I’m not delighted with all of the decisions made in regards to Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics. Vancouver voted for this, the rest of BC did not get that chance.
I feel that the Olympic celebrations are designed for the rich. Tickets to get into any of the events are absurdly expensive, though the politicians are lucky enough to get in free, thanks to the tax payers who can’t easily afford their own tickets. And I’ve heard about the huge bonuses that the big wigs behind the Olympics will be taking home after this is all said and done. It’s disgusting and put a very sour taste in my mouth, the kind of taste that the ‘little guy’ gets when we see the rich keep getting richer.
I am quite surprised how very little the Olympics has to do with children. Aside from the ridiculous ‘mascots’ (which I have yet to see beyond sales bins all over the city), I’ve yet to see anything being done to promote this historic event to the children who will still likely be paying for it into their old age.
I think some areas of the Lower Mainland of BC are doing a much better job at promoting this event than others. I am sad to say that in the city of the Olympic Oval, I was disappointed by the Torch Relay. The crowds were there and they were excited, but the celebration itself was seriously lacking.
The Torch Relay party at the O-Zone, on the other hand, was fantastic! It was a terrific example of Canadian nature. People waiting to get in were festive and acted like friends, though having only met moments ago. People (for the most part) were courteous and there was an abundance of please, thank you and excuse me. People were happy and clearly patriotic and it was a terrific free event that really made us little tax payers feel like we were meant to be part of this Olympic thing, too! And traffic wasn’t TOO bad.
It’s a good thing that I don’t need to get into Vancouver. Roads are closed – they don’t want drivers anywhere near the downtown core. Warnings of long waits for transit are frightening, though we have that awesome new Canada Line SkyTrain. I hope it will continue to be worth its price after the Olympics are done.
Have any businesses other than The Bay and Coke made money off the Olympics, so far? I have heard that due to road closures many businesses are losing money. Perhaps they just speak louder than the ones who are benefiting? I’d love to hear about the ‘little guys’ who are benefitting from this.
Did the Olympics create any jobs in BC? People came from far and wide to volunteer, working for free up to 6 full days!
And who was it who thought BC was a good place for WINTER Olympics? We, the Lower Mainland of BC, consistently brag about early Spring and everyone knows us for our rain. Granted, the weather is different in the mountains, but really, whoever thought Cypress was a good event stage needs a good boot to the head. No surprise that several events have been postponed or canceled. This morning, they advised that 8,000 general admission snowboarding tickets. The event is still taking place and the people holding the more expensive grandstand seats will still be able to attend the event, but will the ‘little guy’ be getting refund? I sure hope so. I wonder how much longer my daughter and her friends will be paying off THAT part of this Olympic bill?
But we aren’t the first to suffer with weather issues for the Winter Olympics. According to Wikipedia, the Tyrolean city of Innsbruk was the host in 1964 and despite being a traditional winter sports resort, warm weather caused a lack of snow during the Games and the Austrian army was called in to bring snow and ice to the sport venues. Also, Luge was first contested in these Olympics, although the sport received bad publicity when a competitor was killed in a pre-Olympic training run. Sound familiar? Condolences to Nodar Kumaritashvili's family after the horrific Luge accident that lead to his death on February 12th.
And big thumbs down to the protesters who decided to turn their protests into violence. You’ve just managed to ruin the message that the peaceful protesters were trying to convey. We are so lucky to live in a country where our voices are allowed to be heard and you idiots just managed to ensure that nobody wants to hear ANY protest now. Your voilence was not going to stop the Olympics. You’re not protestors, you’re terrorists and should be treated as such.
Beyond all the negativity and sourness that I feel towards the rich, the politicians and the violent protesters, I will say that I have made sure that my family enjoyed as much as we could of the 2010 Winter Olympics. We did see the Olympic Torch near our home and later that night we went to the party at the O-Zone, as I mentioned earlier. We watched the Opening Ceremonies on TV and really enjoyed it! It was an amazing show and aside from a horrid rendition of our National Anthem, O Canada, the show was top notch! It displayed a load of fantastic Canadian talent, was a great tribute to our First Nations people and was just completely awesome to see on TV!
Canada has won its first gold on Canadian soil. Here’s hoping for more! Hopefully the ‘little guy’ is benefitting from this event more than suffering from it and our children’s children won’t still be paying for it. There must be so many proud parents out there, watching their children compete. Keep making us proud, Canada, we’re rooting for you!
