Let the games begin; Boycotting Olympics hurts the athletes, Kingstonian says

from the Kingston Whig Standard, March 24, 2008
by Brock Harrison

Several of the world's highest-profile Olympians have publicly denounced any notion of boycotting the upcoming Summer Games in China because of that country's human-rights record in Tibet.
Kingston's own elite Olympian is adding her voice to that call.
Andrea Blackwell, now a well-known local basketball coach, was just 17 when she was prevented from playing with the national women's basketball team in the 1980 Olympiad, as Canada joined U.S. President Jimmy Carter's boycott of the Moscow games.
She says she understands the need to draw attention to critical international issues - like Russia's refusal to pull out of Afghanistan in 1980 and China's current human-rights rap sheet - but she also says a politically sanctioned boycott that withdraws participation can be "devastating" to the athletes.
"Just knowing the time and the effort that athletes put into the Olympic Games, I don't know that I could support a boycott," said Blackwell, who was fortunately at the very beginning of her amateur career in 1980.
"Obviously, this shows how important [the Olympics are] to countries but its unfortunate who gets affected most by it."
Competing in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta has somewhat erased Blackwell's painful memories of missing the 1980 Games, but she says if a 2008 boycott goes through others won't be as fortunate.
"I couldn't imagine had the 1996 Olympics been boycotted. That was the end of my career. I wouldn't have had another chance," said Blackwell, who coaches the St. Lawrence College Vikings women's basketball team and the senior boys' team at Loyalist Collegiate.
Calls for the Beijing boycott have intensified in the wake of deadly clashes between the Chinese government and Tibetan protesters who are pushing for greater autonomy from the Communist regime.
Ostensibly, the Olympic boycott would be one of several diplomatic pressure points the international community could apply to China for its violent treatment of protesters and its continued support for the Sudanese regime that is accused of aiding genocide in the Darfur region.
China wishes to use the spotlight it will receive from the upcoming games to signify its arrival as a world power on the international stage. A large-scale gesture of rebuke, in theory, would throw cold water on those ambitious plans and draw widespread attention to China's alleged domestic and foreign atrocities.
Blackwell, echoing the sentiments of Australian Olympic swimming icon Ian Thorpe and British Olympic silver-medalist swimmer Sharron Davies, says there are other ways for government officials and diplomats to exert influence.
She also says it's opportunistic for governments to leverage the Olympics to promote their own agendas when those same governments often fail to support athletes between events.
"The whole idea of a boycott demonstrates the power of sport and how valuable sport is," she said. "It's not just the tiny fraction of people who actually makes it to the Games, it shows how valuable it is to everyone."
The Canadian government hasn't taken a stance on a boycott, but the idea is getting some political footing. Randy Hillier, Progressive Conservative MPP for Hastings-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, rose in the legislature last Tuesday calling on Ottawa to impose a boycott.
Blackwell says that would be an "incredibly hard" pill for athletes to swallow, given the years of training they dedicate to reaching the Olympics.
"You obviously want to support your government and the decisions that get made, but sometimes it makes it pretty difficult when you're directly affected without any control," she said.

Now Here's A Crock......UPDATED March 28, 2008

Why would the UCI sue RWP?
Because he is running for president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, that's why, and cycling would do anything to discredit him, since he has been on their case for years.
Never underestimate the ability of an IF to stoop.
----------------

UCI & Verbruggen Sue Dick Pound

The UCI has moved to the next level in its ongoing dispute with WADA and the organization's former president Dick Pound. The UCI has issued a statement that they will be suing Canadian lawyer Dick Pound for "continual injurious and biased comments" against both the UCI and former UCI President Hein Verbruggen.

Pound was until recently the President of the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA), and he and Verbruggen had a running war of words over Pound's comments about the efforts (or lack therof, according to Pound) of the UCI to combat doping.The text of the UCI statement:The UCI and Mr. Hein Verbruggen have sued Mr. Richard Pound ex-president of WADA before Swiss courts for what they perceive as being continual injurious and biased comments by Mr. Pound against UCI and Mr. Verbruggen in the context of the efforts made by them to eradicate doping from their sport. Indeed, on many occasions, Mr. Pound has publicly questioned the extent of the UCI's efforts in the fight against doping.

