Vancouver 2010: It's Not Over Yet!

Brian McKeever isn't done yet.

This year, when the talented Canadian skier qualified to compete in the men's 50-kilometer cross-country race at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, he made headlines. However, there were only four spots available for five Canadian competitors, so coach Inge Braten had to make the difficult decision to leave him off the start list, reserving him as an alternate.

What distinguished McKeever from the rest of the competitors is the fact that he is legally blind.

Though crushed, McKeever kept his spirits up. "I understand the decision," he said, through tears. "Our boys are racing so fast. They've deserved everything they've gotten. I stand behind them 100 per cent."

Still, McKeever has a lot to be proud of. He is the first athlete ever to qualify for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Paralympic Games, first held in 1960 in Rome, are an event for athletes with physical disabilities. Since 1988, the Paralympics have been held in the same cities and venues as the Olympic games, and from 2012 onwards, all host cities will be contracted to organize and oversee both competitions.

This year, the Paralympics will be held in Vancouver and Whistler from March 12 to March 21. Athletes from around the world with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, amputations, and congenital limb deformities will compete in a series of events ranging from alpine skiing to sledge hockey.

Watching these athletes compete provides not only inspiration and hope, but also vivid, visual lessons on how to turn those hopes and dreams into real action. Whether you're a sports fan or not, this blatant shattering of the notions of success and limitations many of us have grown to accept is a refreshing jolt to both the heart and the mind.

Although they train just as hard and often overcome much bigger challenges than Olympic athletes, Paralympic athletes haven't yet gotten the kind coverage they are due.

This year, that could change. In the United States, NBC Sports and Universal Sports have signed on to broadcast the Games, which will be sponsored by GE. In Canada, the Paralympics will get 50 more hours of television coverage than they did in Turin 2006, a marked improvement.

Two years ago, my brother Zameer (a Toronto-based singer/songwriter who I play with) and I had the honor of meeting Canadian Paralympic sledge hockey players Brad Bowden and Paul Rosen, who brought home a gold medal for the team in 2006. Brad, who had also scored a second gold medal in wheelchair basketball that year, was born with sacral agenesis, a congenital spinal abnormality that has resulted in severe deformities in his lower limbs. Paul, the team's goalie, had one of his legs amputated following complications from a serious leg injury during a hockey game when he was young.

Zameer had written a song called Win or Defeat, about challenging conventional notions of success and defining it for ourselves, something he'd been struggling with as an independent artist, and was looking for ideas for a music video. When we came across the incredible, moving stories of these athletes, it clicked as the perfect vehicle to demonstrate the concept of the song. So we teamed up with Brad and Paul to make the first music video ever to feature real Paralympic athletes in action. The song, produced by five-time Grammy winner Steve Thompson, subsequently went into rotation on Canada's MuchMusic, and we're proud to have done our small part in introducing these remarkable athletes to many Canadians who hadn't come across them before.

Next week, Brian McKeever, Brad Bowden, and Paul Rosen will be back in Vancouver to keep the Paralympic flame going, and bring their awesome talent to a larger television and streaming internet audience than ever before. Stephen Colbert, are you listening?

As awareness about the Games grows, these athletes and their peers will continue to inspire and motivate more and more of us to challenge ourselves and reset our boundaries, while teaching us how to turn our dreams into reality.

The Games start Friday, March 12. Don't forget to tune in.

Rocking the Paralympics

The 2008 Paralympics began Saturday, September 6 in Beijing, China. First staged in 1948 alongside the Olympic Games in London for injured war veterans, the Paralympics have now evolved into an official quadrennial event alongside the Olympics that is open to all athletes with physical and mental disabilities ranging from spinal cord injuries to cerebral palsy.

On the occasion of this year's games, I want to share with you my brother Zameer's debut music video, Win or Defeat, below. In a recent interview with Ontario's Mississauga News, Zameer explained, "The goal of my video is to help drive home the message that everyone who works hard to pursue a dream is a star... At the end of it all, it doesn’t matter whether society deems you successful or not. It’s all up to you. This song is especially dedicated to people that don’t receive due recognition for following their dreams. We need to change our ideas of success. I don't understand why the Paralympic Games do not receive as much recognition and support as the Olympic Games, even though the athletes work just as hard and have the same ambitions."

The song is currently in rotation on Canada's MuchMoreMusic, and was produced by Grammy-winning producer Steve Thompson, who produced Blues Traveler's Four, Korn's Follow the Leader, and also mixed Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, in addition to major records by Metallica and Soundgarden, among others.

The video is directed by Toronto director Marc Andre Debruyne, and features Canada's Paralympic sled hockey gold medalist Bradley Bowden, who was born with sacral agenesis.

The games end on September 17. To stream this year's Paralympics online, please visit UniversalSports.com. I have posted a complete schedule of the coverage below.

Here's the video:


Live coverage on UniversalSports.com:

Date, time (ET) Event
Sat 9/6 8am Opening ceremony
Sun 9/7 5am Swimming
Mon 9/8 5am Swimming
Tue 9/9 5am Track & field
Wed 9/10 5am Swimming
Thu 9/11 5am Swimming 830am Men’s basketball (USA vs. Australia)
Fri 9/12 5am Track & field 930am Women’s basketball (quarterfinal)
Sat 9/13 5am Track & field 10am Women’s basketball (semifinal)
Sun 9/14 5am Track & field 1030am Men’s basketball (semifinal)
Mon 9/15 5am Swimming 930am Women’s basketball (final)
Tue 9/16 8am Rugby (final)
Wed 9/17 8am Closing ceremony