As the Olympics begin today I have to say that I will be watching with much anticipation and a little bit of skepticism. Gold medals have become sought after more and more and are even redeeming a cash value for those who bring them home this year. With the increased pressure to win athletes have turned to performance enhancing drugs to give them that little extra edge. Every year we hear of multiple athletes who are stripped of their medals because of these actions. I do not believe this is the spirit of the Olympics. Founded in ancient Greece I firmly believe that they all held the attitude and philosophy of Arete. Striving to be the best you can possibly be with the virtue of diligently pursuing perfection in your life, without cutting corners to get there. It is not always easy to be the best and it requires much sacrifice and patience.
That being said there can only be one "best" in every event. Does that mean the other athletes are of lesser value or that their performance is not worthy? No, just being in the Olympics should be accomplishment enough and if an athlete performs to the best of their ability they should feel as much pride as the athlete who won. We should be able to appreciate the last place effort just as much as the victorious effort if they were both the best the athlete could give. Especially given the fact that we could never even come close to what they have just done. Unfortunately my view this subject, just as my view on the subject of wine, is in the minority today. I bet I would have fit in great with Plato and Aristotle.
What makes each athlete unique and special is not the place they come in, but rather their background and story. What they have done to make it up to this point. Why they are driven? The attributes and differences that set them apart from everyone else who does what they do. It seems no one cares about these things when it comes to people, so I find myself wondering aloud why I am surprised when no one cares about these things when they pertain to wine. Yet this is what makes the world we live in so vast and interesting. Not the end result, but rather the story. Granted if the athlete sucks then the story does not matter. But there are so many great athletes, just as there are many great wines.
We should re-evaluate our definition of best. We should also re-evaluate the way in which we view, buy, and consume wine. Because we have put such a high value on wine competition and scores, wineries will do anything to reach the status of "best". No better than the athlete who tries to gain that extra edge through steroids, they are adding acid, enzymes, tannin powder, picking at ungodly sugar levels, and using technology to "fix" wines. We as a wine drinking community have been allowing it and unknowingly supporting it by not caring and buying these wines. At the same time we can not believe that an athlete would use drugs to gain an advantage. Oh the hypocrisy!
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