Monday, November 16, 2009
Sports Anyone Stupid Enough To Go to the Olympics...
Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 1:01 PM
...deserves to be gouged.
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2
Whoa, why do you have it in for the Olympics? I'm just trying to figure out what a long-running international sporting competition did to deserve that headline.
5
Agreed. My interest in the Olympics has been steadily declining since the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Back in the good old days of the Cold War you really got the sense the Eastern Bloc teams had something on the line (like going to the gulag if they didn't bring home the gold) and that the teams from the West took pride in sticking it to the commie bastards.
These days athletes are just competing in hopes of bringing home the endorsement deals. Where's the heart? Where's the threat of draconian punishments from a totalitarian regime? Where's the real competition?
These days athletes are just competing in hopes of bringing home the endorsement deals. Where's the heart? Where's the threat of draconian punishments from a totalitarian regime? Where's the real competition?
9
Um, guys, you know that BC has gay marriage and full civil rights, right?
However, if you want to protest, why not go to the Cup Final at Qwest Field this Sunday in Sounders FC green?
However, if you want to protest, why not go to the Cup Final at Qwest Field this Sunday in Sounders FC green?
10
I don't think anyone is slamming the Olympics but instead the way hucksterism is ruinning people's enjoyment.
13
Geez Dan, as one of the "stupid" people profiled by the Times yesterday that comment hurts a bit. With the Olympics in our regional backyard, it seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of something we have watched from afar ever since we were kids.
We found out the hard way that the monopoly held by Co-Sport with the Olympics organizers made it all incredibly expensive...
We found out the hard way that the monopoly held by Co-Sport with the Olympics organizers made it all incredibly expensive...
14
Does 'stupid' refer to your feelings towards the Olympics, or was it part of the summary of the article?
15
The Olympics would be worth going is they did it in the traditional style ... ohhh about 3,000 years ago.
1) All male contestants were fully naked, in oil.
2) All female contestants wore a toga with one breast exposed.
3) Only single women were allowed into the event.
4) When it came to events like wrestling, there were almost no rules. So all the crazy fake crap we see today on WWE, was not only real but encouraged (punch in the nads, bite an ear off, pile drive someone's skull into the ground, ect).
5) Winners basically were were given a reef and invited to a massive orgy after the event.
With NBC having sole rights to the Olympics, even watching it now can be very boring.
1) All male contestants were fully naked, in oil.
2) All female contestants wore a toga with one breast exposed.
3) Only single women were allowed into the event.
4) When it came to events like wrestling, there were almost no rules. So all the crazy fake crap we see today on WWE, was not only real but encouraged (punch in the nads, bite an ear off, pile drive someone's skull into the ground, ect).
5) Winners basically were were given a reef and invited to a massive orgy after the event.
With NBC having sole rights to the Olympics, even watching it now can be very boring.
16
Yah really Dan... uncalled for. It's a lot more "stupid" to hang out with boring white dudes from the suburbs at the Sounders games your newspaper keeps pushing, than to hang out with all types of people from around the entire world at a world-class event in a world-class city in our backyard.
Sigh... this post made me sad and I'm not even that big of a fan of the Olympics.
Sigh... this post made me sad and I'm not even that big of a fan of the Olympics.
17
Are we sure Dan was talking about the sporting event, and not the mountains and national park? I mean, as national parks go, it's kind of a one-note experience. Ooooooh, more big trees and mountains. You'd have be some kind subaru-driving granola eating hippie to enjoy that stuff, and you'd deserve to gouged.
18
If I were into sports (which I am not), I would acknowledge the olympics as representing only corruption, trademark abuse, corporate greed, and a waste of public dollars. Sports fans would do well to acknowledge these failings, or they'll just get worse.
19
I've never understood why it's illegal to individuals to sell tickets for a profit (scalping) but it's ok for corporations to do it (brokering)? wtf?
21
indeed the olympics are great; the winter olympics, on the other hand, are idiotic.
does anybody really care about the luge? how is that even a sport?
get em over with so we can start concentrating on things that matter like college hoops.
does anybody really care about the luge? how is that even a sport?
get em over with so we can start concentrating on things that matter like college hoops.
23
@20 - because we have one rule for the serfs (citizens) and another for the lords (corporations).
I'm Powering up Curling through BC Hydro - already at Silver Medal - and if I get gold I might get free tix to the games!
I'm Powering up Curling through BC Hydro - already at Silver Medal - and if I get gold I might get free tix to the games!
24
I'm from Vancouver (living there right now, in fact) and I HATE the Olympics. For what reasons? How much time have you got?
