Closing Out The Protocol:
"Your back's to the wall
That's the protocol
It's sequestering your spirit
Misleading us all.."
(from Dexter Holland's rejected entry into a "Bad Religion song writing contest")
I think it's finally time for me to stop posting on The Protocol. Why? Well, I won't be allowed to post on a blog from Torino, anyway, so I might as well stop right now.
I guess what I'm looking for, as the World Cup season begins, is the feeling of a weight dropping from my shoulders. I feel like there is something that I'd like to bring to and end, and since I can't just quit skating right now, I think I'm going to quit The Protocol instead.
Over the past few weeks, I've realized that there are no new issues left to bring up; that the same old abuses of power will continue to happen again and again, only in slightly different forms. And I'm just going to waste what's left of my energy on getting worked up over it.
Tonight, I have taken a few hours to post the last of my writing: Everything that was left, and that I felt was important to cover. From now until the end of the season, I intend to focus on my skating. Besides, I have to "save something for the book," right?
As I put The Protocol aside, I think about what this blog has been for me over the past year. It was not a "reflection in the ice," but rather "the truth beneath the ice." It was a sort of psychotherapy session, which US Speedskating deserved to see - and to participate in - before the entire speedskating community. I hope it was an eye-opening experience that showed some sports administrators the damage that their decisions and actions can inflict on the athletes in their charge.
I hope that The Protocol has been a story with which ex-idealists, ex-Olympics fans, and any frustrated former athletes can identify. I've tried to make it a presentation of logical arguments in the form of a punk-inspired rant against authority.
Most of all, it has been a record of my rage against all those people out there who have wrecked the Olympics for me, and have tried their best to wreck for me the sport of speedskating. I say "tried," because they have failed. When this season is over, I still see myself skating Oval Club training sessions after work, just for fun.
Could The Protocol be my contribution to sports reform? Maybe. I know there are a lot of people out there who secretly agree with most of what I've said about US Speedskating. But I don't see myself being seriously involved in sports politics after this season. I feel pretty exhausted and disgusted right now.
I've learned all that I came here to learn. Now let me finish this one last battle. Real life is calling my name!
---
I'd like to dedicate this blog to all my family and friends, to all my sources of inspiration, and to all the kids out there whose Olympic fairy tale has had an unhappy ending. I'll leave you all with one final bit of advice:
DON'T FOLLOW ANYONE'S PROTOCOL.
WRITE YOUR OWN!
"Your back's to the wall
That's the protocol
It's sequestering your spirit
Misleading us all.."
(from Dexter Holland's rejected entry into a "Bad Religion song writing contest")
I think it's finally time for me to stop posting on The Protocol. Why? Well, I won't be allowed to post on a blog from Torino, anyway, so I might as well stop right now.
I guess what I'm looking for, as the World Cup season begins, is the feeling of a weight dropping from my shoulders. I feel like there is something that I'd like to bring to and end, and since I can't just quit skating right now, I think I'm going to quit The Protocol instead.
Over the past few weeks, I've realized that there are no new issues left to bring up; that the same old abuses of power will continue to happen again and again, only in slightly different forms. And I'm just going to waste what's left of my energy on getting worked up over it.
Tonight, I have taken a few hours to post the last of my writing: Everything that was left, and that I felt was important to cover. From now until the end of the season, I intend to focus on my skating. Besides, I have to "save something for the book," right?
As I put The Protocol aside, I think about what this blog has been for me over the past year. It was not a "reflection in the ice," but rather "the truth beneath the ice." It was a sort of psychotherapy session, which US Speedskating deserved to see - and to participate in - before the entire speedskating community. I hope it was an eye-opening experience that showed some sports administrators the damage that their decisions and actions can inflict on the athletes in their charge.
I hope that The Protocol has been a story with which ex-idealists, ex-Olympics fans, and any frustrated former athletes can identify. I've tried to make it a presentation of logical arguments in the form of a punk-inspired rant against authority.
Most of all, it has been a record of my rage against all those people out there who have wrecked the Olympics for me, and have tried their best to wreck for me the sport of speedskating. I say "tried," because they have failed. When this season is over, I still see myself skating Oval Club training sessions after work, just for fun.
Could The Protocol be my contribution to sports reform? Maybe. I know there are a lot of people out there who secretly agree with most of what I've said about US Speedskating. But I don't see myself being seriously involved in sports politics after this season. I feel pretty exhausted and disgusted right now.
I've learned all that I came here to learn. Now let me finish this one last battle. Real life is calling my name!
---
I'd like to dedicate this blog to all my family and friends, to all my sources of inspiration, and to all the kids out there whose Olympic fairy tale has had an unhappy ending. I'll leave you all with one final bit of advice:
DON'T FOLLOW ANYONE'S PROTOCOL.
WRITE YOUR OWN!
posted by Eva at 8:38 PM
<< Home