? It would be one thing if it were just remembering specific events and the like, but no. It’s ridiculous hyperbole about “How did the Games change us?” and “How they made us better.” and other such nonsense.

The answer? They didn’t. Period. There has been absolutely zero change to the country or our national identity or any other such bullshit as a result of hosting an Olympic Games. Seriously, how COULD an event like that change the national identity of Canada or any other nation? It doesn’t even make sense! It’s a stupid, ridiculous sop to the same nationalistic bullshit that the Games themselves are that lets Olympic broadcasters run some stock footage and get essentially free programming for an hour or two. And the only real thing that it can all boil down to is pretty simple…

Wow, weren’t we awesome? I mean, seriously, that whole thing was pretty awesome!

It’s an ego stroke…obviously, since it completely revolves around puffing out the chest and drawing attention to ourselves. That’s all it is. There is no other reason for this. Now, that would be fine, but can we please stop pretending that it has anything to do with us being better people? It doesn’t! It has to do with us wanting to look in the mirror and say “GodDAMN that’s a fine reflection!” Enough with this continuing lie about how the Olympics somehow imbues a host nation with a sprinkling of magical ‘betterness’. The only thing that the Olympics tend to imbue any country with is debt…mainly because bid committees intentionally lowball their own taxpayers about what the build costs will be to make it more palatable. Yes, nothing quite as inspirational as people being lied to!

We aren’t a better country because we’ve hosted multiple Olympics. We aren’t a better people because we live in a country that has paid host to several Olympic Games. We have a bunch of ski jump facilities and cross country trails and some widened highways because we hosted some Olympic Games. Now, those aren’t necessarily bad things, but I don’t believe that infrastructure = Canada is betterz. And in what fucked up bizarro world is a sporting event apparently the sole determining factor in a nation’s greatness? If that is actually your measurement for how good a country is, you need to bash your head against a hard surface until you forget that load of nonsense and move on to something else.

And for anyone wanting to shout out “But it’s all about supporting amateur athletics blah blah blah”…bullshit. First off, how many of those amateur athletes have enormous endorsement contracts? I don’t really take much issue with that…Canada especially has a pretty shitty record of actually supporting amateur athletes UNTIL it’s about a year away from the Olympics (so yeah, we’re all aboard the amateur athletic train!), but it is a bit hard to accept someone as an amateur athlete who just cleared $2,000,000 in income for having their face on Wheaties and their own line of shoe. Secondly, how many are PRO ATHLETES? I’m sorry, but the last time I looked players in the NHL and NBA and their European league equivalents were pro paid athletes, and yet there they are. Why? Ratings. Yes indeed, the Olympics are all about the amateur athlete…somewhere after TV ratings, money and about 33,015 other things. How truly inspirational.

Beyond that, the Alberta Winter Special Olympics are happening right now in Edmonton, Leduc and Devon. Hands up, the number of you from around here who even knew that. Now, that IS amateur athletics in the purest sense, and yet how much coverage of that have you seen? Exactly. So spare me the crap about how much better we are as a fucking country.

Sean from Edmonton

1. I would argue the vast majority of Olympic athletes do not get gobs and gobs of sponsorship dollars. Maybe those few medal hopefuls do, but not Joe Johnson who hopes to finish top-50 in the ski-jump. At least, in Canada. If you show me a lot of evidence stating otherwise, I’d love to see it (not trying to be a smart-ass here, I’d really like to see it.)

2. I think infrastructre DOES make Canada better. Sport centres, community centres, roads, improved transit, etc. The facilities built in Calgary (1988) and Vancouver will be used for years to come. Montreal…yeah, not sure about that one. That was pretty much a disaster.

Although it is only fair to point out the only people who will benefit from this infrastructure are the host city’s residents and the people who train there – and money came from the provincial and federal gov’t. So I suppose if I were in Fort St. John, I might be upset that my gov’t spend $$$ on facilities I’ll never use.

3. This one is impossible measure, but what about the people who are inspired to lead healthier lives/overcome obstacles b/c of what our athletes accomplish/overcome?

4. I knew the Winter Olympics were taking place in the capital region. And it was covered by the Edmonton Journal…I think it was on the front page of the digital edition yesterday.
http://www.peerpressureworks.com Cliff

1. No, I quite agree that most of the athletes don’t exactly rake big coin.

2. Okay, but I get the distinct impression that most of the “We’re
better because we had Olympics!” blather isn’t talking about adding
physical services, they’re talking about us somehow being a better
nation because we hosted an Olympic Games. And certainly, that
infrastructure is nice for the region that gets it…but like you said,
means absolutely nothing to someone on the other side of the country.
Using that measuring stick, should people in Sudbury be inspired that
Canada is bettered when Edmonton extends the LRT?

3. I am an incredibly cynical person and thus have a hard time believing
that the number of people who actually better themselves because of an
Olympic Games are anything more than miniscule. And besides, would that
same inspiration not have struck those people if the Olympics had taken
place in a different country? Why is it somehow more powerful to an
individual that the Olympics were here in terms of the inspiration
delivered by the competing athletes?

4. That’s awesome, but again (activate cynicism powers!) I suspect that
most people didn’t even bother to read that page. And that most of those
people are the ones who cry the loudest about how they’re big supporters
of amateur athletics. In reality, they’re big supporters of medal
winners and that’s pretty much it.
Tammy

I realize that it was the 1 year anniversary of the Olympics so the media was showing footage here and there. I think that the Olympics for those (other than the athletes) represents and opportunity to show off their country/province/city. It is a massive tourist vehicle that is intended to bring in dollars to local businesses. I guess this is the same for all events whether it be hockey, football..whatever.

I have watched some Olympic events in the past when I used to follow figure skating and had some favorites I watched. I have lost touch with it over the years so didn’t have a lot of interest in the last Olympics.

On a non-cynical note though, with whatever sport it is, I try and separate the money machine from the personal effort many of the athletes make in training to fulfill a goal. If they are an Olympian it is usually not for money.

I have seen a number of news casts of the past 3 days about the special Olympics that will be in St. Albert next year. It made me smile to see the athletes that often have some serious disabilities be so happy with themselves that they excelled in something. I also enjoyed watching the pride in their parents faces. It must be so rewarding to see your “kid”, often young adults now achieve a personal goal and feel so part of an event where everyone cheers and encourages them.

That gave me a little tear..what can I say..i am a putz! : )
http://www.peerpressureworks.com Cliff

Sure, the athletes generally aren’t in it for the money. The thing is,
the Games themselves try to prop themselves up as this pure expression
of love for country and amateur athletic ideals, and at the same time
will whore out any and every part of the entire experience to the
highest bidder. That’s why I don’t tend to be cynical about the athletes
(generally speaking), but think that the Olympics themselves are a
ridiculous farce.

I’m definitely happy to hear that the Special Olympics have been getting
more coverage than I’d realized, though.