With the golds piling up for Canada, I think that the early criticism of the Own The Podium program was unfortunate. OTP was criticized for being too arrogant for modest Canadians, and putting too much pressure on athletes to win. Give me a break. Sure Canada won't win the overall count, but the program is a success. It makes up for the huge money US athletes get for the disproproportionate sharing of olympic ad revenues the US gets and funnels to athletes.
Vancouver Olympics
- Thread starter Turbodick
- Start date
This is total bullshit. The US speed skating team had no funding at all until Steve Colbert went to bat for them. Your post is 100% myth. And in fact I don't believe the US team ever won total medal count in the Winter Olympics since 1932. So now that we won overall medals we are funneling money to athletes?
Just finished watching most of Canada's medalists sitting all together & being interviewed in the CTV studio. One word: I-N-S-P-I-R-I-N-G !!!!
By the way, rumors had been flying around since last night that Charles Hamelin had been named as Canada's flag bearer. At a party last night, his fellow skaters & two Canadian Olympic officials had confirmed the rumor, including Hamelin, who was seen thanking people for the honor. It was even announced in the media this morning. However, the COC was still denying the rumor.
Well, surprise-surprise, my choice for flag bearer is Joannie Rochette!!!! What a great choice!!!! Well done, people!!!! (The choice was made by Nathalie Lambert, Joe Juneau & Steve Podborski).
40 minutes to go before the big game!! Go Canada Go!!!!
(If they win, they'll set an Olympic record for the most golds for any country at a Winter Olympic)
By the way, rumors had been flying around since last night that Charles Hamelin had been named as Canada's flag bearer. At a party last night, his fellow skaters & two Canadian Olympic officials had confirmed the rumor, including Hamelin, who was seen thanking people for the honor. It was even announced in the media this morning. However, the COC was still denying the rumor.
Well, surprise-surprise, my choice for flag bearer is Joannie Rochette!!!! What a great choice!!!! Well done, people!!!! (The choice was made by Nathalie Lambert, Joe Juneau & Steve Podborski).
40 minutes to go before the big game!! Go Canada Go!!!!
(If they win, they'll set an Olympic record for the most golds for any country at a Winter Olympic)
I really didn't understand the choice of Hamelin to be the flag bearer. The only thing I could see would be if Rochette and Bilodeau, each a better choice IMHO, had turned it down. I have a feeling that the athletes may have just been having a bit of fun misdirecting the press from the real choice. I think that Joannie Rochette is a fine choice to be flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. She represents everything the Olympics are supposed to be about and I'm sure she will carry the flag with pride.
Hamelin won two golds. I do agree that Rochette & Bilodeau might have been better choices. My personal favorite other than Rochette would have been Jon Montgomery. He's a great character!!
I do agree that they probably had a field day trying to fool the press (and succeeding!) last night. Short track speed skaters seem to be very down-to-earth, funny characters......
I can't wait for Neil Young's performance tonight during the closings. Wanna bet we'll hear him sing "Heart of Gold"? I've also heard rumors about Leonard Cohen showing up.....i sure hope so!
I wish other great Canadian acts could be there.....Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Rush, Randy Bachman, Alanis Morrissette, Burton Cummins, Bryan Adams, etc. We'll see!
Hello all,
First: I just want to says MANY THANKS to all the Canadians for hosting what has turned out to be a great 2010 Olympics.
This sort of thing is a bit silly and hypocritical. Tell me Turbodick, did the Canadians take that $117 million to "Own the Podium" and give it to countries who have less, much less than Canada, so that all the competition could be more equal...hmmmmmm?????????? LOL!
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2010/19/c3436.html
Wednesday, 17 February 2010, saw the biggest Visa spenders coming from the United States (US$5.7m), followed by China (US$625,000), the United Kingdom (US$391,000), Japan (US$346,000) and Australia ($289,000). Visitors from these five countries accounted for more than 75 percent of all international spending on Visa cards on this date.
If you want to talk about who is distributing the wealth and where it is going, the stats above give an indication the U.S. alone is spending about 38% of all the money for the countries listed above and about 30% of all countries for these games. So how about a thank you instead of a complaint. Techman was mentioning sportsmanship in another part of this thread. Well, this kind of "they've got more money than us" garbage isn't IT!!!
I also spent a little time trying to find what the U.S. government spent on these games for team expenses, not facility expenses or private funding to compare budgets comparably. I haven't found it yet. Where are your facts? If you are not comparing factual information of government to government or private to private contributions or budgets in an "apples to apples" relation for each country during these Olympics then your comment was just "uninformed" and poor sportsmanship. Why not just be proud of Canada's great accomplishment in sports achievements and putting on a great games.
