Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

BeRad

So the Olympics officially kicks off tonight at 9:00pm est. Is there enough interest here to warrant discussion?
What events would you be most interested in watching?
I'll be there for hockey, but want to get to some skiing too.

Which do you see as pointless wastes of time?
I have never understood biathalon. Not a waste of time, but seriously, ski for a few km, then shoot a rifle, then ski more, then shoot more. Just seems odd.

Who do you think will be lighting the Olympic flame?
Personally I think It would be Nancy Grace, Gretzky, or Betty Fox.

Is there anyone else out there looking forward to the games? How about the people who don't want their regular programming to be interrupted?

dpowell

Curling rules!

Pycroft

I always watch both the summer and winter olympics. I'm looking forward to it all. I like skiing, skating, hockey, all of it.

Fongolio

Please everybody watch and enjoy. Me, my son, and probably his son will be paying for them for a very long time. I plan to pvr everything and watch them over and over again so I can get my money's worth. Seriously, my province (British Columbia) has sunk into a black hole of debt for these games durring the worst economic downturn since the great depression. Add to that the fact that this is the mildest winter in BC since the 30's and the freestyle and snowboard venue has no snow and they are literally trucking it in. The price keeps going up.

I guess I should be proud that Canada and British Columbia are hosting and I will certainly cheer on our athletes but the cost has been astronomical in terms of dollars and severe cutbacks to health care, education, and other social programs in this province. We the average citizen are funding them and can't even afford to go to any events while our burocrats get free tickets.

Sorry if this sounded political but I know I speak for many British Columbians who feel exactly as I do. That said, now that the games are here I wish all athletes from the world over much success and a very good time in Vancouver. Go Canada!!!

AsSiMiLaTeD

Won't you be getting some of that money back now with tourist dollars?

hearingimpared

How about the guy who died during louge practice?

hearingimpared

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Won't you be getting some of that money back now with tourist dollars?

I was thinking the same thing. I would think the Olympics would generate tons of tourist dollars.

hearingimpared

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/Olympic-Luger-Killed-in-Training-Crash-84249942.html

Demiurge

hearingimpared wrote: »

How about the guy who died during louge practice?

Nasty video:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6202459n

Games are off to a bad start.

brettw22

I just saw the video of the guy dying instantly......not gruesome, but you can tell that when his body came to an absolute final stop against the metal poles, he was done.

hearingimpared

You said it. I wonder if the poles had some padding if that would have helped out. I don't think so as he was probably going in excess of 80 MPH and a dead stop like that just crushes everything.

Demiurge

I don't think it would have helped, although they say he died at the hospital and not on impact so who knows. I hope these games end better than they have started.

jm1

They need to immediately wall those posts off (and any other location along the track) so if this happens again the person will decelerate along the side the track! Not sure what they were thinking by having them exposed in the first place.

nooshinjohn

I don't know why they could not have seen this as being dangerous from the start... what a **** design and a horrible way to die.

BIZILL

man, that video is ... man, that makes me very sad. best of hopes to his family for sure.

hearingimpared

I just saw it on news and it looks worse on TV than it does in the clip above. A very sad way to open the Olympics.

Pycroft

Wow, that video is just awful. I can't believe I just watched somebody die. That is damn fast...makes you wonder what someone gets paid to do that, and why it's worth the risk. I rarely go over 65 miles per hour in my car. I can't even imagine.

nadams

Technically, he wasn't pronounced dead until at the hospital. They had to have hope he'd survive at trackside, or they would've pronounced him dead there and then. Still, with seeing that video, I have little doubt he was really dead there and then.

My eyes are on Lindsey Vonn. Gorgeous, athletic, and determined to succeed in the face of pain and injury.

BeRad

Supposedly, this is the first time a luger (sp??) has gone over the wall. The tracks are supposed to be disigned to keep the athlete in the track at all times.

This track is supposed to be the fastest and most dangerous in the world according to many veterans. This poor kid wasn't very experienced and had never competed on a level such as this which probably helped contribute to the initial loss of control. I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing the walls of straightaways being another 4 to 6 feet taller.

