Michael Phelps has done exceedingly well. He could very well be remembered as the most accomplished Olympian having amassed 8 gold medals in one Olympic game.
As a child I used to watch the Olympics and root for everybody. As I got older I started rooting for the under-dogs. Then I started rooting for anyone I damn well felt like.
I stopped rooting for Americans in the 90s because now I was old enough to hear the commentators and how they spoke about non-American contestants. I thought they were being quite bad-minded unnecessarily. They send one bag of ppl to the Olympics and enter every striking category. If they come out with the most medals that's great for them. But why the hell they have to down on smaller countries and their 2 or 3 representatives? I don't need to know that they left a starving family back home because they used all the money they had to get to the Olympics. That has nothing to do with their current ability. It rarely helps to put things in focus.
I realise that they have to keep talking or risk losing the likkle work but damn it man find positive things to say nuh man!?
Now Bob Costas come seh that Bolt cheated the fans by not running right down to the wire and accuse the man of disrespecting the other runners by beating his chest. Di man do weh him never even realise him could a do. Him shock di world!! Everybody feeling good about it... except the Americans (they don't all share the same views I know). Di American bredda weh come third, instead a happy seh Asafa gi im a bligh, him a come seh dat Bolt's run was not phenomenal. Him couldn't do it. Nobody eva do it before and him a come talk like seh is run of di mill. That is just plain bad-minded-ness. Bob Costas can hold a gold medal for bad-minded-ness as well.
Now I think perhaps I should get the bronze for bad-minded-ness because I watch any and every competition just to see if and when the Americans get beaten. Just because of the ignorance of a few I have condemned all to my bad-minded-ness. As I bad-minded Phelps on the weekend it occurred to me that I doin nothing different than what they do, regardless of any self-justification I may have drummed up.
Give me back those good old days when I watched to see the mastery of the games. When I rejoiced with the winners and commiserated with those who didn't. When I recognised that if they made it to the Olympics they are already winners.
Lord, help me to look past my weakness so that I can appreciate the wonders of the Olympics!!!
Selah!!
1 comment:
As far as the Americans go, your bad-mindedness is completely understandable. They have been terribly spoiled sports everywhere they turn, and once they're not winning, there's a problem. But they spend all these millions and send scores of athletes to China to dominate the world ("USA, baby!!!"), so it's hard for them to stomach that they're really not the best out there. The commentators speak for their American audience, and the troubling thing is that I think after a while they buy their own bull. They even got Ato chatting crap. But to insinuate that Bolt slowed down so he could break the record again is just low... very low...
On the other end, I can't fight a Phelps. Regardless of what you feel of swimming (and how it compares to track or other sports), 8 gold medals with 7 world records is out of this world. As long as no illegal substances are involved, the man has earned his props.
Here endeth the reading. Amen.
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