Dollarmansteve

Personslly, I am ashamed and disappointed in our Country's inability to produce more than a few medal winning athletes in the summer Olympics. Our medal count so far is ZERO and the cloest we came is a 4th place in weight lifting. We'll get a few medals in rowing and kayaking and maybe the odd random bronze here or there.. but nothing to be PROUD of.

How many times have I heard so far the Chinese saying (adapted to the olympics) "1000 silvers does not equal 1 gold" - this is the attitude of a country that is trying to achieve GREATNESS on an international stage. They are there to WIN, not just show up and get drunk in the athletes village and bang some beach volleyball player.

We have a culture of mediocrity. The swimming team is a great example, many of the athletes will say that they are "happy to achieve a personal best". I'm sorry, but if your personal best is only good for 30th place, then why are you even at the Olympics. I don't wanna hear "30th in the world is pretty good" - no its not, it sucks.. it's terrible.. it's a waste of time, get some self respect you shouldn't even be there. It's not the oscars, "just happy to be nominated" isn't cutting it.

We should have a program in place to produce athletes who have a chance of winning a medal - a GOLD medal. If every athlete isn't shooting for gold then they should get lost. The athletes spend too much time crying about their lack of funding (which is valid, see below), but seriously - there are people in 3rd world countries who perform better at the olympics who have ZERO goverment support and can barely afford the plane ticket to get there.

I don't blame the athletes though, I blame a lack of leadership and political will. There would be public outcry if the government increased spending on sports programs (ironic, since the government foots the bill for heathlcare, and it is a proven fact that investment in facilities and programs to support Olympic athletes leads to a more active and healthier population = less cost to keep healthy...) and no one seems to care that we SUCK BALLS at the summer olympics.

It's pathetic. Our sporting culture and attitude towards international achievement has to change. I'm embarassed. There is more to sports than just hockey and curling.

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klaze

I'm not ashamed i'm SHOCKED.

spunky99

most amateur athletes in canada live below the poverty line, we've never been much for summer olympics

i hope in 2010 we have a decent showing

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MetaMan

i understand what you are saying but at the sametime:

we are on a fucking rock floating in the middle of infinity and on the scale of things we are a fucking speck.

what is funny is us as specks somehow want to achieve some kind of "greatness". who is there to term what and what is not greatness?

what is even funnier to me is countries (or the majority of people) who care about "greatness", relax HAVE A FUCKING BEER, and stop worrying so much. because in the end YOU DO NOT REALLY MATTER.

i wish people would teach this to their kids instead of trying to pretend you are "special" you are not fucking special, no matter wtf you do you will never really be great. and it is time people start understanding that.

we are fucking global i could care less about "countries" and who wins the most medals.

yes i agree the govt here should spend more on sports, i used to be a hardcore athlete and their was few options in canada if any, but fuckit at the end of the day am i embarassed because some slant eyed fuck swam faster then a guy that lives across my fucking nation? NO I AM NOT.

Dollarmansteve

But seriously, that's such a crock. We're a fabulously wealthy first world nation, our "poverty line" means you rent an apartment and drive a used car. Oh no, they have to have 2 jobs. Does this really affect their ability to go to the pool at 4 am and swin for 7 hours? Obviously we would have a bigger, better team with more government support but I'm sick of excuses. People who live in mud huts are winning medals.

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TheStout

Another solid rant from you. I anxiously await the next. ;)

klaze

And I thought I was fucked up.

I agree with you on who gives a fuck about medals. We should be working together...

But the rest of that.. yer fucking nuts man..

SilentKnight

I've heard the Chinese spend on average $2million per athlete for each gold medal they win.

That's a shitload of dough to win an athletic pissing contest.

Like Metaman, I used to be a hardcore athlete as well back in the day - almost qualified for the Commonwealth Games my senior year of HS. But I don't disparage the lacklustre performance of our Canuck athletes. Yes, it may be somewhat disappointing, but its not a shameful tragedy.

Dollarmansteve

Are we talking existential philsophy or the olympics? Of course it "doesn't really matter" but I also exist (or do I???) in some reality where there is the olympics and to make that existence interesting, I enjoy conversations that stay within their intended context sometimes.

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Dollarmansteve

This is kind of exactly what I mean, no one takes pride in our sporting culture - there's no connection between us as a nation and sports. Yes, sport is just sport, but it can also transcend and become something more. That's kind of what the Olympics is all about, sport transcending itself and representing something more.

We see glimpses of it with our hockey team, but in general, we don't connect as a nation through sport.

