Why I Hate the Olympics

[bush_cheney2004]

I'll add this Bush_Cheney, to make my point more clear.

The success of America is that it is a society where individuals can co-operate. You (and others) might want to think about that.

No....I think not. America is stronger because of the internal conflicts...like carbon fibre composite materials arranged in different directions. There is more strength in the end because of competition and stratified diversity.

There must be winners...and losers.

[blueblood]

I pay for a l great many things, but I don't judge things simply on their monetary value. I don't even like sports, but I like Canada, and I want Canada to do well at the event which we are hosting (a great honour in my opinion). Canadian's (outside of BC) seem genuinely excited and optimistic (they're split in BC). I can think of no greater outcome. The olympics along with so many things that we've done lately have seemed to invigorate the soul of the nation, whether it be the work of our troops in Afghanistan and Haiti, a large international sporting event, or, the simple celebration of Canada.

I remember hearing so many times when I was growing up that Canada had no identity, that it had lost its way, and that Canadians just didn't care. That simply isn't true now. Canadian's have come together as a proud energetic people on many fronts, and that's why I support things like the olympics...because my country is more....so much more...than money, and I want to see it succeed. This is Canada's year on the world stage, from the Olympics to the G8 to the G20. There are also many important national events such as the Centennial of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command and the visit of our Head of State, including a trip to Ottawa on Canada. All of these things seem to excite and invigorate the nation, like I've never seen (and I'll grant you, I'm not that old). Through all of this, I'd have to say that right now, we're succeeding, and it feels like nothing can stop that success.

You sound like a dellusional saskatchewan roughriders fan trying to convince me that I should drop watching my hero Brett Favre because the CFL is "better".

Canadian patriotism is a joke, it's just trying to act like American patriots but worshiping the maple leaf instead of the stars and stripes. It's not even original. What's even sadder is the media blitz by molson canadian and the cbc trying to ram american style patriotism down our throats. Hearing "it's our game" all day during hockey day in Canada is enough to make me vomit, no wonder the NHL has problems expanding.

No offense to BC2004, but I can't stand some American tourists and their flag waving nonsense. What's worse is we have Canadians trying to copy that. I think it's arrogant, proposterous, and an embarassment.

I will give the Americans this, they don't need a media campaign to develop an identity, they did that on their own, Canada decided to ram an identity down our throats and that's sad. What's sadder is the CBC/molson deciding a collective identity for Canadians instead of Canadians deciding for themselves.

[Smallc]

Canadian patriotism is a joke,

Maybe to you it is. I'd submit that it's simply because you don't get it. You've made it quite clear that you only worship one thing, and you don't really care for this country. I'm not going to take advice from you on how I should feel about Canada.

[Michael Hardner]

Maybe you shouldn't pretend to speak for all of us. The crowds that greeted the torch seem to prove you very wrong, as do polls showing that an overwhelming majority of Canadians support the games and think they will be of benefit.

I suppose everybody likes a party now and again. Once every twenty years or so is fine, as long as my city isn't the one hosting.

Thank you Mel Lastman.

[Wilber]

Winner? I suspect that Clara Hughes (and Tiger Woods) would do anything to win.

Don't know about Woods but you obviously have a problem with people who are willing to sacrifice to excel then use their accomplishments to put back into society.

[wyly]

Maybe you shouldn't pretend to speak for all of us. The crowds that greeted the torch seem to prove you very wrong, as do polls showing that an overwhelming majority of Canadians support the games and think they will be of benefit.

I'm not impressed with torch crowds to be honest, Terry Fox probably drew as many and that run still has a lasting benefit...

an overwhelming majority of Canadians think the games will be of benefit?...they're opinions aren't worth much, what benefit were the Montreal O's, zero...what benefit were the Calgary O's, zero...other than some sports local complexes there is zero benefit to the vast majority of Canadians unless a debt to pay them off is considered a benefit...

[kimmy]

First, I hate this idea of national flags, and national flag-bearers. I hate this idea of sports people competing under their national colours. I hate to hear them claim to be proud to carry their nation's flag into the arena. They're hypocrites. They're not proud to carry a flag - they are there to compete to win, and they would change the flag, carry any flag, if it gave them an advantage. I hate to hear people (ie. Canadians) claim to be proud because someone, wearing their flag, won a prize.

I agree with this much. Individual sports are about pursuing individual excellence. It's kind of inane to uphold athletic achievements as examples of the achievements of a nation.

IMV, if we must have the Olympics, and we must identify sports people, they should compete by continent. Let everyone from Germany, France and Poland be identified as "European". Let Canadians, Mexicans, Americans be identified as "North American".

