My Big Comfy Chair
I don’t always have the best takes on things like sports, but I thought I was being perfectly genuine and morally forthright yesterday when I posted over on threads a comment about my take on the spying scandal by the women’s soccer team.
As I read in reporting, a few of the coaching staff were caught flying a spy drone over the stadium in Paris while the rival NZ team were in practice. What you would gain from this, I don’t know. I don’t know how much strategic advantage you would get from watching drills or whatever. That’s not the point. The point is, that it’s kinda cheating.
The committee sent a few of the people involved home. Good.
But my point was simply that since a trusted part of the team (sure, not a player but a member of the team) cheated, it would forever cast doubt on the legitimacy of the fair play aspect of any win. In other words, if they win gold there is always—always—gonna be an asterisk beside that. They got gold, but—you know?
My other point was that the whole point of not just the olympics but sports is to compete fair. If you cheat to win, this medal or symbol of the win that you take home is tainted, false, and it doesn’t really have any value as an object if you had to cheat to get it, nor should it. So, I dared to suggest that instead of tainting the whole team with this forever, tainting the whole contingent by association, and kinda bleeding into the integrity of the whole of Canadian sporting, they should do the right thing: bow out, or at the very least complete competition but remove themselves from medal contention. We’ll play, but not to win, y’know. Sportsmanship.
This wasn’t about women’s sports. This wasn’t about what other countries do. This wasn’t about being a “left wing rando.” It’s about upholding a moral value and doing the right thing.
I posted this thing, and yeah, I got about 60 likes (as I write this) but I also got about 30 comments calling me rude names and trying to justify it from here to the moon.
No compelling arguments, of course, and I don’t say that as a dismissive way. Just simply, nothing compelling. Stuff like. “Uh, no.” or “What about the Netherlands.” or “Support the team no matter what.” kinda stuff.
It was boggling. It was sad. It was sheep-like.
You don’t support the team at all costs or get a pass on this. I want to support the team, but I want it to be a healthy team that wins for the right reasons, not at all costs.
It sucks for those that didn’t cheat, but all—they’re on a team. All for one, kinda thing. Sink or swim together.
Disappointed by those actions. Disappointed by the enablers. Disappointed by the bots and boomers who chose to yell at me for trying to suggest a moral path to heal our reputation.