The Vancouver 2010 Olympics

[Crytone]

It's been a few days already and no Olympics thread?! We have to fix that!!

The opening ceremony was very well done I felt. Had everything; Peter Pan, a neckbeard, a violinist devil, floor whales and NO Celine Dion! I really liked when KD Lang sang Hallelujah too.

Now I know everyone is shocked about the Georgian luger's death (and blaming Canada no less) but is it really so hard to think that it's not a very safe sport to begin with? I know the track was fast but other tracks aren't that much slower (maybe 10kph slower at most). So going 135kph instead of 145kph I don't see as being a huge factor. That's faster than most people drive on the highways in their cars, not on a small sled that offers no protection in any crash. It just seems like a disaster waiting to happen to me. I'm a bit appalled they show the footage of him hitting the pole on TV though.

Now onto the main events;
Canada just got their second gold. Womens Snowboard Cross. It was a good race if you missed it. I'm sure if you did you'll be hearing about it very soon on any news channel out there.

First gold being in Mens Moguls as I'm sure everyone heard. It's too bad the 2nd place Aussie guy was such a poor sport about it (didn't smile, and he's a Canadian too! I heard a rumor he's rich from creating Malware too...). His coach was bad talking the Canadian saying our guy shouldn't have won. I think what his coach failed to realize that even though the Canadians run wasn't flawless, he did really well still and was doing a more technical stunts (thus worth more points) and finished about 20 ms faster.

Womens moguls the day before had me on my seat also. I wish we would have got Gold there too but Silver is great too!

I'm excited for the Mens Hockey tonight! Going to be a good game versus Norway (if I recall). Can't wait! We have a good lineup on our team I think, just hoping the goalies pick up the slack they've had the past few weeks.

What else... Mens curling was earlier today versus Norway. Was a close match but Canada squeezed by.

So.. What are your thoughts? Anything you're excited to see? Predictions? let's get this thread going!!

[Chase31]

how about WWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! go canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


thinking hockey is russia vs canada in the final, cant wait for the rest of the mens !!!

[workn2hard2day]

LOL, 2 Albertans more excited than those living in the Olympic venue.
hmm no Canadian smiley only an American one
Go Canada :cheer2:

[Mr.nintendo]

what a waste...

this city is such a mess

[sphelps]

It's a shame about the death it was a tragic accident but it probably could have been prevented. The wall could have been up before hand as those poles really did look like an accident waiting to happen, especially around the last and fastest corner. I'm no expert but the track may have been too fast, competitors were all saying it was too fast and after the investigation they did conclude it was too fast and made corrections including starting everyone from the ladies start point. Also going around that corner that fast puts tremendous G forces on the body, enough to make you pass out. From the footage it seems to me that the guy passed out before he was thrown from the track. 10km/h difference may not sound like a lot but it could be the difference between pushing though the G forces or blacking out from them. These athletes are pushed to the extreme limit and it doesn't take much to cross the line.

Oh and yeah that Australian is a real douche-bag, it was tight but he was slower and was fairly beaten. He needs to get other that.

Speaking of poor sportsmanship I've noticed a lot of it this time around. Lots of competitors are dropping out and not finishing their events because they no longer have a shot at a medal. Like many of the speed skaters dropped out before the second run forcing others to race solo and in woman's snowboard cross the one women in the shot final went out the gate and then just walked off the course, total BS in my mind.

[Chase31]

i dont think that the ladies and junior start gate was great the men starting from the ladies was fine but the women starting from the junior start gate was not so good it caused huge problems and i didnt think it was very fair

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

We have a 2010 thread on another board since the opening ceremonies. Time we had one here.

OK, thoughts about the Games so far.

The Opening Ceremonies started slow (with the native part - too few performers on too big a stage & with those phallic totem poles) but then it really picked up nicely. Loved the killer whales & spirit bear.

I liked the fact they included the First Nations into the Opening Ceremonies, but I thought it was also misleading, since people who don't know much about Canadian society would get the impression that the First Nations play a leading role in Canada's cultural scene.

The sporting events:

Jenn skiied excellent, but we (my family & I) agreed that the American skier was just a bit better, so Silver was fair. She showed a lot of class in accepting Silver when she went in as the Gold medal favourite.

Soooooo happy that Alexandre beat that traitor from West Van. The pseudo-Aussie is known in the Aussie media as Spam Man since his company produces Spam, Malware & other crap that messes up our computers. He may be rich, but he has absolutely NO class. The pic in the Province newspaper totally shows what a poor sport he is. Even the Bronze winner was smiling, but nooooo..... this traitor was obviously POed & wanted to be anywhere else.

The South Koreans shot themselves in the foot in the speedskating final by cutting each other off or else they would have swept the medals & Apollo would not have gotten a medal.

Happy for the latest Cdn. gold medal winner who snowboarded a perfect race while the last two in her race wiped out & finished waaaaaaaay back. Too bad the men's final didn't produce a gold too since our Cdn. snowboarder lead almost the entire way. At least the nice American won & not the nasty American who wiped out on his own.

