Are we excited about the Olympics?

[Scott]

Feel free to use the other Olympic threads for discussions of events and stories related to the Olympics.

There's been talk in the media of how residents of British Columbia and Vancouver are particularly ambivalent about the Olympic Games coming to Canada. I heard some stats on the radio today saying that 73% of Canadians support the Olympics, but only 50% of British Columbian's do. In addition, support in British Columbia has fallen in the last 3 months rather than grown like the "experts" had predicted.

Related article: www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=2467528

Also, news today that last Friday (for the second week in a row), commuters didn't take VANOC's suggestion to "pretend" the Olympics were on and take transit or alternate forms of transportation to work. They wanted a 10% drop in traffic, but only got 4%.

Related article: www.news1130.com/news/local/article/19799--vanoc-s-ceo-confident-commuters-will-get-out-their-cars-by-2010-games-time

As far back as October, there were stories in the news about a luger from Alberta, Regan Lauscher, who complained that Whistler residents were giving him the "cold shoulder" when they knew he was part of the Olympics and from Alberta.

No one I socialize with offline is really excited about the Olympics. I'm kind of looking forward to them. I have no tickets to any events, but I would like to go downtown a few times and take in the atmosphere and visit the celebration sites and the provincial/national hospitality houses (We visited the Northern House last week and it was fairly interesting).

Apart from the sport competitions, I'm also interested in the coverage and international attention Vancouver will get and how others in the world will view our city.

What do you and the people you know think of the Olympics? Is our apparent ambivalence a reflection of British Columbian's in general or is it just because we have to put up with the inconvenience and mass marketing and the rest of Canada just has to help pay for it? Are we in BC more likely to protest things? Are we a "no-fun" province? Are residents of "lotus land" annoyed when outsiders invade our paradise? Are we "left coasters" more likely to be resistant to big-corporations and big-media involvement?

What does our response to the Olympics say about us? Are we different than other Olympic-host cities in the past? And do you think the excitement is building as they get closer? VANOC thinks we will be getting hyped up now that the torch is in BC.

[lmtengs]

I have tickets to hockey and a victory ceremony, so I'm stoked!!!

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[dofd]

Long time listener (reader), first time caller(poster).

The Olympics; since I live downtown and need to drive to work; very unhappy, they have started to shut down roads with more coming Jan 28 and 29. Hate it; but it will get worse and worse.

I will be very unhappy; then the olympics will start. But.....

I have the weeks of traffic and a chance to enjoy the winter world coming to Vancouver. But trust me, every morning in traffic I will second guest that thought.

Crap, it will be fun; parties with poeple around the world and this time I did not need to catch a plane!

[Koastal Karl]

Couldent care less about the Olympics really. I mean it is great that Vancouver gets to host the Olympics but all the crap that comes with it is gonna be a pain in the ass. I know you how you feel dofd. We are flyers and we wont be flying for two months while the Olympics are on because of all the rules and regulation and restictions. I think some of it is a bit rediculas.

[Low Light Mike]

Similar to Karl, I'm non-plussed about the Olympics.

I'm too busy at work during February and other than Hockey, I don't really follow those specific winter sports.

I will likely tune into the Opening Ceremonies, and perhaps even get a bit excited and proud, but the increasing fakery of Olympic ceremony "performances" has made me cynical and so I'll probably be mocking the various pre-recorded segments of the opening ceremonies.

For the results, I will likely just do a morning internet update to see what happened.

One thing that I am curious about: Will Canada finally win a gold medal at home? Canada is the only country to have hosted a games and have not won a gold medal at it (we've done that twice, in 1976 and 1988). Wouldn't it be something if we made that record 3-for-3 ? ;D

[Mill Bay]

We shouldn't be excited about them at all. I mean, we really shouldn't be. I'm sure that everyone on the various committees is doing a fine job, the organizing and planning are meticulous, the security measures are all reasonable, justified and well-warranted. We could have the most perfect Olympic games ever, and Canada could win double gold medals in Hockey, but we still shouldn't be excited about it. Because at the end of the games, the world is going to walk back out of this fine restaurant we've opened to host them, and we will be stuck with the bill for the night. Of course, they will give us a healthy tip in tourist dollars and hotel stays while all the guests are here, but that will nowhere reach the total cost of hosting the games.

