Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - How long 'till Own the Podium organizers call it an 'outright success'?

worth · 02-22-2010, 02:49 PM

Hey, it could be worse. The Russians projected they were going to win 40 medals at these Olympics. Vitaly Mutko must have hit the vodka a little too hard.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english201...c_13162924.htm

People busting on the government for funding sport in this coutry, I would normally agree with you. I don't support funds for private leagues, such as the NHL or CFL. I don't think any government money from the Federal or Provincial levels of government should go into building new stadiums, including the Flames or Stampeders (I'm ok with civic funding if the people agree to it as it creates jobs and generally makes the lives of those who attend games happier), these are private organizations who make a lot of money, and should be able to raise funds themselves for improvements.

However, in this instance we have amateur athletes competing on the international stage. I don't particularly see the problem with spending $60 million out of $226 billion on these athletes. It allows them to follow their dreams, just like Tucan Sam, and gives us all something to cheer about for a couple of weeks.

If the government didn't spend any money on arts, or sport or anything "fun", this place might be even more boring. At least we can get excited on an international level for a couple weeks and be proud to be Canadian. If the government didn't spend the money, there would be no amateur program, and we wouldn't have the Olympics or anything to cheer about. This is something that actually does affect us. Sure, we all forget about the medal count after it's all over, but for those two weeks, we get to experience something special. And it's something every single Canadian can feel! And that's fantastic! With the amount of apathy that is around these days, it's exciting to see so many Canadians embracing these games.

02-22-2010, 02:49 PM	#67
worth Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Vancouver Exp:	Hey, it could be worse. The Russians projected they were going to win 40 medals at these Olympics. Vitaly Mutko must have hit the vodka a little too hard. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english201...c_13162924.htm People busting on the government for funding sport in this coutry, I would normally agree with you. I don't support funds for private leagues, such as the NHL or CFL. I don't think any government money from the Federal or Provincial levels of government should go into building new stadiums, including the Flames or Stampeders (I'm ok with civic funding if the people agree to it as it creates jobs and generally makes the lives of those who attend games happier), these are private organizations who make a lot of money, and should be able to raise funds themselves for improvements. However, in this instance we have amateur athletes competing on the international stage. I don't particularly see the problem with spending $60 million out of $226 billion on these athletes. It allows them to follow their dreams, just like Tucan Sam, and gives us all something to cheer about for a couple of weeks. If the government didn't spend any money on arts, or sport or anything "fun", this place might be even more boring. At least we can get excited on an international level for a couple weeks and be proud to be Canadian. If the government didn't spend the money, there would be no amateur program, and we wouldn't have the Olympics or anything to cheer about. This is something that actually does affect us. Sure, we all forget about the medal count after it's all over, but for those two weeks, we get to experience something special. And it's something every single Canadian can feel! And that's fantastic! With the amount of apathy that is around these days, it's exciting to see so many Canadians embracing these games.