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The US Flag at the Olympics
- Thread starter Dude
- Start date
flag waver
this aussie voted 'yes' to being a republic basically on the basis of national pride and adored the way canadians love being canadian and their preparedness to wear their flag with prideafter all, you guys were smart enough to ditch the union jack....a feat we are yet to accomplish!.
i have certainly never seen the canadians as arrogant(thanx SC!) somehow your national pride is different to the yanks'.......maybe you have less of the belief that the whole world needs to be like you and merely a pride of who you are.
after experiencing our olympics the level of national pride is huge and comes naturally without this "so there" or "up yours" attitude that a lot of the world WILL associate with this flag.
national pride can be tricky.
this aussie voted 'yes' to being a republic basically on the basis of national pride and adored the way canadians love being canadian and their preparedness to wear their flag with prideafter all, you guys were smart enough to ditch the union jack....a feat we are yet to accomplish!.
i have certainly never seen the canadians as arrogant(thanx SC!) somehow your national pride is different to the yanks'.......maybe you have less of the belief that the whole world needs to be like you and merely a pride of who you are.
after experiencing our olympics the level of national pride is huge and comes naturally without this "so there" or "up yours" attitude that a lot of the world WILL associate with this flag.
national pride can be tricky.
trece verde
Well-Known Member
bah humbug!
Methinks that if the representatives of the Excited States really want to make an inclusive and tasteful statement, they should have done what the "Unified" (former Soviet Union) team did previously: carry and march behind the Olympic flag. All this "Pro Patria" bullshite is what gets us into this kind of trouble in the first place.
Personally, I don't feel that there's anything wrong with waving your own flag; it's a symbolic gesture that presents your identity to the rest of us, and people deserve to be able to flout their own nationalism. However, there's a line that one can cross between identifying yourself and obnoxious self-aggrandisement; unfortunately, a lot of Americans cross it on a too-regular basis. I think that this is the part of the deal that most of us could do without.
I know that I will be skipping the host-country broadcast segments; even if they are presenting stuff that I won't be able to catch at another time on the Mother Corp or any other Canuck outlets, or even the Spanish language sources that I frequently haunt. My reasoning for this is that too many bad experiences with biased coverage and blatant Tom Larscheid-style homerism have turned me off. Despite the possibility that hoisting the WTC flag may be an honestly heartfelt expression of sympathy for those caught in tragedy, the way that subsequent events have presented themselves reminds me a bit too much of previous tubthumping.
Folks, we're really sorry that this happened on your home turf. It doesn't or shouldn't diminish the extent of the tragedy, but you're not the first country to suffer this scale of horror. Other parts of the world have been having to deal with it on a daily basis for years. The big difference is that they haven't had the media machine to push it into the rest of the world's faces in the same way.
I would like to hope that the Olympics would be able to allow us to take a step back and realize that we all should be a bit less polarized and xenophobic, and that there is a higher purpose in the pursuit of excellence for just the sake of sport itself, but I'd be lying to myself. I can only wish that we celebrate the winners and cheer on the also-rans equally; they all tried, dammit. Unfortunately, it just ain't so.
Have a good Olympics, everybody. The best case scenario would be that while watching, we all manage to forget about politics for at least 5 minutes.
Stew
Methinks that if the representatives of the Excited States really want to make an inclusive and tasteful statement, they should have done what the "Unified" (former Soviet Union) team did previously: carry and march behind the Olympic flag. All this "Pro Patria" bullshite is what gets us into this kind of trouble in the first place.
Personally, I don't feel that there's anything wrong with waving your own flag; it's a symbolic gesture that presents your identity to the rest of us, and people deserve to be able to flout their own nationalism. However, there's a line that one can cross between identifying yourself and obnoxious self-aggrandisement; unfortunately, a lot of Americans cross it on a too-regular basis. I think that this is the part of the deal that most of us could do without.
I know that I will be skipping the host-country broadcast segments; even if they are presenting stuff that I won't be able to catch at another time on the Mother Corp or any other Canuck outlets, or even the Spanish language sources that I frequently haunt. My reasoning for this is that too many bad experiences with biased coverage and blatant Tom Larscheid-style homerism have turned me off. Despite the possibility that hoisting the WTC flag may be an honestly heartfelt expression of sympathy for those caught in tragedy, the way that subsequent events have presented themselves reminds me a bit too much of previous tubthumping.
Folks, we're really sorry that this happened on your home turf. It doesn't or shouldn't diminish the extent of the tragedy, but you're not the first country to suffer this scale of horror. Other parts of the world have been having to deal with it on a daily basis for years. The big difference is that they haven't had the media machine to push it into the rest of the world's faces in the same way.
I would like to hope that the Olympics would be able to allow us to take a step back and realize that we all should be a bit less polarized and xenophobic, and that there is a higher purpose in the pursuit of excellence for just the sake of sport itself, but I'd be lying to myself. I can only wish that we celebrate the winners and cheer on the also-rans equally; they all tried, dammit. Unfortunately, it just ain't so.
Have a good Olympics, everybody. The best case scenario would be that while watching, we all manage to forget about politics for at least 5 minutes.
Stew
- Thread starter
- #27
Well said Stew
That was a great post; I don’t disagree with any of it.
I watched the opening ceremonies yesterday; they did carry in the flag (I think eight former Olympians holding one corner or side) prior to the National Anthem. They did not hoist it, as I originally thought, and it was seemingly put away after the Anthem. Although I still don’t think it was an appropriate venue or time to display it, they kept it tasteful and short.
On to more important matters: Canada’s uniforms! One word: awesome! Our team was- bar none- the best dressed team there. Yeah, the hats were a bit goofy, but they distinguished our team. I’m going to get myself one of those scarves!
That was a great post; I don’t disagree with any of it.
I watched the opening ceremonies yesterday; they did carry in the flag (I think eight former Olympians holding one corner or side) prior to the National Anthem. They did not hoist it, as I originally thought, and it was seemingly put away after the Anthem. Although I still don’t think it was an appropriate venue or time to display it, they kept it tasteful and short.
On to more important matters: Canada’s uniforms! One word: awesome! Our team was- bar none- the best dressed team there. Yeah, the hats were a bit goofy, but they distinguished our team. I’m going to get myself one of those scarves!
"WORD" homey
It's all about the style isn't it? I'd rather warm up for my events in sport kit, other than traditional 'dance' kit like SOME countries that pulled it out.
Did anyone else see the Trinidadian Flag rising high? Funny thing, at least two of them are Canadians (cousin and step cousin)
Oh yeah, back to topic - why aren't they showing OTHER country's troops viewing the Olympics overseas mmmmm
It's all about the style isn't it? I'd rather warm up for my events in sport kit, other than traditional 'dance' kit like SOME countries that pulled it out.
Did anyone else see the Trinidadian Flag rising high? Funny thing, at least two of them are Canadians (cousin and step cousin)
Oh yeah, back to topic - why aren't they showing OTHER country's troops viewing the Olympics overseas
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