April, 2005

If you hate Norwegians who boast of being best, don’t read this.

I do miss the Norwegian TV sports, in particular the winter sports. Without a single word in the StarTribune or the US TV, the Norwegians have celebrated numerous triumphs this winter. In the world championship in Nordic skiing recently, Norway won 7 gold medals. Germany, Russia and Austria came next with two each. We also won several gold medals in speed skating and biathlon. I miss the Norwegian State TV channel where they so enthusiastically report from the events I love to watch.

Do you remember the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002? No nation won more gold medals than Norway. We’re still unchallenged on the all-time statistics of gold medals in winter Olympics. That’s not bad for a country with a population similar to Minnesota’s.

Norwegians value outdoor life, sports and competition. It’s an exaggeration to claim that Norwegians are born with skis on their feet, but I remember teaching my daughters to ski when they could barely walk. Sports in Norway are well organized, well-sponsored and a great source of entertainment and national pride.

What about summer sports? With a short summer and limited population, I think it was pretty good of the Norwegians to win five gold medals in the last summer Olympics, Athens 2004. But none of them were reported on American TV to my knowledge. If you consider the population behind each gold medal in the summer Olympics, Norway would have been on top of the list if it hadn’t been for a runner from the Bahamas. It took 800,000 Bahamans to "produce" a gold medal, 1.1 million Norwegians, and 8 million Americans.

I was delighted the other day when my wife, Trude, showed me how I actually can watch Norwegian TV sports on the internet. Go to www.nrk.no and you’ll get an injection of Norwegian sports nationalism. Jens Dale, Pastor

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716