[RuGlu6]

what a waste...

this city is such a mess

+1
and on top of that we will have to pay for 30 years and we had no choice.
IOC is a $ making scam committee.
here: http://www.thefiveringcircus.com/5ring.swf

At least someone knows what these "GAMES" really are

[Kryptic4L]

1. the best mogul run was the american who crashed, that dude was going for the gusto!

2. Not happy about the luge being pushed down to the ladie's, people have trained on this coarse for awhile now. A bigger fence to keep them in the track would suffice. Where he hit was very strange and the angle's seemed just right to cause the outcome.

3. why the heck is boarder cross even in the olympic's , keep that crap to x game's. throw in a street style coarse or even set it up to be more like a mogul compition so them loser's actually have to do a trick. its been dead since shawn palmer left.

4. the half pipe comp mens is over before it starts

[randallino]

This will be my second Olympics that I am part of. It didn't hurt Calgary in fact it gave it a real boost (just before the price of oil started to climb again). The early 80's were not good for the oil patch and Calgary suffered from that much like what has happening now with BC's resource based economy. So hopefully we will see a shot in arm for our economy from the Olympics. Be proud of your city and being Canadian.
My 2 cents worth.:smile:

[Veng68]

what a waste...

this city is such a mess

Even if we didn't have the Olympics ........ the City would still be the same.

Cheers,
Vic

[Mr.nintendo]

Even if we didn't have the Olympics ........ the City would still be the same.

Cheers,
Vic


My now unemployed friends, arts funding and the 800 teachers who lost their jobs would disagree

[sphelps]

3. why the heck is boarder cross even in the olympic's , keep that crap to x game's. throw in a street style coarse or even set it up to be more like a mogul compition so them loser's actually have to do a trick. its been dead since shawn palmer left.

What? You bring this up while curling is in the mix? Come on, it's fast, exciting, and dangerous. I think you need at least 2 of those 3 to make it an Olympic sport, curling offers none, except for perhaps exciting if your life is that dull.

[Doug]

For crying out loud. Give it a break. Cant you guys just discuss the topic. Sheez, what part of no political in the lounge is a problem.

And thanks for that Steve. Just because some like curling, they have a dull life.

Likely curling is in there because its competitive in most countries that compete in the winter olympics. Just guessing here but sounds reasonable to be. Better than some, which results in huge beatings, and ends up only between two countries as always.

Have to admit, although not a real snowboard fan, I love those races and am becoming a fan. Great to watch an actual race in a competition. I think its as much or more of a winter olympic sport than some of the others. And this is from an old fart. :lol:

[Parker]

I'm probably in the minority but I'm not really a big fan. I tend to get a lot of work done around the house during the Olympics because my wife takes control of the remote. She was watching on four different channels last night! lol

[sphelps]

Oh come on Doug, don't get me wrong I don't have a problem with curling, it's a fun sport but along the same lines as bowling which I really do enjoy playing. But honestly if you can watch curling on TV and get excited by it then yes IMO you need to get out more, just saying. As far as an Olympic sport it just doesn't make sense to me, we might as well add bowling to the summer Olympics, or actually even better let's add lawn bowling.

Rather than bringing in curling they should have brought in something like, I don't know, WOMENS SKI JUMPING!

[Crytone]

I have mixed feelings about curling. I consider it more a winter activity than a sport. It does take a certain amount of talent and planning though. I believe it was added more to the Olympics to get a certain crowd to watch, who aren't into the higher adrenaline sports to watch (my parents and grandparents love curling!).

I'm pulling for the 100m Downhill Crazy Carpet for the 2014 Winter Olympics!

BTW, Hockey last night wasn't even a fight. But Team Canada had some really nice plays! I think we have a great line this year with Nash, Crosby and Iginla!

[Lance]

I'm a huge fan of the Olympics and enjoy pretty much all the events. Hockey, skiing and speed skating being my favourites but I can happily sit through a curling match as well.

[Lance]

We have to find a Canadian hockey player named Stills to replace Iginla. Than that line could be Crosby, Stills and Nash. :mrgreen:

[Red Coral Aquariums]

curling offers none, except for perhaps exciting if your life is that dull.

Well my life is not dull but I happened to turn on the TV last night (before my airport run) and watched some of the game between Canada and Norway. I watched our skip make a fantastic shot in the 8th end for three points. When he made that shot I jumped out of my chair with my arms in the air like I made that shot myself. Now I have never done that watching NCIS, or 24, or "Lets make a deal" LOL.
Kevin

[sitandwatch]

I find that the good thing about the Olympics is that there is a sport for almost everyone and really when your county makes a big play or wins a medal in anyone of them then you get excited.

I have screamed at the TV and cheered out load a few times and can say that never happens in regular TV viewing.

Even my boys 5 and 2 are into it they want to watch and like to cheer for everyone.

[sitandwatch]

Oh love that they have to bring out the 15 year old Calgary Zamboni to clean the ice for speed skating.

[fkshiu]

I was proud as a reefer that our first gold came in "moguls" even though it had nothing to do with metal halide lighting :D

[Crytone]

Ya, not very good advertising for Olympia. I bet their sales just took a nosedive! It still boggles my mind why they didn't have a backup.

