Calgary is bidding for the 2026 Winter Games. I hope they don't ask Ontario to pinch in to pay some of the bill. If we are still under Wynne we may have to.
Are the Olympics on its last legs?
- Thread starter mclarkez1980
- Start date
I love the Olympics. It's a chance to see some of the world's top athletes in disciplines that get rare coverage, if any, in North America. Biathlon is huge in Europe but we never see any of it broadcast over here except during the Olympics. Water polo is another nice one to see. I think all medalists should undergo independent dope testing (How stupid was it to have a Russian lab conducting tests?). And PVR helps get through a ton of the stuff I don't need to see (the first 40K of a 50K race).
Unfortunately, the corruption and lack of planning is what kills things. Besides some Games themselves which are disorganized (how many places claim good to go but are not?), many places don't plan properly so they go well over budget and the venues remain unused afterwards. And while ticket sales recovers some of the cost, the prices have always been reasonable to allow full access by all so every games costs more than it takes in. Give credit to Canada - all the venues are being used 8 years later, some for their intended use, others repurposed. Financially I think Vancouver has been the only success.
While having the Games in Toronto would suck, before and during, I would hope that if they ever did have it, all the improvements and investments in infrastructure might do some good. A lot of things in Toronto need an overhaul. Expensive tab though.
Unfortunately, the corruption and lack of planning is what kills things. Besides some Games themselves which are disorganized (how many places claim good to go but are not?), many places don't plan properly so they go well over budget and the venues remain unused afterwards. And while ticket sales recovers some of the cost, the prices have always been reasonable to allow full access by all so every games costs more than it takes in. Give credit to Canada - all the venues are being used 8 years later, some for their intended use, others repurposed. Financially I think Vancouver has been the only success.
While having the Games in Toronto would suck, before and during, I would hope that if they ever did have it, all the improvements and investments in infrastructure might do some good. A lot of things in Toronto need an overhaul. Expensive tab though.
The IOC has a new mandate to make the Olympics more attractive to bidders.
1. They will lower the cost of the bid.
2. Look at sustainability of stadiums and other facilities. Or if they already have enough facilities already in place. (ie. does Calgary still have they bobsled track?)
Can't remember the 3rd mandate. Bribes???
1. They will lower the cost of the bid.
2. Look at sustainability of stadiums and other facilities. Or if they already have enough facilities already in place. (ie. does Calgary still have they bobsled track?)
Can't remember the 3rd mandate. Bribes???
Yes, Calgary still have all the facilities from 88, and are still in use by Olympic athletes as a world class training centre. The only thing missing is an arena, which may kill 2 birds with one stone; secure Olympic bud and keep the flames from moving
The IOC also has a knack for playing kissy face with dictatorship.
The Berlin Olympics gave legitimacy to the Nazis and set Hitler on his course to WWII. The 1940 Summer Games were to be hosted by Tokyo. Prior to the 2008 Summer Games, The Communist Party instituted harsh repression against all forms of dissent. Beijing poor were moved out to Inner Mongolia and thousands of Tibetans lost their lives or were arrested. The bidding for the 2022 Winter Games were a joke as most nations dropped out. In the end it was between Beijing and Alma Aty and now history is repeating itself.
The "Princelings" of The Cultural Revolution has taken over the Communist Party. They are getting ready to proclaim President Xi Jinping as China's Third Paramount Leader (Mao and Deng were the others). And we can thank the IOC for that.
The Berlin Olympics gave legitimacy to the Nazis and set Hitler on his course to WWII. The 1940 Summer Games were to be hosted by Tokyo. Prior to the 2008 Summer Games, The Communist Party instituted harsh repression against all forms of dissent. Beijing poor were moved out to Inner Mongolia and thousands of Tibetans lost their lives or were arrested. The bidding for the 2022 Winter Games were a joke as most nations dropped out. In the end it was between Beijing and Alma Aty and now history is repeating itself.
The "Princelings" of The Cultural Revolution has taken over the Communist Party. They are getting ready to proclaim President Xi Jinping as China's Third Paramount Leader (Mao and Deng were the others). And we can thank the IOC for that.
