Now that the 2012 Summer Olympics are close, I am reminded of Eddie the Eagle.  Eddie was the first athlete from Great Britain to perform in the Olympics as a ski jumper.  Keep in mind that there are no ski jump hills in Great Britain.  Eddie was actually a pretty good downhill skier, but not good enough to compete in the Olympics.  But then he saw guys from other countries competing in the ski jump and he had a brilliant idea.  Since there were no other ski jumpers from Great Britain, if Eddie tried out for the team he would be a shoe in.  He didn’t actually have to be any good, he just had to be available.  The next thing you know there is this very ordinary guy, short on funds, even shorter on athletic ability, overweight, with poor eye sight jumping off ski jumps in the Olympics.  The results were predictable. 

Eddie was just plain awful as a ski jumper, but you couldn’t take your eyes off him.  All these other athletes would fly gracefully through the air.  Eddie always looked to be on the verge of disaster.  With Eddie one was relieved when he survived the jump.  No one expected him to win or even come close to winning, but he was fun to watch.  Frankly it is a miracle he didn’t get hurt.  He finished dead last on both the 70 m and the 90m ski hills, but he also had a world-wide fan club.  The worse he performed the more people liked him.  

However, the ski jumping community was embarrassed by the whole situation.  The real ski jumpers though Eddie was making a mockery of their sport.  Plus, they were concerned that someone else would try this and get seriously injured or even killed.  So they changed to rules to make sure no more Eddies showed up at the Olympics.  That is probably for the best, particularly with a sport as dangerous as ski jumping.

Eddie is also a stark reminder that sometimes a person gets elevated to a position for which they have no qualifications.   Not that this reminds me of anyone.

TDM