Fongolio: Hundreds of thousands of tourists will be pumping crap-loads of money back into the local economy. With hotels starting at 1000 dollars a night for a standard room... There will be money to spend, and it will be spent! I'm kind of scared to see how much I'm going to have to be spending when I get there on Tuesday!

BIZILL

kanye west got his own verse in "we are the world" just now. what a ****.

Fongolio

BeRad wrote: »

Fongolio: Hundreds of thousands of tourists will be pumping crap-loads of money back into the local economy. With hotels starting at 1000 dollars a night for a standard room... There will be money to spend, and it will be spent! I'm kind of scared to see how much I'm going to have to be spending when I get there on Tuesday!

I appreciate your optimism but the reality is long after the tourist dollars are gone the tax payers will continue to pay. As of January this year the estimated costs for these games it aprox. 6 Billion dollars. Security alone is estimated to cost over 1 Billion. Projected benefits in terms of money spent in and around Vancouver/ Whistler are estimated to be near 10 Billion very little of those tourist dollars find there way into the Provincial cofers. Like all Olympic Games the taxpayer pays for the games for decades to come in the for of taxation and cuts to programs. It's very common knowledge that hosting Olympics is a massive money losing undertaking. Just ask anyone from Montreal. The 1976 summer olympics hosted there were just finished being paid for year before last. That is nearly 30 years paying for them!! And that was long before the extraordinary costs of more recent game.

By the way I just watched the Georgian athletes come into the stadium durring the opening ceremonies. That is a brave bunch and my hat is off to them all.

Osarion

K.D. Lang sounded great. That dude can sing.

markmarc

Having been to Vancouver just a few years ago, I can testify that no matter how amazingly beautiful the city is on TV, it just doesn't compare to being there in person.

As for the cost, I still am surprised by how many cities don't try to hold the games a second time. Montreal has all the facilities to hold the modern summer games again but doesn't. The same holds true for Calgary.

The best way for Vancouver to recover the costs after the games is to hold as many events as possible in the various facilities, along with corporate sponsorship.

Chase lapsed

i made this video of the lge crash with a frame-by-frame view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAp8oGodxds

Fongolio

Chase lapsed wrote: »

i made this video of the lge crash with a frame-by-frame view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAp8oGodxds

WTF? Why? I didn't watch your video and your post is in extremely bad taste. That was a real human being. Someones son, or brother. Crap like this makes me sick. Take your twisted fun somewhere else.

hearingimpared

Kelvin, that clip is blocked by the International Olympic Commitee for copyright infringement so no-one is going to see it. It's a horrible tragedy and why someone would want to sensationalize it with a frame-by-frame view is beyond me.

danz1906

hearingimpared wrote: »

Kelvin, that clip is blocked by the International Olympic Commitee for copyright infringement so no-one is going to see it. It's a horrible tragedy and why someone would want to sensationalize it with a frame-by-frame view is beyond me.

Agreed!

danz1906

Osarion wrote: »

K.D. Lang sounded great. That dude can sing.

That's a good-1

piper

So sad for the Georgean luge gentleman. So sad.

Back on topic....The opening ceremonies, downhill skiing, bobsled, luge and skeleton, hockey, ice skating, and more.

I was wondering how Canada would do. I my opinion, there will never be another opening ceremony such as was performed in China. That is/was it !

Canada did a real nice job with making things a much more personal experience. I enjoyed them last night.

Biathlon takes extreme skill in breath control to cross country ski for long periods, and then have to gather oneself for a few seconds of extreme marksmanship.

The sport evolved from the original sports of the games, where they measured who could jump the highest or the farthest, run the fastest, throw a spear, etc. These, all skills needed to survive in olden times.

I love the olympics, and really enjoy the drama of an athlete who trains for 4 full years, and has but a few seconds to win or lose it all.

I have watched every games I could over the years, and at 53 years old, I find that I have watched quite a few of them.

This is the first games that I have had the chance to watch them with my HT system.
The effects are wonderful ! I am looking forward for the competetion to begin.

polkatese

It was a good show indeed. I am sure it was a proud moment for all. Glorious show for sure. I love how they use those projectors to create a 3D-like performance. Beijing 2008 was a show of scale, last night was a show of artistic use of technology. Kudos for a great start.

hearingimpared

For me the Olympics lost some of it's punch when the Soviet Union fell.