# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/101 "2010-02-14T20:40:54Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > So where do you live now, DanBlather? You are so enchanted with Canada, you would do anything for it but live there, I assume? I apologize for saying nice things about your country. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/102 "2010-02-14T20:42:44Z")
What kind of excuse-making? Like, the other guys can ski faster and shoot better? **Dan** , you can say nice things about my country. Go wild. Glad to hear you have a connection to Canada that means something to you. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/103 "2010-02-14T20:50:12Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > If you had significant experience under your belt participating or administrating sports in Canada at the regional, national or international level, then I would be willing to discuss your opinions with you so as to learn from your hard earned wisdom. Unfortunately, it appears that you do not have any significant sport achievement, and are simply talking out your ass, with no more knowledge and experience in high-performance sport than the next drunken bubba on the couch beside you. Mufiin, you seem to still believe in the old “can you do better?” fallacy. Maybe “credibility” is not the word you are looking for. But you keep bringing up the _ad hominem_ argument regarding my sports experience. If Canada’s most experinced athlete were to walk in here and tell you “Canada, with 34 million people has won 38 Winter Gold Medals, and Norway, with 4.8 million people has won 98 Winter Golds” would you believe him or her? If we suddenly told you that the comment had come from me, that the athlete was lip-syncing (like most of the opening show) does it suddenly become untrue? Or somehow less true? You see, you were taught in the schoolyard, proabably, that “Can you do better?” is a valid response to criticism. It is not. Most movie critics have never produced or acted in a movie, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/104 "2010-02-14T21:05:51Z")
You are right that “Can you do better?” is a wholly inadequate response to legitimate criticism. It is, of course, a more than adequate response to one more whiny, pointless rant, however. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/105 "2010-02-14T21:28:03Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > The Canadian just came in sixth in the baithalon. Unfortunately, they don’t have a tin or lead medal for sixth place. Considering the guy was ranked 33rd in the world coming into the race, and it’s a sport that had its funding pulled, it’s hell of a fucking achievement. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/106 "2010-02-14T21:32:11Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > If Canada’s most experinced athlete were to walk in here and tell you “Canada, with 34 million people has won 38 Winter Gold Medals, and Norway, with 4.8 million people has won 98 Winter Golds” would you believe him or her? What you seem to be ignoring because it’s obviously so inconvenient to your petty little whine is that in the last four Winter Olympics, Canada has done excellently. It’s just plain ignorant to continue to say this as if it means something without context. Canada is an elite winter sports nation, as proven by the last **18** years of performance. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/107 "2010-02-14T21:34:06Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > If Canada’s most experinced athlete were to walk in here and tell you “Canada, with 34 million people has won 38 Winter Gold Medals, and Norway, with 4.8 million people has won 98 Winter Golds” would you believe him or her? Believe him? Sure. Think it had any real meaning or relevance? Hell no. > [@Raygun99](#): > > Considering the guy was ranked 33rd in the world coming into the race, and it’s a sport that had its funding pulled, it’s hell of a fucking achievement. Not to mention he was three places higher than a guy from a country with a population almost 10 times as large! ---
**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 14, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/108 "2010-02-14T21:34:41Z")
So what it comes down to, V, is that you are an ill-informed, unexperienced, blow-hard, who is unable to tell good results from bad. We have Olympics, Paralympics, Youth Olympics, and Special Olympics. Is there an Olympics for dumb-asses so that you could have a place to compete? ---
**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 14, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/109 "2010-02-14T21:55:43Z")
**Valderon** is giving us an opportunity to have a rousing good pub argument - I appreciate that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/110 "2010-02-14T21:56:35Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > So what it comes down to, V, is that you are an ill-informed, unexperienced, blow-hard, who is unable to tell good results from bad. > > We have Olympics, Paralympics, Youth Olympics, and Special Olympics. Is there an Olympics for dumb-asses so that you could have a place to compete? There is an old saying in French that insults are the favoured argument of the person who has no arguments. Or as they say, an enraged monkey’s last resort is to hurl shit. Both sayings describe your comment pretty well, Muffin.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/111 "2010-02-14T22:02:00Z")
Considering you haven’t been shy about throwing around insults yourself, one might say that applies equally to your own posts. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/112 "2010-02-14T22:06:23Z")