I don't see how that's any more sensible than by country. At least doing it by country makes sense from an organizational perspective (ie, questions like "who is funding the team?" and "who decides who is on the team?" become much simpler.)

Second, I hate wasteful competition designed merely to determine a winner. And the Olympics are exactly that - they are designed to decide who gets the Gold medal. They do nothing else. After a sports match, there are many tired sports people. The sole purpose of the exercise was to determine a winner. (Please don't claim that there is artistry to sports - there is none.

It is an entertainment business. People pay their money to watch because they want entertainment. That's really the only aspect of it that matters.

Watching athletes compete within the artificial parameters of a skiing race or a judged figure skating contest is not really that different from watching an actor pretend to be a detective or a doctor, is it?

Wars are like the wasteful competition of the Olympics. In a war, two countries or two regions fight one another merely to decide who is the winner. At the end, everyone is in fact a loser.

Not many at the Olympics are really "losers". Win or lose, the athletes have had the chance to travel the world, meet people, train, and compete. At someone else's expense, for the most part. Nice work if you can get it. They're not the losers.

People who buy tickets aren't the losers either. At least, not if they've received the entertainment they paid for.

The losers are the people who aren't interested in the Olympics and yet still pay a chunk of the costs of staging the event out of their taxes.

-k

[Smallc]

I agree with this much. Individual sports are about pursuing individual excellence. It's kind of inane to uphold athletic achievements as examples of the achievements of a nation.

And yet it's been shown that the more a nation supports its athletes (financially and institutionally), the better they end up doing generally. I don't see anything wrong with taking pride in OUR athletes.

Edited February 2, 2010 by Smallc

[kimmy]

I'm not impressed with torch crowds to be honest, Terry Fox probably drew as many and that run still has a lasting benefit...

I attended the Olympic torch relay thing in my community, quite by accident. I was on my way to my evening job, downtown, and heard a huge racket, and went to see what the commotion was.

From all the blue and yellow crap on display, I assumed we were welcoming Team Sweden. As it turned out, it was the Olympic torch relay. The blue and yellow was because it was the Royal Bank of Canada torch relay. Or the RBC torch relay, I guess... I don't think I heard the word "Bank" mentioned at all. So I hung out for a little while. Some loudmouth on stage tried to rally the crowd into a frenzy by playing crappy music and imploring people to chant along and dance, and so on.

Then it arrived. The torch. Carried by a young man who won a silver medal in rowing at the Beijing Olympics, apparently. And even though the torch itself looks like nothing more than an enormous joint, I felt it... the huge pull that it exerted on everyone as it came down the street and toward the stage. People around me seemed genuinely excited, and I found myself inspired... not by the torch itself, but by the effect it had on everyone around me.

Although the torch itself is just a big joint, the enthusiasm and happiness it seemed to create in the thousands of people watching it was quite unexpected to me, and kind of moving as well.

-k

[kimmy]

And yet it's been shown that the more a nation supports its athletes, the better they end up doing.

And?

South Africa used to field an all-white national rugby team that was, I gather, quite powerful. Do that team's victories amount to an argument in favor of apartheid?

-k

[Smallc]

That's a rather silly comparison.

[Wilber]

And?

South Africa used to field an all-white national rugby team that was, I gather, quite powerful. Do that team's victories amount to an argument in favor of apartheid?

-k

South Africa was banned from international competition during apartheid. The Springbok team which won the world cup was multi racial.

[wyly]

I attended the Olympic torch relay thing in my community, quite by accident. I was on my way to my evening job, downtown, and heard a huge racket, and went to see what the commotion was.

From all the blue and yellow crap on display, I assumed we were welcoming Team Sweden. As it turned out, it was the Olympic torch relay. The blue and yellow was because it was the Royal Bank of Canada torch relay. Or the RBC torch relay, I guess... I don't think I heard the word "Bank" mentioned at all. So I hung out for a little while. Some loudmouth on stage tried to rally the crowd into a frenzy by playing crappy music and imploring people to chant along and dance, and so on.

Then it arrived. The torch. Carried by a young man who won a silver medal in rowing at the Beijing Olympics, apparently. And even though the torch itself looks like nothing more than an enormous joint, I felt it... the huge pull that it exerted on everyone as it came down the street and toward the stage. People around me seemed genuinely excited, and I found myself inspired... not by the torch itself, but by the effect it had on everyone around me.

