I'm a big fan of the Olympics. Have been for many, many years. But watching these Winter Games unfold, I have become somewhat pessimistic.
These Canadian festivities are not turning out as we had hoped. Instead of showcasing our humble virtues to the world, they are exposing us to global ridicule. Instead of bringing us together as a people, they have become a flashpoint for the legion of malcontents that infests our public sphere. Instead of engendering pride in our happy experiment, they are stirring the grubby troll of self-loathing that lurks in the heart of all of us.
We have put our money and our mouths on the line for these Games. And what have we gained?
The financial price has been incredible. The striving to be world-class on so many fronts has frayed our national psyche. Our efforts to appear self-confidently mature have been brushed off as arrogant and gauche by the very people we had hoped to impress.
The weather has been ridiculous, equipment quixotic, security a nightmare and incompetence rife. Athletes are being hurt, even killed. Police officers are being sent home for tawdry crimes. Too few people are speaking French. And the world press is feasting on our shortcomings, wondering aloud if these bumbling Canadians have mounted the shabbiest Olympics in history.
Worse, our athletes are seriously under performing, making our "Own the Podium" mantra ring a bit hollow even to our own ears.
We look like a nation of poseurs.
In future, when the subject of hosting a big global event comes up, why don't we let someone else plan it, design it, pay for it and host it? Let someone else take the knocks of an ill-tempered, realpolitik world? Let's dedicate ourselves to attending other people's parties. We are excellent guests. We love to travel. And we can win just as many medals -- if not more -- on someone else's dime.
Let the Americans have them. They are deaf to criticism, immune to pressure and they love to show off. Or the Chinese, who are quite capable of slapping their own people into line in the pursuit of global supremacy. The Russians. The Germans. The French. Even the Koreans, who almost snatched these Games away from us. Imagine if these Games were occurring right now in Korea. We'd be winning just as many medals, at a fraction of the cost, and having just as much fun. Then, at the end of the festivities, we could just laugh and walk away, leaving the Koreans with a pile of bills and a bad case of Olympic indigestion.
It's been a slice. But...let's never, ever do this again.
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