15 August 2008

I know it's not all about the medals. Except that it is.

I'm not the first person to comment on this certainly, but it must be commented on: what is up with our athletes in China? Why is it Day 8 and poor little Canada is the only country with no medals? How crappy must all the athletes over there feel? Imagine, if you went to some kind of competition and everyone there got medals except you. Everyone. Except. You. The kids you've never heard of, the poor kids, the rich kids, the kids with questionable ties to terrorism, the kids whose country was just invaded - they all get something. And there you sit, all Western and wealthy and Socialist, and you get nothing. Nothing!

Why?

Because there's something in the water that stunts our athletic development? Because we're too polite and don't have that "kill 'em all" competitive spirit? Because Canada has a small population to draw from and mathematically a smaller number of athletically gifted people? Because Canada doesn't worship athletes the way other countries do,and don't support them well enough? Because even at our very, very best we're still only 4th on the world stage?

I mean, Summer sports have never been our forte, but its so bad that people are making fun of us! I'm told the medal count will pick up in the second half of the games, and I hope this is true. At this point, if we can tie with Azerbaijan, I'll be happy.

On a related note how awesome is it that Walking is an Olympic sport? I, for one, would like to see competitive stretching, or murder checkers. Those are events I'd stay up for.

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