Although the torch itself is just a big joint, the enthusiasm and happiness it seemed to create in the thousands of people watching it was quite unexpected to me, and kind of moving as well.

-k

and two months from now the O's will be forgotten but there will be another terry fox run this september and next year and the year after that and for decades to come...Terry Fox gave Canada a lasting legacy, the Olympics will be done gone and forgotten by spring, leaving us with nothing but a debt...

[fellowtraveller]

Second, I hate wasteful competition designed merely to determine a winner....

That's life in a capitalist society. I have no issue with it.

That is just silly, both coments.

To compete is to be human. We are hardwired to compete, it is what feeds your family and improves the gene pool. As a species we can rationalize anything, including the 'let's all hold hands and cooperate' schtick.

[Wilber]

and two months from now the O's will be forgotten but there will be another terry fox run this september and next year and the year after that and for decades to come...Terry Fox gave Canada a lasting legacy, the Olympics will be done gone and forgotten by spring, leaving us with nothing but a debt...

That's what many were saying during the runup to Expo 86. They were wrong. I can still remember the collective groan when the fair closed on the last day. You're right about Fox though.

[eyeball]

That's a rather silly comparison.

Of the Olympic torch to a joint? It's definitely the most hilarious. Thanks kimmy!

Is Ross Rebagliati scheduled to carry it by any chance?

Edited February 4, 2010 by eyeball

[Smallc]

No, support of apartheid to national pride.

[eyeball]

No, support of apartheid to national pride.

What about kimmy's comparison? Real high test by any measure.

Being an international event the Olympics is as typically humorless as a WTO/IMF gathering. I can only imagine how the comparison of the torch to a joint might be in the hands of the right activists.

[wyly]

That's what many were saying during the runup to Expo 86. They were wrong. I can still remember the collective groan when the fair closed on the last day. You're right about Fox though.

expo and the O's aren't really the same, I think Expo 67 was a success as well while the Montreal O's was a financial disaster...Expo's have 6 months to recoup costs with revenue the O's only 2 weeks...the land used in an expo is often re-developed for urban development the land for O's is not...

I've been to both expo's held in Canada not sure I'll go to edmonton's should they host it but I just may go to Shanghi's this year...

[Wilber]

expo and the O's aren't really the same, I think Expo 67 was a success as well while the Montreal O's was a financial disaster...Expo's have 6 months to recoup costs with revenue the O's only 2 weeks...the land used in an expo is often re-developed for urban development the land for O's is not...

I've been to both expo's held in Canada not sure I'll go to edmonton's should they host it but I just may go to Shanghi's this year...

Montreal's Olympics was a financial disaster in large part because of the corruption surrounding the building of the venues. There aren't as many to be built for a winter Olympics. BC Place, GM Place and the Coliseum are already there. The Alpine and Freestyle skiing venues are already there. Only the bobsled run, ski jumping and Nordic facilities had to be built. Richmond will be getting a fantastic multipurpose facility out of the speed skating venue after the Olympics as will UBC a new much needed arena.

Expo's real success was not the fair itself but the exposure the city got as a result. One thing seldom mentioned is that unlike every Olympics in living memory, VANOC has had the same CEO and executive right from the start of the bid process to the start of the games. When was the last Olympics where all the sports venues were completed a year before the games? There were cost overruns on the Olympic Village (largely due to the original developer being unable to get financing because of the credit crunch, resulting in the City having to come up with it) but the city stands to recoup a good portion of the money when they are sold off as housing. No one believed the projected security costs from the word go so that is no surprise.

Other benefits from the Olympics but not directly related, a new rapid transit line from the airport to downtown. Jealous, Toronto and Montreal? A new Sea to Sky Highway and a new Vancouver Convention Center. The convention center was way over budget partly due to the haste in getting it completed to be used as the media center for the games but the city will benefit for years to come. As far as miss management goes, it could be Campbell's version of the fast ferries but at least it works.

Ya, we'll be paying for parts of it for years to come but there is some good stuff there.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Wilber

[Oleg Bach]

I hope that the temperature goes up to a hundrend degrees in Vancouver...what a spit in the eye of general humanity - to see such poverty and drug addiction in down town Vancouver - and all the idiots what to snow board along as if the world was just great - I hope they slide in mud.

[Wilber]

I hope that the temperature goes up to a hundrend degrees in Vancouver...what a spit in the eye of general humanity - to see such poverty and drug addiction in down town Vancouver - and all the idiots what to snow board along as if the world was just great - I hope they slide in mud.

Ah yes Oleg, wish for failure. That will solve everything that is wrong with the world.