I'll give you a couple.
1) The city and province signed an agreement with the IOC that the Canadian Charter of Rights no longer applies; what applies is Swiss speech law. It means that if a private citizen, owning his or her own home puts an anti-Olympic sign in their window, the police can break into the home and remove the sign and arrest (with the usual beat-downs and tasering) the Vancouverite exercising his or her free speech.
2) Rip-off after rip-off after rip-off. For one example only: the Quality Inn on SW Marine and Fraser is booked solid for the Olympics at only $89 per night. It's a fleapit. But! The owner suddenly decided to withdraw from the Quality Inn franchise. Which means that the reservations are *poof*. Those who made reservations can come to Vancouver and stay at the fleapit if they pay the NEW, OLYMPIC rate of $500 per night. The owner is going to make about $600,000 extra because of this. And it's "legal".
3) The downtown and other parts of Vancouver will be almost totally closed to traffic due to the THREE BILLION DOLLAR "security" budget. Which means, among other things, I will lose almost a month of work because the businesses I do business with are going to close down for the entire month of February, as it will be too hard to do business.
4) The lying, the lying, the more lying, and the upcoming thirty years or more of taxpayers in Vancouver and BC paying for this party of billions and billions of dollars, private profits guaranteed by the state (as has already happened with the Olympic Village development, a BILLION DOLLAR real-estate crapheap with the city of Vancouver has had to take over and cover, and which had just added one another $135 million dollars . . .
I could go on, but, while I can, FUCK THE IOC!!!
More...
I'll give you a couple.
1) The city and province signed an agreement with the IOC that the Canadian Charter of Rights no longer applies; what applies is Swiss speech law. It means that if a private citizen, owning his or her own home puts an anti-Olympic sign in their window, the police can break into the home and remove the sign and arrest (with the usual beat-downs and tasering) the Vancouverite exercising his or her free speech.
2) Rip-off after rip-off after rip-off. For one example only: the Quality Inn on SW Marine and Fraser is booked solid for the Olympics at only $89 per night. It's a fleapit. But! The owner suddenly decided to withdraw from the Quality Inn franchise. Which means that the reservations are *poof*. Those who made reservations can come to Vancouver and stay at the fleapit if they pay the NEW, OLYMPIC rate of $500 per night. The owner is going to make about $600,000 extra because of this. And it's "legal".
3) The downtown and other parts of Vancouver will be almost totally closed to traffic due to the THREE BILLION DOLLAR "security" budget. Which means, among other things, I will lose almost a month of work because the businesses I do business with are going to close down for the entire month of February, as it will be too hard to do business.
4) The lying, the lying, the more lying, and the upcoming thirty years or more of taxpayers in Vancouver and BC paying for this party of billions and billions of dollars, private profits guaranteed by the state (as has already happened with the Olympic Village development, a BILLION DOLLAR real-estate crapheap with the city of Vancouver has had to take over and cover, and which had just added one another $135 million dollars . . .
I could go on, but, while I can, FUCK THE IOC!!!
27
Well, I've lived in Vancouver all my life, and I can't help but wonder how they're going to hide the homeless problem. Yeah, they're forcing the homeless to stay in shelters during the Olympics, and I suspect they might blockade the whole downtown eastside off as well, to further hide the problem. Hmmm ... no matter what though, I just KNOW some poor tourist is going to accidentally take a wrong turn, and stumble upon the real mess that we have here!
Anyway, I am sick of being mad about the Olympics, the billion dollar deficit, the millions of cuts to funding, and the now very apparent lack of affordable housing. Tired. I have been mad for ages, and at this point, I'm just excited to see Canada whoop Russia's ass at Hockey. Our team is so fucking stacked this year, we will beat every team by 8 points, at least!
Anyway, I am sick of being mad about the Olympics, the billion dollar deficit, the millions of cuts to funding, and the now very apparent lack of affordable housing. Tired. I have been mad for ages, and at this point, I'm just excited to see Canada whoop Russia's ass at Hockey. Our team is so fucking stacked this year, we will beat every team by 8 points, at least!
28
I'm with you 27.
I was pissed about the olympics from the start, and am still scared about how it will change our city (will I ever be able to afford an apartment in Vancouver again??), and am very curious to see what charter rights abuses will be perpetrated during the games (Will this be the straw that finally breaks the RCMP?)
However, the vitriol is unattractive. I bought two tickets to Germany vs. Sweden men's hockey, so I can cheer on my beloved Swedes and boo the despicable Germans.
