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COOL RUNNINGS
Posted on Mar. 8th 2010 at 11:44 am EST (198 views, 4 comments)
When my little cousin Matthew was about 8 or 9 years old, he started to take an interest in the "idea" of girls. So he took me on a date. I gave him some money, and he proudly paid for our lunch in the Food Court. I don't remember exactly what that lunch was, but it did involve fries. He was a very pleasant date...funny, smart, and quite adorable. Any girl would have had a good time with him. I certainly was. But at some point I felt the need to tell him that girls might not really like it if he put his feet up on the table or threw french fries over the railing to the lower level of the mall. "Really?", he said, looking down wistfully at all the potential targets he was going to have to miss. I nodded. He shrugged and put his feet back on the floor. The movie we saw was "Cool Runnings", a sweet and heartwarming movie version of the real-life adventures of the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team, who won the hearts of everyone at the1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games, even though they didn't even come close to winning a medal. They knew they couldn't POSSIBLY win a medal! So why did they try? I'll tell you later. 
Jamaican Boblseigh Team / Calgary 1988 In their final run, the Jamaicans were actually looking like they COULD win a medal! It was nuts! The crowd was going crazy cheering! But. Their sled went out of control and tipped, careening wildly down the track. Everyone held their breaths. Silence. And then. Those boys crawled out of their battered bobsled, turned it over, picked it up, and CARRIED it over the finish line, to as much cheering as if they had just won Gold! "Cool Runnings" is really a very touching movie, and I had tears in my eyes at the end. Matthew turned to me and whispered, "Wow, I could almost cry." I said, "I AM crying!" He took his feet off the back of the seat in front of him, and nodding sympathetically, patted me on the shoulder. I know for a fact that 17 years later, Matthew goes on many dates, and has, as he so nicely put it, many "lady friends". And I also know that his feet are planted firmly on the ground. Always. I love that guy! 
Matthew / c.1993 The Jamaican BobsleighTeam went on to race again in 1994 at the Winter Games in Lillehammer. They came in 14th!...not too shabby for your second Olympic try! In fact, they still have a team but have been unable to get enough support to compete. So sadly there will be no "cool runnings" for Jamaica's Bobsleigh Team in Vancouver. There are hundreds of stories like this, but this one actually has a happy ending for Jamaican bobsledder Lascelles Brown. He became a Canadian citizen a couple of years ago and he's the Brakeman for the Canada 1 Bobsleigh Team. And they just won a BRONZE MEDAL in Vancouver! So why DID the Jamaican BobsleighTeam, knowing they couldn't possibly win, work so hard and give up so much, to be in the Olympics? And why are they STILL trying? They do it for their countries. They do it so the next generation might have a chance to follow their dreams. They do it so athletes like Lascelles will be able to fulfill their potential. And they do it for the very same reason every athlete we saw in the past two weeks in Vancouver works so hard and gives up so much. Winning isn't everything. Doing your BEST is everything. Never giving up is everything. All these athletes are very special people. But they are also just like us. We have hopes and dreams too. Showing the world what you've got isn't possible for everyone. But doing our best, even if nobody knows it, is. And that's why the Olympics are so important. For a couple of weeks, we are reminded about excellence, and determination, and pride...and inspired to strive for something better, even in our "ordinary' lives. Anyway, these Vancouver Games have certainly inspired "canadiangirl", as you can plainly see. And I didn't need any help loving being Canadian! I already did! But I guess I'm feeling part of something Canadian that I had forgotten. We are genuinely warm and friendly people! The day before the final Men's Hockey match, I was waiting for a call and didn't check the "caller ID". Yup. Telemarketer. Cindy...somewhere in a cubicle in the good old U.S.A. I don't like being rude to telemarketers. It's not their fault no one wants to talk to them. Maybe they have to eat. So I did what I always do. I said, "I'm sorry...I'm just visiting and nobody's home right now." But I was wearing my Red Mittens and watching the Olympics when she called. So being an excited and very proud Canadian, I couldn't help but ask Cindy if she'd been watching the Vancouver Games. She had. She thought they were fantastic, and that Vancouver was doing a great job! I told her that Vancouver is really far away from Toronto where I live, and yet I feel like I'm actually there! And I did! It's not an easy task to "host the world". But Canada has certainly done their best, and shown the "never-give-up" attitude that Olympians, win or lose, embody. I told you we'd find enough snow! And I think we also found out how united we really are as a country. No matter our political views, or many diverse cultures, we are proud to be CANADIAN! So, I'll say it again. "Vancouver! God bless you!" You've had your moment and it was SPECTACULAR! And in a very Canadian way, you have shared it with MILLIONS of people! Thank you. I also asked Cindy if she was excited about "tomorrow's game" and she seemed a little puzzled. I said, "HOCKEY, Cindy! HOCKEY!" she laughed and said, "Oh yeah, You're CANADIAN!. What else could it be?" So even though this story leads to the Olympic athletes who competed at The Whistler Sliding Centre, I am compelled as a true Canadian to include a different kind of sliding, but sliding nonetheless! 
MEN'S ICE HOCKEY / Canada GOLD! 
WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY / Canada GOLD! 
MEN'S CURLING / Team Canada GOLD! 
WOMEN'S CURLING / Team Canada SILVER! 
MEN'S CURLING / Team Norway SILVER! Best pants! Now here are "The Real Sliders" (that's SOME slide, eh?) 
WOMEN'S BOBSLEIGH Canada 1 Kaillie Humphries, Heather Moyse GOLD! 
WOMEN'S BOBSLEIGH / Canada 2 Shelly-Ann Brown Helen Upperton SILVER! 
MEN'S BOBSLEIGH / Four Man Canada 1 BRONZE! That's Lascelles Brown far right! 
MEN'S SKELETON / Canada Jon Montgomery GOLD! GO! CANADA GO! GO! WORLD GO! DON'T STOP NOW! All of my Olympic Stories are dedicated to Nodar Kumaritashvili and Therese Rochette
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