The Vancouver 2010 Olympics

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[saltcreep]

Originally Posted by Ron99

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

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]

Originally Posted by Doug

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.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by Norstar

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?

[Doug]

Originally Posted by sphelps

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.