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Old 08-08-2021, 08:17 AM   #1
EldrickOnIce
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Default A shift from nationalism to individualism?

Definitely not a thing in Canada. Yet anyway.
Listening to the post race interview with Kelsey Mitchell is as Canadian and as Olympic as it gets.
Here in America, not necessarily the same

Tokyo Olympics and Suni Lee's gold medal tweet ask us: Do Olympians owe their country?

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The American Twittersphere that demands the U.S. remain atop the gymnastics world indefinitely, as if it were a divine right, exudes the kind of exceptionalism the rest of the world despises in us. It’s not fair to athletes like Lee, it’s not realistic, and it’s not a good look. But neither is dismissing the responsibility that perceptive athletes feel toward the community on whose behalf they compete. A shift from nationalism toward individualism might win us medals, but it will lose us something equally valuable: selflessness.
Good read

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...us-ncna1275849
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Old 08-08-2021, 08:52 AM   #2
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Interesting read, definitely don’t notice a lot of that type of stuff with Canadian Olympians.

I can understand why an athlete from USA Gymnastics would have a different attitude after what some of those athletes and their teammates endured, and how USA Gymnastics and the USOC failed to protect them.
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Old 08-08-2021, 09:18 AM   #3
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It's all media driven. NBC has destroyed the Olympics for American. Their coverage is unwatchable.

When Canada wins something, it's still a surprise and punching above their weight. Canadians compete for their sport, organization and their country. Americans take this for granted. Suni Lee is a nobody and she's now caught up in American ugliness. Read the quotes from DiMaggio and McIlroy in that article. And Gretzky has said similar things.


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We should still treasure the American baseball icon Joe DiMaggio’s philosophy: “There is always some kid who is seeing me for the first or last time. I owe him my best.”

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Even the golfer Rory McIlroy, who spurned the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, got into the Olympic spirit while representing Ireland in the seven-man chase. “I never tried so hard in my life to finish third.” he said to Golf Digest. He went further, explaining, “Being a part of something that's completely different and bigger than me and even our sport in general, that's a pretty cool thing.”
Normally, a miss on the final green costs PGA Tour pros tens or hundreds of thousands in prize money. This week, it was a medal or nothing. It meant much more to the competitors because a price couldn’t be put on it.

I watched that final round. Matsuyama missed three short putts on the last three holes, any of which would have won him at least Bronze. He was so crushed he flubbed the playoff.



These are professionals. This is what it means to them.
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Old 08-08-2021, 10:18 AM   #4
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Meh... I'd say this is more just her less playing the game then other competitors.

Athletes aren't stupid, saying all the yay Canada or yay Calgary stuff keeps you in people's good books. And saying otherwise invites controversy. So unless you are looking to send a message, just say your lines and everyone cheers and you can get some endorsements.

Even the Rory comment above, I'd say that's more that 3rd is more important in the Olympics then in other events so you strive for it.

Everyone has different motivations but I'd assume more athletes are training like mad to be the best they can be (and reap those rewards) rather than some dream of making their country proud.
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Old 08-08-2021, 10:22 AM   #5
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The US is also way more divided than Canada where large chunks of the country can't stand other large chunks.

That is more of an issue that would cause this than how NBC broadcasts the games.
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Old 08-08-2021, 11:46 AM   #6
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The US is also way more divided than Canada where large chunks of the country can't stand other large chunks.

That is more of an issue that would cause this than how NBC broadcasts the games.
Probably belongs in a different thread but I disagree on this point. Unfortunately Canada is equally a divided nation, perhaps even more so that the US.
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Old 08-08-2021, 12:49 PM   #7
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I don't know if that is something that is simply making something out of nothing.

it was a comment from one athlete that watched her team mate, a legend in gymnastics, endure a lot of pressure and blowback when she made a decision that was best for her.

I think the comment she made was misrepresented, as she clearly said "We" not "I" in that interview. She was talking about the US gymnastics team and not her as an individual. No different than hockey/football/basketball players saying they play for the guys in the locker room is it?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1420410946951032840

Athletes aren't robots - there's certainly a degree of selfishness that has to be there in order to be an Olympic Champion... I am sure Chinese athletes are all about country above personal gain - pretty sure that's not better either.

The only way that this opinion has any weight is going through all the American athletes interviews and parsing them for evidence of this tribalism/selfishness he is hypothesizing not taking one athlete's comments out of context and applying it to all athletes.
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Old 08-09-2021, 06:41 AM   #8
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Seems like BS click bait to me with the sole intent of taking advantage of her comments being taken out of context to attack a young Asian woman. This whole thing with Biles and then Lee was not so thinly veiled racism and misogyny. Typical American nationalistic bravado. Kind of gross if you ask me. The only thing they love more than worshipping the likes of Phelps and Biles is to tear them down when they make one small misstep.

I feel like Canada owes our athletes support. Americans seem to think athletes owe their great empire tribute.
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Old 08-09-2021, 01:01 PM   #9
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Or you could not just immediately jump to the conclusion that literally everything is about race and gender. This is the exact same response that was expressed towards rich white guy Tuuka Rask last season when he suddenly left the playoff bubble, before it became clear that it was an issue of family health, when his GM initially said he was leaving because, in effect, he just didn't feel good about being there. I myself criticized Rask in fairly strong terms for that before the real reason was disclosed.

This is a slightly different situation, because a) her determination was that she wouldn't be in a condition to help her team succeed and b) she would be risking bodily harm by competing in her condition. As far as I'm concerned, no one is qualified to assess whether those things are true or whether she was right from the other end of a TV feed, so no one can judge her. But it's not about her being black. The same criticisms will be leveled at any athlete regardless of their race or gender (if anything, it might be more likely that you'll see these criticisms leveled at a man in a similar situation due to social expectations about masculinity).
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