Re: Woeful winter games (Feb. 17): I was shocked and disappointed to see the disdain exhibited for the Winter Olympics. Even if the writer does not enjoy the winter games, he should not extend this attitude to the entire world.

“No one really cares about the Winter Olympics?” Try telling that to the millions of my fellow Canadians whose hearts swelled with pride as Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian to win gold on home soil (and the ones whose hearts fell when the hockey team lost on Sunday). Putting down the United Kingdom’s Shelley Rudman? Say that to the face of a Brit and see how they react to the disrespect shown to the only person on their team who medaled in Turin.

“Who are these athletes and what are they doing?” They are young men and women who have spent a lifetime training for their one short shot at glory, trying to represent their countries on the biggest stage in the world, not for the money like most athletes in big American sports leagues, but for national pride and the spirit of sport.

The Olympics don’t have to be made into the transcendent, global event they embody. They already are. Maybe it just requires opening our minds a little. Or, more importantly, opening our hearts.

Josh Satok

Feb. 18

The writer is a freshman in Pierson College.