Vancouver Olympics, 2010

[Theowne]

Having to host the Olympics seems like more of a curse to me, but I guess there must be some benefit if so many cities keep applying.

Maybe I'll make the trip down there.

I love the Winter olympics, they interest me far more than the summer ones. Speed skating! Skiing!

[K_Babyy]

I am so excited it's an olympic year!

I'm an American, so I'll be rooting for Apollo Anton Ohno for male speed skating, Louie Vito and Shaun White for male snowboarding, Lindsey Vonn for alpine skiing, and for couples figure skating, Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett.

[Kaioshin Sama]

This "I Believe" theme song for the Olympics has literally been everywhere on Canadian Airwaves (TV and Radio) since about the beginning of this week. It's actually pretty good IMO and it's cool that the singer Nikki Yanofsky is from my families hometown of Montreal. She's also supposedly only 15. Have a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP9IQuz-jlk

Pipes!

[0utf0xZer0]

I'm finally starting to get into the mood for this. Not because there's less than 30 hours to go, but because I'm finally done with the assignments I had to get in before the two week break in classes.

Also, SFU's Harbour Center campus is apparently being taken over by Germans. They were setting up a lot of stuff when I went to class yesterday.

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by Theowne

Having to host the Olympics seems like more of a curse to me, but I guess there must be some benefit if so many cities keep applying.

Maybe I'll make the trip down there.

I love the Winter olympics, they interest me far more than the summer ones. Speed skating! Skiing!

It costs a lot of money, but usually they get a LOT more money back from future tourism, new advertising deals, etc.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Ugh...I have to work pretty much all day tomorrow so I'm going to miss the opening ceremonies. I better tape it now that I think of it.

[Lio]

I heard Stephen Colbert's coming up here as part of the US speed-skating team.

It costs a lot of money, but usually they get a LOT more money back from future tourism, new advertising deals, etc.

I don't know. IIRC, Toronto's still way down from hosting. The Olympics boosts the higher-tech sectors while pushing important issues like homelessness and downtown eastside out of public view.

[james0246]

Talk about an inauspicious start for the upcoming games. No snow, several accidents, and now a death (and I don't mean Nancy Kerrigan's brother killing their father). My condolences go out to the family of Nodar Kumaritashvili and the Georgian team(s).

[panzerfan]

A moment of respect btw to the deceased luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, age 21. He died over Whistler luge circuit just a few hours ago.

I can't imagine how Furlong and Rogge would appear over the opening that's mere hours away from now. There's honestly not enough time now to reflect on the reason for this tragedy. I only hope that we put aside the blame and the enmity since the games is about to begin, literally.

[Karlson]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...final-day.html

"By 9:40 a.m., the torch was rerouted around the roadblock, forcing organizers to skip a ceremony with veterans at the cenotaph and pick up the pace of the relay."

I was fine with the protesters until I found out about that, It's one thing to protest the olympics due to political reasons but at least have the courtesy to let the people that put their lives on the line for this country the chance to honor the olympics. I mean...what kind of a message do they think they were sending when they denied those vets that chance? In my eyes, they disrespected the very people that protected our country and continue to protect our country today. I certainly wouldn't be proud to be a canadian right now if I was against the olympics coming here.

Originally Posted by james0246

Talk about an inauspicious start for the upcoming games. No snow, several accidents, and now a death (and I don't mean Nancy Kerrigan's brother killing their father). My condolences go out to the family of Nodar Kumaritashvili and the Georgian team(s).

Yes my heart goes out to his family. I'm still shakened from watching it after the media aired it on CTV. That was a very horrible and unfortunate accident and one that sheds much light into the safety of this track.


Edit - On a side note it seems lower mainland weather is at work again. Some of the training going on up north in Whistler is being prohibited to preserve the courses for when the events take place

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Karlson

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...final-day.html

"By 9:40 a.m., the torch was rerouted around the roadblock, forcing organizers to skip a ceremony with veterans at the cenotaph and pick up the pace of the relay."

I was fine with the protesters until I found out about that, It's one thing to protest the olympics due to political reasons but at least have the courtesy to let the people that put their lives on the line for this country the chance to honor the olympics. I mean...what kind of a message do they think they were sending when they denied those vets that chance? In my eyes, they disrespected the very people that protected our country and continue to protect our country today. I certainly wouldn't be proud to be a canadian right now if I was against the olympics coming here.

Yes my heart goes out to his family. I'm still shakened from watching it after the media aired it on CTV. That was a very horrible and unfortunate accident and one that sheds much light into the safety of this track.


Edit - On a side note it seems lower mainland weather is at work again. Some of the training going on up north in Whistler is being prohibited to preserve the courses for when the events take place

Apparently Whistler is infamous as the fastest luge track in the world and professional lugers are aware of it's difficulty, but this is the first time that anything like this has happened on the course. It seems very much like a tragic freak accident, but the problem that arises now is whether to tone down the track or not for the actual event. On the one hand it becomes less difficult to control, but on the other I'm not sure how some elite and competitive athletes would feel about not being able to compete on the true potential of the Whistler track. Tough decision to make for the organizers that is certain to not please everyhone either way they call it.

