The right to bear flags (or flag bears?)

Don Cherry is in trouble again, this time for being too patriotic. No, it’s not last-minute electioneering. Grapes reacted to certain Canadian winter Olympians asking to have their names taken from the list of potential flag bearers so they could focus on their events and avoid distraction. In his typical loud-mouthed fashion, he claimed those athletes don’t care about Canada, and pointed out that “in the U.S. they don’t have that problem.”

Speed skater Catorina Le May Doan expressed her disdain for Cherry, saying he doesn’t understand what it takes to be an Olympic athlete. Nancy Greene, a former Olympic skier, also chimed in, saying it is harder to win an Olympic gold medal than it is to be the NHL scoring leader.

While I appreciate the athlete’s need for focus, I think it is a bit harsh of everyone to attack Don Cherry’s enthusiastic patriotism. He means well, I think.

Amateur athletes often feel neglected because we are under-funded. I paid my way to New Zealand to represent Canada. I got $100 from my MNA, but that’s it in terms of the “public” support that we are supposed to be so thankful for. To be fair, I am far from being an Olympian, and I would gladly pay my own way again. I appreciate public support for elite amateur sport, I think it has a positive effect on the health of the nation, but I don’t feel entitled to it.

The support-related adversity we face is in some respects a motivating factor, but really, it comes down to being willing to sacrifice your life for the sport. That sacrifice is what separates the winners from the losers, not money. Money provides opportunity, but the best athletes will seize whatever opportunity they have and make the most of it.

In terms of an Olympic gold medal being harder than winning an NHL scoring title, as much as I respect the efforts of all the amateur athletes out there, I believe being the best professional hockey player in the world is just as tough being the best luge slider—maybe harder, but it is tough to judge. There is one scoring leader a year in the NHL, four each Olympiad. There are many more gold medals than that to win. Just because the NHLers are professionals doesn’t mean that they have an easier ride than under-funded amateurs. As AC/DC like to say: “It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.”

Millions of Canadians (never mind Americans and Europeans) dream of making it to the NHL (never mind winning the scoring race). Not too many dream of bobsled gold. Heather Moyse, the new brake-woman on Canada’s World Cup-winning team, has not worked all her life for this chance to win Olympic gold. She was recruited last summer at a retirement party for her university track coach. I was there. Before that she had never done bobsled. She has played soccer and rugby and run track. She is an immensely talented natural athlete, and a wonderful person. I hope she wins.

—as an aside, it is very interesting to read the comments of Canada’s driver, Helen Upperton, regarding the team’s recent success:

“I got to the bottom after the first run and I was actually kind of frustrated,” she said. “I’d had a couple of little hits on the way down and skidded a bit out of the first corner.

“Then I looked up at the clock and I was amazed. It was a new situation for me and I was so nervous going into that second run. The one thing that’s good is I know I can always count on a rocket-fast start.”

Yeah, because Heather is pushing. Does it say something about the sport that someone so inexperienced can have such an impact as to make her driver one of the best in the world?

Anyway, I hope they win. I think they will. Just sayin’, that’s all—

There is no doubt, though, that Ilya Kovalchuk (or Simon Gagné or whoever) will have put in just as much, likely much more work over their lives than Heather has to win her potential gold medal. It is hard to compare across sports, and probably it is best to say that all are equally tough, but to imply that professionals don’t work as hard as amateurs is just plain wrong.

In terms of carrying the flag, I guess Charmaine Crooks is right: every athlete is different. Don Cherry would jump at the chance. Becky Scott would not. I know that if I were competing in the Olympic Marathon (big if!), and it were the day after the opening ceremonies, I would have a tough decision to make. That said, Cherry made the very good point that Alex Bauman carried the flag in 1984 and won gold the next day. In 1988 Carolyn Waldo also won gold. In 2000 Carolyn Brunet won silver. At the winter Olympics, since 1984, Gaetan Boucher, Brian Orser, Sylvie Daigle, and Catorina Le May Doan (!) have all won medals after carrying the flag for Canada.

I think, ironically, some of those athletes who have asked to have their names removed are just looking for publicity. Either that, or they aren’t too confident in their abilities. I think the opening ceremonies are likely the most exciting part of the Games for many athletes. Olympians I have known have all said that those opening ceremonies are the best part of the whole experience. It is really all about the experience. There will always be some regret (world records and gold medals are rare, and even then, knowing elite athletes, there would still be a bit of “woulda coulda shoulda”), and I would rather regret .1 seconds than regret the cultural experience. World records can be broken, gold medal titles change hands, but the experience can never be taken away.

My pick for flag bearer would be Lascelles Brown, the newest Canadian citizen on the team. Or Heather Moyse because after less than a year in the sport she is going to single-handedly (or two-leggedly) bring Canada a gold medal in the women’s bobsled. Either way, I can’t wait to waste a lot of February mornings watching the Olympics on tv. Woohoo! ‘Lympics! 'Lympics!