# A Canadian flames the whole Canadian Olympic Mess! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 14, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922 "2010-02-14T03:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/221 "2010-02-19T16:02:11Z")
> [@BMada](#): > > weird eyebrows? All I can see is her big smile and all I can hear is the giggle at the end. Her eyebrows look like something purchased from a costume shop. I’m sure she’s a lovely person but the eyebrow comment was accurate, if quite off topic. Actually, my observation is that all the freestyle skiing people seem, to be perfectly honest, like they’re half baked. I suspect they’re all well experienced in the same recreational pharmaceuticals Ross Rebagliati was. These are young sports, relatively speaking, and still seem to be dominated by a crowd of grungy ski lodge rats. In 30 years the sport will be infused by waves of better athletes and the quality of competition will soar - they’ll look back at the freestyle skiiers of today and find their abilities to be quaint and silly. An exception might be Shaun White, who is like the Babe Ruth of snowboarding. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/222 "2010-02-19T16:08:45Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Heh - yer funny. > > Seriously though I’m by no means an expert on the stuff, but I don’t actually think that Ben Gay would work in the manner you describe. . . . . . . . but I see you have given some consideration to using Ben Gay for that purpose. Don’t despair Alice, you will find something. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/223 "2010-02-19T18:35:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Her eyebrows look like something purchased from a costume shop. > > I’m sure she’s a lovely person but the eyebrow comment was accurate, if quite off topic. > \ I’m an eyebrow snob - so sue me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/224 "2010-02-19T20:43:23Z")
Boy, commenters upthread weren’t kidding about the [Norwegian reaction](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/02/19/bc-norwegian-shaman-salmon-farm-curse.html) to poor performance by their winter Olympic team: > [@CBC](#): > > **B.C. chiefs deny cursing Norwegian Olympic team > Shaman blames lacklustre results on natives angry over Norway-owned fish farms** > A shaman in Norway has suggested aboriginal people in B.C. might have cursed the Nordic country’s Olympic athletes because of their opposition to Norwegian-owned fish farming operations in B.C., but West Coast native leaders deny any mystic influence. > > Norway is traditionally a powerhouse in the Winter Olympics, having placed first overall in Salt Lake City in 2002 with 13 gold medals. > > But when Norway’s early results in the Vancouver Games were not as good as expected, the Norwegian broadcaster NRK sought out a Sami shaman — or indigenous spiritualist — who speculated his counterparts in B.C. might be the cause. > > Eirik Boie Myrhaug is quoted as saying that Indian magic might be behind Norway’s Olympic setbacks. He suggests some B.C. chiefs might have cast an evil spell on the Norwegian athletes. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/225 "2010-02-20T00:07:21Z")
I have it on good authority that Norwegians are born on skis. The last time I raced telemark Super-G, it was at Whistler’s Upper Dave Murray Downhill, and a Norwegian won. So today, I thought it would be fun to watch the alpine Super-G, for it was on the same run (Upper Dave Murray Downhill). I got a kick out of watching the big boys handle the topography – it brought back some good memories, but son of a gun, a Norwegian won it. Some things never change. Seriously, I take my hat off to Norway, for they truly have a culture of skiing, the way we have a culture of hockey and curling. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/226 "2010-02-20T00:54:57Z")
BTW, if you want to watch the sport, rather listen to commentators and colour commentators, and personal interest shorts, dig about on the CTV website, for example, [TSN | Sports News, Opinion, Scores, Schedules, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Super Bowl, World Juniors., Formula 1](http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/index.html?assetid=bdb461e3-5554-452f-8644-552606541fea) for the Men’s Super-G. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/227 "2010-02-20T02:34:54Z")
It’s interesting to note the CTV play by play team was openly critical of the Canadian ski team in today’s broadcast, their point being, to sum up, “They (the Canadian Olympic Committee, specifically the alpine portion) spent all that money on Own The Podium, bragged about everything they’d done to win on this mountain, and have nothing to show for it. They should explain to the Canadian people why all this money got no results.” Perhaps it’s a fair question and perhaps not - I know little about skiing - but clearly, the Canadian media is NOT just cheerleading and sayinm good try, they’re being critical _ **where they feel it’s deserved.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/228 "2010-02-20T03:08:51Z")
