Olympic Thoughts

[Deleted]

I'm pretty sure Christine Nesbitt went to my high school...though I didn't really know her that well.

[ValkyrieNS]

Feb 19, 2010 0:35:44 GMT -5 @mattdhf said:

I'm pretty sure Christine Nesbitt went to my high school...though I didn't really know her that well.

Cool

Did you check your yearbooks?

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

There is one cultural group of Canadians that never is recognized or considered by the Organizing committee. The most unfavourably mistreated and ignored group of Canadians is the huge Ex-pat contingent living in Los Angeles.
There are more Canadians living in LA than in some Canadian provinces and we are never recognized. We are laughed at by our neighbors for our use of the word "eh" and pronunciation of "roof, about and aunt". We are a large contingent in the entertainment industry and creative broadcasting. Surely among all the Indian and Eskimo and indigenous peoples dancing aboot the athletes, there is room for the struggling "documented workers" in Los Angeles of Canadian origin!

[ValkyrieNS]

Feb 19, 2010 16:21:31 GMT -5 Habs_fan_in_LA said:

There is one cultural group of Canadians that never is recognized or considered by the Organizing committee. The most unfavourably mistreated and ignored group of Canadians is the huge Ex-pat contingent living in Los Angeles.

You're Canadian? And here I thought you were an American... guess I can no longer refer to you as "that crazy American guy" who needs to embrace "Serenity Now" ;D

[CentreHice]

Norway has scored 4 goals on Hiller. The last after Hiller mishandled the puck behind the net.

4-4 with 7:42 left.

[CentreHice]

Watching the China-Switzerland womens' hockey game.

China PP.....the puck comes back to the point, and she lets one fly.

Her name is Xueting.....pronounced very close to, appropriately: "Shoo-ting".

[seventeen]

I guess it can now be disclosed that the "own the Podium" campaign was a typo, all started when someone didn't understand the original idea of "Phone the Podium". Unfortunate error in communications.

[CentreHice]

Ryan Reynolds, Eric McCormack, Michael J. Fox, Sarah McLachlan, and other British Columbia celebs in a BC Tourism commercial.

Fox ends with, "You gotta be here."

Apparently, "here" means in a studio in front of a green screen.

Kinda lame, considering it's a tourism commercial.

[Skilly]

I for one am pretty much not surprised by all the Mickey Mouse glitches and Canadian choking thats being done at these Olympics .... the 4th and 5th place finishes by the Hamelins was pretty predictable.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

I don't know, Skilly. I really enjoy short-track speed skating, but I'll admit I was pretty disappointed to have come out of it with no medals. However, so long as the brothers tried their best I don't have a problem with it and neither should they (though I'd understand their disappointment).

Curling: Really like watching world-class curling. Paul Martin finally beat the UK in an excellent match. Cheryl Bernard is rolling along as well. She's had to go to extra ends a few times but it's good seeing them progress.

Men's hockey tonight. There's a lot of talent in the Olympics and every point counts. Should be one hell of a game.

Cheers.

[CentreHice]

Joannie Rochette's mother passes away suddenly.

Heart attack just after arriving in Vancouver to see her daughter perform.

Joannie intends to compete on Tuesday. How emotional is that going to be....I can't imagine.

[CentreHice]

Feb 21, 2010 12:02:59 GMT -5 Skilly said:

I for one am pretty much not surprised by all the Mickey Mouse glitches and Canadian choking thats being done at these Olympics .... the 4th and 5th place finishes by the Hamelins was pretty predictable.

Not sure if the Hamelins choked...

Those Koreans are pretty astounding.

And I don't know if we're choking in other events....or our media's guilty of over-hyping what we can do because of home soil....and, in the end, we're not as good as promoted. As usual....

But, like Dis, I have no doubt everyone's trying their best.

[ValkyrieNS]

Feb 21, 2010 13:38:08 GMT -5 CentreHice said:

Joannie Rochette's mother passes away suddenly.

Heart attack just after arriving in Vancouver to see her daughter perform.

Joannie intends to compete on Tuesday. How emotional is that going to be....I can't imagine.

I have no words to express how badly I feel for Joannie right now. Condolences to her and her family.

