my "beef" or "what grinds my gears"

So I've been emersed in the Olympic stuff for the last week (naturally...who hasn't been?) and I've come across something that I need to get off my chest. It's something that gets to me every Olympics but I get too wrapped up in watching hockey and half pipe that I forget to express myself once the excitement dies down. This time round, however, I'm pretty deep into this blogging business and therefore have an outlet for which to get my ever important opinion in the open (which, if you know me well, you know I'll find a way to do anyway).

I've always thought that the point of the Olympics was to represent your country. And by your country, I mean, the country you were born in or at least the one in which you were raised from an early age. I personally believe (and have discussed this with others who feel the same way) that the athletes along with their coaches, choreographers (for skating) AND training grounds should be of the country from which they hail. It's only right is it not?

For example, the figure skating Reed siblings, Cathy, Chris and Allison. The Reeds' mother is Japanese, and their father is American. They were raised in the USA. Chris and Cathy (ages 20 and 22 respectively) skate for Japan. Their younger sister, Allison (age 15), skates for Georgia. All three train in New Jersey, Chris and Allison skating as a pair with a Russian coach (Nikolai Morozov) and Allison with a Ukrainian coach (Evgeny Platov) and a Georgian partner (Otar Japaridze). How does that even work? They are American, they live in America, they should have American coaches and American partners. This is just how it should be. Otherwise, I don't feel they're competing for the right reasons. They're not trying to make their country proud, it becomes a selfish medal race. Or how about Dale Begg-Smith? The Canadian skier skiing for Australia under an American coach? Even Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (who I absolutley love and have become recently obsessed with), the Canadian ice dance gold medal hopefuls, train in Michigan with a Russian coach along side a competing American team. To me, this is just not how it should be. For the rest of the regular season, compete for whomever, wherever your heart desires but come Olympics, make your country proud! Our imported NHL hockey players all go home to Europe and so should our figure skaters and skiers come home to us (or wherever they're from) and be trained by home grown coaches.

Phew!

Glad I got that off my chest.

Now I'm going to go watch Moir and Virtue get the first Canadian gold ever in ice dancing.

GO CANADA