Despite what hypesters may tell us, mega events in themselves don't really help a region's economy one way or another: they are far too temporary. After the games, the venues will be empty, the visitors will all leave, their wallets will close. Most of the jobs associated with the games will disappear as well. Despite the building of all the nice new venues which we can still use, a lot of other parts of the local economy will take a hit, even to the point of causing a local recession. Any business leader should know, that in a healthy business, the income needs to exceed expenses. Any political leader should know that as well. If we had wanted to put on a truly successful Olympic games, we should have planned far, far ahead, tried to estimate as best as we could how much it would cost to host, then setup a fund to contribute to gradually until most of that cost could be covered. Perhaps, in the future, the IOC should consider a city`s financing in advance of the games, when considering where to allow the games to be hosted, so that a host city can really have something to be excited about, if they really could make money on the games, instead of lose it.

[Neil]

More than four years on the forum, I finally vote in my first poll on something.

Took me a long time to make up my mind on this one, though.

[Starsteward]

I have issues with the IOC in general, that basically involve the heavy handed approach to protecting Official Sponsors rights etc. and the IOC's blatant 'sexism' when they disallow women's ski-jumping.
We can argue about the cost of hosting this world event until the cows come home and whether or not monies used to build new highways, erect or upgrade sporting arenas etc, etc, etc, should have been funneled into such things as public housing and the like.
The reality is, we as a country, province and city did make a committment to host these games, (and yes, in hindsight, there is probably a lot VANOC wishes they had done differently), however, we have shown in the past that as a country we have the economic, industrial, technological and human 'wherewithall' to host some spectacular events, at which we have proudly waved the Canadian Maple Leaf!
So here's my "nutshell" as it were: While Canada and Canadians have some flaws, and warts, we are highly regarded around the world for the many good things that we bring to the world community.
Vancouver is one of Canada's younger children that has risen to the challenge of hosting notable political, athletic and economic events with relative success and has, like a growing teenager, wanted to be recognized as a capable, succesful adult, namely by calling itself a world class city. We're not quite there yet kids, we've got a bit of social 'growing up' to do and demonstrate to the rest of Canada and the world that, IF, we want to be recognized in the same breath as the Londons', New Yorks', Rios', Tokyo's etc. we had better suck it up and put all our petty differences aside in the short-term and show the world what we deserve the title of a World Class City.
Let's be proud of who we are, where we are, what we have, and what we can give to the world community!
Like it or not, our little piece of the planet is going to be under the International microscope for the next few weeks like never before and I'd like to think that waving the flag for all our accomplishements is even greater that going crazy with the flag at the Men's Hockey Gold Medal Game!
I'm sure many can relate to times when family functions included preparing for the visit of ones least favourite 'Aunt Hilda' but Pappa always said: we'll sort her and other family issues out after she leaves, but in the meantime, go wash your face, brush your hair, put some nice clothes on and put on a big grin......and let's show her a good time.
C'mon B.C., Whistler and Vancouver, Aunt Hilda is almost at the door so lets show her and the world what we're really all about. Maybe even All Grown Up?

[WettCoast]

My opinion re the Vancouver/Whistler Olympics has gone back and forth between supportive to rather negative.
I believe that the winter olympics should take place in a winter city. I do not consider Vancouver to be a winter city. Other Canadian cities such as Calgary & Quebec City, however, are.

Vancouver got the winter games as a consolation prize, after Toronto's bid for the 2008 summer games was rejected in favour of Beijing. Does everyone understand that the winter games are a rather small affair when compared to the summer games (about 1/10th the size).