[Yossarian]

It seems that all of the Own the Podium funds were secretly misdirected to the American athletes.

It would be considerably embarrassing in my view if after implementing this ridiculous program, Canadian athletes ended up winning less medals than 4 years ago in Torino (which seems like a real possibility).

Medals aren't everything anyway. That performance in the 30 k x-country race was more impressive than any other Canadian performance to date, IMO.

And I can't be the only one to notice that the quality of the Canadian broadcast is extremely bad, especially for some of the fringe sports. For the first time, I actually find the NBC american broadcast much more balanced, polished and professional.

[Deleted]

Feb 19, 2010 16:18:27 GMT -5 ValkyrieNS said:

Feb 19, 2010 0:35:44 GMT -5 @mattdhf said:

I'm pretty sure Christine Nesbitt went to my high school...though I didn't really know her that well.

Cool

Did you check your yearbooks?

I should. But a friend of mine said that she was in band with us, and supposedly sat behind me.

[CentreHice]

Czech-Russia game.

Czechs trailing 1-0, they get a 5-on-3...Markov defending and gets caught up near his blueline...Elias to Pleks who spins and catches Nabokov back in his net....real nice shot off the far post and in.

[CentreHice]

McDonald's is already using the Jamie Campbell audio call on Bilodeau's gold medal win.

Wonder how much they paid CTV for the rights to use that.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Terrible news for figure skater Joannie Rochette. Her mother died of a heart attack yesterday but she insists she's going to compete on Tuesday.

Thoughts go out to she and her family.

RIP

[Skilly]

Feb 21, 2010 13:55:31 GMT -5 CentreHice said:

Feb 21, 2010 12:02:59 GMT -5 Skilly said:

I for one am pretty much not surprised by all the Mickey Mouse glitches and Canadian choking thats being done at these Olympics .... the 4th and 5th place finishes by the Hamelins was pretty predictable.

Not sure if the Hamelins choked...

Those Koreans are pretty astounding.

And I don't know if we're choking in other events....or our media's guilty of over-hyping what we can do because of home soil....and, in the end, we're not as good as promoted. As usual....

But, like Dis, I have no doubt everyone's trying their best.

I disagree about the hype CH ... most of our athletes that are getting hyped are top 5 in their event. The Hamelin's for instance were ranked 3rd and 4th. Five out of the top 6 in the world were in that final and we got shutout because Canadians never seem to be able to bring it an extra notch or rise to the occasion in the Olympics. Again today, Del Bosco had a bronze in his pocket, and looked like he would pass for a silver and then crashes on the second last jump ... and he won the world championship in this event last year. In fact, Canada swept the podium in the World Championships last year in ski-cross.

I also saw on one broadcast at the beginning of the Olympics, that if the results of the World Championships at every event occured during the Olympics, that Canada would get 29 medals!! And heres the best part, those 29 medals would win the medal count!! The Americans had 28 top three finishes in the world championships last year (tied with Germany).

So it is obvious, the Americans rise to the occasion, cause they will win the medal count running away.

This is also the first year the Canadian govt has said they would pay for medal finishes, in contingent with Own the Podium ($20,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, $10,000 for bronze). So I guess we are "saving" tax payer's money with the poor results. And yes, I think it is safe to call these results poor. With the marketing, and the hype that went into these athletes ..... but I guess someone will eventually come forth with the excuse that we put too much pressure on them. Just seems to me, that all the athletes didnt feed off the first gold medal on home soil.

[franko]

My crass and obnoxicity will come through loud and clear here, I'm sure . . . on the one hand we put a lot of pressure on our athletes with the whole "own the podium" thing . . . on the other, the athletes talk big every Olympics and crap out every Olympics. The one competition that really counts and there is always an excuse that we are close without the cigar.

The Americans don't talk about trash they just go out and win. 'Course, they have better support than our athletes [how many American athletes work a 40 hour week at Home Depot and practise on top of that].

We are doinga bout as well [or about as poorly] as I expected. If we want to win then we have to invest in training, sports psychologists , etc. Not the Canadian way. Better to whine and say "we may not have won but we tried". Bah.

"This Hour Has 22 Minutes" has it best but I can't find the skit.