One would think that the UCI would have more important things on its agenda than suing Dick Pound. Like, cleaning up the sport????

They must have more money than FIFA!!

No men's Soccer Either

That Own the Podium OTP funding can't come too soon for Canadian teams.

Once again, a Canadian team has failed to qualify for the Olympic Games. Men's soccer (under 23) will be staying home this summer.

What a disappointment for Canadian teams. The cost of developing a system, then training a large number of athletes for any team, then getting them the essential competition, then getting them to the Olympic Qualification Tournament, and keeping them sharp after they qualify, is gigantic.

Let's hope that popular sports like soccer, basketball, volleyball and field hockey can benefit immediately for additional funding. It may be too late for 2012, but there is light for 2016.

Our Canadian children need to see our athletes at the OG. When they see women's and men's hockey playing at the OWG, don't you think that inspires them? You bet!

So, let's get the funding to Canadian teams. Let's get the system working. It's well past time.

Canada and an Olympic Boycott

It's good to see that COC CEO Chris Rudge has said that Canada will NOT boycott the 2008 Olympic Games. Good for him.
I was in the room for the vote in the spring of 1980 when the COA voted to boycott the 1980 Games in Moscow. And I supported the boycott.
I have changed my mind. Boycotts don't do anything except kill the dream of so many athletes. I knew/know some Canadians who didn't get to go to Moscow because of the boycott. It broke their hearts.
I have believed for quite some time that boycotts do not work. They don't make a statement to the country that is the target, and they don't say anything to the country that decides to boycott.
In this case, does anyone really think that if Canada doesn't send its athletes, China will notice or change it's stance on human rights? Not likely.
I despise the idea that the Olympic Games can be used for political purposes. But I know that they are. Sports and politics are intertwined....starting with the IOC.
Let us support Canadian athletes who speak out against injustices wherever they may be; let us all speak out against injustice. But let's not ever again squash the dreams of any Canadian child to become an Olympian. THAT would be an injustice.

More on the Brier

Russ Howard wins as repeat analyst. Joan Mc Cusker did a good job in the last two draws of the Brier. Russ is quite fair, he presents one educated view of the game as it progresses, he has the better tone of voice, he allowed viewers to hear the athletes (skips and others).

Somehow, it has eluded the CBC crowd that there are 4 aspects to air time: booth time, skips time, players time, and no comments. These 4 should not be distributed equally, and "booth time" definitely does not get more than the others.

Thanks to the TSN and CBC for NOT showing viewers the "routines" that players have as they prepare for their delivery. There was nothing more irritating for fans than to watch Dave Nedolin go through his pre-delivery routine.

Unlike some analysts, I think that Kevin Martin has grown a lot in the last while. John Morris has brought a fine contribution to the team, and he too has grown in his game. Yes, he still gets mad, but his coping skills are seriously improved this year. He deserves a large bouquet.

Maybe the networks can persuade Jim Cotter and others to drop the ball cap. It sure looks dorky, and doesn't fit the game at all.

The tribute to Don Wittman (and Chev and Maxwell) was very nice. They stand as giants in curling's development in this country. The patch on the curlers' jackets was obtuse. Looked like a last minute design and execution; it probably was. More is expected from the CCA.

Please, let the game speak for itself. No one needs to tell us "Howard is going to take out the yellow one," as Harris did, as the rock approached the house. Good grief. We can see the obvious!!!

We're looking forward to the Worlds. Let's hope that the round robin play is good, and that the playoffs are better. This Brier final will stick out as one of the game's true duds. Poor ice and poor play. Disappinting for the athletes and the fans.

The Brier Final

What a bust.
A highly-anticipated game, the culmination of a great week of men's curling, two of the best teams in the world. And they can't get the ice right.
What a disappointment.

How do you pronounce "SASKATCHEWAN" ?

Let's hope that Joan's first order of business this afternoon is to take Bruce Rainie aside and have a lesson in pronounciation. He sounds as if he is from Toronto!

