Olympian Feelings

I want to preface this post by saying that I am not wishing for another Cold War. However, what I am saying is that in this time, people became much more interested in the Olympics. For example, the contests between the United States and the Soviet Union were about more than just a game. In a way, it seemed as though in a war that was based on comparison and threats, proving your superiority in something as simple as a hockey game became an issue of national importance. It seems as though today's Olympics, at least in America, do not develop the same amount of patriotism that the Cold War era games did. Why was this? Like I mentioned before, this was a war of comparison and status. The Soviet East was saying that communism was better whereas the Western United States felt that capitalism and democracy were the tickets to happiness and wealth. Therefore, if communism could create better athletes, that would be one more mark in support of their style. These beliefs created a very patriotic following as many people did not want to see their country fall to the enemy in "battle." While I do not, as I mentioned before, want another Cold War, I want to see people get excited about America in the Olympics. We do have a great deal of success in the Olympics as a nation; I hope everyone will tune in to at least one event and watch Americans put their talents on display for the world to see and want to defeat as much as we want to defeat them.