Wait–I want to hear more about the Indian team not showing up with matching outfits or whatever. Indian as in India or Indian as in Native American Nation-type? Here in the USA, I can guarantee we will never hear a story like that one. All I heard about this morning was the (annoying) American female who won the gold in moguls. If I hear one more time, “yes, Amy\*, here is your part of the montage–you’re right, you deserve it!” one more time, I’ll puke. Canada may or may not have won as many medals in the past as it “should” have, but what about the one that it probably didn’t deserve? I refer to the ice skating pair in 2002. Their routine was not as technically difficult as the Russians, but they had the hearts and sympathies of the crowd. And the judges seemed a bit um, wonky… [Sale. Pelletier](http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/figure/news?id=1333280) So, does that count at all or is the OP ignoring it? I think Canada is a wonderful country. I like its people, its natural beauty, its proximity to me (I live in IL, not too far away) and of course, it has Tim Horton’s–a gateway to heaven. What’s not to like? I don’t care if it hasn’t won any medals at its home Olympics, although there is something so Canadian about that fact. It’s like your a self-deprecating host, refusing to outshine all your guests. I love that! \*no, I don’t remember her name. I don’t care to remember her name. I do wonder if she’s the same one who injured her leg and refuses to have it x-rayed because she doesn’t want to know if it’s broken. That is some messed up shit, right there, but a very separate issue from the topic of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/113 "2010-02-14T22:10:26Z")
[http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/02/11/bc-indian-olympic-team-vancouver.html](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/02/11/bc-indian-olympic-team-vancouver.html) This is about the Indian team getting some help from the locals. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/114 "2010-02-14T22:25:12Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/02/11/bc-indian-olympic-team-vancouver.html](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/02/11/bc-indian-olympic-team-vancouver.html) > > This is about the Indian team getting some help from the locals. That is lovely, but also frustrating–wtf is wrong with India? Why wouldn’t they give funding or at least something to these athletes? And I’m left confused: if your luge sled is held together by duct tape etc, and you don’t have a luge track–how in hell do you train for the sport? 😕 I am glad they got support and uniforms. I hope they do well. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/115 "2010-02-14T23:09:46Z")
Kristina Groove just won a Bronze for Canada in speed skating and to hear the Canadian networks cheering, you would think this was the highest prize possible. Did you hear about the Canadian who won a gold medal in the Olympics? He was so proud he went out and had it bronzed! ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/116 "2010-02-14T23:21:11Z")
Yeah, that fucking whore. How dare she do her best and all that. If she couldn’t be the absolute best skater in the world, she should never have been born, let alone strapped on a pair of skates. ---
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/117 "2010-02-14T23:29:44Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Yeah, that fucking whore. How dare she do her best and all that. If she couldn’t be the absolute best skater in the world, she should never have been born, let alone strapped on a pair of skates. No, you don’t get it. I congratulate her. It’s the Canadian attitude. As if this is the best we could ever hope for so let’s cheer as if this were the best. It’s the loser mentality that burns my ass. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/118 "2010-02-14T23:34:00Z")
Check this out: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mWQf13B8epw/maxresdefault.jpg "Canadian, Please | gunnarolla & Julia Bentley") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQf13B8epw) (That’s my town you see there, by the way!) ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/119 "2010-02-14T23:37:47Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > No, you don’t get it. I congratulate her. It’s the Canadian attitude. As if this is the best we could ever hope for so let’s cheer as if this were the best. It’s the loser mentality that burns my ass. Why would we want to make her feel bad about doing her best? Also, I seem to recall something about Canadian athletes not having the funding like other Western countries. Is that still correct? Maybe this has something to do with your issues with them not performing - they haven’t been receiving adequate funding to help them train better? ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922/120 "2010-02-14T23:49:11Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Why would we want to make her feel bad about doing her best? > > Also, I seem to recall something about Canadian athletes not having the funding like other Western countries. Is that still correct? Maybe this has something to do with your issues with them not performing - they haven’t been receiving adequate funding to help them train better? Canada has put much more money into athletics funding in recent years. However, his premise that Canadian athletes have “not been performing well” is false, as indicated by recent medal tables. Groves, for instance, was an outside shot at medaling in the 3000m skate, as it’s not her main event. So a bronze for her there does mean something. I mean, does he think other countries don’t celebrate silver and bronze medals? I assure him, they do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-canadian-flames-the-whole-canadian-olympic-mess/528922.md?page=7)