2010 Olympics
Is this who we are now? Is this just a passing fad: temporary, disposable, dress-up patriotism? Or is it a glimpse in the mirror at a changing place?
Flag waving, chest thumping, wearing the colours, bursting into spontaneous choruses of Oh Canada. That’s different. If nothing else, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler have provided an excuse for the most visible expression of national pride, perhaps outside of wartime.
This was bigger. It was louder. It was bolder and more confident. The combination of an Olympics at home in which Canada expected to win, and to win often, is at the very least an excuse for a national party.
It wasn’t quite the script we were expecting. The story was suppose to be all about winning, about finishing first, about putting a new swagger in our step.
Turns out the swagger was already there. It was just waiting for the right stage. And by the time John Montgomery took his famous stroll down the streets of Whistler, all of Canada was walking beside him.
The number of medals didn’t really matter. Though in the end the numbers were just fine. We didn’t really need to own anything. What mattered was the occasion. What mattered was the event. What mattered was the excuse to wave the flag and sing the anthem and shout it out loud.
The power of spectator sport is the power of community. The spectacle was there. The thrill of watching remarkable athletes at their best. But the real emotional pull comes only when you have rooting interest. And when you join with others who feel the same, who care the same, who are united, at least temporarily, as part of single tribe, you have a community.
Cynicism is easy, so is retreating into historic grudges, so is looking at a world with which were once borders are now dotted lines and believing it doesn’t really matter what you call yourself, or where you live. It does matter, or at least it can. It is important that we share a history. There is power in a collective experience.
And admit it, it feels good. It feels good to let your heart show.
Stephen Brunt
in Vancouver
reporting for The Globe and Mail
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/index.html?assetid=16afced6-f953-42f8-88ce-46c9493947e9&cid=rss