Brier, A Great Week of Curling

What a fine week of curling. I'd love it to go forever!!
Russ Howard has done an excellent job as the analyst for TSN druing the daytime. More on that later.
Brad and the boys from the Rock never really showed up. I watched just a few minutes of his loss to BC this morning, it didn't look as if he had his heart in it, and probably didn't. He looked quite sad.
Although Jeff Stoughton expresses disappintment (http://www.cbc.ca/ blog) in Burtnyk's show this week, I thought he had the best attitude all week. He knows that this is just a game, and that there are more important things in this life. Brad will learn that one day. For now, though, he is really disappointed. It shows.
So we are into the Page playoffs. Great games coming up. That Kevin Martin and his team, are extraordinary. He must have an incredible kinesthetic sense. It would be interesting for experts to be able to "measure" why he does so well: his motor skills, his physiology, his mental skills. He'd make a great subject.
I know someone who studied his spouse and her specific athletic performance for a PhD dissertation....maybe we can find someone who would take on this project!!

No Ball Caps, Please

Curlers shouldn't wear ballcaps on the ice.

Why? Viewers can't see their faces, that's why. Viewers watch the delivery, the path of the rock, and of course the action in the house. The curler's face tells us something about the shot.

Help us follow the game, please!

Brenda Martin and the Canadian PM

Steven Harper has never been accused of too much compassion. And, the situation of BRENDA MARTIN in a Mexican jail won't change that. Hard of heart, deaf to opinions other than his own, a bully of the first order.
BRENDA MARTIN is now in the hospital unit in the Mexican jail in which she has languished for 2 years. Apparently charged with being an accessory in a fraud case involving her former employer (who has stated that she was not at any time involved in his nefarious doings), MARTIN was not permitted a lawyer or a translator when she was brought before a judge. Her human rights were trampled upon, according to her lawyer, and her friend in Trenton, Ontario.
Her appeal to this injustice was denied early this week.
As MARTIN languishes in jail, now at 90 pounds, the Minister says she has send "notes" to the Mexican government, and is now powerless to do anything more.
If MARTIN dies in jail, without any intervention by the PM or more assertive measures by the Minister, it will definitely be time to go to the polls.
There are so many examples that illustrate that this man should not have been elected, nor should he continue in office. But the deaths of Canadians due to negligence of the government is unacceptable, not only to me, but also to many others.
A Federal election costs somewhat over $2.5 millin per constituency. This time, it will be money well spent, to get rid of this government, and its "leader."
He is not a "leader." He is a bully who now says that the bill on RESPs must not be implemented. This bill was passed by parliament. He was having a snooze when it went though.

Let's get to the polls. It is time for a new government, one with a leader who does not bully parliament, does not act in secret, one who respects the people of this country.

Please email the PM to take action on behalf of BRENDA MARTIN. Now.
pm@pm.gc.ca

Updates

Winter will leave, I'm sure! Someday!!

A good weekend for sports on TV. The Brier got off to a good start on TSN. The Sunday afternoon "colour" commentatoor was Russ Howard who did a great job. He offers very different insights from Ray and Linda. Very refreshing. Thanks, TSN! And, he and Vic probably had more "dead air" than the CBC staff in most of their games. We actually could listen to the athlete deliberations, without having to listen to colour commentators then beat on the skips' decisions. How refreshing!! Once again, "there's more than one way to skin a cat."

The Score aired the CIS woomen's basketball final from Saskatoon. Since I finally have The Score, it was great to be able to see the game. They aired ONE women's game of this tournament, and are airing FOUR games of the men's final basketball tournament. Small steps, to be sure. But let's pick up the pace! More women's games in 2009, please.

One notable problem in the telecast was the sound. With the noise of fans, it was very difficult to hear the female colour commentator (Shawnee Harle) most of the time, and the man's voice was drowned out quite often.

Otherwise, a good game, played before a rather slim crowd, which is too bad.

