Do medals in the olympics make you a proud American???

[a kennedy]

I do find myself rooting for the USA and I wonder if others do too.

[uppityperson]

1. No. And I find NBCs Ameican-centric coverage annoying. I am proud of all the athlete's hard

work to get there.

[WinkyDink]

5. Coverage of international athletics disappeared with the demise of ABC's "Wide World of Sports." NBC

is 100% after the DOLLAR.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Not really....

I kind of gave up on the Olympics many years ago.

[beachbumbob]

3. Our athletes spend countless hours of training and makes me proud

To see so many competing.....been enjoying the olympics since 1960.

[WinkyDink]

4. Yes. And anybody who doesn't like can sue me! :-P Go, Michael!

[LWolf]

6. I don't watch the Olympics.

And I've never been a proud American. An ambivalent American, a disgusted American, a humiliated American...but never proud.

When I was younger I'd watch a bit of the Olympics. Somehow my interest in competitive sports has dwindled to almost nothing over the decades.

[Sherman A1]

9. Agreed

I do like bobsleds and luge from the Winter Games, but beyond that most sports are not very entertaining.

[anamandujano]

23. I'm grateful but not proud.

As far as the Olympics goes, let the best athlete win.

[RKP5637]

28. I've never been an overly proud American, some of what America does is very embarrassing. Certainly

not the worst, but could be far better. And I'm speaking in general, not specifically to the Olympics.

I'm glad the athletes have a chance to compete and their skills are absolutely amazing.

[LWolf]

44. I have no problem

with their competing. It's their thing. It's not mine. I'm fine with people pursuing their passion.

I think I'm not fine with competitions that are about nationalism, rather than for the sake of the athlete or the sport. It's funny; I wouldn't even have thought about it that way if it hadn't been pointed out to me in this thread.

[Throd]

7. Maybe a little bit.

[JesterCS]

8. No

Olympics are a huge waste of resources, and the game is rigged.

[GulfCoast66]

10. Yep

Proud to be an American and of our Olympic athletes.

Also a proud FDR liberal and do not identify with the members of the left that are not proud of our country. NOT criticizing them and totally get where they are coming from. Just do not agree.

All societies have way more to be ashamed of than proud, but I think side to side we do ok.

Plus, all of my political heros were very bullish on America.

[femmocrat]

11. Not exactly, although I do enjoy the flag ceremonies.

I always feel bad for the poor countries who have no chance of winning anything. You know they are trying their hearts out, but don't have the advantages of the wealthier countries.

BTW, NBC'S coverage of gymnastics has been atrocious.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

12. I haven't followed the Olympics very much ever since...

.. the end of the Cold War.

[Glamrock]

13. Fuck yeah man!

[linuxman]

14. I'm a proud American no matter the season.

The Olympics just give me another reason to be.

[Runningdawg]

30. Well said

[Shandris]

15. Athletes who have the wherewithal to have a dedicated, unstoppable dream, a vision, the...

...talent (and much more than talent, the DRIVE) necessary and the mental fortitude to reject nearly everything in modern """society""" despite the nonstop yammering of it no matter where you step?

You bet. There's something fundamentally wrong with you if you don't, probably on the jealousy track.

[DawgHouse]

16. Not at all but I'm sure the athletes are proud.

[Frank Cannon]

17. I will defer to Mr. Bill Hicks on this.

You can be proud of that watercolor painting you worked so hard on, that you finally got to look exactly right after about the 20th time.

You can be proud that your son got a B in Algebra. He got a C- minus last semester, but you and he stayed up late every school night since then working through all the problems to make sure he understood the material. Good job, son. Good job, Dad or Mom.

But to say you're proud to be an American means that you feel accomplished that your parents fucked in the United States.

[TheDonnasRule]

18. Always proud to be an American, and the Olympics just reinforces my pride.

I also like the other storylines from other countries too...especially underdog storylines.

[AngryAmish]

19. I only root for Samoa Joe.

And Jason Dufner.

[kydo]

20. No, but it does mostly make me happy. nt

[LoverOfLiberty]

21. I honestly appreciate all of their efforts

but of course, the coverage you get is of the athletes of the country you live in, so yes, of course.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

22. Not really. But the masses can have their heros if they need them.

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. Unabashedly.

