I don't think he is watching it, he just has an opinion on it. He has an opinion on lots of things.

I think because I am in the host city I am seeing things from a different perspective than someone who is watching NBC or reading news articles. There's a lot of good things going on that nobody is talking about. No one wants to hear how smoothly things are going, they just want to hear about the fuckups. I'm not sure I could remove myself from the atmosphere of the games enough to fully empathize with phantom's point of view.

yeah, i'm agreeing with blueberry on this one.
sure we fucked a whole buch of stuff up for the olympics...ahrrmm, i mean VANOC & the IOC did.
BUT the thing we get to see here that you guys watchin on tv don't is the downtown atmosphere.
i've read numerous articles about athletes from other countries saying that our exciting, friendly & spirited party scene is the best they've ever seen at an olympics venue and was reason enough for some of them to consider the games a success. especially compared to past venues like Salt Lake & Turin.

so i'm quite pleased so far with these olympics for the fact that the IOC & VANOC have FAILED miserably with the technicalities but the spirit of the locals & our Canadian generosity is shining through to show the athletes a wonderful time....i think's it's good. a Corporate Fail but a Grassroots Success!

and Blueberry, don't get too worked up over it.
i think Phantom just likes to argue from time to time, like us.

I don't own a tv, so I can't watch them. I have to get info online, watch stuff on youtube, etc. I've "become an expert" because as this stuff escalated I do what I normally do and opened about 12 browsers at once and started looking at what is going on.

And no, I have no bias against Canada, sorry. I'd rip on any country, including the US, that did this type of shit. The Olympics in Atlanta are counted among the worst organized ever, I remember seeing reports and watching stuff as it happened and thinking it was a crock. You see value for your city, great. I see an event that expects and deserves better than what it's gotten, because it becomes a part of human history and is supposed to showcase excellence in competition and express the culture of its host.

And your side of this is basically a "well we did our best, gold stars for everyone!" instead of being critical of something that has important human relevance being halfassed. You're happy that people are in your city, spending money and soaking up what it means to be a Canadian, and the relevancy of the actual competitions and the ethics of sports aren't found anywhere in what you've said. Also your statement here answers none of my actual points, so I have to think that you don't actually have answers to what I said and are now doing the "we're all human, buddy" shtick which doesn't work on me. That's fine if that's the case, but you should at least say so instead of trying to pass it off as you were seeking common ground.

nah, i like arguing.
and if all ppl did when they don't agree with something was to not think or talk about it....nothing positive would ever get done.

Any failures involved with the olympics are obviously part of some vast Canadian socialist plot...

ohhh??? the competitions are actually relevant? relevant to what?
ethics of sports? culture??

where are you getting your info???

I'm not saying that but if someone is as worked up as much about how they are being handled why bother watching? I don't like hip hop and the culture it goes with so I'm not going to listen to it just to complain. People who complain and are bothered by what doesn't affect them is why we have censorship. I too think things should be questioned, like authority and government and policy but not entertainment.

Nice bait you got there, actually not really.

The Olympics are more than just entertainment.

sometimes entertainment falls into the category of authority, government & policy...a lot of the time actually.
entertainment is exactly that....shit to keep us "entertained". and a lot of it is put there deliberatly. but yeah, i get what you're saying.

Actually it's because I have a job and I'm working, so don't have the time for research that you do. This is just something I'm doing in between tasks here at the office. To be honest I don't quite feel comfortable defending VANOC and IOC, which is largely where your criticisms lie, because I don't exactly support all of their decisions. In fact, VANOC is largely a villian in the eyes of Vancouverites and Canadians. I thought we were arguing about whether the games were a success or failure, not whether VANOC is perfect. But since the thread title says "worst organization of Olympics", perhaps that's my fault for arguing the wrong points.

Basically if we judge by your standards, which is that the games go off without a hitch and no one is hurt (i don't disagree with safety being a good standard), then the games are a failure.

If we judge by my standards, which is that most things go off without a hitch, our city is celebrated, olympic spirit is honoured and athletes and attendees all enjoy the experience, I think it's mostly a success.

I don't see an end to this argument no matter how much research I do, or how many articles I quote.

yep. ignorant entertainment.

Well if you view them as more than that, I feel sorry for you. I have far more important shit in my life to get worked up about than how the ice at the 2010 Winter Olympics was cleared during a hockey game.....