In these Olympics, Canadians only paid attention to Canada.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/28/20...nk=omni_popular

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- After a spirited torch relay ignited pride in every corner of the country, the Olympic Games began and quickly galvanized the nation.

Flags were everywhere. The country's national symbol hung from windows and was worn on nearly everyone's clothing.

Fervent crowds cheered every victory by the host nation.

But enough about the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

At the opening of these Olympic Winter Games more than two weeks ago, Vancouver organizers expressed the hope that they could show the world a truly "Canadian Games."

That they succeeded in that, there is little doubt.

For 17 days we were barraged with Canadian flags, rode buses and trains with people in sweatshirts and jerseys adorned with Canadian maple leafs, and were serenaded at venues by Canadian spectators, lustily cheering for Canadian athletes.

The first Olympics I ever attended were also in Canada, the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal. For a kid not long out of college, it was a profound experience, seeing Lasse Viren, Alberto Juantorena, Nadia Comaneci-- the athletes of the world -- on the sporting world's grandest stage.

One of the speakers at that Olympics used a phrase that lingers with me still: the family of man.

There is no earthly event that reinforces that notion as well as an Olympic Games. For all of the latter-day Games' inherent commercialism, that ideal persists. I truly believe that.

It persists, despite the overwhelming chauvinism of the past two weeks.

They showed us Canadian Games, all right. And in most cases, nothing but Canadian Games.

I'm not talking about TV coverage. I have no idea what Bob Costas and NBC were televising back in the States.

But from the opening ceremony to Sunday's closing, from the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili to Sunday's gold-medal hockey game, on the streets of Vancouver and at the Olympic venues, only a token nod was given to the rest of the world's athletes.

I was as surprised as I was disappointed.

Had the classic Canadian inferiority complex finally decided to bite back? Or was this a dark consequence of the Own the Podium program?

At the Games' outset, Canada's obsession with finally winning its first gold medal as a host nation was understandable -- quaint, almost.

But that story swiftly swept the luge tragedy off the front pages. There were no follow-up stories about investigations, memorials or retributions to the family.

Kumaritashvili himself was blamed for the fatal accident. The luge competition went on. Some Canadian lugers even callously complained about the shortening of the track.

And so the tone for these Games was set.

It was Canada's party, and no dead luger, no critical British tabloid and no visiting Americans were going to spoil it.

That attitude is regrettable, because a good, if not especially memorable, Olympics followed.

U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn won her cherished gold medal in the women's downhill, validating all the product endorsements and cover shoots she will have between now and 2014.

Evan Lysacek struck a blow for U.S. men's figure skating, giving legendary coach Frank Carroll an Olympic champion for the first time.

Texas-based Olympians fared well, winning five medals, which is as many as Finland, Japan and Italy.

Speedskater Chad Hedrick of Spring earned silver and bronze medals, Denton's Jordan Malone won a relay bronze in short track, and the Dallas Stars' Brenden Morrow (gold) and Jere Lehtinen (bronze) are going home with hockey medals.

But a lot happened that didn't make the front pages of the Vancouver newspapers or find its way into the Canadian TV network's opening montage.

Norway's Marit Bjoergen won three gold medals, a silver and a bronze in cross-country skiing to become the ninth athlete to win five medals at a single Winter Olympics.

Skier Maria Riesch finished in the top 10 in all five Alpine events. Her native country, Germany, won at least one medal on every day of this Winter Olympics.

American short track speedskater Apolo Ohno won three medals, giving him eight and making him the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian of all time. But that's nothing -- Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, at age 36, won two biathlon medals and now has 11.

Canada's rush to the victory stand over the Games' final week resulted in a Winter Olympics record for a single nation, 14 total. The U.S. hockey team can take solace that its silver-medal finish Sunday was the Americans' 37th medal, also a record for one nation.

But for the most part, the most underappreciated soul at these Olympics was an American or a European on the medals stand.

Yes, every host nation cheers lustily for its native Olympians. But never in my experience to the extent that we saw here, where the rest of the world's athletes were little more than drink coasters at the party.

South Korean Kim Yu-Na's dazzling gold-medal performance in women's figure skating, for example, was overwhelmed here by the attention given to Quebec's Joannie Rochette, whose mother tragically died.

Chief organizer of the Games, John Furlong, mentioned Kumaritashvili briefly in his Closing Ceremony remarks. But the hosts' insensitivity had long ago been duly noted.

At a news conference Saturday, for example, someone asked Ken Melamed, mayor of Whistler, where the luge run was located, if the village planned some sort of memorial to the luger from Georgia.

Why, yes, the mayor said, "We have to find a way to acknowledge Nodar... and the Canadian athletes that have done well."

