Some people see the glass as half empty, other people see the glass as half full. I see the glass and blame the Prime Minister. I’m what you might call a cynic. I can be cynical about anything, even the lead-up to the Olympics.
Not that it was hard. In certain Ottawa circles, it’s been a parlour game to sit around guessing how many medals our Olympians have to win in order to guarantee this government a majority. Mother Teresa would become cynical listening to that.
But that said, once the Games begin later this week, I am in. For starters, the entire world is going to freak when they see how beautiful Vancouver is. See, we forget, we take this for granted, but British Columbia, that’s one sexy-looking province. Seriously, I expect some Germans’ heads will pop right off. Japanese, too.
And then there are the athletes. Really, it’s all about them—the 206 members of Team Canada.
Now, I’m very lucky. I have a job where I’ve got to meet a lot of Olympians and a lot of Paralympians. But even if I live to be a thousand, I will never understand these people. I have never, in my entire life, come close to being as committed to a single thing as they are to their sports. And God knows, they don’t do it for the money. Most of them still live under the poverty line. They work harder than anyone I have ever met in my life, and they do it because they love their sports and they love their country. It can make the most committed cynic believe the glass is half full.
So, with just days to go before the opening of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, here’s to the members of Team Canada. You own the podium already.