will usually try and catch a few events in the summer and winter ones that I like, but this time 'round... whole thing a turn off... for a lot of Chasbo's reasons... (#5) and then topped off by the mass poisoning of the homeless dogs that wander around the town... nice story that that dude who found a litter on the streets is trying to take them back to the US for adoption...

Rio becoming a turn off too.. with the stories of the poor areas being bulldozed... link..

I think it's time to start rethinking how the summer games are run.  It's too much of a burden on any one country to build the massive infrastructures when they are economically struggling... Greece could certainly have done without it...

Time to break up some of the events and put them in countries who already have the infrastructure from previous games.. eg... Sydney, London, US etc..etc.. and poorer countries who want to participate at some stage can just host one event and supply structures for that... would change the flavour of the whole event somewhat, but might be a positive thing that it gets shared around more... I know in Sydney it was a helluva party... I could never have imagined it being so much fun...

The best thing about the Olympics is the closing ceremony... except too much money is spent on that as well.  There's more than enough money in the world to eradicate poverty and help feed the starving, but no, the powerful and wealthy are bolstering national pride with gold medals and celebrating it at the end with 10 mil worth of fireworks... with another 20 mil on lavish costumes, food, dance and music.

And another thing, let's get rid of the bullshit events being labelled as sport and get back to traditional sports as they were once played.  Get rid of the special designs and tech that give competitors from wealthier nations the edge and bring back athlete against athlete, each depending on their own prowess to either win or lose the event.  Only then would it be worth watching, and not before.

I don't know people. I think some of you make sense but lets face it, the Olympics is hardly the only event one can find fault with. I can list a page full of stuff that happens far more often then once every 4 years. This is somewhat different but as an example as much as I enjoy our national sport hockey I don't agree with the salary's the players make. I mean is anyone really worth multi million dollar contracts for playing a sport a few months out of the year?

Now as far as the Olympics is concerned I don't agree with a lot of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes but there is nothing I can personally do to change it either. I don't see how turning the TV off and boycotting the event will have an impact except rob me of the joy of watching competitive sports. I know that sports is not every ones cup of tea. Some would prefer to watch Coronation Street or the Playboy Channel but I like to watch sports.  

steroid against steroid    

what's wrong with Ikebana on ice...  

I don't not watch the Olympics to boycott it, as such.  Despite not agreeing with the politics and money spent, the included sports do not interest me enough to sit through it.  I used to be an avid cricket and rugby league fan, but even those have lost much of their allure due to various rule changes brought about by power and money, sissies on the relevant boards caving in to the demands of influential people who'd be better keeping out of affairs that don't really concern them.  I still catch a few games here and there, but nowhere near as many as I used to... and being that getting to the ground is an ordeal these days, I no longer purchase a season ticket as I'd rarely get to use it, if ever.

you are Canadian. you probably don't get the full dose of propaganda because your country doesn't really matter from a global perspective.

it's the same here. media coverage in Austria (where i live) or Switzerland is very different and way more differentiated from the media coverage in Germany (where i come from). not only on this topic.

it's also a little amusing how German reporters always try to provoke our athletes to complain about the games or the Russians, but it never works.

That's it, you see, money and tech made the events too competitive for many athletes, and there were all these steroid peddlers just itching to sell it to them.  That's why I say let's get back to the basics and let athletes compete on their own merits.  Without the high demand and expectations being put on them, there'd be less need for some to resort to steroids, not if it were a more fair/even playing field.

[quote who="sydneysiders" reply="19" id="3442747"]what's wrong with Ikebana on ice...[/quote

I have no idea what/who that is... but if she's [sounds female] on ice she should seek help for her addiction.

Seriously, I have no idea who she is or what she does... that's how much I do not watch sports or sports news.  When it comes to that sort of thing I is iggerant, as my one of my grandsons [3 y/o] would say..."iggerant"  Bless his little cotton socks.

"you are Canadian. you probably don't get the full dose of propaganda because your country doesn't really matter from a global perspective."

OK if you say so, lol

Ikebana...  Japanese flower arranging...    just being silly...  

That's fine, you're as entitled as any of to act the goose now and then.  Besides, you wouldn't be a true WCer if you didn't.

Orright, so is it over yet?

Can I safely turn on my TV and NOT hear a snippet about the Winter Olympics?

Can I now read the sports section of my daily paper and NOT see stuff about Sochi?

... not that I buy the daily paper [haven't since the 70's] but just in case I change my mind.

Well, the stakes were high in US / Canada hockey...

and we lost big time...

Hey Canada, we need a rematch...how about the best 3 out of 5?

I'll say you lose big time... when Bieber is the booby prize.  I mean, nobody wants that spoilt twat... brat inflicted upon them at the best of times.

I suppose you's could always deport him to....um... hmmm, now that's a point... who in their right mind would take him?

Okay, then, when's the next unmanned Mars probe?  And are we 100% sure it's uninhabited? After all, we wouldn't want the Intergalactic Space Council on our case because he offended somebody/something up there on the Red Planet, and there's no doubt that he'll do it.  Like that smarmy haircut he used to sport when he was younger, one look and I suddenly felt this compulsion to slap him around the jowls.  Luckily he was on the other side of the world at the time, otherwise I'd have been mobbed by a bunch of madly in love teeny boppers with no taste in music or boys.

Hopefully someone will find a way to put him out of our misery sooner rather than later.

So what's worse than finding out Justin Bieber is coming to town to do an outdoor concert?

Finding out that the idiot who booked it has it set up next door to an egg hatchery.

And how do you keep Justin Bieber busy and out of town for a few days?

You send him into the Canadian Rockies on a moose egg hunt.

That would be an excellent idea!