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Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate
#1 - 1 gold medal will get more media attention than 350 62nd place finishes. I like the plan to focus funding on those with medal chances rather than towards everyone who qualifies. There is no tracker on the front page of CBC.ca comparing participants that qualified.
#2 - I wasn't suggesting that Canada follow China's methods. My point was that we would have to do *SOMETHING* if we wanted to compete against China. Having girls that can't afford to practice for 20 hours per week are not going to compete against girls that practice for 40 hours per week.
#3 - re: Halo: Alex Bauman would disagree. But in any case, *IF* new-gen Jonny Canuck WANTED to get off his fat ass and throw sticks, then we should have stick throwing facilities at his disposal. It's not a matter of "if there is demand, then they will build it". Ottawa as a municipality is in a huge budget crunch and so they are closing rec facilities, after school programs, public pools, etc, etc.
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1. Outside of 2 weeks every 4 years, do you even care? 1444/1460 days we don't even care about most of these summer olympics. Do you watch the world championships for womens double ping-pong and high beam routines?
2. Fair enough... then what do you suggest? Some countries pump money in, and expect a long term commitment that diverges their attention from any other options at a young age. Some countries pump money in at the sacrifice of health care, education and so on. Some countries have incredibly high taxes. Some others put enough in to sponser amateur athletes, but don't blow the budget for for 14/1460 days a year and world championships.
3. He can go do that in his back yard. But in all seriousness, there are sufficient facilities here. Small towns have the YMCA, big cities have major complex's like UofA, UofC, UBC, COP.
Quite frankly, I think in 50 years, the olympics will go from a 24/7 CBC broadcast to an afternoon ESPN event. I honestly have no idea who Michael Phelps, that Ford kayak guy and half of these events until 2 days ago. I sure knew who Yao Ming and Kobe Brant were, though. If we want to make these track&field, kayakers, diving teams and ping pong players pro, then it'll need to have a fan base. Otherwise, keep it as amateurs who get sponsorship but not keep it as a career (thus amateur, and not pro's) and just feel glad that we have alot of guys there at the olympics right up there with the worlds best - and it doesn't necessarily have ot make us the best.