Let the games begin - 2010 Vancouver winter olympics (Feb/11/2010 )
hobglobin on Feb 12 2010, 03:54 PM said:
and someone's not in a good spirit tonight...
...like any "institution" governed by humans- the olympics is flawed...or for most people- extremely so....from the moment it stopped being an amateur competition, when commercialisation and greed stepped in, when victory is all that matters. The athlete who competed in the first olympics- was in the nude, and then in modern times, every square inch of him is covered in business logos...and now it's also about everything else except sports..but would you rather not have it, dr Grumpy? casandra on Feb 12 2010, 10:09 PM said:
...like any "institution" governed by humans- the olympics is flawed...or for most people- extremely so....from the moment it stopped being an amateur competition, when commercialisation and greed stepped in, when victory is all that matters. The athlete who competed in the first olympics- was in the nude, and then in modern times, every square inch of him is covered in business logos...and now it's also about everything else except sports..but would you rather not have it, dr Grumpy?Then I'D plead for the original idea...first, native Olympics, with a few sports only and nude. Sorry, but ice hockey is then out, as it's not original and too dangerous
. hobglobin on Feb 12 2010, 04:32 PM said:
casandra on Feb 12 2010, 10:09 PM said:
...like any "institution" governed by humans- the olympics is flawed...or for most people- extremely so....from the moment it stopped being an amateur competition, when commercialisation and greed stepped in, when victory is all that matters. The athlete who competed in the first olympics- was in the nude, and then in modern times, every square inch of him is covered in business logos...and now it's also about everything else except sports..but would you rather not have it, dr Grumpy?Then I'D plead for the original idea...first, native Olympics, with a few sports only and nude. Sorry, but ice hockey is then out, as it's not original and too dangerous
.Oh sure, what a brilliant idea--I like this Ice Hockey in the nude....and the surviving team wins...
casandra on Feb 12 2010, 10:39 PM said:
Yes and especially the female sports will be a success, no adverts and commercialisation necessary, even I would watch it
hobglobin on Feb 12 2010, 04:43 PM said:
casandra on Feb 12 2010, 10:39 PM said:
Yes and especially the female sports will be a success, no adverts and commercialisation necessary, even I would watch it
actually, this would be a financial windfall and might save the games: we can have a "pay per view"....then we don't need these old IOC dinosaurs anymore- only old voyeurs....
....you are so irreverent dr H... casandra on Feb 12 2010, 10:51 PM said:
....you are so irreverent dr H...Who knows...perhaps even me would pay for that
but heavy athletics would have severe problems then and in all others "doping" would have completely new goals and need different methods... hobglobin on Feb 12 2010, 05:05 PM said:
casandra on Feb 12 2010, 10:51 PM said:
....you are so irreverent dr H...Who knows...perhaps even me would pay for that
but heavy athletics would have severe problems then and in all others "doping" would have completely new goals and need different methods... then you would really be converted into a bonafide sports fan.....aesthetic doping...hah- that's so funny..it could be new sports category: scalpel sculpting, liposuction etc.
Nudity and more....
The ancient athletes started with it, though the reasons for nudity are not clear (the possible reasons are that the Greeks just liked nude bodies (physique, tribute to the gods), or that an athlete once lost his clothes/loincloth and won anyway, and then all others thought that might be the reason for the victory), the nudity itself was the cause of some trouble for men (not to become to obvious, but think of "dangling" (not sure if it's the right word), or why today women wear sports bras 
). Anyway the solution were 'restraints' and some even sewed the private parts to avoid that irritating "dangling"....
And females? They had their own games called "Heraea"
BTW the Greek term gymnos (gynnasium = ancient Greece functioned as a training facility) meaning 'naked'.
Last night's opening ceremony's photo gallery
- it was not bad (I like the cultural aspect of the presentations) but definitely marred by the death of the young Georgian luger....it was shocking (they say it's human error and inexperience) and an unnecessary waste of life and VaNOC shld've anticipated this. 
Right now there's a raging debate concerning these high speed sports and some athletes say that if you eliminate the risks then you take out the soul of the game itself...ppfftt...a lot of people think that it would be the freestyle aerialists who're playing russian roulette every time they jump so we were all shocked and so saddened by the death of this young athlete even before the games have started. They're fixing the track now- building higher walls....but still- you've to admire the guts (or is it stupidity) of the athletes who're gonna try that track again and I hope that they're not being coerced by the dinosaur IOC...
Finally, the first medal (a silver) for the canucks from Jenny Heil for freestyle moguls....she couldn't defend her Turin gold but was so gracious in admitting that the american- Hannah Kearney deserved the gold...a minor consolation for us - Kearney is half-canadian ....and I can't believe that the yanks already have 4 medals...
worthy to mention: we didn't do well in speed skating yesterday (after all the hype) ..the koreans are phenominal btw..... but the our women's hockey team beat Slovakia with a record score of 18-0..........