[Skilly]

Alot of Canadian athletes do have a sports psychologist, franko ... and the days of Canadian athletes working 40 hour weeks are over too ... there is actually a RONA commercial airing during these Olympics saying they are supporting athletes so they dont have to work.

I'm not sure of the vocations of all our athletes .... I know the guy that won the skeleton gold is an auctioneer. Anybody know Bilodeau, Nesbitt, or Rikker's employment?

In any event, these athletes have been balancing schedules like this ever since they were old enough to play their respective sports. Its akin to a university student having to balance their time to get good grades.

[CentreHice]

Really nothing new is it, Skilly?

The poster boy for your post would be Kurt Browning. Four World Championships.....no Olympic medals.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Lots of negativity surrounding Canada's performances and possible future performances. I'm disappointed in some of our performances, sure. But there's a lot to celebrate too.

There's a few human interest and celebrating going on in the Olympics. Anyone see the way the curling crowd serenaded Paul Martin's rink against England last night? They sang "O Canada" loud and clear and it couldn't have come at a better time; in tight against England. How about Jon Montgomery walking through Whistler with a jug of beer and toasting the crowd? Cheryl Bernard's rink pulling out a couple of extra-end wins. How about Vancouver's Olympic fever?

Don't get me wrong, folks, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but man, this is a tough thread to read sometimes.

Cheers.

[Skilly]

Feb 21, 2010 18:43:06 GMT -5 Disgruntled70sHab said:

Lots of negativity surrounding Canada's performances and possible future performances. I'm disappointed in some of our performances, sure. But there's a lot to celebrate too.

There's a few human interest and celebrating going on in the Olympics. Anyone see the way the curling crowd serenaded Paul Martin's rink against England last night? They sang "O Canada" loud and clear and it couldn't have come at a better time; in tight against England. How about Jon Montgomery walking through Whistler with a jug of beer and toasting the crowd? Cheryl Bernard's rink pulling out a couple of extra-end wins. How about Vancouver's Olympic fever?

Don't get me wrong, folks, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but man, this is a tough thread to read sometimes.

Cheers.

Kevin Martin Dis ... not Paul.

And yes, there are great moments in these Olympics. No doubt.

But when our taxes are pumped into these athletes, because it is at home, and we want to own the podium, and this could quite possibly (save finally winning gold on home soil) be our worst Olympics .... and Britain is now already pointing to Canada and saying "we can't be any worse in 2012" .... well yeah, I dont like it.

We have had medal hopefuls DQed for showing up late, we have had countless medal hopefuls crash. We have NO short track men's medals and we are suppose to be one of the top three nations. The hockey team will be lucky to medal now (and many will consider losing that one medal equivalent to a total failure of an Olympics) ......

then you have today. It is a nice story, and a pathetic story all rolled up into one. One of Canada's ski-cross skiers broke his collar bone, and was replaced by a guy who crashed in training. So Davey Barr got to race as our 3rd skier. So he was actually our 5th best cross-skier. He finished 6th!!! and yet our 3 medal hopefuls couldn't raise their game .....

[ValkyrieNS]

Feb 21, 2010 17:09:52 GMT -5 franko said:

The Americans don't talk about trash they just go out and win.

Welcome back, dude! Actually, Michael Landsberg was talking about this with John Kucera yesterday. IIRC, back in 2006, Bode Miller was Mr. Swagger everywhere he went and won nothing. I guess he also spent a fair amount of time partying... ;D

This year, Bode is Mr. Chill and has won one of each.

[Skilly]

Ahhh yes ... it has started ... let's blame "Own The Podium"

Morrison blames Own the Podium following 1,500m loss

Denny Morrison was supposed to be on the podium next to U.S. speed skater Shani Davis at these Olympics.

But as Morrison watched his former training partner accept the silver medal on Saturday, he lashed out at Canada's ambitious Own the Podium program, which prevented him from training with the superstar American.

Morrison, who finished a dismal ninth in the 1,500-metre race, said his technique has fallen off since the days he trained with Davis in Calgary before the 2006 Turin Games.

However, because Own the Podium pumped millions worth of corporate and federal dollars into training Canadian athletes, Davis was told he could not train in Canada after Turin - a move both Morrison and Davis both say hurt the Canadian's development.

