Trouble is, at your place, they could drown in bullshit.
It’s funny, after watching the opening ceremonies I was struck by what an incredible place Canada is. The natural beauty, the diverseness of the population, the thriving city of Vancouver, the cool red outfits of the RCMP, the pride in their country without resorting to jingoism, and the amazing talent that grew out of such a small population. My grandfather was from Canada, so I even took a little pride in it myself.
My mistake. I had originally included five nations in my calculation and forgot to correct that last sentence. But the point I was getting at is that 27 million northern people won 233 gold medals while the true north strong and free with its 34 million healthy inhabitants won 38 golds in the same period.
As to your second point, um, yeah. . . . . it should indeed mean something that these four countries who together have fewer inhabitants than Canada managed to win over 600% more gold. It is not just the number of countries, it is the population base they have to draw upon.
So where do you live now, DanBlather? You are so enchanted with Canada, you would do anything for it but live there, I assume?
Put up or shut up time, Valteron. How many medals, gold and overall, do you think Canada will win at the 2010 Olympics?
Or do you think that just by ignoring the people that are pointing out that your bullshit is bullshit, that this will be less embarrassing for you?
How do I know how many Canada will win this time around? Have I claimed predictive power or something? On the contrary, I have no expectations, because I am sick and tired of being hyped up with hope and then disappointed. Like last night with the Moguls. Or Charles Hamelin.
If Canada suddenly starts doing better, I will be as happy as you!
Then you should have been very happy over the last four Winter Olympics, wherein we’ve won more than our share of medals, both gold and otherwise.
I don’t want to watch the Olympics at either of your places!
Valteron - go lay down, you’re going to have a stroke.
Valteron, you’re starting to sound like not_alice.
I was disappointed last night when Jen Heil got the silver. But I wasn’t disappointed for me, I was for her. You could see, by the look on her face, that she was so disappointed.
She did a fantastic job on her run too, but the American girl did an amazing job, so she gets the gold. So what’s wrong with that?
Yeah, the population number is a PART of it, but not the whole story. The number of countries is a much larger part as they have that many more chances per event to win medals as well. Then there are many more factors that come into play. My “second point” wasn’t that it should be a strict accounting of golds per country, but rather that your point, like all your posts in this thread, is fucking retarded.
So you do nothing to support sport, in your community, but feel you have the right to bitch when they don’t measure up to your expectations.
Nice.
How would you quantify “our share”?
Wonder how the Koreans handled the misstep that stopped them from sweeping short track skating yesterday? They lost silver and bronze while America got them both. That has to burn a little.
They consoled themselves by comparing populations, of course.
Credibility or, in your case, the lack thereof.
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.
Actually, rants like the OP happen pretty regularly every post-Olympics season, after they no longer have to try and pump up the television ratings. Usually there is a lot of whining about how Australia does so much better with a comparable society/wealth/population.
Well, guess what? Just because the Australians are willing and able to flush tax money down the toilet primping and prepping their elite athletes doesn’t make it a good idea. Having lots of local rinks and arenas is at least arguably good for society in some way. Having the fastest speed skater in the world does exactly jack shit.
It’s a rough measurement based upon the achievements of other countries. For instance, as I’ve mentioned, we’ve beaten Russia in both of the last two Winter Games in # of medals, and have been roughly even with the US in three of the last four (the exception being 2002, when the US got to host).
The Canadian just came in sixth in the baithalon. Unfortunately, they don’t have a tin or lead medal for sixth place.