Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

No, it's not really a political question - it's a sporting one! The Commonwealth Games is currently being held in Merlbourne, Australia, but to judge from the lack of media coverage here, most Canadians either don't know, or don't care about it...C'mon Canada, are you in or are you out? Just because there;s no ice hockey or curling, doesn't mean that you have to shun it. There's a whole world of other sports out there, you know... The only newsworthy item about the Games seems to be the fact that Halifax is bidding for the 2014 games. I don't know why they bother. With this lack of enthusiasm for anything not remotely resembling a winter sport, Canadians just don't care about sporting events which feature swimming, gymnastics, athletics, cycling & many others. Of course, this apathy might also be an indication that Canadians are starting to tire of the whole Commonwealth-thing...Even though Canada is one of the last few countries still clinging to the British Monarchy as Head of Sate, ordinary Canadians know more about USA history and politics than they do about the British Commonwealth of Nations. This is not a judgemental statement, I'm just asking, do you wanna be in or out? Other worrying aspects concerning this issue: Even though a country like South Africa is also part of the Commonwealth (having been re-admitted more than a decade ago), South Africans still need visas to enter Canada - what's the point of being part of the Commonwealth, if sister-nations are still treating each other with suspicion? Anyway, to get back to the sport: there's only the tiniest fragment of the games currently being screened on CBC Newsworld (not even the normal CBC channel...). I don't know how they expect viewers to get to know "new" sports like Rugby Sevens, when there are no opportunities to watch them.

Posted by HannesB at 2:07 AM Comments