Water polo team dunks Romania in huge upset

Victory in Ordea gives Canada first outright berth in Olympics

March 08, 2008
Randy Starkman SPORTS REPORTER (Toronto Star)

Nathaniel Miller wore his bite marks proudly in Romania last night, a souvenir of Canada's "Miracle on Water."
The Canadian water polo team had no business beating Romania in their home pool with an Olympic berth on the line. The Romanians were huge favourites, trouncing Canada by 10 goals a week ago in Hungary. The undersized Canadian crew knew the crowd would be against them and likely the referees, too. And, besides, upsets rarely occur in water polo.
But one did this time.
The headline on waterpolo-world.com said it all: Canada causes earthquake in Ordea.
The tremors were still being felt after a 9-8 victory for Canada that qualified the country in men's water polo outright for the first time in Olympic history – they got there before by invitation, boycott or being the host.
The receptionist at the team's hotel in Romania at first said no one from the Canadian team could come to the phone because they were celebrating, but Miller kindly obliged. It turns out head coach Dragan Jovanovic had set a two-beer maximum, anyway, because they have two games left.
It was a vicious game that left Miller and a few of his teammates with bite marks, all from the same 6-foot-4 offender who may or may not have been a descendant of that great Romanian, Vlad Dracula.
"I'll take it," said Miller, a Montrealer who at 28 is the team's elder statesman. "While he was worrying about biting me, I was worrying about putting the ball in the net."
Jovanovic, a star goalie for the former Yugoslavia, started laying the groundwork for the victory when he took over as head coach in 2004. He demanded a much greater commitment from the players than ever before, one that saw many veterans step aside.
"Right from the start, he changed the mentality," said Miller.
A toughness that belied their youth was evident yesterday. At an average of about 23 years old, the Canadians have one of the youngest teams, with only four pros on their roster. When they got into penalty trouble, they had 18- and 19-year-olds battling against 32-year-old Romanian pros.
They stuck to the defence-first system preached by Jovanovic, blocking over a dozen balls with a smothering defence. The inordinate number of blocks seemed to take a toll on the Romanian psyche.
In the final seconds, one of the Romanians grabbed the ball and was poised for a seemingly dangerous shot, but squeezed too tightly and it fell harmlessly into the hands of a Canadian defender.
Miller watched the last seconds tick off from the penalty box.
"That was the greatest moment of my life," Miller said. "We trusted in each other and trusted in our coach and pulled off a huge upset. Going into this, I don't think anyone in the sport thought we had a chance to win."

-30-

This is a stunning upset! Way to go Canada!

Random Thoughts on a Very Snowy Saturday!

Leading the good news is that the Canadian Men's Water Polo Teaam has qualified for the first time ever, through QT, for the Beijing Olympics. This is great news for water polo athletes, fans and for Canada. Canada is a water country; our divers, synchro athletes, swimmers and water polo athletes are terrific. If there were more pools so we could introduce young people to many different kinds of water activities, it would be great!

In today's Globe and Mail, Bob Weeks pays tribute to the CBC for 42 years connected to the Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship. A well-deserved tribute. It's been a long time, innovations to enhance the game, and fine hosts have given curling a Canadian and world profile that was instrumental in getting the game into the Olympic Winter Games.

It's always interesting to consider people's philosophy, where they are coming from, why they hold the views that they express. Having spent many years in sport, where athletes (and coaches) measure from the TOP, I am always a bit surprised to read in the newspaper or in blogs or on websites, a very different perspective. Some people express the view that "things are a lot better than they were [at the Memorial Centre] in the old facility." Many of us express it differently: "things could have been closer to the best/finest/most innovative facilities." That's how I feel about the lvec; it could have been so much more.

It's ridiculous to say "this is just a small town, so what we got suits us." That's why Kingston will always be a small town, till the mayor, council and civic leaders stand up and say how fine a city it is, that it is a great place to live....get on their podiums, sound proud of the place, provide some positive, community-building leadership. Leadership.

Saturated?

Cancellation this week of two shows slated for the dreaded lvec is disappointing for fans of those shows, for the facility itself, and for Kingstonians.

The question is: is Arcturus SMG saturating the market? Does Arcturus SMG know the market, and where does it get its information about it? As of today, here are/were more than 17 events on the program up to June 30th.

Certainly, it takes time, perhaps even a cycle of a year, to find out what the locals want. Arcturus is no new rube in facility management. They operate over 11 facilities in N. America, including this one and the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. And every market is different.

Kingston has to make some decisions, and there's one very big one. How will it decide that an event should be in the wonderful new Grand Theatre vs in the new K-Rock Centre? One good example is Englebert Humperdinck and Avril Lavigne. The Grand would be a good venue for EH, and the lvec for AL.

