Will you watch the 2010 Olympics?

[Sweetdaisymae]

I watch the paraolympics, has me in awe at the athletes accomplishments.

 

[WriterDom]

The girl skaters butts I will watch! Wish I could lick.

 

[Netzach]

My rant…

The Olympics, in their current form, are an outdated relic of the 20th century that do little more than rob citizens of much needed funds and fill the pockets of bloated corporate sponsors. They need to either change, drastically, or go away.

I’m all for sports and friendly competition but the Olympics are a joke. My country has spent over 2.5 billion…yes billion…thus far on the 2010 Olympics. This is a disgusting waste of taxpayer money, especially for an event the average person can’t even afford to see.

There are already venues around the globe capable of hosting summer and winter events, do we really need to pick a new location, and put new cities into debt, every two years?

Will you be watching the Olympics? Do you support them?

I agree with all of the above.

However, I like winter sports enough that I will probably glance at the tube for a bit at some point with passing interest.

 

[Netzach]

And although a nation spends a great deal of money, they tend to make it back during the games and also with tourism and status.

This is actually becoming more and more debatable. It's not always a win.

And being in a city that voted DOWN a new stadium twice by public referendum anyway, but is having it forced on us, I'm with Keroin, the actual citizens should have some input.

 

[Recidiva]

This is actually becoming more and more debateable.

And being in a city that voted DOWN a new stadium twice by public referendum anyway, but is having it forced on us, I'm with Keroin.

Voting it down and having it forced on you anyway definitely sucks.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I would love to attend a Summer Olympics in person, if I were able to get tickets to the events I like (no track and field, except maybe javelin ). I would give up someone else's (preferably someone I don't know) left arm for tickets to all the women's gymnastics events... and both their arms for seats close enough to get good pics and mpgs. Winter Olympics, mostly meh. I'll probably watch some things - ice skating for, as WD said, the girl skaters' butts (and occasionally boobs) - but not many.

 

[caela]

I won't be watching them. Not out of any ideal against the consumerism in them but simply because I don't feel the need to pay for cable and without it you won't see them where I am. Not going to pay for it just to watch them. If I'm at a friends and they're on I might give the skating a passing glance, though not because of the skaters butts lol, but because I actually do admire the skill and dedication needed to actually perform those stunts on ice and not land flat on your ass or face.

I call it good if I can glide forward, very slowly, on skates and not lose my balance.

 

[PaganKinktress]

Didn't we just have the Olympics last year??

I thought they were held every 4 years....maybe I'm mixing it up with Leap Year or something.

 

[BiBunny]

Didn't we just have the Olympics last year??

I thought they were held every 4 years....maybe I'm mixing it up with Leap Year or something.

There's a Summer Olympics and a Winter Olympics. Both are held every four years, but not on the same years. So the Summer Olympics were in 2008 and will be held again in 2012. The Winter Olympics are being held now in 2010 and will be held again in 2014.

There are Olympic Games every two years, but they aren't the same Olympics.

 

[YourCaptor]

I like them.

I think its awesome that you can go from channel to channel and find a different sport on each. Although some sports have got to go, like trampoline jumping, and that thing where they ski and shoot, that's not sport.

They also need more little figure skating and gymnast chicks. Oh god the shapes I could bend them into and fuck them. Le sigh It's almost like porn.

 

[graceanne]

I have no interest in watching any sport. At. All.

 

[Keroin]

Vancouver is having an unseasonably warm winter. Snow is melting on the hills. They have a bunch stockpiled but they will also be flying snow in by helicopter. $1800 per hour, per helicopter.

Ah, you gotta love excess.

Sure would be nice if our hospital had a CT scanner. Oh well, at least we'll have snowboarders to entertain us for two weeks!

 

[sb2009]

my brush with fame: I was at the 1996 Atanta summer olympics, when I was in the Army. I was public affairs, and ran around taking pictures of random crap, feeling really sexy with my credentials.

