Own the Podium...?

You're probably thinking, given my cynical history, that I'm about to go off on the amount of money we've spent on amateur sports since 2004 - especially when the results of our Olympics fail to show any significant results thus far.

You'd be wrong.

While I think the slogan "Own the Podium" is perhaps a touch arrogant, and possibly puts forth the wrong impression of both our athletes and our country - I am worried that the lack of medals will result in the cutback of this funding... which would be a significant mistake on our part.

Sports may actually be the "grassroots", or "foundational" solution that we're looking for in regards to many of the problems that have befallen our society. And while I know that there are a lot of people out there who would say that "we should be using the money for the homeless/healthcare/education/(insert cause here)" - to those people I say "try to see a bigger picture".

Consider the following statistics in relation to girls participating in sports (according to the Women's Sports Foundation):
Female high school athletes are 92% less likely to get involved with drugs.
Female high school athletes are 80% less likely to get pregnant.
Female high school athletes are 3 times more likely to graduate than non-athletes.

This is just a small example of the benefits of sports and doesn't even begin to go into how sports teaches children the about right way to win and to lose, about fair play, about teamwork, about focus, about commitment, about integrity...

All things that are essential requirements if we want to see some of our other, larger societal issues begin to resolve themselves.

So let's stop quibbling over how many medals we've won - and instead, consider the passion that these Olympics have inspired in the children of the country. I'd hate to see us lose this momentum and take away their opportunity to grow and develop in a healthy and beneficial way because we've decided that our lack of medals means that sports have somehow failed us...

Seriously, let's think long term, people.

~Guy