A humorous comparison . . .

Time for a post with a message using coverage of the Olympics compared to coverage of public education mixed with a little humor.  It was delivered in a post by Karl Fisch on The Fischbowl after he read an article in The Atlantic by Richard Florida comparing our medal count to that of smaller countries.  The chart is earlier in the games and the medal counts have changed, but the message is similar.

In his post Fisch takes Florida's comparisons (Above) one step further by wondering why there is no outrage over the lack of success.  Considering what happened in hockey and speed skating the comparisons should take on even greater significance, but why no controversy?  Yes, I know there is some discussion of the speed skating suits, but come on, can't they find a better excuse?

Where's the outrage in Washington, D.C.? Why isn't the Denver Post writing editorials decrying the state of the U.S. Olympic program? Why isn't NBC holding a day-long "Olympic Nation" (with accompanying website) to figure out what we're doing wrong? I mean, if an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre Olympic performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.

Well, I for one will not stand idly by while our children's future slips away. Clearly we need some changes, and we need them fast. So I propose a Blue Ribbon panel to examine this issue. I think we should get someone eminently qualified to lead this panel. I propose Bill Gates, but I suppose I'd be okay with someone like Eli Broad.

This gives you a feel for his post, in fun, but it makes one wonder doesn't it?  You'll enjoy the post, but in case you choose not to, you might like to see how he ends it.  The post is here if you'd rather read it all.

Now these aren't my only ideas, but I don't want to dominate the conversation too much. I think we can all agree that if we would just raise the bar a little bit and hold these folks accountable, their performance would improve. (In the case of the Summer Olympics, I would suggest we literally raise the bar; perhaps to 10 feet in the high jump, and 25 feet in the pole vault. After all, our athletes should be outperforming the rest of the world.) And we should learn from those countries that are currently kicking our butt. If it works in Slovenia and Latvia (I've heard some people refer to it as the Slavic Miracle), it should work twice as well in the U.S., right?