Tuesday, January 21, 2014

We only get what we give...


Do you remember the 2002 Winter Olympics? I do...specifically, because of Sarah Hughes. She became the women's figure skating champion after winning her long program, but that's not why we remember her. 

We remember her because her long program was magical...unexpected...joyous...nearly perfect, and, after her fourth place short program, a Good Story, which is what the Olympics are REALLY all about. 


Well, to everyone except for the athletes, that is.




More good stories from past Winter Olympics:

Remember Dan Jansen, speed skater from Lillehammer, 1994? Best skater in the world for ten years? Lillehammer was his fourth Olympics - he'd had extremely bad luck trying to get on the podium so far.


That year at Lillehammer he'd brought a secret weapon...his baby daughter Jane, named after his sister Jane, who died in 1988 on the day Dan competed in the 500 meter race in Calgary. 


Dan finally won his gold medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, setting an Olympic record while slipping twice, and took a victory lap around the lane with his baby daughter.




One last Good Story...MIRACLE ON ICE!

I mean, this winter Olympic victory was so huge they made a movie out of it! (no no we're not talking about Cool Runnings in this post go away go away)...

In the 1980 Lake Placid games, our US guys were huge underdogs against the Soviet team that had dominated in play against every single team in the world. But WE WON, 4-3. Do you believe in miracles?


So, it's been great reminiscing about Olympics past...I never, ever miss an Olympics, you know? It doesn't matter if I think the sport is completely ridiculous (read: curling) or frilly (ice dancing), I still watch it. It's always been one of my things.

Until now, that is.


We've dropped the ball, here. Our friends and neighbors in Russia are suffering and scared for their lives, and the lives of their friends and families. 

How is it possible that we are dealing with a leader who has clearly lost his mind? It is not acceptable for him to be bringing down a reign of terror on any segment of his population!

I guess I'll just keep saying this until someone hears me: It was bad enough that we kept dealing with the President of Iran after he denied the Holocaust ever happened. 

But here, we have another world leader cut from the same cloth, and it's our second chance to get it right. We are the leader of the free world and it's our responsibility to do the right thing, which is to boycott these Olympics.

America going to the Sochi Olympics gives it legitimacy,which is the same thing as giving Putin legitimacy, which means that his stance on homosexuality is legitimate and so everything's okay, which IT IS NOT.

Putin's latest missive explains that gay Olympic athletes at the games will be fine, 'as long as they stay away from children'.

I can't even go there about how insensitive and unfair that is, except to say that this uneducated and hate-filled man is leader of a very dangerous and unbalanced region. 

We need to boycott, we need all of our people out of there, and we should offer asylum to anyone who needs it. I don't want another Holocaust, and this feels like the very beginnings of something.

So. US boycott, and if they don't, then I'm at least boycotting anyway, and one of my favorite things, too.

We should be able to do something, somehow...

30 comments:

  1. I wish I knew a solution here. I am very conflicted. On the one hand, I don't want to legitimize Putin in any way. On the other hand, it's our athletes that will suffer if we don't go, not Putin. They've trained their entire lives. So as I said, I'm torn...

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    1. I know, the athletes have worked hard, when we boycotted the 1980 summer games it was terrible for them. But back then it was over political issues...whereas this is a human rights issue. I don't know. If you check out what Wikipedia says about Hitler's 1936 summer games in Munich, the similarities to today are scary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Summer_Olympics

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  2. Sarah Hughes? Boo! Michelle Kwan? Yay!

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    1. We all love Michelle Kwan! But she had lots of Olympics to get that gold and it just didn't happen! She has a nice silver and bronze to go with all her World Championships.. :)

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  3. Never into the Olympics here. But it sure takes talent. I'll boycott them with ease. Still not sure what one can do about him, but it is clear he's a nut case

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    1. Total nut case! And nut cases with armies and weapon caches are dangerous things...

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    2. I commented RIGHT HERE AND BLOGGER ATE IT. "And what about security...that one athlete told his family to stay home because he was afraid for them. I can't even watch most of the winter events, they scare me to death. Much prefer track and swimming events."

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    3. But it didn't eat it, it's just way down there...see... down there. ||
      V

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  4. I have to admit, I don't really pay attention to the Olympics unless it's gymnastics. Not sure how Russia should be dealt with.

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    1. I like the gymnastics, too. I'm equal opportunity, I watch everything! Gymnastics, swimming and diving are probably my favorites at the summer olympics. I like the decathlon, too, and the whitewater rafting. Yeah, I like everything. :)

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  5. Well, Mitch. Is it fair to say I read this post and don't know how to respond except to say that figure skating is one of my favorite things to watch? It has the same effect on me that good music does. Inspiring, infilling. Anyway, that's not an appropriate response to the rest of your post but I did want you to know that I read it and am ruminating.

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    1. Figure skating is one of my favorite things, too. I mean, all love all the sports, but skating is the top of the list for winter olympics.

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  6. I think Putin is a particularly evil man. I don't think a boycott would make any difference, but I admire your idealism. I hope one day we will all live in harmony with one another, but the trend is not so good.

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    1. I am an optimist, I admit it. I always try to look for the best in people, and I'm the last to admit that something has gone wrong... I just want so badly to fix this.

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  7. And security issues as well...one athlete has told his family to stay home.

    I can't even watch half of the events. They scare me to death. Much prefer swimming and track events.

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    1. I know, I've been reading about the terror threats...craziness!
      The skiing isn't that bad, usually they just break a leg or an ankle...there's no trees or anything for them to hit.
      But yeah, I love the swimming and the track. I love the long distance runners, where it's more of a mind game, and also helping out your teammate...soo cool. I'm really gonna miss watching it this year.

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  8. I have to agree, this Olympiad is particularly fraught with danger.

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  9. As I have been following all the event going on as well, it is not so simple. As I agree that the Olympics should be cancelled all together, you are also dealing with selfish human emotions. For many of the athletes training all their lives to loose a huge dream is not that easy. I think we should push it off a year and do it in another country. Best of both worlds.

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    1. That is the best idea...they have done that before, when they decided to move the Winter Olympics to off-years from the Summer Olympics, so there was only a two year gap after 1992 Winter in Albertville to establish the new count at the 1994 Winter in Lillehammer.

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  10. Well said. I love the Winter Olympics for all the same reasons you've listed above and more. This is really the IOC's fault. Just as they overlooked all of China's issues in 2008, so have they done with Russia now. They really should have seen this coming. We're going to go through it all again in four years. The 2018 World Cup will be in Russia.

    Hey, curling is awesome!!!

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    1. You're absolutely right...
      Yeah, curling actually grows on me every Olympics! I do sit and watch every minute of it, so I must like it a little, LOL!

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    2. Curling's not as big in New England as it is in Canada or the Upper Midwest. Otherwise, I'm quite certain I would have tried it by now.

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    3. I don't think my left knee or ankle could take all the kneeling and stuff it entails...but yeah, here in Kentucky, there are no ice sports to speak of. College basketball rules, college football is a distant second.

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  11. I've been a bit out of the loop, hiding inside my revisions and trying to pretend the world is just an imaginary soundtrack in the background. Guess it's time to come out and adjust to the light.

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    1. I know what you mean! For a couple years I didn't know what was going on...it was really nice!

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  12. ...until we all stop judging others, the world will be a friendlier place.

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