Monday, August 25, 2008
OK, time for a little chest thumping...
My years overseas have humbled me in regards to how our country interacts with the rest of the world. And quite often I’ve been dumbfounded by not only by the policies we administer, but by those who are doing so and the horribly slanted way in which the US media portrays nearly everything.
But today someone came up to me and offered up a smug assessment of American athletics in regard to the Olympics. And it rubbed me wrong. Like most Americans, I regard the Olympic Games as a sort of afterthought in which I pay marginal attention while large portions of the rest of the planet hold it to be a source of immense national pride and fervor (I currently live in one of those places.) I’ll endure the good-natured ribbing, but let’s set the record straight:
LeBron guaranteed it. We brought it. And yeah, we won the most medals again. Sure we’re going to have trouble competing with a country that has over 1 billion people with government mandated training facilities in the future. And while Michael Phelps will get all of the fame, Dwayne Wade was a force to behold. He personified the determination that put us on our current pedestal that so many gaze longingly upon and not-so-secretly pray for our downfall in a multitude of areas.
Maybe it’s silly. We all have far larger issues to confront. But this team made me feel proud of who we are and where we’re from. USA: Get some.
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