Olympics 2024

One of the great things about the Olympics is that it is the greatest three ring circus ever made and the not so  great thing about the Olympics is that a three ring circus can be wearing on the soul.   The CBC went overboard with their coverage offering 22 hours each day on the main network, an unprecedented podcast offering, plus an alliance with two sports networks.   The following are a few impressions to help me remember.

I started following the Olympics in 1960 at age 12.  At that time news clips were flown to North America from Rome and we could read details in our newspaper the next day.  Things have changed since then and not all necessarily good.   

 This year my first awareness before the official opening was a report that the Canadian women's soccer staff spied on the opposition team from New Zealand, not something for Canadians to be proud of.  For awhile us Canadians rallied behind the women realizing the drone decision was above their awareness of the players.  They were handed a very stiff penalty that required them to win all their remaining group games without a tie.  They won some tense games, and did qualify for the knockout phase where they lost.

The Opening Ceremony was unique and reflected French culture.  Boat rides on the Seine.  Lady Gaga in singing in French with lots of other entertainment along the riverbank.  French historical characters were displayed.   Women leaders were hi-lighted with statues to help balance the preponderance of male statues.  Hot air balloon was the location for the Olympic flame.  Celine Dion with a well known vocal concern sang an Edith Piaf classic "Hymne a l'amour" with rain coming down on her and a pianist from the Eiffel Tower that also provided a light show.

The Olympics at one time was for amateurs only that might make it seem more pure, but in effect it was-gentleman's club.  Those who had the money and social backing got to compete.  Jim Thorpe, an   amateurs lost his medals after previous payments uncovered.  Nowadays hypocrisy has been set aside and replaced by professionals that are more entertaining.

Olympic status has increased popularity, but to me increases the circus aspect. .Admittedly  I enjoy some of the additions such as synchronized diving.  Judgement to me make some events more of an artistic endeavor.  it must be aggravating to have rehearsed thousands of  times and be judged by a second or so on stage

Men's basketball was my main interest.  The Canadian team did good for awhile.   Their first game was  against.Greece with Giannis Antetokounmpo (he will be referred to in future blog) provided a tough opposition.   They didn't get far but were competitive.  I was very pleased with local hero Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Canadian men lost fo France with Victor Wembayama .

Women's basketball, was another disappointment.  Made it to the the knockout round before exiting.  Another major disappointment was the exclusion of Caitlin Clark who has made women's basketball exciting to watch.  An upcoming visitor watched the women;s semi final.   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/06/my-60-year-love-affair-with-basketball.html 

It was upsetting to see that sports betting was among the adverstiers.  To me excessive gamblsing is -a disease.  Like other pleasures a little bit may be fun, but dangerous when it becomes habitual.  

The French crowd support does play a role which was very noticeable in the team sports.

Another almost mandatory focus was on Simone Biles.  She is likable as well as a joy to watch.  This was the first time I saw her fall which reminded she is mortal.

Water Polo was something I paid little attention until my daughter became captain of champion high school team.  There is skill and strategy involved with a lot going on below the water.  c

Wrestling was an event once considered for discarding.   I grew up frowning on televised wrestling, but got a different perspective when I attended the University of Guelph where they had a champion wrestling team including one top wrestler who lived on the same residence floor.  Wrestling is a foundaton of the original Olympics.

The French organizing committee made an effort for greater gender equity. The events were split evenly between male and female.

Climate change  was another theme.   Paris was conscious of the Seine being polluted and made efforts to clean up.

For the third summer Olympics,  a refugee team exemplifies the international peace theme    This time they won their first medal, a bronze in women's boxing.

Andre De Gras had at first a bad Olympics.  He failed to qualify for the finals in either the 100 or 200 meter run.  In fact none of the relay team members made the finals, but they had practiced together and won the gold medal illustrating that team work does make a difference. All relays are fun to watch.  Botswana won silver in 4 x 400 men's men;s relay.

Break dancing was a big surprise.  A Canadian won a gold and was mind numbing impressive.

Tahiti provided  an exotic setting several time zones away from Paris. Surfing is fun to watch, but not too much was shown in my tv. coverage.

The Closing Ceremonies were not as interesting as the opening, but the Los Angeles delegates provided something different, especially Tom Cruise who performed a stunt that saw him fall from a high spot, pick up the Olympic flag and supposedly transport it to L.A.  Some American entertainers, some ceremony. filled out the evening.  One new feature was to present the medals for the women's marathon.  .

France showed off its tourism attractions.  Earlier I had read they are one of the best organized tourist destinies.    http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/02/overbooked-and-thoughts-on-tourism.html

Each Olympics tries to set itself as unique.  Some sports will be dropped while others will be added.  I understand break dancing will be dropped and I suspect baseball will be added.  My son plays on the New Zealand dodge ball team.  At an international tournament my wife and I talked to an American enthusiast who thought dodge ball had a lot to offer, but didn't need the Olympics to validate itself,  just a joy to play.  Check it out as it is also a joy to watch.   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/09/dodge-ball.html

Other viewers would have emphasized different points as there was so much to check out.  The Olympics are still for me the most exciting event of the year and I am looking forward to the  Paralympics, Winter Olympics and the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

The Power of Regret

 The title seems counter intuitive. We are taught to forget about our past failures and move forward.  Daniel Pink did not let me down as he takes a closer look and tells us how to use our regrets to further our life.  This is a deep book that cannot be read without a lot of personal reflection.  As its subtitle claims you will understand "How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward."

