Congrats to the second Canadian hockey gold!

[shlomo]

greg

respectfully ... you gave a nice long winded repy to my post ... yet didnt get the point of my post .

canada wins or canada loses(in the 60's or last week) ... it doesnt matter .

yes i understand the reasons nhl owners dont want their players playing .

regardless ... the below statement was the only point i was trying to make ...

!!!!!!! the best athletes from their respective countries should represent their countries ... period !!!!!!!

if this is not the case ... the olympics mean nothing .

derrek

The point of the Olympics is not for countries to compete and try to best each other, but for athletes to strive to be higher, stronger, faster and strive to best each other. While we have turned it into a nation vs. nation event, it is not about the various countries at all, rather about the thousands of athletes...wherever they come from.

For countries, there are various world championships.

[mash]

The point of the Olympics is not for countries to compete and try to best each other, but for athletes to strive to be higher, stronger, faster and strive to best each other. While we have turned it into a nation vs. nation event, it is not about the various countries at all, rather about the thousands of athletes...wherever they come from.

For countries, there are various world championships.

Really?

Where do you think the athletes get their funding? The sports organizations of competing countries pour a lot of money and resources to ensure that their athletes are the best. They provide for the athletes to live and train, get top coaching, have access to elite facilities etc.

The athletes absolutely compete for their countries. Watch them carry around their country's flag when they win, or go on about how great it is to compete for their country when they're being interviewed. They wear their country's uniform proudly, and desperately want to win for national pride.

It isn't "we" that have turned it into a nation vs. nation event, it's always been that way. Countries see the Olympics as a way to highlight/justify their political structure to the rest of the world.

There are world championships, but with a few exceptions (the World Cup for example), the Olympics are the ultimate competition for countries.

[shlomo]

Really?

Where do you tolympics NOW are all about money....look at the two competitors from Dominicana. Now countries are relevant, but that was never tfocal point of thd gzmes likd it is now.hink the athletes get their funding? The sports organizations of competing countries pour a lot of money and resources to ensure that their athletes are the best. They provide for the athletes to live and train, get top coaching, have access to elite facilities etc.

The athletes absolutely compete for their countries. Watch them carry around their country's flag when they win, or go on about how great it is to compete for their country when they're being interviewed. They wear their country's uniform proudly, and desperately want to win for national pride.

It isn't "we" that have turned it into a nation vs. nation event, it's always been that way. Countries see the Olympics as a way to highlight/justify their political structure to the rest of the world.

There are world championships, but with a few exceptions (the World Cup for example), the Olympics are the ultimate competition for countries.

[shlomo]

NOW the games are about money and countries. That is a VERY long way from thd original focal point of the gsmes

[mash]

NOW the games are about money and countries. That is a VERY long way from thd original focal point of the gsmes

Did you happen to watch the Canadian hockey team? Seeing a bunch of multimillionaires give everything they've got without being paid a cent. The only motivation was to show that they and their country could beat anyone in the world.

How about funded figure skaters who lose their parent days before their event, fight through grief and win a medal?

Or skiers who recover from multiple serious knee surgeries to keep fighting, so that they can prove to themselves and their country that they're the best?

This doesn't quite meet your threshold of the Olympic ideal?

[ptrthgr8]

Did you happen to watch the Canadian hockey team? Seeing a bunch of multimillionaires give everything they've got without being paid a cent. The only motivation was to show that they and their country could beat anyone in the world.

Indeed. I'm sure their lucrative NHL contracts didn't do anything to help them keep their minds off the fact that they weren't getting paid to be in Sochi.

How about funded figure skaters who lose their parent days before their event, fight through grief and win a medal?

Or skiers who recover from multiple serious knee surgeries to keep fighting, so that they can prove to themselves and their country that they're the best?

This doesn't quite meet your threshold of the Olympic ideal?

I know beer league guys who play through multiple knee surgeries to keep playing, not because they're pretending to be the best in the world, but because they still have a passion for the sport. We've all seen stories of some 100 year old fellow who keeps running every day, not because they think they're the best in the world, but because they have a passion for what they're doing. Hell, I have a friend who will almost certainly never be the best golfer in the world (in fact, he might just be the worst golfer in the world), but he keeps at it because he's motivated, he wants to be better the next day than he was the last, and he has a passion for what he's doing. So, it's not really about the stage upon which the athlete is performing, but rather the passion with which the athlete does what they do.

