|
|
Post by Josh on Feb 12, 2010 20:59:08 GMT -8
Thought I'd start a thread for the winter olympics. If anything stands out to you, bring it up!
We're letting the kids stay up tonight to watch the opening ceremonies.
|
|
|
|
Post by sarah on Feb 13, 2010 10:36:39 GMT -8
loved the honor given to the First Nations tribes of Canada. In many ways Canada seems to have done a better job integrating European and Native cultures
|
|
|
|
Post by moritz on Feb 13, 2010 10:51:59 GMT -8
Couldn't see it. How did they deal with the death of the athlete?
|
|
|
|
Post by Josh on Feb 13, 2010 12:16:59 GMT -8
There was a lot of talk about the Georgian athlete- but I thought it was pretty lame that they kept showing the footage of his death! It was a sad sight when the Georgians came through into the pavillion  yep Sarah, Canada has done a much better job all-in-all at integration. I wonder if that has to do with the fact that the natives living in originally in Canada weren't seen as "in-the-way" of natural resources to exploit? (just a new thought for further pondering) |
|
|
|
Post by moritz on Feb 28, 2010 13:57:30 GMT -8
Olympic Hockey final is on!
Last 20 minutes... Canada leads 2-1. Pretty close match, pretty damn exciting.
|
|
|
|
Post by moritz on Feb 28, 2010 15:05:48 GMT -8
Holy cow, Canada made it! And what a final it was! Spectacular.
|
|
|
|
Post by moritz on Mar 1, 2010 7:20:17 GMT -8
Did anyone of you realize that the question of which nation was most successful at Olympic Games is being answered differently depending on which country you ask? Over here nothing but the gold medals count. The most successful nation is the one generating the majority of champions. Hence, in European history books Canada will go down as the triumphing nation #1 ogf the past Winter Games. This perspective is neglecting the merit of silver- and broncemedalists though. In North America, they count the total amount of gained medals. From that perspective the USA were most succesful. But this perspective values a third place as much as a victory. Isn't that interesting. I would have guessed the exact opposite way, if I didn't know better: Americans are more ambitious and hence value second and third places less. A third way to look at it is to count three points for each gold, two for silver and one for bronce. I personally find that's the fairest way. No matter which of the three views one prefers, Germany wins the silver medal.  |
|
|
|
Post by robin on Mar 1, 2010 8:30:18 GMT -8
As a side note, I recently heard that the bronze medalists are generally happier and more fulfilled than the silver medalists. Apparently the thought is that the bronze medalist is thrilled to simply make it onto the podium and focuses and that, where the silver medalist usually is obsessed with what might have been. In many cases the difference between silver and gold is fractions of a second. I can easily relate to the silver medalists who fall into the category, due to my highly competitive nature.
I also find it interesting that host countries seem to over achieve, or at least that has been my observation with some of the recent Olympics. It was certainly the case with both China, and Australia.
|
|
|
|
Post by christopher on Mar 1, 2010 8:59:00 GMT -8
moritz wrote: I'll get eggs thrown at me for this. My theory is that Americans are conditioned (mostly in business) to value the perception of success equally as success itself. This is a mindset here that drives me crazy. So if USA counts all the medals, the public feels like we have "bragging rights". Andre Aggassi used to do a commercial for a camera company where the tag line was "Image is everything". That's America  |
|