It's going to happen, you mind as well not give yourself an ulcer about it 24. If you want to do something volunteer with the BC civil liberties association. They are doing a lot of good work leading up to the games.
I was pissed about the olympics from the start, and am still scared about how it will change our city (will I ever be able to afford an apartment in Vancouver again??), and am very curious to see what charter rights abuses will be perpetrated during the games (Will this be the straw that finally breaks the RCMP?)
However, the vitriol is unattractive. I bought two tickets to Germany vs. Sweden men's hockey, so I can cheer on my beloved Swedes and boo the despicable Germans.
It's going to happen, you mind as well not give yourself an ulcer about it 24. If you want to do something volunteer with the BC civil liberties association. They are doing a lot of good work leading up to the games.
29
My understanding is the homeless and drug addicts are being either arrested en masse or driven several miles further down East Hastings, far away from any visitor's eyes (unless the visitors get a hankering to visit IKEA or something).
I pity anyone who has a business anywhere in Vancouver. You might as well just shut down for the duration.
I pity anyone who has a business anywhere in Vancouver. You might as well just shut down for the duration.
30
@27 - @29 is correct, but I hear a few will be "encouraged" to get out of the GVRD for the duration.
It's like - do you want the cops to hold you in packed jail cells in Port Coquitlam for 3 days, throw you back out and then rearrest you - or do you want to do the smart thing and take the free bus ticket out of town?
Fwiw, judges are appointed in Canada. And you have no gun rights - fastest way to get tossed out of Canada as a yank is to have a gun in your car or with you - or go to the fed pen.
It's like - do you want the cops to hold you in packed jail cells in Port Coquitlam for 3 days, throw you back out and then rearrest you - or do you want to do the smart thing and take the free bus ticket out of town?
Fwiw, judges are appointed in Canada. And you have no gun rights - fastest way to get tossed out of Canada as a yank is to have a gun in your car or with you - or go to the fed pen.
31
Dan's being his usual harsh, but the Olympics seems more like a curse on your community and country than a blessing. Yes, yes, the purity of the sport, the greatness of the spirit, but that's all entirely separate from the giant financial and political machine that is the Olympics.
Every country and city/region goes in to Olympics planning with this whole deal about how the budget will be reasonable, the multi-use facilities, the long-lasting benefits. And pretty much that all gets thrown out the window nearly right away. Budgets always skyrocket. Venues wind up being single use or torn down (not all, but more than promised). Subsequent financial analysis doesn't reveal that the games produced enough revenue to offset costs nor long-term better results.
The Olympics is about dick-waving national pride. The athletes don't really care about the whole structure of it; I'm sure many like the worldwide attention while they do their best.
Every country and city/region goes in to Olympics planning with this whole deal about how the budget will be reasonable, the multi-use facilities, the long-lasting benefits. And pretty much that all gets thrown out the window nearly right away. Budgets always skyrocket. Venues wind up being single use or torn down (not all, but more than promised). Subsequent financial analysis doesn't reveal that the games produced enough revenue to offset costs nor long-term better results.
The Olympics is about dick-waving national pride. The athletes don't really care about the whole structure of it; I'm sure many like the worldwide attention while they do their best.
32
@24: Thank you for reminding us of why the citizens of Seattle were so opposed to an Olympic bid back in the bad old days of Paul Schell. My heartfelt condolences to Vancouver.
33
@32 - well, it does mean you're a world class city, but it's really hard on poor people, renters, and everyone else.
Not to mention not getting tix .... (secret is you can always get curling tix ...)
Not to mention not getting tix .... (secret is you can always get curling tix ...)
34
Price gouging, erosion of civil liberties, massive taxpayer cost and the insanity of spending $6 Billion on 2 weeks of games when children in BC are living in poverty, cuts are being made to education and healthcare is suffering aside, why would anyone willingly submit themselves to the traffic chaos and potential terrorism-related danger that are the Olympic games?
35
Yeah, because it's not like people don't care about biathlon and steeplechase and speed skating and track&field outside of the Olympics.
It used to be a showcase of amateurs. But now most of the athletes are on the take with somebody. The idea that the Olympics is a traditional exhibition of amateurs is as laughable as the idea that Bumbershoot is still an easily accessible grass roots local festival.
It used to be a showcase of amateurs. But now most of the athletes are on the take with somebody. The idea that the Olympics is a traditional exhibition of amateurs is as laughable as the idea that Bumbershoot is still an easily accessible grass roots local festival.
37
Nah, they say that Canada's got a shot this year, cause they've had access to the local rinks.
Kind of like the skaters do too.
Kind of like the skaters do too.
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