I see your point about the Olympic ideal, though. All that passion and under intense scrutiny because what they're doing only comes around every four years. There's always an amazing performance or two each time, no doubt. But I'd still prefer that the NHL removes itself from such things because there's too much $$$ at stake. Right or wrong, that's just the way it is.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[jerryg05495]

Being in Vermont, I was able to watch the Olympics televised on Canadian tv. Much more interesting than the U.S. tv, from my point of view. Plus you get to see Don Cherry, always entertaining.

[canadianbeaver]

Considering the cost of hosting the Olympics costs billions, the adverting and TV rights cost multiple millions and peripheral costs for insurance, legal, medical and non athlete related cost must run in the multi millions too. Whatever the costs related for 14 days of athletic activity for the athletes themselves is chump change.

Also, thousands of athletes participate and go home empty handed. The Olympic spirit, with everyone still participating year after year is alive and well IMO.

[mash]

Indeed. I'm sure their lucrative NHL contracts didn't do anything to help them keep their minds off the fact that they weren't getting paid to be in Sochi.

I know beer league guys who play through multiple knee surgeries to keep playing, not because they're pretending to be the best in the world, but because they still have a passion for the sport. We've all seen stories of some 100 year old fellow who keeps running every day, not because they think they're the best in the world, but because they have a passion for what they're doing. Hell, I have a friend who will almost certainly never be the best golfer in the world (in fact, he might just be the worst golfer in the world), but he keeps at it because he's motivated, he wants to be better the next day than he was the last, and he has a passion for what he's doing. So, it's not really about the stage upon which the athlete is performing, but rather the passion with which the athlete does what they do.

I see your point about the Olympic ideal, though. All that passion and under intense scrutiny because what they're doing only comes around every four years. There's always an amazing performance or two each time, no doubt. But I'd still prefer that the NHL removes itself from such things because there's too much $$$ at stake. Right or wrong, that's just the way it is.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

As far as their lucrative NHL contracts go, they were getting them whether they went to Sochi or not. In fact, instead of grinding it out in the Olympics and risking an injury that could jeapordize their pro careers, they could have used the time to have a paid vacation. Not sure how you think this diminishes their commitment.

Your comparison to beer league athletes and your buddies is odd. Olympic athletes don't pretend or think they're the best in the world, they are.

Think of the downhill skier, who trains his whole life to beat the best athletes on the planet, often by very small margins. He then blows his knee out going 75 miles an hour down a course. He spends the next few years fighting through pain to get to where he was before, because he has to be in order to compete. He then places himself in exactly the same situation he was in before, doing exactly what he was doing when he hurt himself, with no fear of injuring himself again. You think his level of passion and drive is the same as your beer league hockey player?

My point was that regardless of money and politics, these people are doing what the Olympics were set up to do. Have athletes push themselves to boundaries none of us can understand, just to represent themselves and their countries and be the best.

[ptrthgr8]

Right. So passion and dedication don't matter unless you're in the Olympics. Got it.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[mash]

Right. So passion and dedication don't matter unless you're in the Olympics. Got it.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

That's one way of interpreting what I said. You nailed it.

Of course, I could also have been saying that passion and dedication are relative terms. Since this thread was about Olympic athletes, it was fair to point out that there is a difference between beer league athletes/your golfing buddy and the ultra elite athletes that put their whole lives on hold for a few minutes of intense, dangerous competition every 4 years.

Nah, the way you took it was the only way to see this.

[shlomo]

Did you happen to watch the Canadian hockey team? Seeing a bunch of multimillionaires give everything they've got without being paid a cent. The only motivation was to show that they and their country could beat anyone in the world.

How about funded figure skaters who lose their parent days before their event, fight through grief and win a medal?

Or skiers who recover from multiple serious knee surgeries to keep fighting, so that they can prove to themselves and their country that they're the best?

This doesn't quite meet your threshold of the Olympic ideal?

Clearly you misunderstood my post. I am saying that the Olympics are indeed about the athletes themselves. The individuals and teams. They should NOT be about the various countries.

Thought I was fairly clear.