The Summer Olympics are here. Jack Thornton reflects on the sportsmanship and patriotism, and wonders what we have to do to get Vatican City represented at the next games.
Dunnn-Daaah-Duh-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dah-Dun-Dun-D-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dah-Dee-Dun-Dun-Duuuuuunnnnnn!
You recognize that tune don’t you? No? Ok, let me hum it for you again.
Dunnn-Daaah-Duh-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dah-Dun-Dun-D-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dah-Dee-Dun-Dun-Duuuuuunnnnnn!
Did you get it? Still no?
Le sigh. No one ever gets it when I write music out like that.
It’s the theme for the Olympics and it’s been in my head all week because it’s just that time.
Ah, the Olympics. It’s a time for both strong patriotism and appreciation of other cultures and nations. It’s a time for thrilling victories and crushing defeats; a time for heartwarming stories of athletes who give their all in pursuit of a dream, and a time for less heartwarming stories of badminton players who throw matches so they can play lesser opponents in the losers bracket.
It’s a time for citizens all over the world to suddenly discover interest in sports that they only think about every four years. Yes, once every four years gymnastics, swimming and track rise to the level of football, baseball and basketball and we all obsess over athletes whose names we didn’t know two weeks ago and who we will forget as soon as the NFL pre-season starts. But we watch them and read about them because that’s what we do and that’s the way we like it...
Popular comedian Stephen Colbert offered the commencement address at Northwestern University this weekend, telling the graduating seniors to follow their dreams...unless their dreams are "stupid." Below, Rozann Carter takes a closer look at what that characterization implies.
Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report” and graduate of Northwestern University, returned to his Alma Mater this past Saturday to deliver the commencement address to NWU’s graduating seniors. Being an Evanston resident, I can attest to the fact that the aura about the town the following morning was characterized by animated chatter and glowing praise for Colbert’s message and style. People interrupted one another to share their most memorable quips and talk about the applicable quality of Colbert’s hilarity-veiled message. Apparently (and purposefully), his comedic routine provided an accessible vehicle for a pithy message to this receptive audience. (Good news for Catholics: a parallel style of “Cloak and Dagger Catechesis,” identified and analyzed as such by writer Matt Emerson in a recent article on Washington Post, has been used on numerous occasions to display Colbert’s Catholic identity, raising meaningful questions and dropping Catholic intrigue into what might otherwise be considered hostile territory.)
One particularly popular zinger offered by Colbert on Saturday (and discussed in Evanston’s coffee shops on Sunday) was the following: “You have been told to follow your dreams,” he said. “But what if it’s a stupid dream? Thankfully, dreams can change. If we'd all be stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses."...