[X_Digger]

25. Meh.

In a vague sort of way, sure.

But you'd have to pay me to watch grown adults put on country-themed costumes and play fight each other.

[gwheezie]

26. I admire the athletes

And can appreciate the effort it takes to get to the games. I was a very low level athlete in my sport until I was 50. There were years when I trained every day but I was not talented enough to think of winning.

[northoftheborder]

27. Yes, I do too, usually,......BUT....

I would like to see some of the competitions which are fun to watch, but not necessarily ones our athletes are leading in....such as men's gymnastics. Watching swimming is really boring, beach volleyball is on way too much time - but apparently those are the ones bringing the most USA medals. I would have liked to have seen ALL of the women's gymnastics the other night, not just the Americans (who are really terrific and the best I've ever seen). Perhaps next week we'll see more diving, men and women's. It's so frustrating to have the TV on so long, such as tonight - men's gymnastics is supposed to be on now, but swimming is going on forever; gymnastics is apparently last after I usually go to bed. I applaud all the winners - whatever their nationality! Years of training and sacrifice go into those medals.

[mythology]

29. I'm conflicted about it

On one hand, the desire to win medals has helped propel women in sports in this country (China as well apparently as they have won half of the women's weight lifting medals) which is a good thing, even if not done for strictly pure motives.

But on the other hand, we spend all this money so we can beat Estonia. It seems unsporting to have some countries spend so much more than others.

Also it doesn't really make me proud to be an American, but more as a human to see what people can do physically. To me it should be less about what country, and more about the potential of humanity to stretch our own perceived boundaries. So for me, seeing the Egyptian women's beach volleyball team is something to be proud of because it's a country not known for treating women well, but they have changed enough that women from that country can compete.

I do with the NBC coverage wasn't so American-centric as there are so many interesting stories at the Olympics that I think it does a disservice to not bring those out more.

I also have general problems with the Olympics and how expensive they have gotten. It should be able to be done much cheaper and not leave host cities with such useless infrastructure.

[tblue37]

33. Also corrupt at the highest official levels. Like FIFA. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

31. Not particularly

but I do enjoy watching the young people from all countries finally getting to compete in what they have been training for years to achieve.

[tblue37]

32. Nah. The athletes did it. The US didn't. nt

[PersonNumber503602]

47. That's pretty much how I feel.

I find it difficult to be proud of something I didn't have any impact on. Had I helped train an olympian, was an olympian, or played some sort of supportive role in the process, then I could see how being proud would make sense.

[redstateblues]

34. USA USA USA. Very proud here

[a kennedy]

35. USA WOMEN JUST WON GOLD......

in the 4 X 200 freestyle.... A W E S O M E

[DonCoquixote]

36. I used to

but a lot of news coverage has shown that these kids are basically the equivalent to circus animals that are exploited than disposed of. I remember how the whole Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan mess happened, well, the girl (and she was a young girl at the time) that beat them, Oksana Baiul, turned out to be exploited to the point where she started drinking, and wound up moving to Tampa to live a quiet life.

The idea behind the Olympics is lovely, but the people running it are some of the worst exploiters of human misery since the Roman Empire.

[SusanCalvin]

54. Bingo. nt

[cali]

37. Only if the medal winner is a Vermonter- and there's like zero chance of that in the summer

I'm unabashedly partisan when it comes to my state.

[Warren DeMontague]

38. honestly, I've hated the Olympics with a white-hot passion ever since I was a kid.

It goes back to the days when there were only 3 channels and it took over all the programming.

[ileus]

39. No I'm already a proud American, the medals are just icing on the cake.

[leftynyc]

40. Yes - I am proud

of these athletes who have worked, since they were children, for the chance to win a gold medal at the Olympics. I've been enjoying these games very much.

[dembotoz]

41. been in a setting where the olympics have been on the big tvs call the damn time

yes from time to time i get sucked in and yes we are doing very well and yes i am proud.

but i am a homer in that i cheer for the home time. so i cheer for our time.
in the same way i am a big packer and brewer fan.....

i love them and read all the news but am i proud of them and what proud of something implies.....
hmmmmmm something to ponder while i am stuck in the booth again

[whatthehey]

42. Some strange wording is typical in these situations

Not just here BTW.