It is true that BC is gaining a lot of new infrastructure related to the games. Projects like the Canada Line would have happened with or without the games. The big spending on the Sea to Sky Highway might well have occurred on other highways that needed the work more, such as much of the TCH route through BC.

Much of the big spending on games facilities will prove to be glaring white elephants following the games. An example - the Richmond speed skating facility. Many of the facilities built in Calgary have gone largely unused since 1988.

These games will showcase Vancouver/Whistler to the world. But will that mean hordes of tourists will follow? I doubt it. Just ask yourself if you, or anyone you know, has purposely gone to see Salt Lake City, Turin (Italy), or for that matter Beijing, as a result of the games being held in those cities? Tourists will continue to come to Vancouver mostly during the summer months, and they will come because the city is beautiful - nothing at all to do with the games.

I have long been a participant and a supporter of amateur sports, in particular individual stuff like cross country skiing, track & field, and similar. In that sense I would like to be totally on board with cheering on the Olympics as it is the creme de la creme of competition in sports such as cross country skiing. I was overjoyed watching Chandra Crawford win gold at the last winter games and had to wipe tears from my eyes after watching her sing through the playing of Oh Canada at her gold medal ceremony.

What led to my recent negative feelings about the games can be traced to the decision by the BC provincial government to yank gaming funds from amateur sports, arts & culture groups throughout the province. These funds help local clubs such as the one I belong to (Snow Valley Nordic Ski Club) to develop young skiers into potential Olympians. The cutting of these funds threatens the very existence of organizations like this one all over BC.

Furthermore similar gaming grant funding that supports high school sports programs throughout the province was also yanked. The local high school in the town where I live has less than 1/3rd of the funds that they had last year. This allows schools in the middle of nowhere (e.g. Kitimat, Smithers, Fort Nelson, Nakusp, etc.) to get to regional and provincial championships. Are there potential Olympians who will abandon there goals as a result of this? Yes, quite likely.

Where has this money been diverted to? The bloated Vancouver games, no doubt.

[lmtengs]

Did BCF have the Super-C's built at the time they did partly because of the Olympics?
because if it was for that reason, they would have kept the V's for longer...

Which makes me a not-so-happy camper. If my little question is answered the way I don't want it to be, then I just might have to change my answer from: "Can't wait for the party" to "Looking forward".

[Kahloke]

Jan 23, 2010 22:09:06 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

Did BCF have the Super-C's built at the time they did partly because of the Olympics?
because if it was for that reason, they would have kept the V's for longer...

I doubt it. I don't know for sure, but I imagine the V-Class retirement dates were set a long time ago.

[Ferryman]

I'm currently half torn about the whole situation. The Olympics have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster over the past 7 years for me.

I remember when Vancouver was first award the olympics on July 2nd, 2003. I was aboard the 8:30am sailing of the Queen of Coquitlam, as she was fresh from the drydock from her MLU. The Captain made a special announcement over the PA when Vancouver was officially award the games, and everyone on the boat jumped from their seats with joy, as if we in a stadium and the local sports team had just scored a goal. The atmosphere was intense, and a feeling I'll never forget. However, I was with my parents at the time, heading for a daytrip up to Squamish to investigate the housing market as we were about to move from the Island to the Sea to Sky Corridor. Our real estate agent greeted us inwhen we arrived there later that day with a big smile, saying that all houses on the market just went up $20,000. Not something we wanted to hear, since we sold our beautiful house on the Island for pennies compared to what housing values were on the mainland were at the time.

After settling into our new home in Squamish, it wasn't long until I started getting involved in the amount of work that was easily available, right in my back yard it seemed. At 16 years old, I was washing a fleet of semi trucks that were part of Kiewit Construction - the company who did the Sea to Sky Highway project. Later on, I would become heavily involved in the construction industry. Construction was booming up there, and there were a number of huge development projects underway that were being done to house people during the Olympics. All said and done by the time I left Squamish last year when work started to dry up, I roofed 1 Hotel, 5 Appartment buildings, 4 townhouse complexes, and about 100 houses in the span of three years 75% of those jobs were new construction. Now that I look back at it all, I'm thankfull I was able to take full advantage of that building boom, with how well I did with it at a young age.

