Those fleet-tongued men of Fleet Street are at it again ... grumbling, whining, complaining about the Canadian Olympics. To be fair, these mammoth games have not gone smoothly. But, if they had, well, it wouldn't have been Canadian, eh? We cheer when someone tries their best but comes up wanting, we even like it that way - perfection is soooo boring!!!
(Interesting to note that I'm using the word 'we' above, since as soon as I open my mouth someone generally asks me when I came to Canada. My usual reply is: "Before you were born" - which is generally true since I left Britain in 1966. Having lived in Canada for almost 44 years, I have steadily grown to adore my adoptive country as one who loves the middle relaxed way, who doesn't puff itself up, and who is modest to a fault.)
So, when I read that the British press is slagging what hard working people have tried to do in Vancouver, I see RED!!! How dare they??? Four days into a 17-day event they have written it off as "the worse Olympics ever"???
(I should state here that I am not really a fan of Olympic games. Like many others, I feel it has moved light years away from the original Olympic spirit, is ridiculously over-priced, and with all the drug infractions - who can take many of the athletes' accomplishments seriously?)
Yet, with the rest of our country, I found myself glued to the TV last night to see if Patrick Chan could get a good clean skate in the men's figure skating short programme. (He didn't, but then, he is Canadian, and we know he tried his best - he's such a sweet guy.)
I had a chuckle this morning reading in our local newspaper where one reporter scolded those Brits who would slag us in their national press. He wondered if their frustration at these Olympics was in part due to a recent study conducted by Utrecht University in Netherlands which found that 40% of British men suffer from a premature tendency which is medically defined as "an inability to last more than a minute in bed".
(Ooops, now that was a cheap shot ... especially since I am married to a Brit!!)
2 comments:
As a 'Brit' myself I simply have to agree with your paragraph
"I should state here that I am not really a fan of Olympic games. Like many others, I feel it has moved light years away from the original Olympic spirit, is ridiculously over-priced, and with all the drug infractions - who can take the athletes' accomplishments seriously?"
I felt this way for many Olympics and perhaps it is time it stopped.
It seems as if that is all anybody can talk about on tv at the moment apart from the various wars over the world.
I just switch channels to avoid it.
Well said ! Has the world passed into the opulence and "better than" rather than the Spirit of the games? These young people have sacrificed and dreamed and excelled to get where they are for themselves and generously share their hearts with us.
Whiners ! It's not about you or what you think !
Thanks Pauline for saying what we all feel. Cheryl
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