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MetaMan

yes i am talking philosophy.
yes i am talking about the Olympics.

i look at everything on a grand scale and on the grand scale of things this bullshit "competition" that humans seem to have with each other is just that BULLSHIT.

wtf is embarrassing about canada not having any medals? does it change your day? when you travel is someone going to look down on you? like who cares?

typical human behavior trying to make yourself feel involved in something when in fact it really has nothing to do with you. stop being a baby, what is embarrassing is a bunch of fat webmasters sitting around putting their 2 cents in on ATHLETES who trained 4+ years.

WiredGuy

It is pretty sad but from what I remember, Canada does pretty well in the Winter Olympics.
WG

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magicmike

I think they shifted a lot of funding to winter sports so we can win a few in 2010 at home.

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magicmike

We also have the hottest athlete i guess.


http://blog.canoe.ca/loadthis/2008/0...hot_in_orlando

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fris

olympics are a waste of time and money

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SilentKnight

Maybe we should round up a few twinks from the Gay Pride parade and train them in synchronized swimming.

We'd be in medal contention in two shakes of a spandex thong.

Dollarmansteve

By your logic then you shouldn't even be having this conversation. What's worse than bitching about the Olympics? Bitching about someone who's bitching about the Olympics. You're twice removed from the thing yet here you are.

So I say to you - typical human behaviour (yours) trying to make yourself feel involved in something (this thread) when in fact it has nothing to do with you..

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Karupted Charles

I'm sorry but clearly you have not seen some of the volleyball players if you made this statement.

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Sly

I don't know about the rest of Americans, but I don't really care all that much about watching the Olympics. With that said, I still want us to bust total ass and be the Olympics leader.

It's the idea of escaping mediocrity, competition, and being the best.

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MetaMan

i understand what you are saying trust me,

but at the end of the day what are you going to do about it?

are you going to write a letter? going to go protest? call your govt member?

probably nothing at all, so what is the point in the firstplace?

Pleasurepays

i didn't know people still watched the olympics.

how quaint.

Dollarmansteve

Bingo!! What you experience is a sense of national pride - regardless of whether you watch sports or play sports - it's not about the sports! Canada just lacks that connection in our culture between sports and national pride (outside of our hockey team).

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Sly

But, as an American... I have been raised with this type of mentality. Being the "best" and not losing that status. Are we really the best? I don't know, in our opinion, yes.

You see this in other cultures as well. Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, etc.

Are Canadians raised with a similar mentality? The typical opinion of many Canadians seems to be "leave it alone, and we will be fine". If it works for them, then I guess that's fine...

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Dollarmansteve

Im just busting your balls man, no worries I'm glad to have elicited some response and started a conversation, if nothing else. I feel validated by writing stuff down.

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Dollarmansteve

As a nation we are pacifist and raised to kind of be shy about national pride, cause you know those Americans are so loud bombastic about it We have an inferiority complex that manifests in passive aggressiveness and mediocrity - "If you don't try, you can never fail".

Don't get me wrong, I am personally very proud to be Canadian, I wouldn't want to have been born anywhere else.. I love Canada.. but as a NATION we don't come together.. we're all proud to be Canadians individually..

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Sly

Failing is half the fun!

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BradM

It's cute that people give a shit about the Olympics.

Personally I could care less if the country of Kazakstan won every single medal to be had. It means nothing to the world, to me, or to anything of any relevance.

Care meter: 0 / 10

PS. If there was a "Lazy Socialist Underachiever" sport, Canada would win Gold Silver and Bronze.

stev0

We're Canadian... we don't give a shit about summer olympics ;)

Frankthefreakintank

I think the reason there is such a focus on Olympics in US compared to Canada is that with their general economy and way of life on the decline. The chance to unify the nation in something actually positive that elicits some national pride is golden. More of a much needed distraction from current problems then anything. Losing in Iraq, USD taking a hit, gas prices up , but at least they got gold in swimming. I mean a day after Olympics are done, will anyone really care about anything that happened there, its pretty irrelevant today.

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SilentKnight

"Being the best" also has a lot to do with the perception others have of you. Years ago Canada had Ben Johnson and Donovan Bailey in track. We dominated in the men's 100-metre sprints (until Johnson tested positive for steroids). In that same era, the U.S. had Carl Lewis - who was never caught using steroids.

Remember when the Toronto Blue Jays took the World Series back-to-back? There was a lot of national spirit and pride back then.

How about Ken Reid, Steve Podborski and the 'Crazy Canucks' ski team?

So in conclusion, Americans figured they were "the best".

But it all comes down to perception.

In Canada, there's a common opinion that Americans are simply braggards ignorant of anything outside their own corner of the globe.

opulence

Not ashamed nor care about summer olympics, winter olympics, hockey, baseball, or someone else's performance in any sport.