Just the same the whole finger pointing and blame game thing isn't exactly helping things either. Everywhere I go the commentary makes it sound like Canada as a nation out and out murdered Kumaritashvili and about how terrible a country it is. Talk about shifting the issue into an even more unfortunate light. If anybody thinks that anybody wanted something like this to happen then......I don't know what to think.

[Hari Michiru]

Originally Posted by Karlson

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...final-day.html

"By 9:40 a.m., the torch was rerouted around the roadblock, forcing organizers to skip a ceremony with veterans at the cenotaph and pick up the pace of the relay."

I was fine with the protesters until I found out about that, It's one thing to protest the olympics due to political reasons but at least have the courtesy to let the people that put their lives on the line for this country the chance to honor the olympics. I mean...what kind of a message do they think they were sending when they denied those vets that chance? In my eyes, they disrespected the very people that protected our country and continue to protect our country today. I certainly wouldn't be proud to be a canadian right now if I was against the olympics coming here.

I was pretty mad when I saw that too; it's fine if you don't want the Olympics, but some people actually want it to happen. You're no different from a thief for robbing those veterans out of their chance to see the flame.

As for the opening ceremony, it was stunning; wasn't expecting it to be THAT good.

[panzerfan]

I was really touched at the sensitivity that the audience has shown. Georgian athletes were close to tears from the standing ovation that they rightfully received, and the entire event clearly did not try to lessen the heavy weight of having an Olympian die.

[JagdPanther]

I wish I would've been home to see the Opening Ceremony. I read an article on my phone while out and saw that it was excellent, especially the reception of the Georgian team.

I hope some time I can go to the Olympics, especially the Winter Games. I prefer them to the Summer Games. Stochi '14... lol Yeah, right. I'll be 8 months out of graduate school, probably working myself to the bone at some job that I hoped I would surpass with these degrees. Maybe sometime else. And in a country where English is spoken or Italian. So basically the current and last two locations would've been perfect.

[Hari Michiru]

Originally Posted by panzerfan

I was really touched at the sensitivity that the audience has shown. Georgian athletes were close to tears from the standing ovation that they rightfully received, and the entire event clearly did not try to lessen the heavy weight of having an Olympian die.

The moment of silence was an appropriate addition to the program too...RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili...

[Vexx]

The Beijing Olympics was jawdropping... but I think this, the Vancouver Olympics, is one of the *PRETTIEST* opening ceremonies I've seen since I started watching way back in the 1960s.
The director of this ceremony has done some spectacular things with a much smaller budget.

Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in the world... great place to roam and hang out.

[qwertyuiopz]

torch light failure D:

i saw the first hour at a pub and loled when china came out with a whopping 90 athletes when everyone before them had a max of 7

btw go team canada!

[Hari Michiru]

At least the outdoor cauldron at the Waterfront worked =). Time to head downtown one of these days to get a picture with it.

[Karlson]

lol @ at the technical difficulties at the end of the ceremony with the cauldron. Otherwise the ceremony was great.

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Apparently Whistler is infamous as the fastest luge track in the world and professional lugers are aware of it's difficulty, but this is the first time that anything like this has happened on the course. It seems very much like a tragic freak accident, but the problem that arises now is whether to tone down the track or not for the actual event. On the one hand it becomes less difficult to control, but on the other I'm not sure how some elite and competitive athletes would feel about not being able to compete on the true potential of the Whistler track. Tough decision to make for the organizers that is certain to not please everyhone either way they call it.

Just the same the whole finger pointing and blame game thing isn't exactly helping things either. Everywhere I go the commentary makes it sound like Canada as a nation out and out murdered Kumaritashvili and about how terrible a country it is. Talk about shifting the issue into an even more unfortunate light. If anybody thinks that anybody wanted something like this to happen then......I don't know what to think.

I can't say I'm all that surprised by that kind of reception. Looking back at the YVR incident with Robert Dziekanski (and yes it feels so very wrong to even compare this to that incident), the RCMP didn't intend to kill him with the taser gun, it just happened to kill him. However fact of the matter is the RCMP showed a gross display of irresponsiblity in handling that situation. Here, the situation (while very different in many ways) is simliar in some cases. The death was clearly an accident but no one can deny the olympic commitee failed to take into account this situation (you can thank Furlong for admitting that to the press) and thus displayed an act of negligence (unintentionally or not) regarding the safety of the athletes participating and it has now resulted in someone's death. That being said, no one in their right mind should be thinking this was intentional in any way.

I doubt that negativity will remain for long though especially after the standing ovation for the country of Georgia (as well as the moment of silence for Nodar) during the opening ceremonies. At the very least though an investigation of the track is going to be necessary, which anyone that tuned into CTV already should know it's under way. Whatever happens after this point will happen, I just hope such an incident like this will never happen again.

Originally Posted by Hari Michiru

At least the outdoor cauldron at the Waterfront worked =). Time to head downtown one of these days to get a picture with it.

Yeah I'm planning to do the same eventually as well. Kinda wish I was there to see the Great One light it though

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Hari Michiru

At least the outdoor cauldron at the Waterfront worked =). Time to head downtown one of these days to get a picture with it.

Also glad the flash mob that showed up for Gretzky was fairly well behaved. Seriously, I don't think whoever organized his police escort realized took into account that the live TV broadcast would give his position away. They probably emptied every bar and restaurant along his route... my dad spotted at least one guy in a chef's apron.

And yeah, I was actually quite impressed on the whole.