And I have to agree totally. The Olympics is about offering things that appeal to a broad audience. Curling might not be super intense but if we win medals in Curling I'd be just as happy. I challenge anyone to try curling once, if you haven't. It's a LOT harder than it looks. I think it's also more of a sport where a poorer country has just as much chance of winning as the next guy (don't need hightech speed suit or expensive custom gear to play). It really all comes down to skill.

[Phanman]

ok i was watching the canada/finland game last night and I know that iggy got the hat trick on the last deflection but today I see he only got credited for 2 goals? whats up???

I searched the net for just abit and see that some papers say he got 3 goals and then I check the olympic website and it says 2?

maybe someone can enlighten me

[fkshiu]

Ya, not very good advertising for Olympia. I bet their sales just took a nosedive! It still boggles my mind why they didn't have a backup.

And I have to agree totally. The Olympics is about offering things that appeal to a broad audience. Curling might not be super intense but if we win medals in Curling I'd be just as happy. I challenge anyone to try curling once, if you haven't. It's a LOT harder than it looks. I think it's also more of a sport where a poorer country has just as much chance of winning as the next guy (don't need hightech speed suit or expensive custom gear to play). It really all comes down to skill.

The first Olympia puked all over the ice. The back-up Olympia then chewed the ice up. Then they had no choice but to go with the Zamboni from Calgary.

[sitandwatch]

The first Olympia puked all over the ice. The back-up Olympia then chewed the ice up. Then they had no choice but to go with the Zamboni from Calgary.

Oh and the 3rd Olympia messed up the ice also, they had three, all of them failed

[Crytone]

Wow! Olympia failed big time on that one for the entire world to see. I didn't know they had 2 backups and they ALL failed. If I was Olympia I'd be pulling some crazy PR stuff right now, otherwise they just advertised expensive ice paperweights.

And as for Iginla's goals there was debates last night too. There's question if he deflected the puck or not. CTV was saying afterwards the same thing; that the Olympics were bouncing back and forth between 2 or 3 for him. Last I heard it was 3 but I guess they decided on 2?

[Doug]

I'm pulling for the 100m Downhill Crazy Carpet for the 2014 Winter Olympics!



Alrighty. Looking forward to that. :mrgreen:

[Doug]

Oh come on Doug, don't get me wrong I don't have a problem with curling, it's a fun sport but along the same lines as bowling which I really do enjoy playing. But honestly if you can watch curling on TV and get excited by it then yes IMO you need to get out more, just saying. As far as an Olympic sport it just doesn't make sense to me, we might as well add bowling to the summer Olympics, or actually even better let's add lawn bowling.

Rather than bringing in curling they should have brought in something like, I don't know, WOMENS SKI JUMPING!


Hey now, treading on curling is one thing but lets leave bowling out of this. 5 pin bowling in the games would be good. It just so happens I have a Canadian gold, so even though over the hill, ya never know. :lol:

And I,m in agreement. Womens ski jumping should have been in. 100%. Even though our ladies hockey is hallowed ground, besides Canada/USA, not much competition. It may wind up going the way of ladies fastball from the summer games, due to lack of it, if something does not change.

Say what you want about curling but its very competitive between most countries entered, in both mens and womens.

[Veng68]

Alrighty. Looking forward to that. :mrgreen:

You should have seen the young Russian women at the Sochi House promoting the 2014 Winter games :)

Cheers,
Vic

[trilinearmipmap]

I have mixed feelings about these games.

First of all the Canadian team have come out quite outspoken about "we are going to own the podium". There have been interviews where people from the Canadian team are predicting Canada will place first in the medal standings. I think they are shooting themselves in the foot. If they place first they come across as braggarts, if they don't they look foolish. It all seems too American for me. Underpromise and overdeliver, don't tell me how good you are, show me.

Second the Georgian luge competitor decelerated from 80 mph to zero in maybe a tenth of a second. If there had been a barrier running lengthwise alongside the track between the track and the metal posts, he would have hit the barrier longwise and at an oblique angle and slid along it rather than stopping immediately. Instead of being dead he would have maybe survived with serious injuries. I don't know if the track is dangerous or if it was just a freak accident, it just seems obvious that you don't place large immobile objects next to a high-speed track just waiting for someone to smack into them.

Third the Roman Empire kept its citizens happy by providing circuses, gladiatorial combat etc. rather than attending to the people's true needs, providing food, education, health care etc. It seems like more of the same to me. My spouse is likely to lose her job thanks to healthcare cutbacks, meanwhile we are blowing ? how many billion dollars on pageantry to entertain the mob for a couple of weeks. Some may be fooled by this, I hope some are not.

[Chase31]

now the speedskating is having troubles with there timer... wow

[Ron99]

I have mixed feelings about these games.

First of all the Canadian team have come out quite outspoken about "we are going to own the podium". There have been interviews where people from the Canadian team are predicting Canada will place first in the medal standings. I think they are shooting themselves in the foot. If they place first they come across as braggarts, if they don't they look foolish. It all seems too American for me. Underpromise and overdeliver, don't tell me how good you are, show me.

