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Hey thats right! Canada says sorry. So we own the damn thing, now what? lol
But WHAT A SHOW! I admit, I watched the closing ceremonies. The "Cue the Mounties and the Moose" Michael Buble segment wasas good it gets, wow, over-the-top and fun and patriotic. Maple Leaf Forever and Oh Canada in swing time!! Wonderfull, just great.
Thanks contrarianna.
To Sven, against my better judgement but something he'll understand.
and then the rest of the closing ceremonies was just a series of rock bands until it ended with a guy spinning on his head. The announcer actually had to tell us it was over, a sure sign of a cop out. Whats up with THAT? It should have ended with Buble. This was the final rip-off of these games - be for sure our athletes deserve accolades.
and no Natives! I was sure they would come out for a final drum dance, with live Robbie Robertson music [from the Native American albums].
The medal count is a bit of meaningless trivia that is being used and will continue to be used by politicians and other power brokers to rally people around the flag. Commentators are crowing about getting the most gold medals in history. No doubt the good feelings that come from this and Harper's constant presence at televised events will result in the Conservatives getting a substantial bounce in the polls (it's already started). The Olympics and other elite sporting events are very useful means of distracting the public from things that matter. Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. If he were alive today, he'd likely accord that honor to spectator sports.
To me it's irrelevant that own the podium cost "only $110 million". People who feel better about being Canadian when some individual who does well happens to be wearing the maple leaf should think about why that is.
Maybe the UN should start awarding medals for how countries do on child poverty or infant mortality or income inequality. The event should correspond with hoopla and celebrations with VIPs gushing how proud they are to be Canadian. If that happened, is it possible that real issues would get even 1% of the media coverage that corporate sporting events get? Would Canadians get upset when they realized we can't even get a top 10 finish?
What do the 5 rings represent? Do they have to do with continents?
So owning the podium did not become a national embarassment after all. The success of our athletes at these Vancouver olympics will motivate many younger Canadians to excel in future games.
I believe they represent those eternal 5 human qualities most closely associated with the olympics:
greed, corruption, arrogance, shallowness and nationalism.
ReeferMadness, what a perfect last post of the thread!
Closing.