If it's not me, a member of my family, or someone that I know personally, I don't feel proud or ashamed of any athletic performer from Canada or any other country.

Brad

I think the problem is that we are focusing on the 2010 games so funding goes there right now.

Also, the US does so well because they give out sports scholarships. If we did that in Canada it would turn the sports programs around a lot. I was a really good swimmer in HS and then in University I stopped because the competition was not as good and I knew I wouldn't make it to the Olympics. In the US these kids are encouraged to be in the pool morning and afternoon because they need to train hard to compete. In Canada that's not the case. Plus the schools here don't care that much about competing outside of football.

So my opinion is that yes we need to support the athletes, but that should start right out of High School which is where you are going to find the most of the talent. Universities here should be able to give out athletic scholarships that way the schools (which already have good facilities and government funding) can pay to train these people for most of the year.

Canada has such a good hockey program because we develop and challenge players from a young age. In amateur sport it is not the same. we are expected to do it for fun with no expectation that you will go anywhere with it.

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Sly

Doesn't your theory ignore all the prior years?

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xmas13

What's the fucking difference? Get Chinese / American citizenship if that can make you feel better. Some must have really pathetic lives to care about such nonsense.

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JFK

we have an Olympic team ?

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StuartD

You talk as if you are not human.
We compete against each other to better ourselves.

So what? There's bigger stuff going on out there so we should just have a beer, relax and give up on life??

That doesn't make sense. How will the human race ever go beyond what we are now if we all sit on our ass and get drunk?

Besides, it's all relative. We measure ourselves based on our own achievements and the achievements of those that are comparable to ourselves.

It makes little sense to compare our swimming speed to the raw power of an imploding star just because it matters in the universe.

I personally haven't had the Olympics on in my house for even a milisecond... I couldn't care less about what's happening there. And while I understand what you're trying to say, at the same time, it makes very little sense.

just my

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ChatCash_Rob

i'll throw my 2c in with the don't give a fuck lot

it's all about the hockey

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Dollarmansteve

I'll take you calling my passion for Canadan national pride "pathetic" over apathetic indifference any day

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CDSmith

Excellent post, especially so that last part about our hockey program.

Fact is Canada doesn't fund our olympic athletes like the US or China does theirs. We don't give anyone a $25K cash award for winning gold, and according to one or two of our older athletes at these games they sometimes even get their funding pulled completely due to their age.

I would say Canadians need to start donating to athletic associations more, but then you think of all the other causes like finding cures and feeding homeless children etc and people always find something more important to throw their donation money at.

Yet when we do win the odd medal it becomes a huge deal to Canada, probably because it's so rare. But the other thing I want to say is that the games have only been on for what, 4 days? It ain't over yet, we could win a few medals yet. If not, that's the way it goes, and at least our athletes went, did their best, and competed with honor.

I'm enjoying watching these Olympics regardless of our medal count. Some of you saying the Olympics are a waste of time are just plain nuts. The world needs more of this friendly spirit of competition, not less. A world without sport is a world that would be the huge waste of time. Get a clue.

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BlackCrayon

I couldn't care less.

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Drake

America always does

OG LennyT

read some of these Canadian responses.. you should see a clearer picture now

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Dollarmansteve

exactly

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CDSmith

I can only imagine the outcry from Americans if team USA were continually showing poor results at the Olympics.

There would be a shitstorm of hell to pay.

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Drake

Sports and Olympic competitions are:

-politics/fighting without actual war/bloodshed
-escapism (just like video games, hobbies, etc.)
-observing the potential of the human body when pushed to the limits; it's grace, power, accuracy

The olympics showcases this stuff on the world stage.

America tends to perform magnificiently because we are excited about competition, we fund/reward winners very well, and we have a diverse pool to draw athletes from. Diversity can be and often is a mixed blessing, but as far as the olympics is concerned its benefits are readily apparent.

StuartD

Nah, they'd all just hum drum over it, how the Olympics aren't important and they can't be bothered and begin to showcase all the ways they come to nation's help when they need it or how much charity they give or who they've invaded lately....

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jalami

That's pretty much what I was gonna say. Those cute "summer" (summer? what's that?) olympics are nice and all and sure we'll send a few people over, but how does that even compare to what we care about -- ice hockey?

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Spunky

A little disappointed but I didn't have high hopes to begin with.It doesn't matter either way to me what they achieve

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Angry Jew Cat - Banned for Life

quite frankly i'm more proud of the guy who goes to china, get shammered in the village and wakes up in some swedish volleyball player's bed...