The "worst Olympics ever".

Well we're still in the first week of the Vancouver Olympics and the international media is calling it the "worst Olympics ever" (over 7,000 Google references and counting).

The UK media is especially frothing at the mouth - denouncing everything about the games and calling them a total "disaster".

I find this fascinating. Not whether or not the games are the worst ever (though I would think Munich and the Nanzi games would probably be the worst), but why the media is saying this...

Fascinating. The British are hosting the London Olympics in two years, so why would they call Vancouver's the worst? To make themselves look better? Low self-worth? Trolling so they can sell more newspapers?

***

A couple interesting points and theories:

The exaggeration is incredible. To say that these Olympics are a nightmare and a disaster, using examples about a Zamboni breaking down and warm weather is a bit silly. The worst thing about the Games was the death of the luger and that wasn't really anybody's fault.

I think North American cities always get more criticism of the Games than European cities - possibly because we hype them more and so expectations are so high.

Every Games has problems: Salt Lake City = bribing the IOC, Beijing = pollution and human rights violations. Atlanta = logistical nightmares. Nothing works perfectly.

The Olympics is about competition between elite athletes. That's the true spirit of the games. The extras like the ceremonies and the concerts and just that - extras. You don't need them to have a good games.

The best way for Canadians to deal with the criticism is ignore it. The more we react, the worse we look.

My boss is obsessed with the Olympics.

While it's certainly nice that we're hosting the Winter Games, it quickly gets tiring. It's really all you hear on the news, radio and street. Literally all the time. For months.

So now that the games have started, my boss has become obsessed. She has news alerts emailed to her and loudly announces various Olympic doings. "WE JUST WON A MEDAL!" or "DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS EVENT?"

She even comes over to our computers and forces us to watch clips of the Olympics on Youtube. She does this at work, while I'm trying to concentrate on something. At first, I politely responded. Now I just ignore it and let my other co-worker answer her questions.

I keep my back turned and pretend to squint in concentration at my monitor.

The first day of the Olympics.

This being the first day of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, I thought I'd share my thoughts.

First, it's a HUGE HUGE deal here. Downtown was in bedlam yesterday with the torch relay. The streets are closed and everyone is partying.

I've never seen such Canadian pride. What a boost to our self-esteem as a country.

Secondly, Canada actually thinks they're going to win the games, and we've been getting some bad international press about our cockiness. Well, what a refreshing change for Canada - a generally diffident country that doesn't care much about sports. Now we're actually talking about being competitive!

The Olympics is a monstrous waste of money. The total cost will be around $6 billion dollars. That's a lot of money that could have been directed to local schools, homelessness and social services. And it will all be over in two weeks.

The organizers say the games will bring in $10 billion in benefits. I doubt it. But even if they do, who gets the money? Corporations get the money through increased sales. The people won't get much except higher prices.

To summarize:

Pros of the Olympics

- Increased Canadian self-esteem and spirit

- Improvement of local facilities

Cons

- Expensive, other arguably more important services sacrificed

- General inconvenience for citizens

Unknowns

- long term economic benefit?

- costs of goods and services to increase in Vancouver area?

- terrorist attacks?

- will international media be positive or negative?

Other Comments

Canada's torch relay was the goofiest ever. It was carried on tractors and trains and by Indian chiefs and by people in white, space-age track suits. The torches also looked weird.

NBC announced that they weren't going to make money on broadcasting the Olympics. Apparently not many people watch it or care. I don't entirely believe them.

Jeez someone just died in the luge. How horrible. I hope this doesn't mar the Olympics, but who feels like partying now? Very tragic.

Why are they closing all the roads during the olympics? Shouldn't they be opening more roads?

So the Olympics are coming here in a few weeks and all we hear about is how it's going to be impossible to travel.

Gridlock. Hour waits for public transit. No taxis available. Massive road closures.

Wait... what? Road closures? Why would VANOC close roads when we're hosting "the world" during the Olympics? Shouldn't we be opening MORE roads? I mean, hell, we built a new highway to Whistler, dynamiting the pristine Eagle buffs to clear the way.

If it's going to be so crowded then it seems like a no-brainer. Open roads so people can drive around and see the city.

We don't want our visitors saying, "Yeah Vancouver was nice - but the traffic was awful. You can't get anywhere in that city."

VANOC is saying "don't go to work if you work down town - work from home". Wha??? There are going to be thousands of tourists in Vancouver and we're not supposed to go to work? How are these tourists going to get basic services?

I don't understand.

***

The other day I was telling my Mom that Canada might win the games and she said no way. I said we came in second in the last games and we beat America. She said, impossible and wanted proof. Well here you go Mom:

Total Medal Count - Torino

Germany 29

USA 25

Canada 24

I was wrong. Canada came in third, by one medal. We beat Austria, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, France etc. This year we're supposed to win it all!