Second the Georgian luge competitor decelerated from 80 mph to zero in maybe a tenth of a second. If there had been a barrier running lengthwise alongside the track between the track and the metal posts, he would have hit the barrier longwise and at an oblique angle and slid along it rather than stopping immediately. Instead of being dead he would have maybe survived with serious injuries. I don't know if the track is dangerous or if it was just a freak accident, it just seems obvious that you don't place large immobile objects next to a high-speed track just waiting for someone to smack into them.

Third the Roman Empire kept its citizens happy by providing circuses, gladiatorial combat etc. rather than attending to the people's true needs, providing food, education, health care etc. It seems like more of the same to me. My spouse is likely to lose her job thanks to healthcare cutbacks, meanwhile we are blowing ? how many billion dollars on pageantry to entertain the mob for a couple of weeks. Some may be fooled by this, I hope some are not.

I agree. The expense is excessive given all the other problems that need dealing with and a lack of funding for health care and education. I have nothing against the games in principle but why does it have to be such a big expensive show and have caused so much inconvenience for Vancouverites for the last few years. Why not light a torch, let the athletes compete and that's it? Instead we have to always have one upmanship with respect to the last olympics and put on an even bigger more impressive show and get to spend the next 30 years paying for it. Let's not forget that Montreal just finished paying off the last debt for the '76 games a year or two ago :sad:

[RuGlu6]

how many billion dollars on pageantry to entertain the mob for a couple of weeks. Some may be fooled by this, I hope some are not.

Good point, as well as selling us an infrastructure at x20 price tag!

[RuGlu6]

So hopefully we will see a shot in arm for our economy from the Olympics. :smile:

More like a shot in a head ! :lol:

[saltcreep]

I agree. The expense is excessive given all the other problems that need dealing with and a lack of funding for health care and education. I have nothing against the games in principle but why does it have to be such a big expensive show and have caused so much inconvenience for Vancouverites for the last few years. Why not light a torch, let the athletes compete and that's it? Instead we have to always have one upmanship with respect to the last olympics and put on an even bigger more impressive show and get to spend the next 30 years paying for it. Let's not forget that Montreal just finished paying off the last debt for the '76 games a year or two ago :sad:


You can't compare 2010 to 1976 at all. First, the summer games are much larger and come with a greater cost. The Montreal games were held prior to massive sponsorship and tv rights money being infused to help offset the cost of hosting the games.

The money paid for the 2010 games would never have gone into health or education. It's not like the money spent is being flushed down the toilet.

It can be debated to death about the need to upgrade the sea-to-sky but the Canada Line was well needed and will be used for generations. Again, debate the need of the convention centre. The NDP turned down Steve Winn years ago when he offered to pay for the convention centre with his own private money with the contingency that he was allowed to include a casino. Look at all the casinos in town and it makes you shake your head (yes, I know that it wasn't the NDP who allowed that expansion).

Speaking of the NDP, the champions of health care and education....they were the party in power that got the ball rolling with the bid.

Aside from Canada Line and S2S, what inconveniences did it cause for the last few years? Both of those are infrastructure investments that will be beneficial moving forward.

[Doug]

Wow. Shaun White was something to watch last night. Simply amazing.

[sphelps]

Wow. Shaun White was something to watch last night. Simply amazing.
Yeah he sure sets the standard for that competition. I think he was even holding back a little but still almost obtained a perfect score on that last little joy ride.
I swear the judges get put that Fin in there to break up the podium, I'm not sure how that run scored a 45! Even the guys face when he got his score was like WHAT?? A good run but not second best, that's for sure.

How about the womens downhill? That was certainly entertaining, even got some ski jumping in there.

[Norstar]

I personally am tired of talking about them. I just wish they would go away! In my eyes, they are a disaster.

[Doug]

How about the womens downhill? That was certainly entertaining, even got some ski jumping in there.

It looked like a combined, but jumping & downhill. Thats last hill near the finish almost seemed like to much for many. It showed them shaving it off right after the downhill and before the combined started today.

[Samw]

I wasn't overly excited about the games in the beginning but I also wasn't overly negative about them either. The luge accident was tragic. The design of the track was terrible and was indeed an accident waiting to happen. The opening ceremony was embarassing with the malfunction of the torch arm. However, I have to admit that once the games started, I was drawn in and am starting to enjoy them. I love the daily fireworks which I can view from my apartment. I like being able to step out and seeing the excitement on everyone's faces in the crowd. I'm looking forward to watching an event or 2. It's not something I would like to have 365 days a year. However, for the 3 weeks of a lifetime, I like it.

[sphelps]

I didn't think the arm failing was a big deal, it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the past problems in other places. From an engineering point of view it was a complex system and the recovery with 3 arms was well done. **** happens and it's easy to criticize from your couch but honestly very few people could do better. Plus they had the benefit of lighting the outside torch as well which was flawless.

Also keep in mind that no one has ever been launched out of a luge track before so let's not be too hard on those designers either. Although it could have been prevented it was far from being predictable. Above all it was a freak accident and I don't think it's far to pass blame. In the future, tracks will now be built a little different with more precautions to prevent another similar accident. The world learns by failure so let's stay positive.

[fkshiu]

I personally am tired of talking about them. I just wish they would go away! In my eyes, they are a disaster.

A little grumpy are we?

