How We Treat our Heroes, eh?
Seven years ago, our country encouraged us to "Believe". It was the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 and believe was our rallying cry. We were going to own the podium and all we had to do was believe. It brought our country together and we did believe and it was amazing. Then, as good Canadians, we then wondered if we were putting too much pressure on our athletes and wondered if we were going to jinx them and we would never get a gold.
It turns out we had nothing to worry about. Our first gold medal came on the first day of competition. As a nation, we cheered Alexandre Bilodeau, and then we found out about one of his heroes, who was there for him at the finish line, his brother. We became more proud and felt there could not have been a more worthy athlete winning the first gold medal.
Then, for the next two weeks, I, and many other Canadians, spent the whole time crying while watching tv. They were tears of pride because I believed !! Even when we did not medal, I was so proud of our athletes, and all of their stories. I was so proud to be a Canadian.
The Vancouver Olympics brought so many more special moments.
Who could ever forget Jon Montgomery walking down the streets of Whistler with his pitcher of beer after winning gold. It was probably most of our favorite moments. Many people can't even remember what he won gold for but they remember that celebration. He won in the sport of skeleton. What is that, anyway? Who cares, His celebration was our celebration. If there any Canadian who didn't, at one point in their lives, steal one of those plastic pitchers? Here was this ultra cool guy from Russell, Manitoba having the perfect Canadian celebration !! He will ever be etched in our memories and will always be our hero !!
Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue were probably the only athletes under pressure to win gold. It was expected, but we all knew, win or lose, we should still love them. When they won, the celebration was amazing and they acted like they were the most surprised of all. A true class act because they were just so personable and self-deprecating. They had been all over the world and won just about everything, but they never lost touch with their roots.
Joannie Rochette. Enough said. She won a bronze medal but became a gold medal role model for everyone. Her grace under pressure, beauty, eloquence will always make her a real life Fairy Princess.
And then, the Golden Goal. No one could have written the script any better. The Gold Medal game; Canada vs. USA. Tons of national pride on the line. In Overtime. Scored by Sydney Crosby. Not only did the golden gold win us the gold medal, but it meant we set a record for the most Gold medals earned by a country at a Winter Olympics. And, there is just something about Sydney Crosby. No matter what he achieves or how old he gets, he will always be a little kid from Coal Harbour, NS playing Tim Bits Hockey.
But, one of my favorite moments of all during this Olympics was the meetings of the Brians. Not the battle of Brians, but Brian Williams of NBC meeting Brian Williams of CBC and interviewing each other. It turned out to be a tale of style and substance, and our Brian Williams had both. First of all, our Brian Williams is substance. He knows his stuff, and he could quote obscure Olympic trivia because he knew such from covering them. NBC Brian Williams could only talk of places he had been, but couldn't remember details. That is because he only knew what someone wrote for him on tele-prompter and then he moved on. CBC Brian Williams showed humility and gratitude and self-deprecating humour. He couldn't believe how honoured he was to have a front row seat on history. NBC Brian Williams had an image to maintain and was so polished that he didn't know how to go off script.
CBC Brian Williams continued on with his career and has been awarded the Order of Canada. That is how we treat our heroes.
Let's contrast this with NBC Brian Williams. I think the pressure of meeting CBC Brian Williams got to him. It was too much pressure. He had to up his game so he began to fabricate. His previous prestige was nothing compared to what CBC Brian Williams had, the love and respect of his country.
So, while our country was worried about putting too much pressure on our athletes, they didn't feel the pressure. Au Contraire. They gave us the message that we had done our part. We Believed. Now, it was there turn. And, win or lose, we still Believed and we were still proud.
This is in contrast with many USA athletes. First of all, I feel sorry for Americans watching sporting events. They have such high expectations for their athletes that they expect them to win. So, they don't have the same joy that we do in watching sports. We appreciate the ups and downs of the games and when we win, we are really excited !! Americans don't have that level of excitement because they just expect to win.
And once, they go from Athletes to Heroes, well, that is when the real pressure is put on them. They are mere mortals, but if they win once, the only place to go next is to icon status.
Look at Lance Armstrong. Once the darling of the sporting world, his amazing story of |"Live Strong" united something positive throughout the world, But, that wasn't good enough for him. He had to keep it alive. He ended up participating in the most complicated performance enhancing doping scandal of all time. This man who ignited the world is now disgraced. We may have been able to forgive him if he accepted responsibility, but once he lied to the face of Oprah Winfrey, well, you don't recover from something else.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic medalist of all time, He arguably had it all, but his success came at a price. Apparently, it was too much pressure on him and he will always have an asterisk on his career achievements. Arrested twice for driving under the influence. And, then admitting that a photograph of him using a bong was accurate cost him sponsorship and suspension.