[capricorn]

As preparations are finalized to welcome the World at the Olympics, here are a couple of media items that may interest those of us who are (reluctantly) funding the games.

Vancouver's plan to host smoke-free Winter Games were stubbed out after Olympic officials told the city to make room for people who love to puff, particularly Europeans and the media.

In a city that prides itself on healthy living, bike-riding Mayor Gregor Robertson recognized that Vancouver could not impose its strict anti-smoking culture on legions of visitors to the Games that open on Friday (Feb 12-28).

"We need to be welcoming the world with open arms and not being too prescriptive with regulations and practices that we live by day to day," said Robertson.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) wanted to ban smoking to reflect "our very strong commitment to a healthy environment for spectators, athletes, officials, everyone," said Renee Smith-Valade, vice president of communications.

While there will be no smoking inside indoor sports venues, VANOC was told by the International Olympic Committee that it must designate smoking areas outside the arenas.

---

While the city is no haven for cigarette smokers, it is known to be one of the more tolerant places for smokers of marijuana, which is legal for those possessing a government card allowing it for medicinal purposes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/07/AR2010020702990.html

Ahhh Vancouver, a city of contrasts.

And this.

It is, to say the least, mind-bending. Friday evening in Vancouver, with the world watching, Clara Hughes will lead Canada’s delegation into the opening ceremony at the Winter Olympics.

All around her, the Most High Mucky-Mucks of the Vancouver organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee will be breaking their arms patting themselves on the back.

Meanwhile, Right to Play, the charity Hughes represents, the worthy cause to which she has given her all (including $10,000 after winning gold in Turin in 2006).

Right to play is not welcome. Barred. Persona non grata.

Right to Play cannot set up a booth in the Olympic Village. They can’t have any presence whatsoever at any official Olympic venue. They are, in short, about as welcome in Vancouver as the Dalai Lama in Beijing.

Why? Because corporate brown-nosers like John Furlong with the organizing committee and Jacques Rogge of the IOC — the craven, pusillanimous, shameless, pea-hearted crawlers after cash who are running this show — don’t like the fact that the Japanese automaker Mitsubishi supports Right to Play.

A clash of sponsors, don’t you know. Can’t have that.

The problem? General Motors Canada — a branch of that fine company that brought you the Hummer, a good portion of global warming, generations of rotten cars and a massive U.S. taxpayer-financed bailout to keep their sorry, bankrupt butts afloat — they’re an official sponsor of the Vancouver Olympics.

Hey, maybe we’re naive. Why think General Motors could care about poor kids in Africa?

To GM, it’s always been money first. Nothing else matters. Even Lance Armstrong supports Right to Play — but get the Olympic bosses onside? Even Armstrong can’t turn that trick.

Never mind that Right to Play helps children in the world’s poorest nations. Never mind is the charity of Olympic icon Johann Olav Koss, hero of the ’94 Olympics in Lillehammer or that this is as worthy a charity as you can find, or that the Olympic movement is supposed to stand for the right of athletes, rich and poor, simply to play the sports that they play.

---

• Heroes: Right to Play, Clara Hughes, Johann Olav Koss, Mathieu Darche, Alexander Ovechkin and young Brendan Burke, who had more courage than a boatload of NHL teams.

• Zeros: Vancouver Olympics organizing committee president John Furlong, IOC president Jacques Rogge, General Motors Canada and all those who have embarrassed Canada, embarrassed Vancouver and embarrassed the Olympic movement by barring Right to Play.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/2010wintergames/Olympics+organizers+should+ashamed+charity+snub/2534752/story.html

It's just a freekin' booth for heaven's sake. I doubt banning Right to Play will improve GM's balance sheet. I guess the organizers felt they had to choose between offending GM and supporting budding athletes from disadvantaged environments. That says a lot about where their heads are at.

[Oleg Bach]

When you start flying in buckets of snow with a Sacorski Helicopter then God might just be trying to tell you somthing - that you can not ski in mud let alone have some grand and spectacular winter Olypics while the crack heads vomit out their asses along east hastings.

[Oleg Bach]

Ah yes Oleg, wish for failure. That will solve everything that is wrong with the world.

I wish for the failure of those cats in high places who seem to think their success and status comes from a bunch of hungry for fame kids...training to be the best...making those old bastards look good who ignore reality...the reality that Vancouver in time will become like Warez Mexico if those FAT LAZY BILLIONARE BASTARDS don't start earning their keep..and earning their keep is not by facilitationg circus like spectacles - this is not old Rome and we are not stupid!