Let us hope that there is public discussion about event location in Kingston. Neither facility should be left behind, both should be well-served and busy. But, each facility will serve different kinds of events, and perhaps diffferent client groups. Let's get that discussion going in public, and not leave it to whomever they hire to book/program/manage the Grand (is Arcturus SMG going to get that as-yet-unanncounce contract?).

If the market is saturated now, what will it be like when they start to book events at the Grand?

Speaking of Marketing the LVEC......

Is the operator, Arcturus SMG, in charge of marketing the dreaded LVEC to the citizens? Or who is in charge of marketing the lvec?

Since this project was the idea of the current mayor of the city, why doesn't he become the CHAMPION of the place? How about putting on a big smile and getting out and about the community, talking to groups, getting into The Whig (which has always been a BIG fan of the rink), getting on the radio (and not just K-Rock! Any idea how many Kingstonians don't/won't even LISTEN to Krock??), getting seen around the community as the rink's biggest fan?

Every project needs a BOOSTER or two or several. Every marketing expert will tell you that every successful project needs a CHAMPION.

Come on, Mayor. Make a plan. Set some goals. Commit to making 6 public mini speeches, positive ones that is, per week, about the rink that you wanted so badly. Be positively proactive, with a smile, a warm handskake, and sincerity. Do it YOURSELF; don't just send one of the councillors out to CHAMPION your pet project.

Or is it too late?

Enjoy the Humour!

This morning's Whig Standard offered readers an amusing irony. Reporter Ian Elliot writes about Queen's University's gigantic cost over-runs on the under-construction Queen's Centre. [Interestingly, this story was extensively covered in the Queen's 'Journal,' last Friday February 29th!]

Vice Principal Simpson is reported to have said that because of rising costs, etc, they are looking at "value engineering" to somehow lower costs for phases 2 and 3 of the Centre.

Kingtonians will remember when the dreaded LVEC was being rammed down our throats, that the project manager said they would use a concept called "design build." This actually is a known strategy in the construction business. In the case of the lvec, we now know that what this meant is that a number of items on the list of inclusions, got deleted: the best example of which is the 300 seat restaurent. It turned into a smaller restaurent, and a "Sports Cafe" that isn't finished yet (nor equipped since there is no one who wants to run the restaurant. So the LVEC budget will have to include all the equipment that it was thought would be provided by the restaurant operator). And, it probably meant inferior materials to those initially proposed.

Anyway, isn't the irony great? The City calls it "design build" which means 'we can change the design and use inferior materials,' and Queen's uses the phrase "value engineering" to mean the same thing!!!!

Are we sposed to miss this "spin"?? Not as niaive as they think!

Oh How it Gets in Your Craw!!!

It sure gets in the craw of some of you cowards (those who refuse to identify yourselves) that all is not peaches and cream at the new LVEC.!!!!

The more "anonymous" postings there are on this blog, the more it expresses the opinion that the avid boosters (at least those who have not been public about the lvec) are not pleased with the way it has turned out, and don't dare say so in the newspapers or to the mayor and council. Will you ever stand up and be counted?

Is there fear of reprisal?

P.S. did you notice that CKWSTV did the SAME story at 6pm last night?

No One Thought About the Equipment?

The first of what may become a series of "shows" is poised to play at the K-Rock Centre (still known to many locals, including media, as the LVEC).

For 2 days, staff of Disney High School Musical - the Ice Tour have been trying to unload their gear from what seem to be about 8 or 9 trailers. The unloading area at the LVEC is two back-in trailer spots, both of which can't be used at the same time, unless one tractor (the part that pulls the trailer) is disconnected.

Oh yes, they also unload into the large doors where the Zamboni is parked. This is off King Street, between Place d'Armes and Barrack Streets. So that block of King Street is unavailable to vehicle traffic. (Yesterday too, a van was parked on the sidewalk on this block)

Yesterday, there were 7 trailers parked on the streets around the LVEC, either unhitched or waiting (idling) with their tractors. Unhitched trailers were/are in the on-street spots on Place d' Armes at the corner of Wellington, on both sides of King Street between Queen and Barrack, on Barrack Street in front of the Food Basics, across the main Barrack Street doors of the LVEC, on the north side of the facility (where the team buses have been idling for extended periods of time).

