patriotism?

While watching the hockey game two nights ago, I realized how patriotic Canadians were when it came to hockey. Everyone was wearing red jerseys, scarfs, mittens, and stick-on maple leaf tattoos. Although this may not be news to the average hockey fan, the fact that these products have become increasingly popular over the past few months is not surprising. With the coming of the Olympic games in February, industries have decided to 'Canadian-ize' their products. With all of this extra production, it does bring up the point that the Olympics have become less about the actual sport and more about the profit it brings to the countries participating.

Of course, Canada is not the only culprit. I am positive that Beijing and Sydney produced their fair share of Olympic merchandise. In fact, countries around the world are probably creating more tourist buttons and t-shirts than ever before. Prices for hotels are marked up and everything with a maple leaf on it is suddenly considered patriotic. Excel gum has put a maple leaf on every piece - but what is that really doing? Is part of their profit going to support the athletes? Or is it just taking advantage of the Olympics in order to make a little extra cash?

On the other side, it is one of the few times that the country is able to rally together regardless of cultural distinctions or political messes, and be truly Canadian. The Olympics enable us to feel proud of our nation and the competitive nature of our athletes. Wearing a red scarf, for example, makes the average person feel as if they have contributed to the success of their team, and are ultimately supporting and cheering for them.

But how much is to much? Whether this form of patriotism is enough to compete with the overbearing economic productions is a personal opinion. For me, I would like to see just a little less emphasis on twenty dollar "Eh Oh Canada Go" t-shirts and more on the hard working athletes who are hopefully going to put Canada on the map this year.