Cheers,
Merlot
First: I just want to says MANY THANKS to all the Canadians for hosting what has turned out to be a great 2010 Olympics.
This sort of thing is a bit silly and hypocritical. Tell me Turbodick, did the Canadians take that $117 million to "Own the Podium" and give it to countries who have less, much less than Canada, so that all the competition could be more equal...hmmmmmm?????????? LOL!
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2010/19/c3436.html
Wednesday, 17 February 2010, saw the biggest Visa spenders coming from the United States (US$5.7m), followed by China (US$625,000), the United Kingdom (US$391,000), Japan (US$346,000) and Australia ($289,000). Visitors from these five countries accounted for more than 75 percent of all international spending on Visa cards on this date.
If you want to talk about who is distributing the wealth and where it is going, the stats above give an indication the U.S. alone is spending about 38% of all the money for the countries listed above and about 30% of all countries for these games. So how about a thank you instead of a complaint. Techman was mentioning sportsmanship in another part of this thread. Well, this kind of "they've got more money than us" garbage isn't IT!!!
I also spent a little time trying to find what the U.S. government spent on these games for team expenses, not facility expenses or private funding to compare budgets comparably. I haven't found it yet. Where are your facts? If you are not comparing factual information of government to government or private to private contributions or budgets in an "apples to apples" relation for each country during these Olympics then your comment was just "uninformed" and poor sportsmanship. Why not just be proud of Canada's great accomplishment in sports achievements and putting on a great games.
Cheers,
Merlot
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This is a bit hard to believe. None at all?? Come on.....LOL!!!!
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1934349,00.html
Yes, Colbert went to bat for them. But to say that they had NO FUNDING AT ALL is an exaggeration. They had a small budget, yes. They needed money, yes. But no funding? Nope.
The article says they had a $300,000 budget shortfall as of October. That is why Colbert was forced to action.
They had sponsor like verizon,united airline,dow, nike,panasonic etc. etc Money from colbert help cover the 300,000$ they lost when a dutch bank close.
So what you're telling me is that they indeed had funding, which was lost when the bank went under.
The 300,000$ is only a part of their income But nothing so far for next year they need to negociate with their sponsor No funding at all dont belive this for one second they have speed skating association at state and city level all over the country with their own sponsor and the skater are also getting their private sponsorship
Sidney Crosby should be the flag bearer for Canada and Apolo Ohno for the USA.
Instead it will be Rochette For Canada and Billy DeMong for the USA.
Crosby was not the best player for Team Canada during the tournament, he just happened to score the winning goal and considering Ohno's remarks after losing, I don't think he deserves to carry the flag. There could not be a better choice to carry Canada's flag than Joannie Rochette who's courage and determination to continue competing under such circumstances is a perfect example of the Olympic spirit. I think Steve Holcomb would have been a good choice to carry the US flag with his great victory in the Bobsleigh.
Be careful Tech. I wouldn't be squawking until it's over!
Well, here we are after the game and Canada stands alone as the number one gold medal winner in the history of the Winter Olympics.
Can I squawk yet?
You may! lol...... and well deserved CANADA! has Canadian Pride ever been higher?
Well, here we are after the game and Canada stands alone as the number one gold medal winner in the history of the Winter Olympics.
Can I squawk yet?
Hello Techman,
I like the choices as they are. Joannie Rochette symbolizes the heart Canada put into these Olympics, and Billy Demong symbolizes the break-through games for the U.S.A. as his gold in Nordic combined was the first ever in the Olympics for our country which now has set the Olympic medal totals record of 37. Canada set the gold standard and the U.S.A. set the totals standard. That's a huge piece of wonderful glory for both countries. <Insert busting with pride smilie...right here BABY!!!> Oh WAIT! I can...lol.
Cheers,
Merlot
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Techman,
You may squawk away buddy! ENJOY!
Live it up...just remember pride tempered with humility is always better...HAVE FUN!
And congrats to Canada again on all counts!
Merlot,
As always - well said. So 'Nough said...
BTW - first spring training games in 3, count 'em 3 days...
Jman
PS Dammit I wish there were Smileys on this board that didn't suck...<insert real winking smiley here>
You may squawk away buddy! ENJOY!
Live it up...just remember pride tempered with humility is always better...HAVE FUN!
And congrats to Canada again on all counts!
Merlot,
As always - well said. So 'Nough said...
BTW - first spring training games in 3, count 'em 3 days...
Jman
PS Dammit I wish there were Smileys on this board that didn't suck...<insert real winking smiley here>
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