Beijing Olympics Thread

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Fire

Saying there are other sources of tax dollar waste doesn't excuse the waste of tax dollars supporting elite amateur athletes to boost our national ego for a couple of weeks every two years.

You seem to underestimate the power/importance of national ego when it comes to international politics. Like any good company, a country needs to ensure it's brand is perceived as a good one, and like it or not, the Olympics help to do that.

Just look at what happened in Georgia a couple of weeks ago....all that was done due to a hurt national ego.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Great writeup be Friedman on CBC - why did the Score let this guy go

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/sportsblog/...get_about.html

That was a great read - thanks for bringing it over.

[octothorp]

Great article by Friedman; in my mind, he's probably the best young sports TV people on any network in Canada, and this article shows why: he's got a great ability to connect with people and athletes in part because he usually asks intelligent questions, and it really shows in his on-air interviews.

[simmer2]

if anyone deserved it, it was Poon.

I'm not sure if he meant this to be funny, but man did it make me laugh.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by Fire

Saying there are other sources of tax dollar waste doesn't excuse the waste of tax dollars supporting elite amateur athletes to boost our national ego for a couple of weeks every two years.

How about having a culture of sport in our nation for our kids to grow up with. That's what the olympics are about for me, getting kids into more than just hockey, leading healthier lifestyles, and teaching them to set goals.

The olympics are not about boosting national ego.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

How about having a culture of sport in our nation for our kids to grow up with. That's what the olympics are about for me, getting kids into more than just hockey, leading healthier lifestyles, and teaching them to set goals.

The olympics are not about boosting national ego.

How many children do you think watched a significant portion of the Olympics? 10% max I would think. Tax money can be spent better to get kids active.

[North East Goon]

Want to make the Olympics the ultimate TV Destination. Add Camera's Big Brother style, to all those athlete houses!

[flamesaresmokin]

Originally Posted by Fire

Saying there are other sources of tax dollar waste doesn't excuse the waste of tax dollars supporting elite amateur athletes to boost our national ego for a couple of weeks every two years.

Maybe the money actually goes to helping athletes continue to stay "elite" for each and every event year round? This money can go into everything from training facilities to coaching, not simply into the athletes pockets. Its not like Canada is a developing nation where we have no money to allocate. If we can put tax dollars into half the programs we do, a couple bucks here or there makes absolutely no difference to the average taxpayer and saying otherwise is a complete overstatement.

[Sainters7]

Just had to bump this thread, as I had an interesting encounter today. I attend the U of A, and am in a track & field class right now. I signed up for the class on the last day of eligibility to switch classes and then proceeded to get violently sick, so this is actually my first week I've been able to attend the class.

Anyways, so we're doin long jump today so I'm chillin next to the pit watchin everyone do it, and all of a sudden this very tall, muscular black woman soars into the pit, basically murdering the rest of the class' jumps. Turns out its Carline Muir, who competed in the Olympics in Beijing this past summer. She's in my class!

Wanna know the worst part?...the class is on the curve

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Just had to bump this thread, as I had an interesting encounter today. I attend the U of A, and am in a track & field class right now. I signed up for the class on the last day of eligibility to switch classes and then proceeded to get violently sick, so this is actually my first week I've been able to attend the class.

Anyways, so we're doin long jump today so I'm chillin next to the pit watchin everyone do it, and all of a sudden this very tall, muscular black woman soars into the pit, basically murdering the rest of the class' jumps. Turns out its Carline Muir, who competed in the Olympics in Beijing this past summer. She's in my class!

Wanna know the worst part?...the class is on the curve

Shouldn't that disqualify her from that class?
That would be like me speaking mandarin and taking an introduction to mandarin class