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Thoughts on the Olympics
Mar. 1st, 2010 12:54 pmWell that was a hell of a ride.
Hindsight being 20/20, I imagine Vancouver's support for VANOC is much higher then it was a few weeks ago. It's hard to argue the Olympics are a bad thing when we were so incredibly successful at them.
I remember a few years back when Vancouver got the bid. I was talking to a lot of my Vancouver peeps and their reactions ranged from mild hostility towards the games all the way up to apathy. "Why aren't you all gung-ho for this", I cried, "The Olympics are awesome. This town is going to have a celebration you'll be talking about for years. Hell, the amount of money it will bring in is staggering, if you want to be purely mercenary about it." No one really changed their mind due to my cheering/ranting though. But I knew they'd come around, because I remembered 1988 in Cowtown.
Which leads to my own speculation about 20/20 hindsight. Did we bitch about it before the fact too? Is the fact that you'd be hard-placed to find a Calgarian who was here in 1988 who wasn't a balls-to-the-walls supporter of the Olympics just an artifact of how successful we were? Do I just not remember all the naysayers?
I suspect if they existed (in large numbers. There's always a minority who just like to complain, no matter what the topic), they were more we-can't-afford-this right-wing then the think of the homeless/natives/children/anti-globalization left-wing that Vancouver has to deal with.
I don't mean to poo-poo a lot of the anti-Olympics arguments. They all had their hearts in the right place. For example, I think pointing out the dangers of globalization is a good thing. I think Government should do better when it comes to the homeless. I think native land-claims are something that needs to be settled in a fair manner.
I don't think the Olympics took away from any of that. That's because the funding for the Olympics was never an either/or matter. The fact that the BC and federal governments ponied up cash for the Olympics does not mean that they'd have used that money for the homeless if we didn't have an Olympics. If anything, having a global soapbox to talk about the homeless problem in Vancouver probably did more good then if the Olympics weren't around.
If the Olympics (and here I mean the powers that be - IOC, VANOC, assorted governments) did anything wrong, it was quashing dissent. I might not agree with the protesters, but enacting laws that prevent you from putting signs up in your own window are not a good thing for anyone. Let the protesters protest - even if they're a bunch of assholes.
Not being into sports in general, I didn't watch much of the Olympics. Our weekly beer-o-clock get-together after archery allowed us to watch the last period of the Canada-Slovakia Men's Hockey semi-final. Yesterday I watched the tail end of the third period of the Canada-USA final as well as all of the OT period. Exciting stuff.
The hockey games will be endlessly dissected by better qualified people then I. However, being Canadian, I still have a small amount of Hockey in my genes (It's sort of like sickle-cell anemia: One recessive hockey gene allows you to hold conversations with any stranger in Canada - so there's a benefit. OTOH having two copies of the gene turns you into a beer-swilling moron) so I can form an opinion:
We probably should have lost both those games. The Slovaks and the Americans we're hungry for it and pushed every second of every game. Conversely, we sat back and let them dictate the terms of the game in the final (regular) period of both games. It was only the shock of Team USA tying things us with seconds remaining that made us play to the utmost of our abilities. The simple fact that we're Canadian does not guarantee we can or should win a hockey game - even the best teams lose and when you're talking about the Olympic finals, you have to bring your A-game. We were lucky to get a second chance. Thankfully we had the skill to take advantage of it.
Sidney Crosby will never need to buy a beer again for the rest of his life. Youth, good-looks, a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal - Kid, the only thing that will prevent you from having a fantastic life is you. Don't go the Steve Fonyo route and you'll be an icon.
I might not be into sports, but I am into Canada. I've always believed we've got a lot to be proud of. Occasions like these tell me I'm right and that a lot of my country-men agree with me. The closing ceremonies had me at times weepy and at other times rolling my eyes. It was a spectacular collection of good, bad and stinky cheese.
It would have been great to be on the streets of Vancouver yesterday.
Hindsight being 20/20, I imagine Vancouver's support for VANOC is much higher then it was a few weeks ago. It's hard to argue the Olympics are a bad thing when we were so incredibly successful at them.
I remember a few years back when Vancouver got the bid. I was talking to a lot of my Vancouver peeps and their reactions ranged from mild hostility towards the games all the way up to apathy. "Why aren't you all gung-ho for this", I cried, "The Olympics are awesome. This town is going to have a celebration you'll be talking about for years. Hell, the amount of money it will bring in is staggering, if you want to be purely mercenary about it." No one really changed their mind due to my cheering/ranting though. But I knew they'd come around, because I remembered 1988 in Cowtown.
Which leads to my own speculation about 20/20 hindsight. Did we bitch about it before the fact too? Is the fact that you'd be hard-placed to find a Calgarian who was here in 1988 who wasn't a balls-to-the-walls supporter of the Olympics just an artifact of how successful we were? Do I just not remember all the naysayers?
I suspect if they existed (in large numbers. There's always a minority who just like to complain, no matter what the topic), they were more we-can't-afford-this right-wing then the think of the homeless/natives/children/anti-globalization left-wing that Vancouver has to deal with.
I don't mean to poo-poo a lot of the anti-Olympics arguments. They all had their hearts in the right place. For example, I think pointing out the dangers of globalization is a good thing. I think Government should do better when it comes to the homeless. I think native land-claims are something that needs to be settled in a fair manner.
I don't think the Olympics took away from any of that. That's because the funding for the Olympics was never an either/or matter. The fact that the BC and federal governments ponied up cash for the Olympics does not mean that they'd have used that money for the homeless if we didn't have an Olympics. If anything, having a global soapbox to talk about the homeless problem in Vancouver probably did more good then if the Olympics weren't around.
If the Olympics (and here I mean the powers that be - IOC, VANOC, assorted governments) did anything wrong, it was quashing dissent. I might not agree with the protesters, but enacting laws that prevent you from putting signs up in your own window are not a good thing for anyone. Let the protesters protest - even if they're a bunch of assholes.
Not being into sports in general, I didn't watch much of the Olympics. Our weekly beer-o-clock get-together after archery allowed us to watch the last period of the Canada-Slovakia Men's Hockey semi-final. Yesterday I watched the tail end of the third period of the Canada-USA final as well as all of the OT period. Exciting stuff.
The hockey games will be endlessly dissected by better qualified people then I. However, being Canadian, I still have a small amount of Hockey in my genes (It's sort of like sickle-cell anemia: One recessive hockey gene allows you to hold conversations with any stranger in Canada - so there's a benefit. OTOH having two copies of the gene turns you into a beer-swilling moron) so I can form an opinion:
We probably should have lost both those games. The Slovaks and the Americans we're hungry for it and pushed every second of every game. Conversely, we sat back and let them dictate the terms of the game in the final (regular) period of both games. It was only the shock of Team USA tying things us with seconds remaining that made us play to the utmost of our abilities. The simple fact that we're Canadian does not guarantee we can or should win a hockey game - even the best teams lose and when you're talking about the Olympic finals, you have to bring your A-game. We were lucky to get a second chance. Thankfully we had the skill to take advantage of it.
Sidney Crosby will never need to buy a beer again for the rest of his life. Youth, good-looks, a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal - Kid, the only thing that will prevent you from having a fantastic life is you. Don't go the Steve Fonyo route and you'll be an icon.
I might not be into sports, but I am into Canada. I've always believed we've got a lot to be proud of. Occasions like these tell me I'm right and that a lot of my country-men agree with me. The closing ceremonies had me at times weepy and at other times rolling my eyes. It was a spectacular collection of good, bad and stinky cheese.
It would have been great to be on the streets of Vancouver yesterday.
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