The downsides to the Olympics that really turned me off to it all. The inconveniences of the highway closures, the media reminding me every single day that the Olympics are coming, the ruthless battles between VANOC and businesses (use of the names, etc), the pricing and purchase methods of tickets, and the rediculous amounts of money being spent on building venues. Now that the snow on the North Shore Mountains is disappearing, it just makes the Olympics that much more depressing. What were the odds of this being one of the most balmy winters recorded in this area. I was working at a construction site at the Inner Harbour of Victoria all of last week, and there were a few occurances during a few afternoons where it was warm enough to work without a sweater or a jacket on outside. I'm not going to lie, it felt delightful! Normally we're fighting the shivers, and the ice/snow right now which can be awful to deal with sometimes.

With that evil demon inside of me laughing at the thought of Gordos precious Olympics becoming a massive failure, I know I would be quite annoyed if that actually came to be. Because truely, at this point I'd like them to be a real success. I guess we'll just have to wait and see though.

I'm excited for the fact that the spotlight will be on us. I will be proud of our Province next month. But I can't wait for it to all be over, because some things have just gone way off the deep end. The hightened security everywhere, the road closures, and the annoying mascots are things I can't wait to see disappear.

[ferryfanyvr]

Jan 23, 2010 22:23:11 GMT -8 Ferryman said:

I remember when Vancouver was first award the olympics on July 2nd, 2003. I was aboard the 8:30am sailing of the Queen of Coquitlam, as she was fresh from the drydock from her MLU. The Captain made a special announcement over the PA when Vancouver was officially award the games, and everyone on the boat jumped from their seats with joy, as if we in a stadium and the local sports team had just scored a goal.

Talk about ironic.................I was on the Coquitlam that very same day!!! I must have been on the sailing following yours as I remember all the passengers and crew talking about how excited they were that Vancouver had been awarded the games.

Even though I live right downtown, I'm excited about welcoming the world to my neighbourhood. I work in Richmond but I choose to leave my car parked and take transit most of the time. I probably only drive my car once or twice a month anyway so I'm not worried about the road closures. I know transit will be busier, but what the heck? Every summer I'm lucky to be right the the middle of the madness of such things as the fireworks, the Pride festival,etc...and I love every minute of it! The only difference is that this will last two weeks. I realize that other residents may feel differently and that's their right. This is just MY personal opinion about how the games are going to affect MY life.

[fargowolf]

Meh. Whatever. They haven't benefited me in any way, and I think that despite all the hype, they haven't done very much, if anything, for most people anyway. At most, I MIGHT go watch the torch when it comes through town (Kamloops) on Wed.

[dofd]

So far roads are ok.

[Starsteward]

To all the naysayers and douybting Thomases, it is clear now that one week after the most successful Winter Olympic Games have come to an end, those folks were clearly in the minority.
Or did you jump on the bandwagon somewhere along the 17 days of the games?

[Neil]

Mar 7, 2010 11:06:13 GMT -8 Starsteward said:

To all the naysayers and douybting Thomases, it is clear now that one week after the most successful Winter Olympic Games have come to an end, those folks were clearly in the minority.
Or did you jump on the bandwagon somewhere along the 17 days of the games?

Thankfully, we live in a democracy where there's no shame in being in the minority.

No, I didn't jump on the bandwagon, although I did watch the hockey, which I would have done in any world championship, Olympic year or no. I went downtown once, and was able to recognize and understand the connection that so many people had with these Games, even if I didn't quite feel it myself.

I still feel it was a lot of money that could have been much better spent elsewhere, but it wasn't, and it's now a done deal. We can only hope the media gives us an accurate, no-spin accounting of the real cost of the Olympics, and I await the Vatican's reaction to the local calls for the elevation of John Furlong to sainthood.

[Barnacle]

I'm with Neil. I'd rather wait until the bills start coming due.