The Olympics

[moderateamericain]

Summer Olympics yes.

34 medals winter 2002 1st

25 medals winter 2006 2nd

Both of which were better than Canada

Edited August 14, 2008 by moderateamericain

[bush_cheney2004]

So its your assesment that because we reward are athletes for being the fastest swimmer, fastest runner, etc. That we are catering to the elite? I wonder what the average income for Olympic athletes is? How much annual income do they give up? The choose to do something that few of us ever get the opportunity to. Be the best at something. If the US government wants to reward them for there efforts. I can think of far worse things for my tax dollars to go towards.

I agree, and I sure hope that Canada wins a medal sooner rather than later. This Phelps thing is turning ugly over at the CBC comments forum. Mr. Phelps has become a metaphor for all that is wrong with America for a few of the Canuck posters. How dare he win more gold medals than entire countries! The fencer's F-bomb didn't help matters either.

I think Beavers (Canadian swimmer...how cool is that) qualified last for the 200 IM final....it would be slammin' for Canada if he beat Phelps for the gold.

..if he doesn't, it will be America's fault....as usual.

Edited August 14, 2008 by bush_cheney2004

[HisSelf]

edit

Edited August 14, 2008 by HisSelf

[guyser]

34 medals winter 2002 1st

25 medals winter 2006 2nd

Both of which were better than Canada

I am aware of that and I also am not going to get in a pissing match over it.Your country does very well at the Olympics. It was , at best, a minor correction I was seeking.

Speaking of corrections, at the 2002 Winter Olympics the US finished 2nd, not first in the standings, not first.Germany was first with 35, Canada was 5th with 17. Both of whom are a little bit more than twice our population.

At the '06 Oly's, Canada was third with 24 medals, USA second with 25 and once again, Germany at 29. And one again, population might be a factor.

Do we want to talk about Nagano? Lillehammer?

I'll conveniently skip over Lake Placid thanks ...yikes.

[bush_cheney2004]

edit

Aww shucks..he snatched it back.

Anyway, President Bush has visted China four times, not just when the Olympics are happening. Someone said he also visited with his father/family many years ago.

[bush_cheney2004]

I am aware of that and I also am not going to get in a pissing match over it.Your country does very well at the Olympics. It was , at best, a minor correction I was seeking.

Speaking of corrections, at the 2002 Winter Olympics the US finished 2nd, not first in the standings, not first.Germany was first with 35, Canada was 5th with 17. Both of whom are a little bit more than twice our population.

At the '06 Oly's, Canada was third with 24 medals, USA second with 25 and once again, Germany at 29. And one again, population might be a factor.

Do we want to talk about Nagano? Lillehammer?

I'll conveniently skip over Lake Placid thanks ...yikes.

That's the spirit...strident nationalism. Doesn't it feel good? I knew you could do it.

Go Canada!

[guyser]

That's the spirit...strident nationalism. Doesn't it feel good?

Strident nationalism does not equal correction. The latter was my point.

Edited August 14, 2008 by guyser

[HisSelf]

Typical mindless drivel that has nothing much to do with anything much. Basically what I've come to expect from this particular source.

Well I've managed to put you in your place on a number of occasions. Let's see. The most recent was when you called me a liar for saying that the price of oil had gone up a whack on Iran/israel tensions. I provided a very good link, and, surprise, surprise, anti-semitism was invoked.

[CANADIEN]

Yes Berlin, germany, but they won thier olympic bid in 1931, a full year before the Nazi party even came to power....do you think the OIC would have granted Berlin the games had they known what was to come some 5 years later....

Actually 1896 was the first modern olympic'smodern olympics

And although the olympics does have a history going back some 1500 years i'm sure there would be more than one century that could be classified as horrific....one could hardly blame the olympics for the century being as horrific as it was than you could blame say christmas....

Agreed.

It is one thing to hate the Olympics and international sporting events. It is another thing all together to blame the modern Olympic Games for atrocities committed during the 20th centiry. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, mao didn't need Lympic Games to do what they did.

PS: The first Olympic Games officially recorded were held in 776 BC, and they may be even older than that. They were abolished in 394 AD, and restaured 1502 later. Interestingly enough, one of the numerous attempts at reviving the Games in the late 18th and throughout the 19th took place in... Montreal! The Athletic Games of 1843 were renamed Olympic Games for the 1844 and 1845 editions.

[HisSelf]

The first Olympic Games officially recorded were held in 776 BC, and they may be even older than that. They were abolished in 394 AD...

Apparently they were abolished out of disgust by the current ruler regarding corruption and politics. LOL.

[guyser]

PS: The first Olympic Games officially recorded were held in 776 BC, and they may be even older than that. They were abolished in 394 AD, and restaured 1502 later. Interestingly enough, one of the numerous attempts at reviving the Games in the late 18th and throughout the 19th took place in... Montreal! The Athletic Games of 1843 were renamed Olympic Games for the 1844 and 1845 editions.

