The spirit of the Olympics

In case you missed it, a great comment from my former student,The Jones:

I have decided that I do not appreciate the Olympics as a sports event. I gain unmatched joy from watching the U.S.A. beat the ever living daylights out of other countries through the medium of sports. My interest in sports wanes, but the love of country inspires interests I never held before. I am now a swimming fanatic, a fencing aficionado, a gymnastics critic and commentator, a beach volleyball analyst, and a militant track and field extremist. Outside the Olympics… …these things don’t really have much appeal.

Visa has these commercials celebrating the Olympic games, with good music and inspiring montages, that conclude with “Go World.” But I don’t want to say “Go World.” I want to say “Go ‘Merica! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” Sometimes, when there’s no America to cheer for, I choose the most cooperative nation on America’s foreign policy radar and pull for the Ally. That’s what I found myself doing in the Great Britain vs. Pakistan Field Hockey match. Although field hockey looks like the dumbest sport on earth, this was an opportunity to take out my frustration of the sinister motives of the Pakistani ISI. No rooting before reform!

This is nationalism at its best.