Pan Am Canadian Pride

The Pan Am  games  were to bring traffic congestion and retail sales to Toronto. They were to showcase how great Toronto the good really is for a future bid for the Olympics. They were to bring us great athletes, and we provided great infrastructure to let them compete in. Most Torontonians looked at the games with great blase and headed out of the city to the cottage to get out of the onslaught of tourists. The retailers have been disappointed by the hype which never translated into sales.

However there were the young Pan Am athletes and their families that followed them to their venues and supported them to achieve their goals of athletic excellence.Youth involvement in sport develops a healthy society and reduces future health care costs. Beyond our wildest imaginations  Canadian athletes keep medalling and taking home the hardware. With 54 Golds, 49 Silvers and 41 Bronze Canada stands in second place with 144 medals behind the USA with 165 medals.

I watched our Beach Volleyball team of Schacter and Binstock, try their hearts out to beat Mexico on Saturday. They played with real passion. They had several opportunities to take the match but kept missing the opportunities to convert. They were hurt by the loss but our fans supported them for doing their best. That is the Canadian way.

What impresses me about these games is how Canada has gone from a country that was the international lightweight in sports competition to a world leader. Remember the Crazy Canucks of the 1970's? They were the only Canadian ski team that ever won a gold other than Nancy Green. Then we had Ben Johnson fiasco etc. etc. We have put our minds to sports excellence and have developed the psychological and physical expertise to become world class. We have gone from good to great.

Canada is now the most admired country in the world. Our disversity and love of fair play has developed a social fabric that believes in higher education, free healthcare for all and the pursuit of excellence. For those of us who have lived in Canada your entire lives I think we need to give ourselves a pat on the back for being the social fabric foundation that created this new country. We have grown up together, French and English, Jew and Gentile, Black and White and everything in between and we have shared our values to make this country safe and prosperous to the world's amazement.

For that I am Pan Am proud.


The Adventure Guy