It's an Olympic year, but things don't feel the way the Games are supposed to make us feel.
The Olympics of today are not the Olympics of years past, and that's something we have come to a begrudging acceptance of. The Games have become a machine of money and corporate interests, and the next few weeks in Sochi will really test whether we can separate that machine from the celebration of sport and sportsmanship that the Olympics are supposed to be.
With all of the controversies surrounding the Games, it leaves one wondering if this year is different. Given everything that has become entangled in the two-week global athletics event, should we support it?
Everyone has to answer that question for him or herself, and certainly there is a part of me that wants to support it as long as there is just one Canadian participating, and there are a lot more than that. There are hundreds of Canadians, athletes we consider friends, neighbours and role models who will be competing at the Games.
I want to support them and want them to succeed and be proud of whatever they accomplish. I want them to represent Canada on an international scene because our politicians and celebrities do little to build bridges to our foreign counterparts.
Still, I'm having a hard time convincing myself the Games actually deserve our collective attention. By watching, we're shrugging our shoulders at the corruption and fraud that has been so commonplace in Sochi for the past few years.
The Games are slowly evolving to display some of the worst in humanity rather than its best, as intended by the exhibition of strength and athleticism. I guess that's just a natural development when money is involved as the economic element of the Olympics increases with each event.
The financial incentives are so much more than they ever were and that trend will continue. I'm sure many if not most athletes compete for noble enough reasons, but with the sponsorship deals and subsequent celebrity that often follows Olympic greatness, there is something greater than representing your country and engaging in cultural exchange at play for many athletes.
That isn't to say the Games don't showcase great lessons we can all learn, perhaps most importantly among them are how the Games can teach or inspire people to live active lives and stay healthy. In that way, the spectacle works as an excellent public service announcement, and we all should probably heed the subtext that is beating us over the head while we watch. Be more physically active and in the end, be more successful even if you aren't looking to succeed in sport.
The Olympics, in a very basic way, are a demonstration of what we can accomplish if we are healthy, if we are treating our bodies like the sacred temples they really are.
There are many ways to view the Olympics, as righteous and pure or as corrupt and unfair.
So often we are selecting countries to host this event, and they have shoddy records when it comes to safety standards like in China, or stone-age social stances like Russia's refusal to acknowledge gay people actually exist in their cities.
I certainly have more and more trouble separating sports and politics, but we all have to decide if the political and social platforms have corrupted the Olympics beyond a tolerable point.
I will still tune in from time to time, but I just don't think I'll feel very good about it.
