Cicada done in my usual style.
I’m not a big fan of the Russian government lately nor the Olympics being held in there especially with all of the troubling news coming out of the country. Despite this however, the Olympics cannot be avoided, and I cannot say that I don’t feel a bit of joy for the way Canada’s performed, especially with the two hockey golds and the women’s curling gold by a team from Manitoba. Yay Manitoba! A couple of things however:
After the Canadian women beat the Americans in hockey, #fuckCanada began trending on Twitter. It escalated more when the Canadian men beat the Americans a couple of days later. Really? “Fuck Canada?” “Our bacon is better than yours?” I know a lot of it is done in good humor, but most of the stuff I read is not really witty nor funny. If anything, it just sounds like whining or status fillers by creatively empty people. And really? How can you say, “fuck Canada” when you can’t even place bronze? Maybe you’re better off just saying “fuck hockey.”
Now, I don’t know for sure, but I doubt if the Swedes are going “Fan ta dig, Canada!” after getting silver yesterday.
Speaking of reacting badly to losing. I’m annoyed at the South Korean reaction towards the Kim Yuna loss to the Russians. First off, everyone and their mother is suddenly an expert, an expert in a sport that is notorious for shady, subjective judging. Second, the mob mentality of Korean netizens is ridiculous, even going so far as to mocking the 17 year-old Russian winner. If there were some discrepancies, then attack the institution… attack the way figure skating scores their athletes… don’t attack the athletes who work hard and devote their life to the sport. When Roy Jones Jr. was robbed of Olympic gold in 1988, the venom was not towards his opponent Si Hun Park, but towards the judges and the institution who made it happen. Si Hun Park, for his part, looked rather ashamed of the “victory” and never boxed professionally afterwards.
I’m also annoyed at people justifying their ravenous anger about it with, “I’m Korean!” I know you are. But Kim Yuna is not your daughter, and her triumphs and losses don’t affect you unless you let it (by devoting so much time hating, arguing, searching the internet, posting on forums, photoshopping, and signing petitions). I’m a Canadian, and I don’t take the losses of Canadian athletes personally. And I’m also open to counter arguments since I’m not a professional judge or anything. Heck, I’m open to counter arguments to anything! But personally, I heard “I’m a Korean!” many times not just as a reason for someone being angry due to some perceived athletic injustice, but as a sweeping counter to a reasoned argument. No one spat on a flag nor insulted a nation. It is blind regionalism and thick-headedness.
And really, a million South Koreans signing a petition to investigate the loss? Really? How about those same million being concerned with something worthier like I don’t know… the recent UN report about what’s happening up north?
Now I might be accused of regionalism with the way I started this entry, proclaiming joy over the way Canada performed in the Olympics, but hey, I’m never bitter whenever the Jets or the Bombers play poorly.
The Weekly 