We do not have a big enough base of children skiing. The smaller the base of the pyramid, the fewer exceptional skiers at the top. Does the fairly recent increase in financial support make a difference? I expect that it does to a limited degree (the final medal tally will tell us), but I can’t see it putting us in the leagues of either nations with much larger populations (e.g. USA), or nations with much higher participation rates (e.g. Norway). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/229 "2010-02-20T03:29:11Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > We do not have a big enough base of children skiing. Of course that makes perfect sense, but it’s not really a defense against CTV’s criticism, which is that a lot of money was spent, and the Canadian team was talking a lot of trash about how they WERE going to win. If the team lacked the talent to win, then spending money on all the hifalutin’ technology and bragging about how we’d win medals was stupid; the more logical expendite of COC money would be either on sports in which we do have a chance to win OR in attracting kids into the sport so as to build the talent base to win in 2026. Don’t strut around talking about the big money medal push, fail, and then say “Gosh darn it, we don’t have the horses for this race, whaddya know.” I think it’s fair to criticize the COC for babbling on about how they were sure of a huge medal haul and finishing first overall when it’s apparent it’s not going to happen. Of course, \*the individual athletes \*are themseleves doing their best, and many have done magnificently. The COC, however, is spending my tax money on this and it’s fair to ask where the results are. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/230 "2010-02-20T03:56:05Z")
As very pleased as I am with the Canadian athletes’ overall performance, I don’t like all the bluff and bluster about owning the podium. “Own the Podium” does not come to my mind when I think about sportsmanship. RickJay, do you recall the “[Talking Proud](http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/images/talkinproud.mp3)” public service commercials broadcast out of Buffalo in the 1970s? The Buffalo TV news stations would run a story about a fire in Tonawanda, a fire in Cheektowaga, and an evacuation by the Love Canal, then run some commercials including the “Talking Proud” song, then move on to a sports story about the Sabres losing again, then more commercials once again including the “Talking Proud” song, and finally a story about a blizzard, followed by a final set of commercials including the “Talking Proud” song and the “Do you know where your children are?” admonishment. Well, when I hear “Own the Podium” I think of it the same way I think of Buffalo’s “Talking Proud.” It’s just plain embarassing. Sound and fury, signifying nothing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/231 "2010-02-20T04:36:02Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Well, when I hear “Own the Podium” I think of it the same way I think of Buffalo’s “Talking Proud.” It’s just plain embarassing. Sound and fury, signifying nothing. I do indeed remember that. I also remember Toronto’s bizarre obsession with calling itself a “World Class City,” which it kept up for a good ten years. Real world class cities like New York and London don’t have to call themselves that. Thankfully Toronto eventually gave that silliness up, and now is actually getting some credit for being a world class city. I think there’s a general truism that **true honor comes from the opinions of other people.** I remember working once with a fool who knew all the management buzzwords and said he felt he was a “mentor.” In my opinion, the only way a person can be a mentor is if someone else says they are. You can call yourself a world class city from now until the sun explodes, but it won’t really be true unless people from elsewhere think it’s true. And if you want people to change their opinions about you, what you say means jack shit. What you DO means everything. Had Canada not gone with this “own the podium” nonsense (at least in public; as a behind the scenes motivational slogan it works fine) then expectations would not be out of line. People would be saying “Hey, we’re fourth, we’ve won some gold, things are going fine, and they haven’t even handed out the curling and hockey medals yet. This is a pretty good show.” The best approach would have been, in public, to say “Well, we’ve worked pretty hard and we’ll do our best, cheer us on” and then every medal would have been a joy, rather than a fretting count of how close we are to the target of 30 or 32 or whatever it was, and first place, neither of which, obviously, is going to happen. If you take the events individually and rejoice in the accomplishments of the athletes, then you not only have more fun, IMHO, but understand the true spirit of sportsmanship. Just seconds ago, Jon Montgomery won the gold for Canada in skeleton. Good for him. And his accomplishment won’t be diminished in any way if Canada doesn’t win as many medals in other events as someone expected. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/232 "2010-02-20T04:38:18Z")
