Would you support Rainbow on Hockey Unis for Sochi?

[polak]

Yes, because it won't change anything, Canada should not boycott the Olympics. We shouldn't, due to the negative impact for our athletes.

If there was a chance of change, I'd be singing a different tune. All you're going to do is strength Russian moral by upping their medal count.

[Husky]

How is the womens team going to go to Russia??

[19Yzerman19]

[Lanny'sDaMan]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...85/1/index.htm

Brian Burke weighs in on the topic at hand. I love this man.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Lanny'sDaMan

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...85/1/index.htm

Brian Burke weighs in on the topic at hand. I love this man.

Stay away from Russia......

I hope athletes of all sexualities and nationalities will recognize the injustices being perpetrated upon innocent people in Russia. I hope they realize that if they join voices, they can effect change. So, Olympians, when you pack your skates, pack a rainbow pin. When you practice your Russian, learn how to say, "I am pro-gay." When you gather your winter clothes, know that You Can Play will happily outfit any Olympic athlete with complimentary You Can Play merchandise.

[Rerun]

Want Canada's hockey teams to make a statement at the 2014 Olympics that would be hard to ignore and would probably get a ton of press (in and out of Russia)?

.... I'd support Canada's hockey players wearing these..




(subject to individual player approval, of course)

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Want Canada's hockey teams to make a statement at the 2014 Olympics that would be hard to ignore and would probably get a ton of press (in and out of Russia)?

.... I'd support Canada's hockey players wearing these..




(subject to individual player approval, of course)

We could just tell the IOC that they represent the Olympic ring colours

[Flashpoint]

Cher has turned down the opportunity to open the Olympics on account of the homosexuality laws.
Buzzfeed

Would love to see more sponsors follow suit. Particularly the hockey brands of Bauer, CCM, Vector etc. Would love it if all the players had tape over their equipment as a result of these discriminatory laws.

[polak]

I don't think anyone but Canadians know any of the hockey brands (besides the generic Nike stuff). You'd need commercial sponsors pulling out. Most equipment sponsors aren't recognizable brands.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by valo403

Let's get over this ridiculous idea that the athletes are sacrificing anything. They aren't entitled to go to the Olympics. They may have the opportunity to go if their country chooses to send them. That's it.

The impact of a boycott is debatable, but I'm really sick of people advancing the rights of athletes to compete in a sport above basic human rights.

What are you talking about...of course those that have qualified in their sports are entitled to go to the Olympics....that's why there is an Olympics to begin with.

You have clearly lost focus on this thing.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by transplant99

What are you talking about...of course those that have qualified in their sports are entitled to go to the Olympics....that's why there is an Olympics to begin with.

You have clearly lost focus on this thing.

Umm no, sorry, qualifying for the Olympics doesn't entitle you to go to the Olympics. If your nation doesn't want to send you you don't go, regardless of your qualification.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by valo403

Umm no, sorry, qualifying for the Olympics doesn't entitle you to go to the Olympics. If your nation doesn't want to send you you don't go, regardless of your qualification.

You really have lost it...carry on then.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by transplant99

You really have lost it...carry on then.

Ok champ, you tell me how Olympic participation works then. If your country chooses not to send you, you do not go. Thanks for keeping up.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by valo403

Ok champ, you tell me how Olympic participation works then. If your country chooses not to send you, you do not go. Thanks for keeping up.

Champ?

Good job councillor.

If a someone qualifies to go, they are entitled to go...period.

If that country chooses not to send them, that doesnt change a thing as far as what they are entitled too.

Sent to me via PM from another poster, here is one example of an athlete who was entitled to go, but didnt wish to represent who wanted to send him. Instead, he ran under the Olympic flag....because he was ENTITLED to do so.


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...hout-a-country

[valo403]

Did you read what you sent me? He was a refugee, he had no country to send him.

Here's an example for you. Canada decides they aren't going to send a curling team. Show me how old Kevin Martin and his rink head to the Olympics in that case.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by valo403

Did you read what you sent me? He was a refugee, he had no country to send him.

Here's an example for you. Canada decides they aren't going to send a curling team. Show me how old Kevin Martin and his rink head to the Olympics in that case.

Yes I read it...he had a country that HE didnt want to represent.

They wont go, I understand that.....however, that doesnt mean they weren't entitled to go, because they were. They also could go on their own dime and participate under the Olympic flag.

At any rate, Im out of this thing, you are absolutely over the top maniacal about something or other, that isnt what the original post was about.

Like I said....carry on.

[19Yzerman19]

I think you're proceeding on a misapprehension of what the word "entitled" means. It means you're vested with a right to something. If anyone was entitled to go to the Olympics, there would be no one with the ability to deny them that opportunity which clearly is never the case for Olympic athletes.

What you seem to be saying is that they have earned a privilege and SHOULD be at the Olympics.

[csnarpy]

Ahem....

Marial is not the first athlete to compete under the Olympic flag. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, six former Soviet Republics — Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Armenia — competed as the Unified Team. The Olympic flag was raised at medals ceremonies, and the “Olympic Hymn” played when the team won one of its nine gold medals at those Games. In 2000, a runner and a weight lifter from East Timor — like South Sudan a new nation without an Olympic committee — participated as independents. And in London, Marial won’t be the lone athlete hoping to hear the Olympic anthem on the medal stand. Three athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles, which dissolved in 2010 and no longer has an Olympic committee, will also march under the Olympic flag.

http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/26/...hout-a-nation/

[valo403]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Yes I read it...he had a country that HE didnt want to represent.

They wont go, I understand that.....however, that doesnt mean they weren't entitled to go, because they were. They also could go on their own dime and participate under the Olympic flag.

At any rate, Im out of this thing, you are absolutely over the top maniacal about something or other, that isnt what the original post was about.

Like I said....carry on.

Over the top maniacal? You're the one who decided to jump in here, and all I've done is present facts on how Olympic participation actually works, not your fantasyland version of it.

Olympic participation is subject to the IOC, which in turn sanctions the individual National Olympic Committees (NOCs). Here's a quote form olympic.org that may clear this up for you:

Only an NOC is able to select and send teams and competitors for participation in the Olympic Games.

http://www.olympic.org/ioc-governanc...pic-committees

An NOC simply choosing not to send an athlete or team does not create the ability for an athlete or team to compete under the Olympic flag as an independent athlete. That privilege has been granted by the IOC under 2 circumstances, political transition and international sanctions. In fact, there is precedent for the IOC denying an appeal to compete under the Olympic flag in the case of a nation boycotting a games. Per Wikipedia:

When Guyana joined the 1976 Olympic boycott, its sprinter James Gilkes asked the IOC to be allowed to compete as an individual, but was refused.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen..._Olympic_Games

Nations have the ability to determine who they will send to the Olympics, regardless of that person having met any Olympic qualifying standard. Many nations have refused to send athletes who met qualifying standards, be it for budgetary reasons or in the case of somewhere like Saudi Arabia a long standing ban (lifted in 2012) on female participation. None of those athletes had the ability to simply go to the Olympics on their own, although athletes banned on account of their gender may have provided a compelling case.