Canadian Duo Win Ice Dancing Gold; What Did America Do?

The Canadian pair competing in ice dancing won the gold last night and all of Canada broke out in joy. Boats in the harbor blew their horns, people in bars cheered and all across the Olympic village Canadians began singing their national anthem; as how it should be.

The Canadians are in the middle of the pack, medal wise, still they find pride in that maple leaf and applaud for anyone wearing it. Is this not a lesson for us all? I understand their social programs and their governmental issues leave a lot of them as upset as ours do us, yet they take pride in that maple leaf and continue to cheer it home. My observation was simple; could you imagine this happening here in the USA today?

I'll admit I have a hard time seeing this one happen. When I attend college basketball games where people do not salute the flag, have conversations through the national anthem and occasionally don't even stand, singing it seems out of the question. So to imagine a group of Americans breaking out into song over an Olympic medal seems like a pipe dream to me. Do we win too much or have we forgotten what patriotic pride really is?

We are number one in the medal count, perhaps winning has become an assumption rather than a feat. Perhaps we assume our athletes are the best and have lost our pride in what it takes to be number one. Perhaps we are letting the current state of the national turmoil spill over into that national pride. Perhaps we just have forgotten what national pride is.

These athletes train hard, spend years away from home, give up most of their formative years, to compete in the Olympics, it seems like the least we could do is act like we care. If you are having trouble conjuring up a reason why you should care, let me give you a few examples. We elect our crooked officials and it is our right, we pray to what ever god or supreme being we want and it is our right, we are free to say what ever we what, to stick our foot completely in our mouth, it is our right. We are a free nation, our pitfalls and short comings are our own fault. Do not take it out on the athletes, they represent us, all of us.

If you have forgotten or do not know what patriotism is, remember what they taught you about Pearl Harbor, remember Katrina, remember 9-11. Those were days that patriotism stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park.

The next time you turn on the Olympics and the USA has won a medal, turn off the volume, close your eyes, imagine you are that kid, then allow yourself to dream the thought of suddenly knowing, you are the best in the world. Now tell me that this is not worth singing the national anthem.