Thursday 2 August 2012

Who is the biggest sports fan?

This is the second time in a row we've been overseas during the summer Olympics. In 2008 we were in London (bad timing huh?) and got to experience first hand the England vs Australia rivalry. This was also the first time GB competed as one "country" (still sceptical) and the first time they beat us in the medal count in who knows how long.

Needless to say it was painful.

The thing I could appreciate though, was fire that goes down between the two countries and their fans. It's brilliant.

Now, I am overly competitive and look for a competition in nearly everything. To a point where I feel it's one of my bad traits, but I've yet to find that same fire in Canada. It's making me sad. I have two friends from Canada who've made the trip to London and are at a few events, they are my heroes. The most I've got from anyone else was "I just hate the f*#$ing Yanks".

On the other hand my boss and myself have been hunched, screaming over my phone screen at work and crying a little every time we got silver. So that's been fun!

My life during the 2012 Olympics
Canadians are super sports fans don't get me wrong. Hockey fans are almost manic and I've heard the winter Olympics are wild. But they don't seem to have the same "if it's a good game/race it's good viewing" attitude that Australia does so well.

I have a theory that Canadians have a deep hatred of losing to America and therefore the Olympics are a brutal display for them.

Maybe it's that they don't get how the Olympics works CTV Overall Medals (they think they're coming 11th -but this works in Australia's favour so shouldn't complain).

It's pretty hard to see, but the total medals are tallied rather than gold being worth more...
Or maybe it's just that their love of sports stems from the winter months and spending days stuck in your house. In summer everyone in Canada is too busy camping/boating/at the lake to get into sports. Australia has cricket, therefore sitting inside drinking beer on a 30+ day is acceptable...

If anyone has the secret I'd love to know. Also tips for getting Canadians riled up about the Olympics?? Please! I've only got a week left!

4 comments:

  1. Well I'm Canadian! We love the Olympics and it's pretty much on constantly in our house but we are a rarity. I find everyone here to be very gung-ho about winter olympics.. it is our 'thing' after all. Also the Euro/World soccer cups are always a big deal. Hockey and Soccer. Thats pretty much it hahaha. Go to a hockey game during playoffs and you'll find the electricity.

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  2. YAY to Canadian Olympics fans!!!

    I should have mentioned that we did go to a few WHL games with the local team and they were AH-MAZING! People were a little surprised that we'd gone though, and most assumed that we must be hockey fans from home. Next stop, NHL playoffs!!

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    Replies
    1. Woohoo they are awesome!
      The Canadian shot put competitor is from Kamloops and a few people got excited by that. It was happy times!

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