Yes, I will be there, visiting friends in Barnet for the duration. Certainly I don't have the expectation of seeing a pile of gold like I saw in Vancouver but it should still be fun. I have really had trouble finding out info on Canadian medal hopefuls outside of Canoe finals and 100m hurdles.
Paula Findlay is a favourite in triathlon. Simon Whitfield will be in the men's tri as well, though I'm not sure if he's still considered a medal hopeful.
Daniel Nestor is the top ranked men's doubles player in tennis, so he is likely a favourite, although I'm not sure how good his partner will be.
I think we are also usually pretty good in the men's and women's rowing 8's, so maybe that's one to watch?
I love the Olympics. Summer, Winter, doesn't matter. I am looking forward to London 2012, and I hope the Canadian coverage is good because the NBC rah -rah gets grating pretty quickly.
My favourite events are track & field, swimming, and triathlon (go Simon Whitfield), but I'll watch anything when it's on.
Also, this ad made my wife cry:
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We may curse our bad luck that it's sounds like its; who's sounds like whose; they're sounds like their (and there); and you're sounds like your. But if we are grown-ups who have been through full-time education, we have no excuse for muddling them up.
I also hate the pompous attitude of Britain in general. Anyone remember how relentless the British media was in panning the Vanouver Olympics at every turn? It's their national past time to turn up their noses at others.
Part of me hopes the logistics and planning of this olympics turns out to be a disaster just to see them with their tale between their legs.
Eh, the TSN propaganda isn't much more palatable.
"The movement that changed Canada is coming to London."
There you have it - the Olympics started in 2010, in Vancouver.
I always find it interesting watching some sport I have no clue about and feeling my excitement level rise and fall based purely off the announcers reaction to a Canadian performance. I notice that especially in wrestling. We always seem to do well there but I never know what scores and what doesn't so I find myself waiting for the announcer to get pumped before I get excited for "our guy/girl"
In general I don't watch nearly as much as the winter events but I really enjoy the lesser distance track events and the swimming events. Basketball as well, usually cheering for the underdogs to knock off the dream team though. Still remember when Canada made it with Nash and they made a bit of a run, that was great stuff. I used to also watch alot of the baseball as well, such a joke they took it out.
The one sport tho that I find myself following very closely is the rowing events. The races are always so exciting and we tend to do quite well in recent games. Good enough for me.
I think the olympics are stupid. The only thing I watch is hockey and maybe the mens 100 metres. Just more nationalism and countries trying to one up eachother.
I wouldnt mind seeing a stripped down version with only basic sports like track, swimming, wrestling, stuff like that. And no uniforms or flags. Athletes can only compete naked.
I used to be even more into them as a kid, but I love big events like this. I don't care about a lot of the sports outside of the 4 years, but as soon as they are on I am in Olympic mode. Same goes for the Euro and World Cup. I eat it all up, and like being around others who do too.
That's one thing I really miss about NY....during the WC it seems like the whole city just turns into a big soccer town (bound to happen with so many foreigners), and people shutdown to watch games and drink and socialize. Don't really seem to get that in Calgary, which is a bit of a shame.
Well there is a good side to that, you can PVR a game during the day and not know who wins on your drive home. In fact this was not even discussed during my sons soccer game and England had played that very day.
Calgary is great for that, since moving here in the 90s i have never had a score accidentally revealed to me by any flag waivers or for that matter, conspicuous silence in Italian or Argentinian neighborhoods.
I will watch it whenever I have time and it will probably have me sitting in front of the tube more often than normal, but it won't impact my life the was the Winter Olympics did in 2010.
It's funny, like Table5 said, other than the Olympics I couldn't care less about rowing, diving etc, but every 4 years I get really interested.
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"Wake up, Luigi! The only time plumbers sleep on the job is when we're working by the hour."
I think the olympics are stupid. The only thing I watch is hockey and maybe the mens 100 metres. Just more nationalism and countries trying to one up eachother.
Well thats the whole idea, beat each other up on the field of play rather then killing each other in battle.
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Yes, I love amateur sport, and cheering for Canada.
I used to watch nothing but pro sports, but I've become bitter with those millionaire prima donnas, and now I focus more on what our other athletes are doing. Maybe it's because I've gotten to know some of them, and they're truly awesome people. I pretty much pay attention year round to what they're doing. If I can make an event, I will also go to it. We are pretty fortunate living in Calgary that we can go and watch the best this country has to offer in a number of sports. This weekend is Canadian Track and Field Trials at foothills athletic park. Go and cheer for Jessica Zelinka if you have a chance.
Well there is a good side to that, you can PVR a game during the day and not know who wins on your drive home. In fact this was not even discussed during my sons soccer game and England had played that very day.
Calgary is great for that, since moving here in the 90s i have never had a score accidentally revealed to me by any flag waivers or for that matter, conspicuous silence in Italian or Argentinian neighborhoods.
I guess that's a positive spin on things, but I'd rather be surrounded by the atmosphere. I spent the last few days in Montreal, and every afternoon we'd sit down out some pub and watch the games with a bunch of other fans, and everyone had a really good time watching countries they've never even been to. Half the fun of these events is the socialization involved.
I remember during the WC, a lot of places in NY closed down during the events, and allowed their employees to watch. It was hot-as-balls July anyway, so not like people work hard during that time. At one of my clients, I remember them setting up a giant projection screen in a public area for their employees to watch, and even brought in some beer etc. 90% of their employees were foreigners who weren't going to get any work done anyway, so might as well make it an event.
I'll typically watch the opening/closing ceremonies, other than that I'll watch 30 minutes or so if I'm not doing anything else, but there's really no "must see" events in my books.
I remember watching the last summer Olympics.. barely. I was pretty much strung out for that entire summer though.
*nods, clears throat*
..No, no I don't care about the games. Basically watch em if I got nothing else going on.
I think that might of been because of the time zone and the fact it was in China. Worst Olympics ever. At 2am and no atmosphere on the grounds or in the stands. People were told to attend, sit quietly and leave.
London should be a blast. Great party city and with the 7 hour difference from Calgary, all the events will be on during my working hours. Which means I'm not working and streaming on CTV.
AND sneaking into the lounge to watch tv.
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
Do I want to see Canada excel and do its best and not totally embarass us like 2004? Absolutely
Am I going to watch all that much? Not particularly. The thing about the summer games is....they're the summer games. In summer, I'm outside a lot golfing or chilling or whatever, but enjoying the summer itself. The winter games I watch more because its February so its not like I want to be outside.
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"Think I'm gonna be the scapegoat for the whole damn machine? Sheeee......."