This year, Canada will be celebrating our 150th birthday. Wouldn't it be great for all of us if we were reminded again to believe.
It turns out we had nothing to worry about. Our first gold medal came on the first day of competition. As a nation, we cheered Alexandre Bilodeau, and then we found out about one of his heroes, who was there for him at the finish line, his brother. We became more proud and felt there could not have been a more worthy athlete winning the first gold medal.
Then, for the next two weeks, I, and many other Canadians, spent the whole time crying while watching tv. They were tears of pride because I believed !! Even when we did not medal, I was so proud of our athletes, and all of their stories. I was so proud to be a Canadian.
The Vancouver Olympics brought so many more special moments.
Who could ever forget Jon Montgomery walking down the streets of Whistler with his pitcher of beer after winning gold. It was probably most of our favorite moments. Many people can't even remember what he won gold for but they remember that celebration. He won in the sport of skeleton. What is that, anyway? Who cares, His celebration was our celebration. If there any Canadian who didn't, at one point in their lives, steal one of those plastic pitchers? Here was this ultra cool guy from Russell, Manitoba having the perfect Canadian celebration !! He will ever be etched in our memories and will always be our hero !!
Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue were probably the only athletes under pressure to win gold. It was expected, but we all knew, win or lose, we should still love them. When they won, the celebration was amazing and they acted like they were the most surprised of all. A true class act because they were just so personable and self-deprecating. They had been all over the world and won just about everything, but they never lost touch with their roots.
Joannie Rochette. Enough said. She won a bronze medal but became a gold medal role model for everyone. Her grace under pressure, beauty, eloquence will always make her a real life Fairy Princess.
And then, the Golden Goal. No one could have written the script any better. The Gold Medal game; Canada vs. USA. Tons of national pride on the line. In Overtime. Scored by Sydney Crosby. Not only did the golden gold win us the gold medal, but it meant we set a record for the most Gold medals earned by a country at a Winter Olympics. And, there is just something about Sydney Crosby. No matter what he achieves or how old he gets, he will always be a little kid from Coal Harbour, NS playing Tim Bits Hockey.
But, one of my favorite moments of all during this Olympics was the meetings of the Brians. Not the battle of Brians, but Brian Williams of NBC meeting Brian Williams of CBC and interviewing each other. It turned out to be a tale of style and substance, and our Brian Williams had both. First of all, our Brian Williams is substance. He knows his stuff, and he could quote obscure Olympic trivia because he knew such from covering them. NBC Brian Williams could only talk of places he had been, but couldn't remember details. That is because he only knew what someone wrote for him on tele-prompter and then he moved on. CBC Brian Williams showed humility and gratitude and self-deprecating humour. He couldn't believe how honoured he was to have a front row seat on history. NBC Brian Williams had an image to maintain and was so polished that he didn't know how to go off script.
CBC Brian Williams continued on with his career and has been awarded the Order of Canada. That is how we treat our heroes.
Let's contrast this with NBC Brian Williams. I think the pressure of meeting CBC Brian Williams got to him. It was too much pressure. He had to up his game so he began to fabricate. His previous prestige was nothing compared to what CBC Brian Williams had, the love and respect of his country.
So, while our country was worried about putting too much pressure on our athletes, they didn't feel the pressure. Au Contraire. They gave us the message that we had done our part. We Believed. Now, it was there turn. And, win or lose, we still Believed and we were still proud.
This is in contrast with many USA athletes. First of all, I feel sorry for Americans watching sporting events. They have such high expectations for their athletes that they expect them to win. So, they don't have the same joy that we do in watching sports. We appreciate the ups and downs of the games and when we win, we are really excited !! Americans don't have that level of excitement because they just expect to win.
And once, they go from Athletes to Heroes, well, that is when the real pressure is put on them. They are mere mortals, but if they win once, the only place to go next is to icon status.
Look at Lance Armstrong. Once the darling of the sporting world, his amazing story of |"Live Strong" united something positive throughout the world, But, that wasn't good enough for him. He had to keep it alive. He ended up participating in the most complicated performance enhancing doping scandal of all time. This man who ignited the world is now disgraced. We may have been able to forgive him if he accepted responsibility, but once he lied to the face of Oprah Winfrey, well, you don't recover from something else.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic medalist of all time, He arguably had it all, but his success came at a price. Apparently, it was too much pressure on him and he will always have an asterisk on his career achievements. Arrested twice for driving under the influence. And, then admitting that a photograph of him using a bong was accurate cost him sponsorship and suspension.
This year, Canada will be celebrating our 150th birthday. Wouldn't it be great for all of us if we were reminded again to believe.
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