See? They don't get it.

The Vancouver Games' ticketing policy didn't help the partisan scene at the venues. To order Olympic tickets through the Vancouver 2010 Web site, a buyer had to have a Canadian address.

China sold 6.8 million tickets to its 2008 Summer Olympics. Vancouver only made 1.6 million available. The Canadians wanted to "Own the Podium," but organizers made sure that they owned the grandstands at each venue as well.

I'm still mystified that Canada fans were able to grab what seemed to be 98 percent of the tickets at the hockey venue. Olympic crowds have always been more inclusive.

In his closing news conference Sunday, IOC president Jacques Rogge acknowledged that there were "teething pains" as the Vancouver Games began.

"There was an extraordinary embrace by the city of Vancouver," he said. "Something I've never seen before."

There was embracing, all right, but then Canadians have always had the reputation for drinking a lot of beer. The loose marijuana laws only added to the nightly revelry in the downtown streets -- which, frankly, seemed to have little to do with the Olympics.

Canada wanted to hold a party, and the Canadians did. The gold medals only seemed to fuel them.

Team Canada hockey jerseys became the uniform of the streets. Maple leafs were either hanging or on clothing everywhere.

One thing I never saw: a simple flag or shirt with the five Olympic rings. Not anywhere. After 15 Olympics, that was a first.

I didn't attend the '36 Olympics, but I've seen the pictures. Swastikas everywhere.

No political reference is meant, just an Olympic one. What on earth were the Canadians thinking?

An Olympic host is supposed to welcome the world. This one was too busy being (their word) "patriotic."

"Now you know us, eh?" chief organizer Furlong said.

We thought we did two weeks ago. Now, I'm wondering if Canadians can even recognize themselves.

Nice party. But so 1936.

[bowflex 0]

Lol Sure seems to me everything you post has quite a bit of anti-Canada flare to it

Of course a country is going to blow the trumpet on their own country when hosting the Olympics. Canada is a rather small nation in terms of population, I really enjoyed watching the Olympics and see the patriotism pumping out of seemingly every person. When I'd be spending every weekend there visiting my wife most people tried to "hide" being from Canada in case it would upset me or something when we'd hang out.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Lol Sure seems to me everything you post has quite a bit of anti-Canada flare to it

People take things as they wish and even my fiance agreed with my point on the hocket thing (again same thing as this with the arrogance).

Of course a country is going to blow the trumpet on their own country when hosting the Olympics. Canada is a rather small nation in terms of population, I really enjoyed watching the Olympics and see the patriotism pumping out of seemingly every person. When I'd be spending every weekend there visiting my wife most people tried to "hide" being from Canada in case it would upset me or something when we'd hang out.

That's the point of the article though, is it's not that normal..

Usually you see all nations fairly represented and the olympic rings everywhere to be seen. In Vancouver though, it was a sea of red and white w/Maple leafs everywhere. Hell, it had been that since almost a year prior. Even when I was in Toronto 3 times this past year (starting with May) it was all over the place.

The Olympics are supposed to be about togetherness, not nationalism.

[bowflex 0]

People take things as they wish and even my fiance agreed with my point on the hocket thing (again same thing as this with the arrogance).

That's the point of the article though, is it's not that normal..

Usually you see all nations fairly represented and the olympic rings everywhere to be seen. In Vancouver though, it was a sea of red and white w/Maple leafs everywhere. Hell, it had been that since almost a year prior. Even when I was in Toronto 3 times this past year (starting with May) it was all over the place.

The Olympics are supposed to be about togetherness, not nationalism.

Lol I'm not getting into it too deeply but the whole "America outscored Canada" argument was a dumbhead comment and that alone deserved some serious flaming.

As for the Olympics, they're actually ALL about nationalism. It's about the host country putting on a spectacular show and awesome face to the rest of the world and I really think Canada did a great job.

[Sprailenes 47]

People take things as they wish

Exactly. If people want to think Canada's pride was arrogance, then that's their problem.

I think Canada did a great job... they had 16 days to show the world who they were and they did it.

I do recall the Salt Lake City Olympics having a lot of "American pride" involved too. It's like inviting the world into your home, you want to be a great host, but you want them to leave remembering who you are.

And your hockey argument... let's not go there again.

Edited March 3, 2010 by Sprailenes

[HeatDeath 430]

Many Canadians of a liberal bent (which is to say most of them, including several of my immediate family, but that's a whole 'nother story!) have a strong anti-American bent. One of the things they claim to most hate about American culture is what they describe as "gung-ho, jingoistic hyper-uber-patriotism" - "American exclusivism" - "the idea that they think they're the best d*mn country in the whole world". Patriotism is an utterly foreign, indeed, even barbaric concept to these people. These Canadians, many of them, would be more comfortable describing themselves as "citizens of the world" than of any particular country, including Canada.