And IIRC they competed in the nude for all events. So, I say bring it on.

Maybe not so much for weighlifting since I want not to see Serge's hemmorhoids, but I think beach volleyball (yes leafless the womens teams) , synchro swimming (glass pool please) and oh hell, all the womens sports.

[Army Guy]

Guyser I'm voting for you....and hell yes bring it on, with a few revisions first.....Serges the female russian wieght lifter has got to go ....that event needs to be shut down....and replaced with bouncing on the trampilin right off the Man show...

[moderateamericain]

I am aware of that and I also am not going to get in a pissing match over it.Your country does very well at the Olympics. It was , at best, a minor correction I was seeking.

Speaking of corrections, at the 2002 Winter Olympics the US finished 2nd, not first in the standings, not first.Germany was first with 35, Canada was 5th with 17. Both of whom are a little bit more than twice our population.

At the '06 Oly's, Canada was third with 24 medals, USA second with 25 and once again, Germany at 29. And one again, population might be a factor.

Do we want to talk about Nagano? Lillehammer?

I'll conveniently skip over Lake Placid thanks ...yikes.

Hey even a juggernaut has to fall sometimes, even if its trippin over its own two clutzy feet lol. Id hardly call this a pissing contest tho. But thanks for the correction on the medal counts. I just grabbed the first thing i could find about it and didnt check the source!

[August1991]

This whole thing is a joke.

I note that countries like Cuba, North Korea and Kazakhstan are in the top 20 medal winners. China is far ahead of India despite having a similar population.

Why?

In totalitarian regimes, it is easy to take young children and bribe them to excel at a particular physical manoeuvre. What does this prove about the society as a whole? Nothing at all except that it has a totalitarian regime.

I'm surprised that any Australians, Americans or French manage to compete and win medals against such opposition.

If the Canadian government spends any money on sports, it should build skating arenas and swimming pools so that ordinary kids can have fun and learn to exercise. We shouldn't aim to have a handful of individuals excel in a peculiar, useless skill.

[Riverwind]

In totalitarian regimes, it is easy to take young children and bribe them to excel at a particular physical manoeuvre. What does this prove about the society as a whole? Nothing at all except that it has a totalitarian regime.

Excellent insight. I would add that the opportunity cost for individuals pursuing a high performance athletics is much much lower in totalitarian societies with limited economic opportunities. In Canada/US, atheletes with the skills are more likely to focus on sports like hockey which have a higher chance of producing a positive ROI. Edited August 15, 2008 by Riverwind

[AngusThermopyle]

Smog = greed - and who taught them that huh?

I don't know. Is that taught at UWO?

[guyser]

This whole thing is a joke.

I have read your posts about the Olympics but I dont understand the hate. I really dont. I se such positives for our country, mostly unmeasurable I will grant you but I feel they are there.

I note that countries like Cuba, North Korea and Kazakhstan are in the top 20 medal winners. China is far ahead of India despite having a similar population.

Why?

In totalitarian regimes, it is easy to take young children and bribe them to excel at a particular physical manoeuvre. What does this prove about the society as a whole? Nothing at all except that it has a totalitarian regime.

Except there is no bribes offered. They are merely taken, as in Chinese gymnastics , and put in schools far from home and drilled 7 days a week and 6 or 7 hours day in gym. My secretary is Chinese and she says by age 6 they are gone from their families for the rest of their life. Why, because the parents are usually dirt poor and feel their child will benefit, e thruducation, food sport.

She told me that she knows one child who was taken at age 6, and is now in her twenties. She had seen her family maybe a month in total in the past 6 years. But her parents are proud as punch that she was able to compete. She also , by the way, was adamant that the chicom gym girls were at best 14 and she was also not surprised to know they cheated.

I'm surprised that any Australians, Americans or French manage to compete and win medals against such opposition.

Which should by the way give you hope that those involved with the sports will realize that there is more than one way to compete.

If the Canadian government spends any money on sports, it should build skating arenas and swimming pools so that ordinary kids can have fun and learn to exercise. We shouldn't aim to have a handful of individuals excel in a peculiar, useless skill.

Tell that to the Toronto school board who close pools to fund their worthless asses. But that is an aside.

The handful of individuals who excel are the catalyst to the country excelling in that sport. Witness triathlon since Whitfield won, witness speed skating since we have excelled in that sport , witness rowing....

[AngusThermopyle]

Well I've managed to put you in your place on a number of occasions.

Yeah right! All you've done on a number of occasions is spout drivel that is in large part unrelated to reality. You even admitted that your kids have a more balanced view of life than you. Now run along and hug an anti American to show your solidarity.

called me a liar for saying that the price of oil had gone up a whack on Iran/israel tensions. I provided a very good link,

Ah, I see. That explains why the price has dropped lower now than it has been in many months, those tensions don't ya know.

