Charlie Daniels Column: Our U.S. Olympic Team Was Pure Gold!

I can't speak for anybody else but my wife and myself have been immersed in the Summer Olympic games from London the last few days.

Of course the athleticism has been incredible, the best planet earth has to offer and whether seasoned veteran or rookie they gave it their all, even the athletes who came to the games knowing that their chances of winning a medal were about as likely as growing wings, left nothing on the field of competition with the exception of a couple of shameful examples of jockeying for position by intentionally losing a preliminary match.

It's obvious that all the athletes, without exception, have worked to the extent of human endurance to achieve strength and physical perfection in preparation to pit their talent against the world's best.

The Olympics brings out the finest in human qualities and the very concept of the games plays havoc with the nanny state mentality, where personal responsibility is discouraged and competition is graded on a curve, where work ethic is based on whatever you can get by with.

When you see an athlete march into the stadium during opening ceremonies you can take for granted that person has been through the fire, stood tall against crushing competition, reached down deep inside and tapped that pool of special talent God gave them, ignored the pain and proved that they deserved a place on the team.

The Olympics also defies the proposition that only the privileged have a chance to do great things. Some of the athletes come from extremely humble backgrounds and their parents made huge sacrifices to get them the training and conditioning it would take to pursue their dreams.

And you'll never see a greater display of Nationalism as the athletes wrap themselves in the flags of their nations in their victory celebration and stand proud and often teary eyed as their national anthem is played. There is no apology here; there is no criticism or pandering and it's wonderful to see.

Granted, there are very few people who have the talent to make an Olympic team but the attitude required, and believe me it all starts with an attitude, applies to, not only becoming a world class athlete, but to every endeavor mankind undertakes.

It's called giving your best, it’s called going for the fences every time you come to bat

It's called going for the gold and if you develop that attitude and that habit, you're going to make something out of your life.

Life is lived minute-to-minute, choice-by-choice. You can only live one minute at the time and the chance to make that particular minute count will never come again.

You can stand in the starting blocks and let the rest of the world run off and leave you or you can run the best race you're capable of. Not everybody will stand on the podium at the end of the race but they'll stand among champions and that's a pretty heady place to be.

Congratulations and gratitude to Team USA who represented a great nation with dignity, class and effort.

You did us proud.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops, and for our country.

God Bless America