I'm perfectly content to be American. I'm glad it's neither a lawless shithole like Somalia nor a theocratic shithole like Saudi Arabia. It's comforting to be in a place that is, for most of its citizens at any rate, a place of comfortable and open self-determination. It could improve in many ways from welfare spending and its inverse military spending to healthcare to puritanism, but that doesn't move the place even close to shithole territory. With a few different quibbles I however would be an equally content Dane or Spaniard or Kiwi.

Proud though? Of what? Genetic accident of birthplace? That I didn't decide to go through all the hoops to leave permanently? That I have the same cultural trappings as most of the people I come across? What's to be proud of in being shaped by huge societal processes? Pride is for achievement and success, not circumstance. Sports teams? Not really an issue for me. I'm like a lot of people in rooting casually for underdogs and unusual participants. I'd get more positive about a US win in, say, biathlon than in basketball, where it's simply a case of going through the motions. But even then it's "Oh cool, a Khazakstani gold in swimming." I'm not going to remember his name tomorrow. Certainly more or less expected US wins engender no satisfaction. My only response to yet another Phelps gold is to ruminate on his longevity, dominance and the good fortune of swimmers in having so many similar events. I'd think exactly the same about a dominant Russian gymnast, the nationality doesn't matter.

I do confess a hypocritical albeit very minor interest in appreciating the wins of a former local MLB team, but since they are perennial cellar dwellers that may just be the underdog thing.

[bigwillq]

43. I love the Olympics.

Of course I root for Team USA, but I also like to see the other teams do well too. I like the stories, no matter where an athlete is from.

[WillowTree]

45. I feel proud for the people who worked so hard to be able to win them. Does that count?

[dbackjon]

46. Hell yes!!

[a kennedy]

48. USA USA USA

[a kennedy]

49. Ok,ok,ok,.......country vs country......

and it's a D R A W Lot of pride. And that means more then ANYTHING.

[Liberal_in_LA]

50. yeah, but have to remind one self that big countries win lots of medals.

[derby378]

51. NBC often pisses me off, but our Olympic athletes do not

Madison Kocian, a fellow Dallas resident, just earned a silver on the uneven bars. That's freakin' wonderful. I love it when our athletes take home medals of any color.

But yeah, NBC has this nasty tendency to screw up Olympic coverage. But we'd better get used to it, because I think they have exclusive rights in America for the next 15-20 years. I do miss the ABC years, though.

[6chars]

52. it proves the superiority of our way of life, so yah!

[SusanCalvin]

53. I am happy for the hardworking people.

Do I have anything to do with their success? Of course not.

Am I a tad illogically proud? Yeah. Human nature, I guess... ;->

[nadine_mn]

55. Not so much proud of being an American, but proud of those who represent us

Simone Biles, Simone Manuel, Katie Ledecky etc - I am proud of them - despite of the barriers due to race and gender, they have succeeded.

They are what makes America great - seeing the diverse faces of the women's gymnastics team is a reminder of what is good about America - diversity and opportunity.

I am happy for them.

I am not proud of America today - I am proud of the "idea" of America - the dream of equality across all genders/religions/race/economic class etc. Right now, there is just too much ugliness to say I am proud to be American.

[roody]

56. No

[gopiscrap]

57. No I root for the smaller and less afluent nation

[GaYellowDawg]

58. Absolutely, yes!!

I'm proud of all of our Olympians, whether they're medalists or not! But I love seeing our athletes win, especially when it's an upset. The way they devote their lives to their sport and how they represent us should be enough to make any American proud!

[ronnie624]

59. I don't feel "proud" of someone else's accomplishments.

I think that's odd.

People are funny.

[AgadorSparticus]

60. I really enjoy the Olympics. Not because of the nationalism, but b/c of the hard work and skill

That goes into getting to that level of competition. It is inspirational to see the dedication, discipline, work ethics, and drive for success. It inspires me to get my ass to the gym, if not anything else.

What I really hate about NBC's coverage is the hangup with the # of medals and how many the U.S. has compared to everyone else. I really don't care. And I really hate how NBC barely shows any other countries. NBC is doing a terrible job this year on their Olympic coverage.