[Samw]

I didn't think the arm failing was a big deal, it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the past problems in other places. From an engineering point of view it was a complex system and the recovery with 3 arms was well done. **** happens and it's easy to criticize from your couch but honestly very few people could do better. Plus they had the benefit of lighting the outside torch as well which was flawless.

Also keep in mind that no one has ever been launched out of a luge track before so let's not be too hard on those designers either. Although it could have been prevented it was far from being predictable. Above all it was a freak accident and I don't think it's far to pass blame. In the future, tracks will now be built a little different with more precautions to prevent another similar accident. The world learns by failure so let's stay positive.

Maybe better designs prevented others from being launched? It's either the athlete or the track. Well, it's not the athlete.

I don't think I said it was easy to build the arms. But with the world watching, the arm did fail. Can't argue it. Everyone is talking about it. Just because it doesn't bother you doesn't mean it was a success either.

You have to take the negatives with the positives. Why pretend there are no negatives? It happened so I and everyone else can comment on them as a negatives. They certainly aren't positives.

You write as if I am being a harsh critic when I simply wrote a few sentences on this topic.

[ScubaSteve]

Ok, just a disclaimer, this isn't a response to anyone here. More just a bit of a rant after reading some stupid article in the paper this morning.

You know, I gotta say... people just really like to bitch and find fault in everything. Aside from the luge incident, most of these problems are pretty minor in the big picture and many, the media especially, are losing sight of that. I used to be an event planner so I know what kind of crazy crap happens that you don't expect and I have to say that the organizers are doing a pretty good job at taking it in stride. Yeah, ok... they could have made a few better calls here and there but overall they're doing well.

I want to meet the guy who was able to reprogram that whole set-up to run with three arms in 30 seconds and give him a high-five and a case of beer. In show business, s*** happens but the show must go on.

So what if they had to cancel some tickets for Cypress, this isn't the first time that has had to happen for an Olympic venue. And this was done for safety reasons! I saw the standing area the other day and it wasn't looking to pretty. This was a smart call on Vanoc's behalf.

The luge incident is very tragic but it could not have been predicted. I agree that a safety wall would have been good there in the first place, though a rider coming out of the track at that part of the course is just... unbelievable. I was shocked. That was a freak accident. I feel absolutely terrible for him, his family and friends. I must say though he did make a mistake that lead to what happened. I say this not to point the finger elsewhere but more to the point that there were many factors that went it this other than some murderous sliding track that is appeased by death and destruction like it being made out to be.

One of my friends is on the Canadian Sliding team (He better win a gold!) and he said that though the track was a bit crazy he nad many of the riders actually enjoyed it as it IS challenging. He said that sliders are speed-freaks and the faster track was cool to them. He said that when you see the best of the best finding a course challenging (our track isn't the only fast one in the world by the way) it changes the dynamics of the competition. I only tell you guys this just so you can hear the other perspective rather than the one-sided story we usually get told.

And this... this really irks me. Media in London is trash-talking our Olympics, calling them the worst ever... and they are blaming us for all the things that are weather related! First of all, I think it's bad taste that an upcoming host city is bad mouthing the current host. Second of all, I have to apologize to London that we did not sacrifice enough goats to the snow god and that our wizard called in sick, so we couldn't make the weather perfect. Our bad London, our bad. I gotta say it, but when I look outside right now...

I think we are having a better summer Olympics than London will!

Ranting aside, anyone see Sean White's last run in the half-pipe? Holy S***! Dude is like Superman on a snowboard.

Later folks, I'm off to go have FUN at the Olympics!

[sphelps]

Glad to see someone else with a grasp on reality, thanks for sharing Steve. I'll also pitch on that case of beer ;)

[toxic111]

:cheer2:

(closest thing I could find to hand clapping)

Everyone seems to want to whine about something, from the culdron not working, to the natives, to not enough french (heck even complaining about curling (for those who have never tried it, it is much harder than it looks, and Martins team spends hours in the gym to play the way they do)

Time to move on & enjoy the show!

[Treebeard]

Great post Steve! The London media really pi$$ me off too. Not to mention the complaints about there not being enough french spoken at the games.

And this just in....Christine Nesbitt just won gold for Canada in the 1000 meter long track! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

[Lance]

Shaun White needs to find another level to compete in as he is far and away out of the other competitors league. The guy is amazing! And he's making about 8 mil per year to boot. Not bad for a stoner who lived in a bus with his parents.:biggrin:

[Crytone]

Well said Steve. I must concur with you on your points. There wasn't a single hiccup until that point. From what I hear people in the stadium had no idea there was a malfunction as they weren't informed until after.

As for London making sly remarks of the games.. It irks me a bit too. And the worst Olympics ever? That's going a bit far I think. No one can control the weather and it's just been terrible this year... Karma will get them in a few years though I feel. As someone once said "Don't dish it unless you can take it".

And as for the complaints about the lack of French.. I think that's just a minority in Quebec who won't be happy until there's absolutely NO English at all in the Olympics. I felt they had plenty of French (and yes, I speak French). We have to remember only 1 province is, what most would consider, 'francophone' and they do not represent 1/2 the population of Canada like they sometimes seem to think.