During these Olympics, my father was telling me the other day, signs of Canadian patriotism were everywhere. When Canada won that last hockey game, you had street parties with thousands of people in the downtowns of every major Canadian city. For the first time, perhaps ever, it mattered that we - that Canadians won, as opposed to people from other countries. This from the country that basically invented "non-competitive" children's "sports"! Canadian society discovered in itself a real patriotism that has never really been publicly expressed on anything like this scale before.

It therefore does not surprise me in the least that a significant cross section of Canadian society, in the morning hangover after this orgy of healthy patriotism, looked back on their own behavior, and saw something in themselves and their fellow countrymen that they hate when they see it in others. I have no doubt that they feel quite conflicted over the whole thing. The phrase "self loathing" may not be misapplied

Edited March 3, 2010 by HeatDeath

[Varba 0]

People take things as they wish and even my fiance agreed with my point on the hocket thing (again same thing as this with the arrogance).

That's the point of the article though, is it's not that normal..

Usually you see all nations fairly represented and the olympic rings everywhere to be seen. In Vancouver though, it was a sea of red and white w/Maple leafs everywhere. Hell, it had been that since almost a year prior. Even when I was in Toronto 3 times this past year (starting with May) it was all over the place.

The Olympics are supposed to be about togetherness, not nationalism.

You may want to go back over footage. To me, it has always been VERY apparent what country is hosting. There always is a large celebration of nationalism that surrounds the games, and it's a good thing.

It's not taken to the extremes of violence or hatred (at least most times), but it's always there - and typically just as blatant as it was in Vancouver.

As for the Olympics, they're actually ALL about nationalism. It's about the host country putting on a spectacular show and awesome face to the rest of the world and I really think Canada did a great job.

I agree completely. There was nothing wrong with the celebrations, decorations, or people's attitudes that I saw.

[Sprailenes 47]

The Olympics are supposed to be about togetherness, not nationalism.

It isn't a campfire sing-a-long... it's about making money and boosting tourism. After it's all over that's what the host country hopes for.

[bradcanuck 1]

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3654...1907&ref=mf

[Sprailenes 47]

Taken from wikipedia:

While there was a lot of international sympathy for the US in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, there were complaints that the Games were being conducted in an overtly patriotic manner. President Bush received some criticism for departing from the Olympic charter by extending the declaration to open the Games, saying “On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation” before the traditional formula, “I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City”.[5] In addition, the President opened the games standing among the US athletes while previous heads of state opened the games from an official box. NBC's Bob Costas applauded the move during the network's coverage of the Opening Ceremony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympics

So it's happened before, it'll happen again. Host countries need to sit down and stfu... it's about the WORLD not YOU

Edited March 3, 2010 by Sprailenes

[bowflex 0]

Lol Wait till you see Russia in 2014, that's going to be something for these cry babies to worry about

[Varba 0]

Next they'll want to stop showing any flags, cease playing the national anthem of the winners, dress everyone in all grey, and disallow any sort of celbratory actions or vocalizations.

I mean.. come on.

[Mrs.J06 4]

Sorry to butt in as a non-Canadian here, but to compare the Vancouver Games to the pre-Nazi-Germany games with their heavy political propaganda seems to be way off the mark!

So the Canadians are proud of their country and the great games they hosted? Good for them, what's wrong about that? I enjoyed watching every minute of them!

[Sprailenes 47]

The sea of red... it wasn't patriotism... THAT WAS THE BLOOD OF AMERICAN HOCKEY TEAM!!!!!

Edited March 3, 2010 by Sprailenes

[Allie 5]

Exactly. If people want to think Canada's pride was arrogance, then that's their problem.

I think Canada did a great job... they had 16 days to show the world who they were and they did it.

I do recall the Salt Lake City Olympics having a lot of "American pride" involved too. It's like inviting the world into your home, you want to be a great host, but you want them to leave remembering who you are.

And your hockey argument... let's not go there again.

I agree Canada did do a superb job hosting these Olympics. The writer of this article may not like what he heard or saw but this is one persons view only. Most of the reports I've read about the games were all positive. I can tell you I sure as h$ll loved what I saw.

He complains about tickets made available in Van. to when the games were in Behjing, but he fails to report you could go wherever you wanted in Vancouver or for that matter anywhere in Canada.

Are Canadians not allowed to show their patriotism? In my opinion I think the writer was too use to reading and hearing about how passive we Canadians are and wasn't prepared for all the Canadian patriotism. He's more than likely only use to seeing it in his own country as is ther original poster