What The Fuck Is Canada's Problem ?????

The BBQ Pit
81

Answering you equally serious, you’re assuming this is a failure. You’re rejecting a lot of facts that have been presented to you:

  1. Canada simply does not do poorly at the Olympics, it does well. It’s just a fact; when you take the Winter Games into account Canada’s performance is actually very good. If you don’t believe me, look it up. Canada won more than twice as many medals as China in Torino in 2006, and will win more in 2010, and will likely win more in 2014 in Sochi. As a matter of fact we won more than any other country save Germany or the USA and if the advance reports are to be believed it’ll be more of the same if not better come Vancouver. It’s silly to complain that we suck in 2008 when we were cleaning up in 2006; if you balance it out, Canada’s overall performance is pretty impressive for a country this size.

  2. Even if we were to discount the Winter Games, you’re assuming that the failure of Canada to win more medals in the Summer Games constitutes a “Failure.” It’s nothing of the sort; it’s a choice that the Canadian government, and pseudogovernmental organizations like schools, have made. Not winning medals in sports you choose not to spend a lot of money on is no more a “failure” than your garage is a “failure” because you bought an SUV instead of the motorcycle I chose to buy. There are only so many resources available at any one time, and Canada as a whole chooses to devote less of them to pursuing medals in the Summer Olympics. So what?

If high schools and universities doesn’t give a flying fuck about competitive sports, you can’t say it’s a FAILURE for them to turn out fewer athletes. It would be a failure if they didn’t produce more athletes if they DID care about those sports. We all suck at things we don’t feel are important enough to bother with. I’m a much better baseball player than I am a basketball player, so am I a failure, or a success?

82

Good News Indeed ! Now I have to wonder why we are doing better than the USA :smiley:

83

I can’t disagree with you, its just that you are putting a much more negative connotation on the word failure than I had intended. Perhaps you could offer a different word that I could have used instead of “failure”.

84

Well, Canada has added another medal: their equestrian team just won the team silver. :slight_smile: I was stunned, then thrilled, to see Ian Miller riding. I saw him in the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, when I was 14 and he was…“old.” Now he’s 61–61!!–and stunningly scoring his first Olympic medal in 9–NINE!–Olympics. Ian is a fantastic horseman (duh) and hugely respected; I honestly wanted him to win almost as much, if not more, than the American team. (We won gold, whoo hoo!)

So, go Canada! :smiley:
Oh, and edited to add: Canada did this short one horse and rider combo. The US had the luxury of dropping their highest (read: most penalties) score; since Canada had no extra rider, what they scored is what Canada got. Still came down to a jump off with the USA for gold. Go Canada, again!

85

Looks like the horse does all the work. Why does the rider get the medal? And does the horse even *know * what country he’s from?

RickJay, I truly do admire that bit of logic - that you can’t fail if you don’t even try. :smiley:

86

12 medals so far? Well, they’ve reached my goal. Plus we’ve still got Kayaking and Canoeing coming up and there’s always the random medal that we win at the end. 16 medals looks like a good possibility and that’s not a bad haul.

87

Actually, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep just won a bronze in women’s 100m hurdles so that’s 13. It was quite a race to watch too - about 5 people crossed at the same time - it took about 2 minutes to figure out who actually won!

88

Okay, I hope this was just a cliched tease. I just got back from a morning ride, and my legs are rubbery (do I have inner thighs left?), my deltoids are humming, my upper back is exhausted, and my sportsbra is soaked in sweat. And that’s after one 40min walk/trot/canter ride on a 15 hand 20-year-old mellow-tempered mare, doing things like circles, serpentines, collecting, extending, and practicing transitions. That’s pretty elementary stuff, and I do it 3-4 times a week.

These Olympians ride younger, hotter, taller, stronger, more opinionated horses at a gallop over ridiculously tall obstacles several times a day. Watching them makes my upper body tired, and my pelvis and legs turn to mush. I’m not saying it’s on par with running, swimming, or gymnastics, but boy howdy is there physical talent, condition, and skill involved.

It’s such a cliched thing to say–“The horses do all the work”–so I wasn’t sure how to take it. Was it genuine ignorance, or a rib? Regardless, I say this to everyone who makes that comment: tell me where you are (you can just PM me a city and state, no need for address), and I will have my horse buddies find you a stable in your area with a talented, patient riding instructor. (Not one of those craptacular rent a trail horse rides, where you are just on a moving couch.)

I will gladly pay for you to have one riding lesson on the most gentle, patient lesson horse in the barn. The lesson will likely be on the lungeline, the equestrian equivalent of training wheels. You will probably only walk, and maybe trot the teensiest bit. If after the lesson you still believe the horse does all the work, then so be it…at least then, your opinion will be an informed one. :slight_smile:

And just 'cause Ian Millar rocks, I shall repeat: Go Canada!

89

Not to dampen your enthusiasm or anything, but it’s actually Millar, with an a. :slight_smile:

90

Noted and corrected. Thanks! Whoo hoo edit window!

91

That’s as far as I got. :slight_smile:

Yes, it was an old joke.