Mitch Cronin Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Ice problems? We can't muster a serviceable zaboni for the Olympics, for cripes sakes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specs Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 For obvious reasons I've always found the American coverage of past Olympics rather overwhelmingly US biased and always switched to the Canadian broadcast.This time around, I'm finding its the reverse. The American coverage seems more even, much more than I expected anyways. They just finish discussing the ice thing but I thought they were very diplomatic about it.They technical commentary, at least in skiing, seems much superior as well.They did a very nice up close an personal thing on Bilodeau and his brother courtesy of CTV but I haven't seen it yet on CTV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 For obvious reasons I've always found the American coverage of past Olympics rather overwhelmingly US biased and always switched to the Canadian broadcast.This time around, I'm finding its the reverse. The American coverage seems more even, much more than I expected anyways. They just finish discussing the ice thing but I thought they were very diplomatic about it.They technical commentary, at least in skiing, seems much superior as well.They did a very nice up close an personal thing on Bilodeau and his brother courtesy of CTV but I haven't seen it yet on CTV.From the NBC viewing I've done, I have to agree, Specs. But alls fair this time around! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 From the NBC viewing I've done, I have to agree, Specs. But alls fair this time around! ;-) I agree, both NBC and CTV are giving fair reports. I did watch CBC nes last night and they seemed to focus more on problems VANOC is having, (line-ups, cancelled events etc, ) than on the actual games themselves.Felt kinda bad for the US female snowboarder that "hot-dogged" as she thought she was the gold medal winner and ended up coming in second when she fell during her "look it me" jump just prior to the finish line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Felt kinda bad for the US female snowboarder that "hot-dogged" as she thought she was the gold medal winner and ended up coming in second when she fell during her "look it me" jump just prior to the finish line.That was actually a replay of what happened four years ago. They haven't run the women's snowboard cross yet, it starts later this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 That was actually a replay of what happened four years ago. They haven't run the women's snowboard cross yet, it starts later this morning.Oh My......................I am so-o-o- embarassed !!!. I guess I shouldn't be switching back and forth between channels so much..... and should listen to the WHOLE story !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon The Loon Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 From Kip above: "I did watch CBC news last night and they seemed to focus more on problems VANOC is having, (line-ups, cancelled events etc, ) than on the actual games themselves."I don't think they're allowed to broadcast any event replays for a period of time after they happen. TV rights. They are extreme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Not to mention they used an Olympia instead of a genuine Zamboni. Ya gets what ya pays for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Re the ice machines, this is simply what happens when you try to go "green" using new unproven technology. Some wise person make a decision to use the new electric machines instead of the good old propane fuled units.Well, these weren't brought in specially for the Olympics "green" program. Apparently these ice machines have been in use for a long time in a number of rinks here in Vancouver and suberbs and have given fault-free service. A driver was on local radio this morning discussing the issue - he says they're excellent, reliable machines. Apparently the machine was digging into the ice surface when the smoothing-blade was brought down - that has to be a fundamental mechanical/operating issue and not the machine per se.So there have to be a number of explanations such as driver training and experience, (where have we heard these issues before?), brand-new machine with teething problems, new "Mark" design "just for the Olympics" with some unforseen problems or a manufacturing fault? We don't know, but we may be sure that the manufacturer will be "on-site", answering to VANOC.The Cypress venue is just unfortunate. It rained again last night, the local temperature here in White Rock is 10C going to 15C by the end of the week, so we know what the mountain will be. Whistler seems to be doing okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airband Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 "The world is officially laughing at us". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest woxof Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 And then there is the biggest joke of all....the cost to host these games. A huge tab for taxpayers. Because some are foolish enough to believe that our coomunities will be helped by the legacy facilities. I'm sure half the money could have bought twice as much worth of smaller facilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Calgary - 1 Vancouver - 0This has been painful. Now Quebec is sniveling about not enough French, while the ROC is forced to endure French 1st through out the games...and that's not enuf! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Calgary - 1 Vancouver - 0This has been painful. Now Quebec is sniveling about not enough French, while the ROC is forced to endure French 1st though out the games...and that's not enuf!Oh boo hoo, they forced you to eat bilingual Corn Flakes again. Sprinkle a little sucre et du lait on them... Speaking of snivelling.I really don't feel like piling on Vancouver - like the American and British media are doing - a pair of failing states in political chaos looking to deflect criticism. Talk about people in glass houses.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 French has always been spoken first at the Olympics, this is nothing new. It is nothing to do with bowing down to French Canadians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 French has always been spoken first at the Olympics, this is nothing new. It is nothing to do with bowing down to French Canadians.Yes, the point is - it still isn't enough to satisfy Quebec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apple Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 The only way to satisfy Quebec Frenchies is to get rid of the English in Canada. If they pay for the lessons, I'll happily convert just to get them to STFU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specs Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 You want to know what's embarassing - Women's Hockey. It simply isn't competitive at any Olympics. Why not just flip a coin between Canada and the US for the gold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chockalicious Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Stephen Brunt, a writer I like, has a good take on this.My linkThere have been problems here. Some of them are the result of unforeseeable circumstances, of acts of God, some have been wildly overblown. And some are absolutely real and simply inexcusable, the unhappy byproduct of taking calculated risks, of incompetence and design flaws and bad planning exposed at the very worst time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Stephen Brunt, a writer I like, has a good take on this.My linkThere have been problems here. Some of them are the result of unforeseeable circumstances, of acts of God, some have been wildly overblown. And some are absolutely real and simply inexcusable, the unhappy byproduct of taking calculated risks, of incompetence and design flaws and bad planning exposed at the very worst time.In other words, a normal Olympics. I understand from a number of sources that Atlanta was the worst.The Olympics are a glass house. London's organizers have to know that Canadians are now keeping a scrapbook of British comments and criticisms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakelad Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Alternate link to Brunt story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specs Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 If a designer builds an artificial environment for human activity then he is responsible insofar as maintaining the functionality of the environment for ensuring the design exceeds the minimum design requirements by a factor large enough that the users won't be injured, regardless of what the users think. Anything less is irresponsible, in some places it's criminal. That the designer couldn't see a serious injury here is hard to believe. I went googling to find out who the designer was and then came across this pretty damning WSJ article hereDesigner not advised of changes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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