The Square Life

So, let's get straight to the hot topic—the scuttlebutt if you will—of the Olympics. Can you believe Canada doesn’t have a single one medal? Wow! I mean, Tajikistan has a medal. Have you even heard of Tajikistan? Georgia has three medals and they’re country is under siege. Come on, Canada, step up!

Oh, what’s that? That’s not what you’ve been thinking about? Oh.  Let’s get to the real stuff, the nitty gritty. I’m just going to go ahead and say it: Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever. Oh yeah. Anyone who can inspire me to want to swim is something special. I mean, seriously, I’ve watched the Summer Olympics my whole life, and not until this year have I felt inclined to try and swim as a result of watching the swimming events. I stink at swimming, and yet Michael Phelps has me daydreaming of moving through chlorinated pools with shark-like stealth. I remember getting my swimming merit badge in scouts, and almost drowning. I’m like 94% I cheated in order to get that merit badge. I told myself at the time that I never again wanted to swim for longer than a minute away from the edge or the shallow end of the pool. I meant it too. Whenever I swim, I try to play it cool like I know what I’m doing, but whenever I am in the deep end, I always have one paranoid eye on the edge of the pool. Anyway, I digress. My point is that Michael Phelps is the man, and anyone who can inspire me to want to swim, is the greatest Olympian of all time. Oh, that and he broke the all-time record for gold medals yesterday by two. That’s pretty impressive as well. 

Aside from Michael Phelps, I’m sure you’ve been thinking about the Redeem Team. I know I have. They had another impressive win yesterday, but the real tests begin tomorrow. I will be up bright and early at 6 am to cheer on the boys as they try to revenge their ’06 loss to Greece. I hope they pummel the Greeks. When Greece beat the U.S. in ’06, a piece of me died. I want that piece back. I know, I know, I’m a barbarian . . . or at least a weirdo. When it comes to politics, I’m actually a very fair person. I believe in equal rights for all humans. It’s not just lip service either; I mean it. But when it comes to basketball, I am not a diplomatic person. I’m not even a sane person. Sorry. 

Speaking of politics, there is one thing about these games that has really disturbed me. Yesterday, during the women’s gymnastics team final, the commentators made a point about the Chinese audience’s applause. Addressing the audience’s reactions to the Chinese’s gold medal victory, the announcers pointed out that it was different—that it sounded more like an “approval.” I doubt I’m alone when I say the whole process that many of these Chinese athletes go through is very disturbing. The fact that three-year-old children are taken from their families to become athletic tools wielded by the Chinese government strikes me as, well, wrong. No personal agency seems to be acknowledged—or at least respected—in this process. Who cares what these children want to do, assuming that at such young ages they actually know. To me it is one very haunting token of the communistic program. The Chinese people are left with very little freedoms, and their sports programs serve as a symbol of this sad truth. 

All this makes it hard to cheer against the Chinese athletes. I am left with a desire for them to fair well, in hopes that their government will be fair with them . . . to approve them. At the same time, I can’t stand to see such a corrupted system work. I think, “This isn’t what sports are supposed to be about.” Sports are supposed to be about having fun, about striving to do something truly amazing. The Olympics is supposed to be about fulfilling personal dreams, not satisfying your government. Or getting their approval. As a result of the present system, “athletic tools” from China don’t seem to enjoy themselves nearly as much. That or they need to learn how to smile. Either way . . .  

And then there are the Americans: A large group of individuals who individually pursued their own dreams. While the American athletes likely have strong feelings of patriotism and a desire to represent their country well, they are in Beijing because of their own dreams. They are there because they want to be. You can see it in their faces and expressions. The memorable relay on Sunday serves as a perfect symbol of the personal desire the American athletes enjoy. Jason Lezak looked deep within himself and found a way to beat the cocky Frenchman because that was something he truly wanted. He pulled off a miracle because it was his strongest desire to do so—not for approval from anybody but himself. The only pressure Jason felt was that of personal satisfaction.  

That’s the thing about freedom: it works. There are far less Americans than there are Chinese. We are—sometimes accurately—portrayed as fat and lazy. And yet somehow we continue to be at the top of medal counts. We consistently produce some of the most inspiring athletes in the world. Granted, there are a few overzealous parents here and there who push their kids too hard, but they are the exception, not the rule. Despite the many problems we face today in our country, we are still a people who delight immensely in our personal freedoms. If we want to go for the gold, the only real thing in our way is ourselves. Happiness is there for the taking, and time and time again we take it. Such freedoms lead to a stronger society as well. We are a culture full of vices and faults, but we are a strong people. Our history shows that when we come together, we are the most formidable force around. This strength is made evident in the Olympics.  

Michael Phelps cheered on Jason Lezak like a wildman on Sunday because he truly loves the sport of swimming. And I believe that true love he has, independent of anything else, is what propelled him to be the most successful Olympian ever. He didn’t need Big Brother to get to the point he has. In fact, I think if Phelps were a product of the Chinese system, he wouldn’t be nearly as successful as he has been. His own personal greatness has come into fruition because there was nothing to stop it from coming out. And when he succeeds, we all succeed. As a nation, we are legitimately happy every Olympic season when we see inspiring men and women prove the power of the human spirit. In contrast, watching the power of the government has never brought joy to anybody I know.  

In China, and other oppressive regimes (eg Russia and Eastern Germany before the fall of the wall), large amounts of success are almost always found in the Olympics. But the cost at which such “success” comes never seems worth it. The “approval” those athletes obtain leads to relatively nothing. It’s all about political posturing and pride. It’s shallow success. Big Brother always succeeds to a degree when he prods along the oppressed, but there is never true happiness in their success. Only approval. The Olympics deserve more than that; the Chinese people deserve more than that. 

And then there’s Canada. I don’t know what their excuse is.