As for Snowboarding halfpipe I think it needs a small revamp on their marking scheme. I think it should be ran like other sports with 5 marks given but the lowest and highest are 'thrown out' and you get a mark out of 30 instead of 50. Might level the playing field a bit more (Shawn White would likely still place very well though but everyone else would be more leveled).

Men's Hockey going on now and it's looking good so far (1 goal Canada! whooo).

Just my thoughts.

[Ron99]

And as for the complaints about the lack of French.. I think that's just a minority in Quebec who won't be happy until there's absolutely NO English at all in the Olympics. I felt they had plenty of French (and yes, I speak French). We have to remember only 1 province is, what most would consider, 'francophone' and they do not represent 1/2 the population of Canada like they sometimes seem to think.

The sad (or funnny) part is that the foreigners spoke much better french then any of the Canadians. I still have trouble understanding quebecois. That accent drives me nuts.

[Doug]

Going 90mph down an ice chute with a crazy carpet under your backside is bad enough but head first is just dumb. :lol:

[Crytone]

Wow, The game against the Swiss was way closer than it had to be. Down to a shootout! Great saves by Brodeur and Hillier but Brodeur was better. Yay Team Canada!

[toxic111]

Hilier kept them in the game... out shot 17-2 (or something like that) in the third!

[Mr.nintendo]

Going 90mph down an ice chute with a crazy carpet under your backside is bad enough but head first is just dumb. :lol:

there are winners and there are lugers


too soon?

[Kryptic4L]

4. the half pipe comp mens is over before it starts

Win,

Lets get SPS growing into the olympics. But it will have to be a 4 year event, not every 4 years.

[Doug]

The right skater won the gold medal, however although I like Chan and he is our mens skating future, he was marked to high. And what the hell does Weir have to do to medal. How did he end up 6th. Usual skating judging.

I think thats why I like the timed races or something like the snowboard cross. Straight flat out racing, no judging involved.

[Treebeard]

It was much too close! But why did Babcock sit out Iginla for pretty much the entire third period? Babcock needs to get his lines set and quit juggling.

Wow, The game against the Swiss was way closer than it had to be. Down to a shootout! Great saves by Brodeur and Hillier but Brodeur was better. Yay Team Canada!

[Lance]

The right skater won the gold medal, however although I like Chan and he is our mens skating future, he was marked to high. And what the hell does Weir have to do to medal. How did he end up 6th. Usual skating judging.

I think thats why I like the timed races or something like the snowboard cross. Straight flat out racing, no judging involved.



I totally agree Doug. Judged events are quite often a joke. They have to come up with a computer that scores the performance and take the human judging element out of it.

[Carrera75]

Ok, just a disclaimer, this isn't a response to anyone here. More just a bit of a rant after reading some stupid article in the paper this morning.

You know, I gotta say... people just really like to bitch and find fault in everything. Aside from the luge incident, most of these problems are pretty minor in the big picture and many, the media especially, are losing sight of that. I used to be an event planner so I know what kind of crazy crap happens that you don't expect and I have to say that the organizers are doing a pretty good job at taking it in stride. Yeah, ok... they could have made a few better calls here and there but overall they're doing well.

I want to meet the guy who was able to reprogram that whole set-up to run with three arms in 30 seconds and give him a high-five and a case of beer. In show business, s*** happens but the show must go on.

So what if they had to cancel some tickets for Cypress, this isn't the first time that has had to happen for an Olympic venue. And this was done for safety reasons! I saw the standing area the other day and it wasn't looking to pretty. This was a smart call on Vanoc's behalf.

The luge incident is very tragic but it could not have been predicted. I agree that a safety wall would have been good there in the first place, though a rider coming out of the track at that part of the course is just... unbelievable. I was shocked. That was a freak accident. I feel absolutely terrible for him, his family and friends. I must say though he did make a mistake that lead to what happened. I say this not to point the finger elsewhere but more to the point that there were many factors that went it this other than some murderous sliding track that is appeased by death and destruction like it being made out to be.

One of my friends is on the Canadian Sliding team (He better win a gold!) and he said that though the track was a bit crazy he nad many of the riders actually enjoyed it as it IS challenging. He said that sliders are speed-freaks and the faster track was cool to them. He said that when you see the best of the best finding a course challenging (our track isn't the only fast one in the world by the way) it changes the dynamics of the competition. I only tell you guys this just so you can hear the other perspective rather than the one-sided story we usually get told.

And this... this really irks me. Media in London is trash-talking our Olympics, calling them the worst ever... and they are blaming us for all the things that are weather related! First of all, I think it's bad taste that an upcoming host city is bad mouthing the current host. Second of all, I have to apologize to London that we did not sacrifice enough goats to the snow god and that our wizard called in sick, so we couldn't make the weather perfect. Our bad London, our bad. I gotta say it, but when I look outside right now...

I think we are having a better summer Olympics than London will!

Ranting aside, anyone see Sean White's last run in the half-pipe? Holy S***! Dude is like Superman on a snowboard.

Later folks, I'm off to go have FUN at the Olympics!

I totally agree with you Kevin!
This city is not a mess AT ALL....it has been a lot of fun since the Olympics started. It is awesome so see all the people from different countries and the amazing energy that they have brought to this city.

If you don't like the games then stay away and stop bitching.

