[RUEZ]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

RUEZ RUEZ:

AsianWildRose AsianWildRose:

It may be true that it doesn't really help general health but there is such a thing as national pride.
I'd like my country to compete in competitions and not be the laughing stock of the world, especially when we're hosting in 2010.

Did you see the last winter olympics? I'm not sure if you're saying we are, but we were far from being a laughing stock. It was one of the best ones yet for us.

It was and we're only going to get more competetive given the fact that our athletes will be able to better compete on an even playing field with countries like the USA, Russia and Australia who stongly subsidize their athletes.

The money we will spend on our elite athletes is a pittance compared to what our governments waste each year.

I agree, it will probably attract a lot more people into Olympic sports if they think it's not all volunteer work.

[Blue_Nose]

AsianWildRose AsianWildRose:

Isn't Canada one of the leaders in healthy foods? Isn't everything DIET and LEAN and SKIM nowadays?

Obesity is still increasing, and childrens' lifestyles are becoming less and less active.

AsianWildRose AsianWildRose:

Also sport can help obesity. A kid can watch an athlete win a medal and want to be like him/her! Then they can enter sports programs and exercise. If Canada finished dead last all the time, no one would be active anymore.

Why would we want that, though? I, for one, don't want children to be encouraged to commit their entire life to a single cause for years, only to end up like the kayaker jackass who thinks he deserves to be paid to acheive his personal goals.

[Zipperfish]

I don't know, I have a hard time getting a good feeling about the Olympics anymore. There's this image of amateur athletes competing for the love of their sports but all that money, and drugs and corruption stinks the whole thing up.

I guess I just try to ignore all that and hang on to those magic moments like the Jamiacian bobsled team or that Australian dude who won the track speed skating 'cause everyone else wiped out.

[Wullu]

What Zipperfish said.

The Olympics mean about as much to me now as the Dallas Seniors Darts League.

[DrCaleb]

Blue_Nose Blue_Nose:

I've got no problem with elite athletics, but the government should not serve to promote the elite. Olympic medals in bobsledding aren't improving the general health of Canadians.

What Canadians need is more access to facilities that encourage children to live active lifestyles, not to sit on the couch watching other people smile on podiums.

Doesn't winning the Stanley Cup become the dream of every pond-hockey player? Doesn't that lead to kids wanting to grow up being in the NHL?

Irwin, Reed, even Nancy Greene - these are people that kept me going in downhill skiing (look up 'Crazy Canucks' for the history) and led me to try out for the 1988 Calgary games. I didn't make it, but I tried!

NHL'ers get all the advertising, but there are many other sports to challenge youth. Jennifer Heil, Sale and Pelletier, Chandra Crawford - wouldn't it be nice if they were household names to inspire youth too?

[AsianWildRose]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

I don't know, I have a hard time getting a good feeling about the Olympics anymore. There's this image of amateur athletes competing for the love of their sports but all that money, and drugs and corruption stinks the whole thing up.

I guess I just try to ignore all that and hang on to those magic moments like the Jamiacian bobsled team or that Australian dude who won the track speed skating 'cause everyone else wiped out.

The Australian guy winning that race was hilarious. The South Korean government is STILL mad about that race!

There are a million great stories each Olympics if you look hard enough. It's always the few scandals that make the news and scar the Games.

[camerontech]

BOOOOOO!

This is bogus, they are amateurs who compete for the sport, not money.

Am I the only jabroni who doesn't care what the medal count is? the olympics is a big "look at my country it's better than yours! game". The games and the countries who participate have completely forgotten what it is about.

It's about athletes in top physical shape being near perfect at sports around the world. Period. You want money put more cash in the funding of the games and give tax breaks to sponsors of athletes.

[sasquatch2]

camerontech

$1:

It's about athletes in top physical shape being near perfect at sports around the world. Period. You want money put more cash in the funding of the games and give tax breaks to sponsors of athletes.

I find an uncomfortable parallel to Hitler's olympic ideals and the communist bloc "shamateurs."
Avery Brundege's utopian notions were unworkable but this is just plain wrong.

[ShepherdsDog]

Let's use all the drugs we can, just see how far we can push the human body in its ability to perform. Oh wait some countries already do that.....only in some, the athletes don't have a choice.


[align=center]Could it be............China?[/align]
or Russia.......naw they're too broke nowadays

[Zipperfish]

AsianWildRose AsianWildRose:

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

I don't know, I have a hard time getting a good feeling about the Olympics anymore. There's this image of amateur athletes competing for the love of their sports but all that money, and drugs and corruption stinks the whole thing up.

I guess I just try to ignore all that and hang on to those magic moments like the Jamiacian bobsled team or that Australian dude who won the track speed skating 'cause everyone else wiped out.

The Australian guy winning that race was hilarious. The South Korean government is STILL mad about that race!

There are a million great stories each Olympics if you look hard enough. It's always the few scandals that make the news and scar the Games.

Exactly, there's enough rot there to turn anyone off but if you're willing to plug your nose there's some real gems every Olympics. I'm already getting pumped for this summer's Olympics.

[ridenrain]

Couldn't care less.

I laugh my ass off at countries like Nigeria who win a number of medals in track and fielsd, yet are suposed to be one of the porest nations in the world. I don't know if you can outrun starvation but their runners do, year after year.

[ShepherdsDog]

African runners train with hungry wildlife behind them, and the promise of a meal at the finish line. The French tried to model this pattern for their runners using Germans and a bottle of wine, but less than 5 steps into the race the French all gave up.

[bootlegga]

AsianWildRose AsianWildRose:

RUEZ RUEZ:

AsianWildRose AsianWildRose:

It may be true that it doesn't really help general health but there is such a thing as national pride.
I'd like my country to compete in competitions and not be the laughing stock of the world, especially when we're hosting in 2010.

Did you see the last winter olympics? I'm not sure if you're saying we are, but we were far from being a laughing stock. It was one of the best ones yet for us.

Yes, because we've started spending money since Salt Lake. Before that we were pretty bad.

Not really, we were usually finishing in the top 20 in total medals at past Winter Olympics, which seeing as how we are roughly the 30th biggest nation in the world (by population) is pretty good.

I don't have a problem giving athletes funding to compete, but giving them money for getting a medal says that that is all that counts. The Olympics aren't just about the top 3 competitors, but everyone involved. Somewhere along the way (probably during the Cold War and everyone using them as propaganda), the Olympics lost their uniqueness. Now it's just another contest held every four years.

I'd far prefer that money go to develop sports facilities ALL Canadians can enjoy, not just an elite few.