In a western hemisphere marked by a relative absence of catastrophe and terror (American election results notwithstanding), underutilized grief councilors everywhere converge on Canada to console it’s populace, or more realistically it’s athletes, their support infrastructure and sports columnists after another catastrophic Olympic Medal count (defined as not winning/buying more medals at a point in time – once every 4 years – than other countries, most of whom score significantly lower than Canada in all other “day to day” events). Where does a country of 32 million get off with such grandiose Olympic expectations (our athletes’ medal count exceeded expectations when extrapolated against our percentage of global population and far outstripped even the USA when based upon our relative percentages of Global GNP). If money were the answer to all of our (imagined) athletic woes, why doesn’t the world roll over when our hockey teams comprised of so many multi-millionaires hit the ice? Over the past 4 years, according to the United Nations Human Development Index, Canada has slipped from being ranked the best country in the world to the 4th best country, whereas our Olympic medal count has remained pretty much the same (if not marginally better) over the same period. As you are asking yourself where your tax dollars should be spent over the next four years also ask yourself what all those Olympic runners who outdistanced our runners are running from. Come on Canada – get over it, but if you can’t, don’t point the finger of blame at a world class hurdler who misses one hurdle in one race.
Jan 01