My own Olympic FAIL

I made no secret of my boycott of the Beijing Olympics - it was a no-brainer for me.  Somewhere along the way since that summer in 2008 my disgust with the International Olympic Committee along with the state of the economy, and a handful of other reasons, I surmised that the ethical thing to do would be to boycott all Olympic Games, so that's what I did. 

Now I find myself regretting that decision.  I would have loved nothing more than to watch the men's game tonight and be part of the celebrations. To be specific I would have loved nothing more than to take my younger brother into Toronto so he could be part of the celebrations too. That could have been his birthday present and it's something he would have enjoyed very much. 

I happened to be in Toronto the last time we took home hockey gold.  The celebration on the street was unlike anything I'd experience before, or since.  The atmosphere was pure euphoria and good will.  It was an incredible thing to witness, people brought and creating that kind of energy.  Just to be clear I am always moved when people come together in a positive way.  I was on cloud 9 when 200 people came together in Oakville to stand up for democracy.  People coming together strikes a very deep chord inside me, I'm just wired that way I guess.

I wrote an essay about the Toronto celebrations for my undergrad Popular Culture course, and I was really proud of it.  It was very well written and I was pleased with the way I captured the euphoric atmosphere that night.  My TA eviscerated that paper on the single basis that I had allowed myself to buy in the the euphoria that night. She told me I would have received a better mark if I'd identified that the reason for the euphoria was nothing but bullshit.  Like only simple minded folk would think the win was worth celebrating.  She thought I should be above that sort of thing.  And because I hadn't been above that sort of thing she thought less of me and I started doubting myself.

Intelligence is one of the qualities I admire most in others.  In this case I let a person I considered intellectually superior make me ashamed for not sharing her view on the topic.  And when I read people I respect denouncing the Olympics and Nationalism that insecurity came flooding back. Are there valid concerns about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? Absolutely.  An astonishing amount of money was spent at a time we can least afford to spend it, and homelessness in Vancouver has actually increased since the games were announced.  I think we can be cognizant of  those issues and share what we know and still enjoy what's worth celebrating about the Olympics.  Like Gold in Women and Men's hockey.  I'm thrilled for the players and the fans, and I'm trying not to care who knows it ; )