A couple weeks ago when we were rummaging around trying to find another acceptable ID to prove I was a US Citizen (stupid story) we found the badge and my husband was entranced with the young looking me in the picture.


"Wow, you looked like that?" "Yes, fucker, we were marrried at the time, don't you remember?"
"Wow, you were sexy."
"Shut the fuck up, I'm sexy now."
"Yeah, but you were sexy-sexy then!"
"Do you ever want to have sex again?"

 

[intothewoods]

I used to love skating, gymnastics, volleyball...probably a few others I'm forgetting. The media coverage has become insufferable though. I don't need hours of background on every competitor!

I also agree that it should be amateurs only in most sports. I mean, basketball was ridiculous.

 

[ownedsubgal]

yes i will be watching the Vancouver Olympics. like Recidiva, i am inspired by the athletes and their stories, and just the excitement of real competition. i think it's awesome that an athlete from Bahrain can compete with their peer from Jamaica. i love the camaraderie, the sportsmanship, and the finely tuned athleticism. i love to see what the human body is capable of achieving. i love that for many of these athletes the Olympic games are a culmination of a lifetime of hard work, struggle, pain, and unimaginable sacrifice.

figure and speed skating are my favorite winter events, but i check out everything except hockey. for some reason i don't feel the same inspirational warm feelings about seeing the popular team sports (baseball, basketball, hockey) in the Olympics.

however, i do wish that venues were chosen more ethically and responsibly. i was horrified at what the Chinese government did to its own citizens and much of the little farm land they have left in order to make the Beijing Olympics happen. it certainly wouldn't bother me a bit if the Olympics were held in the same 4 tried and true cities over and over again, alternating each season, that would be ideal.

 

[ThorkelGriersen]

Vancouver is having an unseasonably warm winter. Snow is melting on the hills. They have a bunch stockpiled but they will also be flying snow in by helicopter. $1800 per hour, per helicopter.

Ah, you gotta love excess.

Sure would be nice if our hospital had a CT scanner. Oh well, at least we'll have snowboarders to entertain us for two weeks!

The Super Bowl is in Miami/Ft Lauderdale next Sunday. Good for traffic jams. The stadium "Joe Robbie" built with Robbie's own money @$500 mil is about 20 years old. The NFL said "No more Super Bowls without a new stadium."

The city of Miami is building a new baseball stadium with a retractable roof for $500 mil + , assuming there are no cost-overruns [ha!]. They ONLY used money that had been earmarked and raised by voter referendum for housing for low income people. The justification???????????? The stadium will generate jobs and help low-income families. RIGHT!!!!!!

It causes one to wonder who is worse: The people who decided this crap or the public who buys it. The entire fandago was delayed because a radically leftist, Norman Brahman [owner of the Philly Eagles and a Rolls Royce dealer], brought suit against the government for stealing money originally raised for poor people. The court ruled against him -- "No Standing" --naturally.

 

[graceanne]

"Wow, you looked like that?" "Yes, fucker, we were marrried at the time, don't you remember?"
"Wow, you were sexy."
"Shut the fuck up, I'm sexy now."
"Yeah, but you were sexy-sexy then!"
"Do you ever want to have sex again?"

LOL That reminds me of a conversation my brother and sister in law had. Her mom was wearing this pair of jeans and Des complimented her on them, and her mom said 'well they used to be yours' and my brother said 'they used to be YOURS?' and Des said 'I don't know what she's talking about' and my brother asked Des' mom 'what size are they' and des' mom said 'you should know she was wearing this size when you married her' and des said 'SHUT UP I DONT' KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT' and my brother said 'YOU WERE THAT SKINNY WHEN WE GOT MARRIED' and des said 'do you ever want to get laid again?'

 

[JMohegan]

The Super Bowl is in Miami/Ft Lauderdale next Sunday. Good for traffic jams. The stadium "Joe Robbie" built with Robbie's own money @$500 mil is about 20 years old. The NFL said "No more Super Bowls without a new stadium."

