quote:

Originally posted by dEsidEL i honestly hope we finish in the top 3 .. more golds would be nice tho.. Canadians always seems to hav a less-than-agressive psyche when it comes to international competition .. we need to hav the kinda swaggar the Americans exude and really excel at Winter sports which is our speciality.. nonetheless a decent job thus far, let's hope it can carry thru ..

thats because in canada, its about doing your "personal best" and not winning. Winning is such an american thing, and anything thats remotely american is un-canadian. I was so glad to see all those athletes turn down holding the Canadian flag in the opening ceremony; and instead focus on their performance.

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH thats because in canada, its about doing your "personal best" and not winning. Winning is such an american thing, and anything thats remotely american is un-canadian. I was so glad to see all those athletes turn down holding the Canadian flag in the opening ceremony; and instead focus on their performance.

the ONLY reason its that way is because of the lack of funds these sports receive. If we had more money into it we would be more about winning too.(we are slowly coming around). I too was completely on side with the flag decliners. being an athlete in an Olympic sport I completely understand.

___________________
Trance in my pants

quote:

Originally posted by Euphorica the ONLY reason its that way is because of the lack of funds these sports receive. If we had more money into it we would be more about winning too.(we are slowly coming around). I too was completely on side with the flag decliners. being an athlete in an Olympic sport I completely understand.

are we really that underfunded tho ? i mean in Winter sports specifically? i always thought we had some world class training facilities when it came to winter sports.. summer games i suppose are more arguable..

___________________
Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow

its one thing to have world class training facilities,but if the atheletes have to work full time too to pay the bills they sacrifice much important training time.Sponsorship usually only covers the cost of competing in events but not the cost of living(there are exeptions but not that many)The funny thing is many American atheletes also use our facilities to train, but they dont have to work while doing it.The American speedskater who won in the mens 1000 is an example.(his name slips me but he is the first black male to win olympic gold).
All i know is we need to dominate as much as we can in Vancouver 2010 to show the rest of the world we mean business....

Porter in 4 hours FTW!

I don't think it's lack of funds....my home country, which I think got lost on the way over to Italy, is just as rabid about winning as the Americans. Failure is almost never accepted; and if you're a winner, then you're truly a national hero. Hell, a couple years ago when Andrew Malysz was the world champion in the ski jump, people who didn't even know such a sport existed would tune and watch it just to support the guy, whereas here, nobody cares.

edit:

but I guess it could always be a combination of things that hold back our competitive spirit.

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH I don't think it's lack of funds....my home country, which I think got lost on the way over to Italy, is just as rabid about winning as the Americans. Failure is almost never accepted; and if you're a winner, then you're truly a national hero. Hell, a couple years ago when Andrew Malysz was the world champion in the ski jump, people who didn't even know such a sport existed would tune and watch it just to support the guy, whereas here, nobody cares. edit: but I guess it could always be a combination of things that hold back our competitive spirit.

it's the way our society is structured. with universal health care, almost free university, lax welfare.... canadians are a bit spoiled

america on the other hand is structured so that there is greater dichotomy of variance between the rich and the poor, where the poor are really poor (compare detroit to windsor) and the rich are really filthy rich. this gives way to greater adulation to winners

... case in point? compare the respect Steve Nash has gotten the past year... who's steve nash?!?!??!?!

___________________
hello thar

i agree with everything except "almost free university"...I WISH!!!

quote:

Originally posted by all-nite-freak its one thing to have world class training facilities,but if the atheletes have to work full time too to pay the bills they sacrifice much important training time.Sponsorship usually only covers the cost of competing in events but not the cost of living(there are exeptions but not that many)The funny thing is many American atheletes also use our facilities to train, but they dont have to work while doing it.The American speedskater who won in the mens 1000 is an example.(his name slips me but he is the first black male to win olympic gold). All i know is we need to dominate as much as we can in Vancouver 2010 to show the rest of the world we mean business.... Porter in 4 hours FTW!

i don't have numbers to spit out, but i truly question whether this is the case.. albeit there are other athletes in the world with equal if not greater hardships as well but whether ours face this on a larger scale would be interesting to see..

___________________
Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH i agree with everything except "almost free university"...I WISH!!!

when i did my undergrad at UWO, tuition was $6k/year (should be similar now?)

but in the usa, most private schools cost $20-30k/year USD !!!

so in comparison it's almost free.

___________________
hello thar