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Just finally got a chance to read this thread.

The "Own the Podium" ideal is when the Canadian sport technical program launched in January 2005 to prepare Canada to become the top winter sporting nation in the world by 2010. Most of the top countries already support their athletes in more ways then Canada has ever. Our athletes before this relied mostly on fundraising and corporate sponsorship.

If one of our athletes win gold, they are awarded $20,000 for the win. Other countries give their athletes a salary for life, as in Korea and Japan.

Incentive to be best in the world is always there, but financial incentives help more.

Among all Olympics there will be highs and lows, unfortunately in my personal opinion. The Olympics have become too commercialized, and they have forgotten the base roots of competition.

In '88 we seen the likes of "Eddie the Eagle" and the "Jamaican bobsled team", that is the true gift of the Olympics, the "Olympic" experience for all.

Unfortunately, as in all competition, everyone strives to be faster stronger, etc... they have weed out the likes of the above for safety reasons.

Furthermore they have taken the Olympic experience away from the regular person. You have to pay to see the medals ceremony from the spectators of that specific sport, awarding most of the medals at GM place at a cost of $20-$55 a person.

You cannot even get a clear picture of the Olympic flame because it is surrounded by a chain link fence, keeping the people away. Why didn’t they put it on a barge like they did the rings? At least this way it doesn’t make the common person feel like they are locked away.

Did anyone try getting tickets for any events? That alone was a horror story in itself. After the IOC, Vanoc, corporate sponsorship, what tickets were left available for the average person? Not many.

As for London, let them say what they want. We have better weather here in winter than they have in the summer. The British media always love a chance to criticize Canada for anything that they can. The probably do the same for Australia also.

Just my opinion,

Ken - BWA

[Veng68]

It was much too close! But why did Babcock sit out Iginla for pretty much the entire third period? Babcock needs to get his lines set and quit juggling.

He may be injured........ took a hit and may have a concussion.......... I hope not.......... at least not until the NHL season restarts ;)

Cheers,
Vic

[Crytone]

He may be injured........ took a hit and may have a concussion.......... I hope not.......... at least not until the NHL season restarts ;)

Cheers,
Vic

I think he may have sat him out for the simple fact that there just wasn't the magic in the front line we saw in game 1. Canada looked a little sloppy and everyone seemed to be glory hogs (ie- going for that solo goal instead of passing). I think he was likely playing with the frontline to see what other combinations might work last night.

[Doug]

Hmmmmmmmmm. Wonder why its called skeleton? Why does it remind me of Chevy Chase? :lol:

I had a bigger sleigh when I was 5.

[Doug]

Well I thought yesterday was a bad day with our two man bob tipping while likely in 1st. and our two brothers short track skaters coming up short

but

guess this puts it all in perspective.
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/figure-skating/news/newsid=48407.html?cid=rsstsn

Just so sad after all she has been through. IMO and I have seen them all over the last 30yrs. One of our most resilient womens skater ever. Kept picking herself up and not quiting or just turning pro because you fall a few times at majors.

Now she is one of the worlds best and someone that the girls on all the rinks, wishing to compete at that level, can look up to.

My heart goes out to her and her family at this time. And a tear ran down my cheek when I read it this morning.

[Kryptic4L]

Did anyone try getting tickets for any events? That alone was a horror story in itself. After the IOC, Vanoc, corporate sponsorship, what tickets were left available for the average person? Not many.

Ken - BWA


I did, but I work for GE, I even had gold medal hockey game tickets sitting in my cart. But they were discounted 8% and were still 2 k for a set of 2.

So I passed on them, as I dont believe in buying ticket's for profit.

this whole thing goes back to the corperate sponsership.

Working for large corperation's who are very structured on pay, based on global average's etc... is more of a reverse union. Make's these prices out of reach for your average employeee.

[dsaundry]

How about some modifications for the next winter olympic's? Full contact curling? Roller derby rules for the short track speed skating?? Figure skating with the politics out of it?? Let the women ski jump! And finally have the ticket scalpers and huge corporations that bought out and overpriced all the tickets put in bobsleds that go off a cliff somewhere, so that regular people have a chance at tickets.As for the weather, Cypress was the only one really hit hard and they still did ok., Weather here is fantastic and nobody could have predicted these warm temps 4 years ago. As for the Georgian athlete, hindsight is 20/20, nobody could have seen that and it's amazing at those speeds there haven't been more fatalities. Opening ceremonies were a bit long, but overall entertaining even with the few faults. Seeing the Australian mens mogul athlete pouting was hilarious, he can go back to Australia and sulk there. Well he's worth millions so I don't feel sorry for him at all, What an A$$clown! As for all the nay sayers about the Olympics, this isn't the worst olympics and the spin offs should pay off in the long run. no point blaming the politicians, it's over and done with. The games are here and thats all. Could the money have gone somewhere else, you betcha, but we all vote the politicians in so stop crying about it. Time to move forward, cheer on your country and have a great time doing it....:biggrin:

[Doug]

:canada:

[whatcaneyedo]

If you don't like the games then stay away and stop bitching.

Exactly. Our government is going to do what it wants regardless of what we (the minority) want so there is no point in getting all worked up over it. I believe that the Olympics and professional sports in general are a waste of resources. So I'm just not watching it.