Own the Podium also came under fire Saturday from Norwegian skier Aksel Svindal, who said the program did Canadians a disservice by preventing him from training with the Canadian alpine team on the Whistler slopes, as he'd done in the past.

After winning the gold medal in the super G, he claimed to be faster in the middle of the course than any competitor, and said the Canadian skiers could have benefited in training from his knowledge.

As Morrison searched for answers to his disastrous week - in which he finished a stunning 13th in the 1,000-metre race in which Davis won gold - he said the decision to send Davis back to the United States hurt him. The two skaters used to be close rivals, skating within hundredths of a second within each other. Now the American is dominant and Morrison is going home without the medals he was supposed to win.

"There's a lot of ways of looking at it," Morrison said. "I mean, I just think it would be nice to train with Shani and be able to have him push me or pull me," Morrison said. "There was a time, back in the day, we used to just everyday in practice push each other. You've all heard the story, he was faster than me and eventually I was able to keep up to him."

Morrison fell apart on his last lap, coasting across the finish line bent over with his legs together and head down, knowing he had lost with a time of 1 minute 46.93 seconds. He said the final lap has been a problem for him all year, and questioned if the problem was in his training.

Davis won silver in a time of 1:46.10, adding to his medal collection that includes the gold from the 1,000-metre race. He came in behind the Netherlands' Mark Tuitert, who took gold in a time of 1:45.57. Norway's Havard Bokko won bronze in 1:46.13.

Davis trains by himself and came to Calgary in advance of Turin to work out at the oval there, striking up a close relationship with Morrison. The two competed fiercely, and Morrison began to rise quickly up the international rankings as he raced against the faster American.

However, Morrison's coach, Marcel Lacroix, disagreed with his skater. "For me as a coach, that is not an excuse," said Lacroix, who also coaches Canadian Christine Nesbitt, who won gold in the women's 1,000 metres this week.

"The program was giving him what he needed for the last three years. He got a world record with his technique in the program. So now what? So it was working and now it's not working, so it's the program? I can't support this at all."

Morrison set a world record under his present training program (it has since been reclaimed by Davis) and took silver and bronze medals in the 1,000- and 1,500-metre races at last year's world championships.

But even Davis said this week he's seen a difference in Morrison since they stopped training together. Davis, who now trains in Milwaukee, indicated the Own the Podium initiative may have backfired on Canada since the decision broke up the two skaters.

"It really is bad because it devastated the training program. It devastated him [Morrison] a lot too," Davis said.

The head of Canada's speed skating program, Brian Rahill, took responsibility yesterday for splitting up Davis and Morrison, but said it's impossible to know how much of an impact it had.

"Looking at where the funding came from [for the Own the Podium strategy] and knowing that a lot of it came from taxpayers and Canadian corporations, I just felt it was an accountability thing to do to make sure that it was only to the benefit of Canadian athletes," Rahill said.

But as Morrison - who was projected to win medals in both races this week - fumbled for answers he said the decline in his racing started three years ago, even though he still managed a record race in 2008.

"I noticed it the first year we didn't train together," he said.

The loss means Canada's speed skating team will not deliver on the medals it was supposed to win under the Own the Podium program. While the women's team is still on track to meet expectations, the men only have one shot at a medal now, in the team pursuit. The women have Nesbitt's gold in the 1,000 metres, and Kristina Groves' bronze in the 3,000 metres.

"Obviously now perhaps the best case scenario is not necessarily achievable," Rahill said. "But the girls are still on target in terms of what the expectations were from that side."

[Skilly]

Own the Podium a delicate gambit for Conservatives
By: Dan Lett (Winnipeg Free Press)

Will we own the podium, or just visit it once in a while? Anxious Canadians can only watch to see what happens at the Vancouver Olympics -- and in the years to come.The Vancouver Games are not just a showcase for our best winter athletes. They're a testing ground for a bold new approach to sport funding. And just as Canada's medal haul is a mystery at this stage, so too is the future of this ambitious public policy.

Five years ago, shortly after Vancouver was awarded the Olympics, sports governing bodies, the Vancouver organizing committee, the private sector and the federal government got together to forge Own the Podium, a plan to provide $110 million of support to our best prospective winter Olympians. (roughly $330,000, per athlete on average ... but this was only suppose to go to the medal hopefuls, so more than that)

For a country that regularly hits below its weight at the Olympics, and having failed to win a gold medal on home soil, it was a bold policy. But now, with the games underway, how will we measure the success of OTP?