I feel that the Olympic celebrations are designed for the rich. Tickets to get into any of the events are absurdly expensive, though the politicians are lucky enough to get in free, thanks to the tax payers who can’t easily afford their own tickets. And I’ve heard about the huge bonuses that the big wigs behind the Olympics will be taking home after this is all said and done. It’s disgusting and put a very sour taste in my mouth, the kind of taste that the ‘little guy’ gets when we see the rich keep getting richer.
I am quite surprised how very little the Olympics has to do with children. Aside from the ridiculous ‘mascots’ (which I have yet to see beyond sales bins all over the city), I’ve yet to see anything being done to promote this historic event to the children who will still likely be paying for it into their old age.
I think some areas of the Lower Mainland of BC are doing a much better job at promoting this event than others. I am sad to say that in the city of the Olympic Oval, I was disappointed by the Torch Relay. The crowds were there and they were excited, but the celebration itself was seriously lacking.
The Torch Relay party at the O-Zone, on the other hand, was fantastic! It was a terrific example of Canadian nature. People waiting to get in were festive and acted like friends, though having only met moments ago. People (for the most part) were courteous and there was an abundance of please, thank you and excuse me. People were happy and clearly patriotic and it was a terrific free event that really made us little tax payers feel like we were meant to be part of this Olympic thing, too! And traffic wasn’t TOO bad.
It’s a good thing that I don’t need to get into Vancouver. Roads are closed – they don’t want drivers anywhere near the downtown core. Warnings of long waits for transit are frightening, though we have that awesome new Canada Line SkyTrain. I hope it will continue to be worth its price after the Olympics are done.
Have any businesses other than The Bay and Coke made money off the Olympics, so far? I have heard that due to road closures many businesses are losing money. Perhaps they just speak louder than the ones who are benefiting? I’d love to hear about the ‘little guys’ who are benefitting from this.
Did the Olympics create any jobs in BC? People came from far and wide to volunteer, working for free up to 6 full days!
And who was it who thought BC was a good place for WINTER Olympics? We, the Lower Mainland of BC, consistently brag about early Spring and everyone knows us for our rain. Granted, the weather is different in the mountains, but really, whoever thought Cypress was a good event stage needs a good boot to the head. No surprise that several events have been postponed or canceled. This morning, they advised that 8,000 general admission snowboarding tickets. The event is still taking place and the people holding the more expensive grandstand seats will still be able to attend the event, but will the ‘little guy’ be getting refund? I sure hope so. I wonder how much longer my daughter and her friends will be paying off THAT part of this Olympic bill?
But we aren’t the first to suffer with weather issues for the Winter Olympics. According to Wikipedia, the Tyrolean city of Innsbruk was the host in 1964 and despite being a traditional winter sports resort, warm weather caused a lack of snow during the Games and the Austrian army was called in to bring snow and ice to the sport venues. Also, Luge was first contested in these Olympics, although the sport received bad publicity when a competitor was killed in a pre-Olympic training run. Sound familiar? Condolences to Nodar Kumaritashvili's family after the horrific Luge accident that lead to his death on February 12th.
And big thumbs down to the protesters who decided to turn their protests into violence. You’ve just managed to ruin the message that the peaceful protesters were trying to convey. We are so lucky to live in a country where our voices are allowed to be heard and you idiots just managed to ensure that nobody wants to hear ANY protest now. Your voilence was not going to stop the Olympics. You’re not protestors, you’re terrorists and should be treated as such.
Beyond all the negativity and sourness that I feel towards the rich, the politicians and the violent protesters, I will say that I have made sure that my family enjoyed as much as we could of the 2010 Winter Olympics. We did see the Olympic Torch near our home and later that night we went to the party at the O-Zone, as I mentioned earlier. We watched the Opening Ceremonies on TV and really enjoyed it! It was an amazing show and aside from a horrid rendition of our National Anthem, O Canada, the show was top notch! It displayed a load of fantastic Canadian talent, was a great tribute to our First Nations people and was just completely awesome to see on TV!
Canada has won its first gold on Canadian soil. Here’s hoping for more! Hopefully the ‘little guy’ is benefitting from this event more than suffering from it and our children’s children won’t still be paying for it. There must be so many proud parents out there, watching their children compete. Keep making us proud, Canada, we’re rooting for you!
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