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London Olympics
What Olympic athletes also have in common, whether or not they win medals, is passion, desire, ambition, hunger, determination, confidence and grit. They're not afraid to dream big... Why, then, do so many of us limit ourselves, hold ourselves back, restrict ourselves to "modest" goals -- only to look back at our lives and wonder what might have been?
Toronto is considering a bid for the 2024 Olympics -- Mayor John Tory says he's still mulling over the economics of it all. The hard reality is that scholarly research on the economic impact of hosting the Olympics is not encouraging. The vast majority of studies show either no impact or a negative impact.
To say that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "shook things up" with Agenda 2020 is a gross understatement. Agenda 2020 voided and obscured critical sections of the Olympic Charter and the Olympic Games Framework, the IOC's two main documents for how to bid for and host an Olympic Games. It didn't just shake things up. It changed the entire game plan.
The people's network, CBC, has won the rights to broadcast the next Olympics. Maybe the broadcaster will do what CTV didn't: bring us stories, instead of running those interminable heats and quarter finals which brought us numbers and statistics.
Well, another Olympiad has come and gone, and for the XXXth consecutive quadrennium, Canada somehow failed to top the medal count. But cheer up! Not only did we take home the most bronze per-capita (just in time for the coming penny shortage!), but the nation's editorial pages are practically brimming with encouraging sentiment about national pride and junk.
I like to savour the last few weeks of summer. It's one of my favourite times of year -- especially the food! That's top on my roundup this week, along with some bad reality TV shows, thought on the Olympics and getting ready for back to school!
What do we know about the psychology of an Olympic athlete? The signature of Mark Spitz is worth examining. We can learn something about what it takes to excel in sports; also, in life.
Ye gads, is there no end to the massive abuse of power and privilege that is the Olympics? The following is a list of some of the words and phrases only official Games sponsors are allowed to use: "Olympic. Olympian. Olympiad. Paralympic. Paralympian. Paralympiad. Also their plurals, translations and anything similar to them."
I see the opposition parties have finally taken issue with the government for their heavy promotion of the War of 1812 during Olympic television coverage. The question is not the ad itself; the real issue is whether or not the Olympics are an appropriate venue for this type of saturation advertising? A simple ad highlighting the accomplishments of former Canadian Olympic greats would have been more appropriate.