Pink starts with a story about how a famous song got started.  If you know Edith Piaf, you probably have heard "Non, Je ne regrette rien."  The author contends despite the memorable song she had lots of regrets.  She would not otherwise be considered human as she dealt with several relationship breakups, poor health and addiction problems.

 We all do have regrets, but they contain many differences that can help us understand better.  The author is able to suggest different strategies to deal with regrets and even suggests how you can turn the concept to your benefit.  There are many scientific studies and anecdotes to illustrate different perspectives that guide one to cope with feelings of regret.

At one point he identifies four types:  Foundation, Boldness, Moral and Connectivity.  

Foundation refers to the concept of regretting you didn't better prepare for the future, in fact were focused on enjoying life as it happened.  A favorite quote from Bobby Knight "The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win."  Winning or getting the most out of life requires a conscious effort.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/05/a-big-disappointment-with-one-of-my.html

Boldness refers to not taking a risk.  Asking someone you wish to know better out.   Or going into business.  You regret the missed opportunity.  Jeff Bezos had a high paying job, but felt the future would be tied to the inter-net and he could make a lot of money selling books on the inter-net.  He quit his job and invested all he could into this new venture that became Amazon.  How he reasoned was to project himself to the age 80 and realized he would regret not taking this risk and at the same time would not regret if his risk failed.  In other words like many regrets it focuses on what was not tried rather than actions that failed.

Moral refers to violations of right behavior.  You felt coerced into something that you at the time and certainly later on knew was wrong.  It could be not speaking up against abusive behavior.  It could be joining in on some form of abuse.  Morality does mean different things to different people and Pink draws upon Jonathan Haidt speaks of a moral foundation that we all have that for many include issues others might not think of that way.  One example might be respect for parents.  Pink comments that Haidt affected his thinking and he also did mine.    http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/02/the-righteous-mind.html

Connectivity to the breaking of relationships.  Childhood friends who drift away or an event causes a disruption of a friendship or estrangement within a family.  Pink uses an example of a woman who drifted away from one of her closest friends and then regretted and feared the break.  At different parts of the book he refers to the relationship while in the writing process.  At the end they both are grateful for a reconciliation while the author admits it may not always work out. 

A Chinese proverb says "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.  The second best time is right now."  Accept you can't change the past, but can do better for the future.  

Often you are harder on yourself than you would be with a friend or even a stranger.  One strategy is self compassion.  Ask yourself if a stranger came to you with the same predicament would you be kind?  Do you feel your regret is unique? or do you feel others share it?   Is your regret an unpleasant moment or does it define your life?  Aligned with this strategy talk of yourself in the third person--doing away with "I" may help distance yourself.

An interesting application was used by staff at Duke University who wanted to increase a response to a survey.  They offered a draw for a gift certificate and split the survey recipients into two groups.  In one group they were told everyone was entered into the draw.  The second group were told that if they hadn't returned the survey they would not be eligible for the prize.  Not surprisingly the second group returned a higher rate of the surveys.  In the second group apparently individuals wanted to avoid missing the prize and this phenomena was labeled "loss aversion."  In other words they anticipated a regret not winning the draw, but losing eligibility.  Some of this thinking was part of the Covid 19 vaccination strategy as some were concerned that if they weren't tested or vaccinated they would regret passing on the virus.

A movie seen many years ago struck me as a courageous way of dealing with regret. In "bachna ae haseeno" (2008) A young man  played by Ranbir Kapoor, about to embark on a new love looked back at some romantic relationships and felt very guilty for how he treated the women.  As it turned out he ended up visiting India, Switzerland, Italy and Australia in an effort to apologize.  The women had all moved on with their lives and in some cases he managed to make their lives smoother.  It had a happy ending, partly because he overcame his regrets and of course the script called for it. 

We all have regrets and as the author guides us we can turn many of them to benefits.  Read the book; this blog is only a sketchy introduction to something that could change your life.

I would like to close with two quotes and a website.

James Baldwin's quote is at the beginning:  "Though we would like to live without regrets and sometimes proudly insist that we have none, that is not really possible, if only because we are moral."

The author ends his book and research with:  "After a few years immersed in the science and experience of our most misunderstood emotion, I've discovered about myself what I discovered about others.  Regret makes me human.  Regret makes me better.  Regret gives me hope."

To get a feel for the book check out (and contribute which I did) to his website:  http://www.worldregretsurvey.com/

An earlier blog on Daniel Pink;s "To Sell is Human"  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/06/to-sell-is-human-and-we-all-do-it.html

An earlier  blog on Daniel Pink's   "A Whole New Mind"   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/02/a-whole-new-mind-by-daniel-h-pink.html