Many observers believe success can only be measured by the number of medals Canada wins. OTP's mandate is to win more medals than any other country. On a bravado scale of one to 10, this is an 11. But in elite-level sports, go big or go home is par for the course.

Winning the most medals is not the only measurement. Others suggest winning at least one gold medal on home soil proves the worth of OTP. Thanks to Alexandre Bilodeau's performance in the men's moguls Sunday, we can check that one off.

Others believe the remarkable success Canadian athletes have enjoyed in competition leading up to the Olympics is proof that OTP is a winner. When paralympic sports are included, no country has won more medals in pre-Olympic winter sports. Check. (when Olympic glory isnt on the line , we do shine)

Of course, given that national pride is an unpredictable commodity, other measuring sticks will be used. For example, many will consider the Games a failure if the men's and women's hockey teams don't win gold. In the case of the men, a team comprised entirely of millionaire professionals, the OTP program wasn't a factor in its development. Anything but gold, however, could cast a pall on OTP.

How we measure success of OTP will be extremely important -- along with general economic conditions -- in determining whether the current level of funding and support continues beyond the Vancouver Games.

Last October, the federal government received a report on OTP that was supposed to be a blueprint for the future. However, the Tories have refused to release it for public consumption. The Tories did not tip their hand until last week when Sport Minister Gary Lunn suggested that while there will be funding going forward, it will be much less than current levels.

Lunn said the winter Olympic program will get about $11 million a year, about half of what OTP asked for, while the summer program will get $36 million a year. Would actually "owning the podium" and winning more medals than any other country in Vancouver help OTP get more money? Apparently not. More than 30 staff at Calgary's renowned Canadian Sports Centre -- a premier elite training facility -- are going to be laid off in April, and Lunn gave no hope that would be reversed.

"The prime minister has made it very clear to all ministers that there is no new money... and the sporting world is no different than any other ministry," Lunn said last week.

If OTP were to disappear after the Vancouver Games, it wouldn't be the first time. A similar program prior to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics died from neglect once the flame was extinguished in Cowtown.

It doesn't help that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has signalled the next budget will involve deep cuts. However, if sport funding suffers like other departments, it may hurt the Tories in the post-Olympic period.

Parliament is scheduled to return from a prorogation of questionable necessity immediately following the Olympics. There are, no doubt, many Tories who were hoping to ride a post-Olympic glow past any lingering concerns about the prorogation, all the way through what is expected to be a most difficult budget.

If Canada does somehow own the podium in Vancouver, that would create a most interesting political scenario. Instead of being celebrated as the architects of Canada's greatest Olympic accomplishment, the Tories may appear more like the Grinch that stole Olympic glory if they pull the funding rug out from underneath our new heroes. Instead of a political boost, it could be a political bust.

If the intrigue of the games isn't enough, stay tuned after the Olympic flame is extinguished. The political games are just beginning.

[Skilly]

MacLean's made a pre-Olympic prediction that this would be canada's greatest Olympics ever and listed 50 athletes that had podium potential ... obviously not all of them were going to, but the resume of some of these athletes was too good not to medal, IMO.

50 Medal Hopefuls link

[Skilly]

Kudos to Kristina Groves winning her second medal (a silver) of the Games .... way to go Kristina!!

[ValkyrieNS]

Feb 22, 2010 7:54:54 GMT -5 Skilly said:

Kudos to Kristina Groves winning her second medal (a silver) of the Games .... way to go Kristina!!

Saw it! Loved it! As I was yelling at her to "you go girl!", Mr. Val reminded me that she couldn't hear me but the neighbours probably could

Also, let us not forget that Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are in 1st place in the ice dance competition. Medals will be awarded tonight, after the free dance portion. Go Tessa and Scott!

***

Question:

Men's hockey, qualification playoffs -- I get that the first place team in each group gets a bye (USA, Russia, Sweden) and that everyone else is supposed to play for a spot in the next round. What happened to Finland? Is there an extra bye handed out and they got it?