Last Splash

The gene pool could use a little Chlorine.

The Olympics...

So much is being made on TV and blogs about the Olympics and whether the gymnastics judging is "fair" or not. As someone who is proudly capitalist and believes personal responsibility is the ideal way for a human being to acheive their goals, I must say I have let go of the scores, and decided to be happy for our American gymnasts.

Shawn Johnson is a great example of someone who has worked hard most of her life to compete for a medal in the Olympics, and although she didn't win a gold (yet, I haven't watched the balance beam) I know that she is still an A-student at home that will graduate high school, go to her prom, be with her family, and has unlimited possibilities to acheive anything she wants within or outside of gymnastics. She couldn't win the gold for her team, but who did? A bunch of "16 year olds" who were lucky they even survived birth in a country where each family can only have one child, preferably male, were taken from their families at the age of 3, put through tremendously painful training, called their parents begging to come home only to be told they had to stay and honor their country, and possibly threatened with consequences we can't imagine if they were to return home after screwing up.

The Americans should be happy that we keep winning in an age where other countries are putting increased pressure on their gymnastics programs to succeed. Our gymnasts don't have the kind of normal life that we do, but yet they know they can go to the Olympics, do their best, smile at the end, and no matter what the result come home to a country that accepts them as human beings. There is no dissection of how much time they spent training in the last four months; that maybe they should have skipped that one hamburger or lost five more pounds or added one more tumbling pass to their routine or not gone on that vacation with their families back at Christmas. We're just proud that they made it to that level and are coming home with what, at least 6 medals? Who can't be proud of that?

So, let's quit our complaining about scores and just be proud that we live in a country that doesn't force anyone to compete when they don't want to, and rewards our Olympians for being the best in our country and respresenting us with smiles and excitement about the sports they're competing in. I, for one, would let China win all the medals in the world if it means that I can be free to speak my opinion wherever and whenever I want. And that means being proud of every American athlete that has sacrificed what I wouldn't to become one of the greatest in the world.

posted by: Cannonball14 at 19:03 | link | comments |

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