Edited August 15, 2008 by AngusThermopyle

[CANADIEN]

Apparently they were abolished out of disgust by the current ruler regarding corruption and politics. LOL.

They were ordered abolished by Roman EmperorTheodosius I, a Christian, as part of a policy to abolish all traces of paganism. The old Olympics, with their pagan rituals and nudity, were viewed by Christian authors as incompatible with a Christian life.

[blueblood]

This whole thing is a joke.

I note that countries like Cuba, North Korea and Kazakhstan are in the top 20 medal winners. China is far ahead of India despite having a similar population.

Why?

In totalitarian regimes, it is easy to take young children and bribe them to excel at a particular physical manoeuvre. What does this prove about the society as a whole? Nothing at all except that it has a totalitarian regime.

I'm surprised that any Australians, Americans or French manage to compete and win medals against such opposition.

If the Canadian government spends any money on sports, it should build skating arenas and swimming pools so that ordinary kids can have fun and learn to exercise. We shouldn't aim to have a handful of individuals excel in a peculiar, useless skill.

The Olympics is big business. People will spend money to be entertained. Somehow the Olympics ended up being the granddaddy of all sport spectacles. The amount of money spent and generated by the games is tremendous. Done smartly, an olympic games can make a country a pile of money.

If that skill helps companies etc. sell products, is that skill useless?

The American gov't as far as I know don't spend much money on their atheletes.

As far as I know the Olympics are language in helping a country determine its prestige.

[bush_cheney2004]

The Olympics is big business. People will spend money to be entertained. Somehow the Olympics ended up being the granddaddy of all sport spectacles. The amount of money spent and generated by the games is tremendous. Done smartly, an olympic games can make a country a pile of money.

You got that right.....big BIG Business. If managed well, the host nation can make a bundle. So far, China has done a splendid job.

[Guest American Woman]

Aww shucks..he snatched it back.

Anyway, President Bush has visted China four times, not just when the Olympics are happening. Someone said he also visited with his father/family many years ago.

He was in China for six weeks in 1975 when his father was the U.S. envoy to Beijing. link

Speaking of corrections, at the 2002 Winter Olympics the US finished 2nd, not first in the standings, not first.Germany was first with 35, Canada was 5th with 17. Both of whom are a little bit more than twice our population.

It makes that population should be considered when looking at the top medal winners; it's why high school and college sports teams play within their divisions. So with a population 10 times that of Canada, it makes sense that we'd win more medals. China seems to be our main competition for first place this time around, and of course they have a much bigger population than we do. So does that make us even better than them if we have more? Perhaps the 'top athletes' should be given more weight than 'the top countries.'

[capricorn]

I have a pet peeve. It's the use of the noun "medal" as a verb in Olympic reporting. Here are examples from an exchange between Steve Chao and Sandie Rinaldo on CTV this morning.

"are these athletes expected to medal?"

so and so has "yet to medal"

so and so "hopes to medal", etc.

This is but one example of how the English language is frequently bastardized in the media.

[bush_cheney2004]

He was in China for six weeks in 1975 when his father was the U.S. envoy to Beijing. link

Thank you for confirming this....Bush has more than just a passing interest in China.

It makes that population should be considered when looking at the top medal winners; it's why high school and college sports teams play within their divisions. So with a population 10 times that of Canada, it makes sense that we'd win more medals. China seems to be our main competition for first place this time around, and of course they have a much bigger population than we do. So does that make us even better than them if we have more? Perhaps the 'top athletes' should be given more weight than 'the top countries.'

Fair enough...but it doesn't explain why smaller populations have far more medals (e.g. Australia). Good to see that Canada finally got off the schnide today....medals!

[HisSelf]

This whole thing is a joke.

I note that countries like Cuba, North Korea and Kazakhstan are in the top 20 medal winners. China is far ahead of India despite having a similar population.

Why?

In totalitarian regimes, it is easy to take young children and bribe them to excel at a particular physical manoeuvre. What does this prove about the society as a whole? Nothing at all except that it has a totalitarian regime.

I'm surprised that any Australians, Americans or French manage to compete and win medals against such opposition.

If the Canadian government spends any money on sports, it should build skating arenas and swimming pools so that ordinary kids can have fun and learn to exercise. We shouldn't aim to have a handful of individuals excel in a peculiar, useless skill.

Do you know anything about the world tennis circuit? How is it any different? Because Nike and Addidas sponsor it?

Seriously. Look at how a great tennis player gets built. Or a great baseball player A great hockey player. Do you know what happens to a guy who plays for the Sault Greyhounds and doesn't make the big show? We're talking "Wold you like cheese with that."

You are being naive.