Skipped the thread but wondering, though the answer may lie in five pages of vitriol, having family in Seattle and knowing that Vancouver Island is just a few miles north of it, why some Olympic-grade moron thought Vancouver was a good place to stage the WINTER Olympics. It’s like someone from Phoenix saying, “You can drive to mountains from here and we have an indoor skating rink so hold the Olympics here.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/233 "2010-02-20T04:41:55Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > As very pleased as I am with the Canadian athletes’ overall performance, I don’t like all the bluff and bluster about owning the podium. “Own the Podium” does not come to my mind when I think about sportsmanship. > > RickJay, do you recall the “[Talking Proud](http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/images/talkinproud.mp3)” public service commercials broadcast out of Buffalo in the 1970s? The Buffalo TV news stations would run a story about a fire in Tonawanda, a fire in Cheektowaga, and an evacuation by the Love Canal, then run some commercials including the “Talking Proud” song, then move on to a sports story about the Sabres losing again, then more commercials once again including the “Talking Proud” song, and finally a story about a blizzard, followed by a final set of commercials including the “Talking Proud” song and the “Do you know where your children are?” admonishment. > > Well, when I hear “Own the Podium” I think of it the same way I think of Buffalo’s “Talking Proud.” It’s just plain embarassing. Sound and fury, signifying nothing. Isn’t Buffalo the city that is always on fire? ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/234 "2010-02-20T06:29:58Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Skipped the thread but wondering, though the answer may lie in five pages of vitriol, having family in Seattle and knowing that Vancouver Island is just a few miles north of it, why some Olympic-grade moron thought Vancouver was a good place to stage the WINTER Olympics. It’s like someone from Phoenix saying, “You can drive to mountains from here and we have an indoor skating rink so hold the Olympics here.” Do most Winter Olympics host cities have alpine skiing within city limits? Isn’t there usually a bit of a commute for those athletes? Even in the Summer Olympics, sometimes some venues are a fair distance from the host city, especially depending on geography (e.g. sailing, rowing, equestrian?) Edited to add: On looking at Wikipedia, [Sochi, Russia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_olympics#Future) will host the Winter Olympics in 2014. “Sochi will be the first city with a subtropical climate to host the Winter Games. The Olympic Village and Olympic Stadium will be located on the Black Sea coast. All of the mountain venues will be 50 kilometres (30 mi) away in the alpine region known as Krasnaya Polyana.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/235 "2010-02-20T14:01:22Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Skipped the thread but wondering, though the answer may lie in five pages of vitriol, having family in Seattle and knowing that Vancouver Island is just a few miles north of it, why some Olympic-grade moron thought Vancouver was a good place to stage the WINTER Olympics. It’s like someone from Phoenix saying, “You can drive to mountains from here and we have an indoor skating rink so hold the Olympics here.” We’ve been over this, but Vancouver is a perfectly fine place to host a Winter Games. It’s not the first time the host city has been a bit of a drive from the alpine skiing area, and the weather Whistler and Vancouver have had to start the Games was very unusual for this time of year. Salt Lake City is about the same temperature as Vancouver. Turin’s not exactly cold. Nagano, right now, is enjoying lovely springtime-level temperatures. Sochi, the next site, will be the warmest city to ever host a Winter Games. It’s been awhile since they last hosted a Winter Games in a legitimately cold city (Lillehammer) and such places will always be at a disadvatage because of the logistical difficulties involved - even more so in the future than in the part because the Games keep getting bigger. I don’t know that we’ll ever see the games hosted in a tiny little resort town like Lake Placid again. Dunno what they’re planning for 2018. Whose turn will it be? PyeonChang, South Korea, in all likelihood. And it’s not very cold either. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/236 "2010-02-20T17:57:38Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Isn’t Buffalo the city that is always on fire? It sure seemed that way. Irv Weinstein anchored the Channel 7 (Buffalo’s ABC affiliate) Eyewitness News, and his lead for what seemed like every newscast became something of a local cliche: “Topping tonight’s Eyewitness News–fire in Tonawanda!” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/237 "2010-02-20T19:49:35Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > What a Canadian attitude! I have heard that the difference between an American and a Canadian is that when a Canadian comes home with a Bronze, we act like he hung the Moon. When an American does, they say, “Maybe next time you’ll get the Gold”. I always figured you had to be damn good just to get TO the Olympics, but what the hell do I know :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/238 "2010-02-20T19:59:03Z")
CTV has just run a video on Canadians being proud of their country; waving flags, spontaneously singing _O, Canada_, chanting, and whatnot. They found it to be somewhat ‘un-Canadian’, such behaviour being more closely associated with those of us to the South. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/239 "2010-02-20T20:18:19Z")
That’s crazy. People in the US almost never spontaneously sing _O, Canada_. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/240 "2010-02-20T20:19:31Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > That’s crazy. People in the US almost never spontaneously sing _O, Canada_. Maybe we should start, just to mess with their heads 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922.md?page=13)