The city of Miami is building a new baseball stadium with a retractable roof for $500 mil + , assuming there are no cost-overruns [ha!]. They ONLY used money that had been earmarked and raised by voter referendum for housing for low income people. The justification???????????? The stadium will generate jobs and help low-income families. RIGHT!!!!!!

It causes one to wonder who is worse: The people who decided this crap or the public who buys it. The entire fandago was delayed because a radically leftist, Norman Brahman [owner of the Philly Eagles and a Rolls Royce dealer], brought suit against the government for stealing money originally raised for poor people. The court ruled against him -- "No Standing" --naturally.

Quit mentioning poor people when Winston, YC, and WD wanna get off peeking under some jailbait chick's skirt! Where the hell are your priorities, man?

Besides. Those people in Miami aren't really all that poor. If you want real poverty, you've gotta visit the favelas in Brazil.

Just lucky for the Brazilian elite, dirty old men, and sports fans everywhere that Lula's in charge!

http://www.brazzil.com/component/co...omes-lab-for-genocide-and-social-control.html

 

[JMohegan]

Vancouver is having an unseasonably warm winter. Snow is melting on the hills. They have a bunch stockpiled but they will also be flying snow in by helicopter. $1800 per hour, per helicopter.

Ah, you gotta love excess.

Sure would be nice if our hospital had a CT scanner. Oh well, at least we'll have snowboarders to entertain us for two weeks!

The most revolting example of American excess was built right smack in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Yet even now, as water shortages veer toward crisis, people who should know better - who DO know better - still go there. Effectively celebrating that excess, with their presence and their dollars, more powerfully than whatever they might say with their actual voice.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a_b86mnWn9.w

Boycotting is a great idea, in theory. The problem is that some people are willfully ignorant, others know but don't give a fuck, many know but don't think their boycott would make a bit of difference, and still others know but justify with "well, this is my one vice, I'm good everywhere else."

Depending on the issue, I'd put myself in each of those categories at varying points.

And you?

 

[Recidiva]

The most revolting example of American excess was built right smack in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Yet even now, as water shortages veer toward crisis, people who should know better - who DO know better - still go there. Effectively celebrating that excess, with their presence and their dollars, more powerfully than whatever they might say with their actual voice.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a_b86mnWn9.w

Boycotting is a great idea, in theory. The problem is that some people are willfully ignorant, others know but don't give a fuck, many know but don't think their boycott would make a bit of difference, and still others know but justify with "well, this is my one vice, I'm good everywhere else."

Depending on the issue, I'd put myself in each of those categories at varying points.

And you?

I'd be perfectly happy with reform. My assumptions are that communities are gambling money on the Olympics that they already have and they have a surplus they're spending. If that's not what is happening, then that comes under fraud and I'd support suing the everloving hell out of public officials that gamble with the community's milk money. My concept of it being voluntary and charity in nature certainly doesn't apply when someone is being shaken down and lied to about expectations.

I won't boycott Olympics because I'm supporting the athletes, not the idiots who bid with money they don't have.

I will boycott the officials and judges and morons who do damage to communities in the name of the Olympics in a flat second.

 

[JMohegan]

I'd be perfectly happy with reform. My assumptions are that communities are gambling money on the Olympics that they already have and they have a surplus they're spending. If that's not what is happening, then that comes under fraud and I'd support suing the everloving hell out of public officials that gamble with the community's milk money. My concept of it being voluntary and charity in nature certainly doesn't apply when someone is being shaken down and lied to about expectations.

I won't boycott Olympics because I'm supporting the athletes, not the idiots who bid with money they don't have.

I will boycott the officials and judges and morons who do damage to communities in the name of the Olympics in a flat second.

I don't know how you can boycott one without boycotting the other. In fact, that's a big part of the problem.

This could also be one reason for the excessive back story telling ITW mentioned. Focus on the kid whose parents worked 2 jobs each, spent every dime of their retirement money, maxed out on the mortgage, and woke up at 4 every morning. Don't talk about the poor people who got displaced to build that stadium, don't discuss their hardships and sacrifices, don't even wonder about where they had to go.