[Jamieh]

When the ticket packages came out I looked up about 5 or 6 events that I wanted to attend and priced out the various packages that I would need to purchase to attend these events. Once in a lifetime chance I thought?? Total price would have been almost $20,000 for Wife and I!!!! That obviously did not include transportation or accomodation. I quickly abandoned Olympic trip!!!

Have spent 2 months in Phoenix and have spent less than half that in total including plenty of NHL and NBA games???

[Lance]

Kicked some German butt tonight. hehe. Look out Russia, here we come!

[Doug]

Yesterday was pretty good with the gold medal and that great skate last night.

However even with the hockey tonight, {its a bloody shame we have to loose one of the two best in the world before the semi,s even}, our girls two man, or is it two girl, bob sled team, was the most impressive with that record run and sitting in first place heading into tonights final two runs.

[Lance]

Wow, impressive so far, Canada is out scoring, outhitting, out everything Russia. Good thing that Canada is almost scoring at will because Luongo has not looked that good though.

[Doug]

and we sitting first and third going into the last run. :D

[Lance]

and we sitting first and third going into the last run. :D


:thumb::thumb:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Woohoo. We WIN!!!!!!!!

And Louie made some key awesome saves in the Third.

[Lance]

Gold & Silver in Women's Bob Sleigh! WHoot!!!

[Lance]

Woohoo. We WIN!!!!!!!!

And Louie made some key awesome saves in the Third.


Yes he did! I apologize Louie! :biggrin:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

AND we WIN both Gold & Silver in Women's Bobsledding!!!!!

Got my Telus HD TV just in time today to watch everything this afternoon in HiDef!!!

[Lance]

AND we WIN both Gold & Silver in Women's Bobsledding!!!!!

Got my Telus HD TV just in time today to watch everything this afternoon in HiDef!!!


Nice Score Anthony. HD is the only way!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

And now a Silver in the Ladies Speedskating Relay!!! Korea is disqualified!

What a great night for Cdn. athletes.

[Lance]

They're calling it "Wonderful Wednesday" after "Super Sunday" was such a dud.

[Doug]

or

Womens Wednesday

:D

[Doug]

Ya know, have to agree with some that the hand dealt to Mancuso in the GS, because of Vonn,s crash is absolute bs. Once every 4 years they get a crack at this and because its a bit foggy of whatever reason, officials try save a little time so to get the event in and send skiers down before the other is finished the course.

And its not like they dont know there will be crashes, as most always there are. So Mancuso gets flagged because of it, has to go down the hill then back up by snow machine, mostly exausted, placed now after numerous other skiers and then do her run completely over.

Bogus way to run an event if you ask me, where ever it is.

[Doug]

Congrats Joannie.

[Crytone]

Currently tied for highest gold medal count! That's pretty good I think. We may not have the most medals but having the most golds would be the next best thing!

Also, semi-final tonight for Mens Hockey.. Canada vs Slovakia. Hopefully no more upset from Slovakia. Winner plays the US it looks like. Should be one hell of a weekend!

[Doug]

Crap. Tough pairing for our female skaters. They do the 2nd. best time in the quarters and loose to the best time in the quarters.

[Doug]

Well thats sucks. Gotta play an extra end.

[Doug]

Well thats sucks. Gotta play an extra end.


Well for (*&^%$)_*()*** sakes.

Guess on to cheer on the hockey team.

[Lance]

Well for (*&^%$)_*()*** sakes.


That game was a downer. Should have had it won in the 10th end. And then again in the eleventh. Cheryl Bernard had been making the big shots for the whole tournament, only to lose it at the end.

[toxic111]

its too bad that she couldn't finish them off, but considering I didn't even expect her to be in the medals (nor did my wife who is a huge curling fan) she did well.

Martin should get his gold tomorrow...

Now to be ready for the Hockey re-match...

[Lance]

Wow! Big night for Canada. Mens' Short Track Skaters came through at last; Silver in Women's Curling; Men's Hockey Team wins again. :biggrin:

[Chin_Lee]

Women's curling was so exciting and its too bad Cheryl crewed up the last shot in the 10th and bunked the hammer in the 11th. Sooooooo close but no gold. They played fabulously though and Cheryl's still my hero :)

[Doug]

The men are making a medal come back. :D Plus perhaps more today with the roller derby. :lol: Looking good in the Bobsleigh also. Does Martin curl today?

[toxic111]

Yep.. martin goes for the gold at 15:00PST

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Women's curling was so exciting and its too bad Cheryl crewed up the last shot in the 10th and bunked the hammer in the 11th. Sooooooo close but no gold. They played fabulously though and Cheryl's still my hero :)

Cheryl's considered a sex symbol in the States:wink:

[christyf5]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDSS!!

Mens team pursuit speed skating and some sort of mens slalom snowboard thingy. Yeah boys! Way to go!! :biggrin:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

12 Golds & US only has 8.

[Doug]

Told ya the men were on a come back. :D

[Lance]

Wow! Another huge day for Canada. 13 gold ties the record! And when we beat the US tomorrow in hockey we'll own the record. :mrgreen: