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The Olympics are now in town; athletes, their team supports, coaches, families and fans from all over the world are in Vancouver to have the time of their lives. The 2010 games have been positioned by our government officials as a tremendous opportunity to showcase Canada and capitalize on future business opportunities. We are told this is an investment in the future, it will guarantee long term economic prosperity, which in turn funds our common needs such as the health system, social programs and education, Kumbaya! I have been racking my brain on how a social activist can actually enjoy the games and have some equality in their conscience.

So I ask the question; is it not in our economic best interest to cheer on mens hockey teams from outside the country. Looking back at the USA Hockey team dramatic gold medal win at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid New York. The ‘Miracle on Ice’ seemed to be a seminal moment for US winter sport. Lake Placid now has a special place in the hearts and minds of 200 million Americans (plus or minus 198 million). The legacy of the triumphant underdog eventually winning the gold medal over the favoured and evil Soviets gets continually recreated in books, sports documentaries, television show references and feature films. Its enough to shed a tear in your eye and find a way to charge money for it. Lets assume that all had never happened and that the Americans finished 4th, would Lake Placid as a destination be in relative obscurity and carry the scarlet letter? Would it still be a high end resort town where people can bask in the past glory days. Would Mike Eruzione even have a wikipedia page?

In contrast, lets look at the 1998 games in Nagano Japan. This was the first Olympics where NHL athletes could compete for Olympic glory, Canada had gold in its eyes. The tragedy of Team Canada not winning a medal at the Nagano Olympics caused many to self-reflect, were we not the dominant Hockey nation that we had navel gazed ourselves into? What happened to our identity, many people felt we lost our place in the world. Well its better now, we have blackberries and google street view. Do you know any Canadian that travels to Nagano purely for Olympic memories? Nagano has a painful and depressing place in the Canadian psyche and its really no fault of the Japanese. The Tourism department in Nagano likely forced the person who was to market to the Canadian traveller into early retirement.

So for example if USA or Russia who are massive economic powerhouses were to win the Hockey gold medal, can we presume that will mean an economic windfall for Canada. Imagine all the blockbuster movies that would promote Vancouver as a place of glory. We would have people wanting to come to Vancouver to see the where the magic happened for themselves. Stories would be passed down for generations. They would say to their children “Son your Grandfather won a gold medal in Vancouver, they partied so hard they passed out on Kits beach, what a beautiful place!” Hollywood movies and politicians could refer to their country’s win in the rabid hockey nation of Canada as a David vs Goliath tale; Vancouver could now be an international metaphor! The Canadian and Provincial Tourism boards would be licking their chops in getting these people to come back and recreate memories, its like shooting fish in a barrel (except sockeye, we don’t have any).

So really this is all about the money, we’ve got big bills to pay and how much is our pride worth to us anyways? One thing is for certain we’ve spent quite of money on pride to get to this point, we gotta get our money back. Aunt Hilda needs a knee replacement, her surgery is scheduled for year 2032. Thus, it may actually be patriotic to root for other countries, so at whatever Olympic event you go to, it may be best show up in your Red and White and cheer for the team with the biggest wallets. Who says social activists can’t have fun at the Olympics, Go Canada Go?

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