 

[Keroin]

The most revolting example of American excess was built right smack in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Yet even now, as water shortages veer toward crisis, people who should know better - who DO know better - still go there. Effectively celebrating that excess, with their presence and their dollars, more powerfully than whatever they might say with their actual voice.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a_b86mnWn9.w

Boycotting is a great idea, in theory. The problem is that some people are willfully ignorant, others know but don't give a fuck, many know but don't think their boycott would make a bit of difference, and still others know but justify with "well, this is my one vice, I'm good everywhere else."

Depending on the issue, I'd put myself in each of those categories at varying points.

And you?

Me? I would definitely count myself as “ignorant of the problem/this is my one vice”, where Vegas is concerned. Having said that, my mind can be changed, I’m not inflexible. I certainly don’t need to go to Vegas and if my visit there supports that kind of environmental damage then, in the future, count me out.

The Vancouver Olympics have done their share of environmental damage as well. Notably in the Eagle Ridge area. And this is part of my point, I mean there are already venues capable of hosting this event so why destroy tracts of pristine wilderness just to host it somewhere new?

Here’s some info I dug up today…

“As of the start of February 2010, the total cost of the Games was estimated to be $6 billion and rising, over ten times the original estimate of $600 million. Projected revenues to the city and province were projected to be in the range of $10 billion, but a Price-Waterhouse report has indicated that project revenues will only be in the range of $1 billion.”

“Opposition to holding the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver has been expressed by hundreds of activists and politicians, including Lower Mainland Mayors Derek Corrigan and Richard Walton. Many of the public Olympic events held to date in Vancouver have been attended by protesters. Environmental protests at Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver resulted in the arrest of over 20 people, and jail time for two local women, Betty Krawczyk and Harriet Nahanee. Protesters have also vandalized branches of the Royal Bank of Canada, an Olympic sponsor, in Ottawa, Vancouver and Victoria.

There are several reasons for the opposition, some of which are outlined in the documentary film Five Ring Circus. and in Helen Jefferson Lenskyj's books Olympic Industry Resistance (2007) and Inside the Olympic Industry (2000) These issues include:
· The large expense to taxpayers, estimated in 2007 to be CAN$580 million. After the stock market crash of 2008, there are increasing concerns that Games-related projects will not meet their economic targets. The Olympic Village development, for example, was originally intended to make a profit, but one critic estimates it will be millions in debt. Olympic organizers have not commented on this estimate.
· The destruction of the natural environment, particularly at Eagleridge Bluffs to build a new highway. According to critics, despite claims of the “greenest Olympics” ever, and statements about "sustainability", the 2010 Olympics will be among the "most environmentally destructive" in history.”

 

[JMohegan]

The Vancouver Olympics have done their share of environmental damage as well. Notably in the Eagle Ridge area. And this is part of my point, I mean there are already venues capable of hosting this event so why destroy tracts of pristine wilderness just to host it somewhere new?

Because you're competing with China for latest, newest, coolest, most hip cutting edge Olympic venue status.

 

[Keroin]

Because you're competing with China for latest, newest, coolest, most hip cutting edge Olympic venue status.

Don't even get me started on China...

 

[Recidiva]

I don't know how you can boycott one without boycotting the other. In fact, that's a big part of the problem.

This could also be one reason for the excessive back story telling ITW mentioned. Focus on the kid whose parents worked 2 jobs each, spent every dime of their retirement money, maxed out on the mortgage, and woke up at 4 every morning. Don't talk about the poor people who got displaced to build that stadium, don't discuss their hardships and sacrifices, don't even wonder about where they had to go.

I think you can support the athletes AND sue the assholes for fraud.

This isn't me saying "You must watch the Olympics or Jesus will kill all the kittens! ALL THE KITTENS!"

I don't disagree with anyone whose reasons are to boycott. I can respect that too.

But I support troops in war even if I despise the war. To me, the athletes are the troops.