If the IOC continues to add interesting, popular, and watchable sports I think the Olympics will do just fine. They are creating more team events to introduce gender parity. They have added more snowboard and X-Games type events, the mass start speed skating was great albeit the points system made little sense. I think the broadcasters need to tailor their coverage to make sure either many sports get equal/fair coverage or you are covering sports that many people want to see (including less prelims). I was glad that the snowboard cross and ski-cross coverage started with the races and broadcast time wasn't wasted on the qualifying runs that are done solo. I only wish synchronized swimming would get less coverage in favor of archery and shooting. And any of these long races (marathons, lengthy bike rides, etc.) need to be looked at occasionally, not covered from start to finish.
I know. And if it's the only event taking place on that day, no problem showing full coverage. But I've seen 2-3 straight hours of cycling coverage and then quick updates on other Olympic events. For any of these long events where people are just running or cycling, do you need continuous coverage? Probably not.
Maybe. For sure they should have men vs. women in curling - never understood why there's a separation by gender. And for skiing, you could have team downhill, slalom, and GS. You could have team relays for cross country and biathlon. For most sports you obviously can't have women competing directly against men but all these team events have women vs. women and men vs. men and the scores/times are combined. They actually had a mixed team parallel slalom on skis which was interesting although the course seemed a bit basic.
I found the games super annoying this year. Every time I turned it on it was fricking ice skating and curling. I dislike judged sports, curling (is it even a sport?) and watching cross country skying is like watching paint dry.
Women’s hockey was a highlight as was snowboarding.
Women’s hockey was a highlight as was snowboarding.
I'm not a fan of judged sports because there seems to be some unknown criteria that gives some people the win and others the loss. My impression based on the commentator is that the winners of men's slopestyle this year and 4 years ago was incorrect but the judges rewarded them better for what they produced versus others.
Yes there was a ton of curling coverage which is fine as long as the two other channels show something different (this applies to any sport - no need to duplicate coverage) and a ton of hockey coverage. I PVR'd everything and skipped what I found to be boring (in curling that's the first 10 rocks) and I didn't watch much hockey, men or women's, except the Canadian matches and the men's gold medal match.
Many highlights like mass start speed skating, most short track, all X-Games type sports, and the alpine skiing. Never understood ski jump and don't care to.
I had ZERO interest in this years winter olympics..never saw opening ceremonies..closing ceremonies just wasnt feelin it at all
I usually like watching the skiing areials..and ladies/mens hockey..but ...nothing..... couldnt have cared less who won/lost..or any drama that surfaced during
I always enjoyed summer olympics cus I was a Nationally ranked athlete in both Javelin and high jump in school...but those are 2 sports that rarely got coverage anymore...
its all just boring now
I usually like watching the skiing areials..and ladies/mens hockey..but ...nothing..... couldnt have cared less who won/lost..or any drama that surfaced during
I always enjoyed summer olympics cus I was a Nationally ranked athlete in both Javelin and high jump in school...but those are 2 sports that rarely got coverage anymore...
its all just boring now
It has become frightfully expensive to host the Olympic Games and fewer and fewer cities bid to host.
From that I wonder if we are going to arrive at the point of a fixed location for the Winter and Summer games -- for the Summer games it seems obvious Greece or France, for the Winter games less so but if Greece is the site of the Summer games that perhaps makes France more obvious for the Winter games.
As to the politics of the entire thing nothing ticks me off more than the balderdash that comes from the IOC about sports bringing everyone together,
and how there should be some sort of universal love, brotherhood and sisterhood during the games, as if they were a truly important international body.
uke:
From that I wonder if we are going to arrive at the point of a fixed location for the Winter and Summer games -- for the Summer games it seems obvious Greece or France, for the Winter games less so but if Greece is the site of the Summer games that perhaps makes France more obvious for the Winter games.
As to the politics of the entire thing nothing ticks me off more than the balderdash that comes from the IOC about sports bringing everyone together,
and how there should be some sort of universal love, brotherhood and sisterhood during the games, as if they were a truly important international body.
uke:
This explains why in the future, no city or country apart from dictatorships, will bid for the Olympics.
[video]https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/23/17008910/2018-winter-olympics-host-stadiums-cost-pyeongchang[/video]
[video]https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/23/17008910/2018-winter-olympics-host-stadiums-cost-pyeongchang[/video]