To access the building's unloading area, these 18 wheelers drive into the stub of King Street north of Place d'Armes; they idle there till a worker comes from the lvec to "direct" them as they back into the building. As they back into the building, traffic coming off the Causeway piles up past Fort Frontenac toward the bridge.

It is doubtful that it will take long for word to get around the tour/business world that Kingston's facility is a nightmare for touring companies. There's nowhere to park trailers that carry the costumes, the sound systems, the on-ice equipment, and the unloading area is grossly indequatee. There's no waiting area, except on-street, in the vehicle parking spots. How many touring shows will come this way? If it's a problem to unload, will they come?

Oh yes, and once they get the trucks unloaded inside the facility, where will they put all the performers' costumes/gear? There is virtually no space under the stands; the Fronts have adjacent dressing rooms, so there is the visitors' dressing room? And one other?

Didn't anyone think about all the gear and equipment that shows bring with them? Didn't anyone realize that shows travel with LOADS of equipment? Yes, many people did. But those with the votes didn't hear.

After the 2 Disney shows on Tuesday and Wednesday, the trailers have to be reloaded, and (as often happens) wait to depart in convoy. What a frustration. Word will travel quickly, "Be prepared for a nightmare of unloading/loading in Kingston." And, we can guess what the promoters will decide.

What will be interesting to observe (along with the high staff requirement to make all this happen) is the 36 hour turn-around for the Friday night Frontenac's game. And then, gasp, staging for the 2008 Freestyle Motocross World Tour slated to start less than 20 hours after the Fronts' game.

The line item for "staff" on Arcturus SMG's LVEC budget will be gigantic. Will it seep down to Kingston taxpayers?

My objection to locating this facility on this spot always was, and still is, that there are few amenities in the building; meeting rooms, under-stands space, large concourses, dining areas, suitable coat-check...all these essential were erased from the plan when they decided the building had to go here. A tragic legacy for Kingston's City Councils.

Canada and the Pan American Games, 2015

There's been a lot of reecent discussion about Canada bidding for the 2015 Pan American Games. They were last hosted by Canada in 1999, and by 2015, it will be high time that they are held in this country.
Certainly Ontario would be a fine host, but other provinces, like Alberta, would do a good job.
Canada needs to get its act together. A multi-sport summer event is imperative. Our young people need to see our heros, need to feel the excitement, and need to leadership that the PAG would offer.
Below, Gross speeaks to benefits for soccer that a multi-sport games would bring. Just think of all the other summer sports that would benefit!!

By George Gross, The Toroonto Sun
March 3, 2008

Soccer in southern Ontario would receive a major kick forward if Premier Dalton McGuinty took on a leadership role in acquiring the 2015 Pan American Games for the region.
Part of the job already has been done by Michael Chambers of Ottawa, the president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, and Paul Henderson of Toronto, a former member of the International Olympic Committee and president of the International Sailing Federation.
The pair recently visited Vasquez Rana in Mexico City, head of the Pan-American Games and, therefore, the most influential person to talk to about southern Ontario's bid plans. They came away satisfied that this area would have a good chance of getting the Sport Festival of the Americas, providing the Ontario government would take on a leadership role.
"Improved soccer and other sports facilities would benefit from us hosting the 2015 Games," Henderson said yesterday. "For instance, the final of the soccer tournament would be played at the new Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, a site which could be built only if we get the Games.
"Cities such as Barrie, St. Catharines, London could benefit from the Games by hosting various events.

"We can't wait for the feds to do something internationally. The Ontario preem has to grab the bull by the horns and lead our Pan-Am bid just like B.C. Premier (Gordon) Campbell supported Vancouver's Olympic bid."
Henderson is frustrated and I can understand it. After all, Ontario hasn't played host to a major international multi-sport event since 1932. And that, friends, was 76 years ago!

-30-

Strauss Canada Cup on CBC

Viewers enjoyed the game this afternoon, Koe vs Gushue, with side trips to the women's 1 vs 1 game that Stephanie Lawton won.
It was refreshing to listen to the teams make decisions about their strategy and shots, and not have to strain to hear what was being said.
Thanks to the analysts and "host" for allowing the athletes to speak for themselves, and the game unfold as they determined. There was little second-guessing, and even less "I would have done this" or "Koe is thinking that he should...."

The biggest criticism that we curling fans have today is that the CBC is only showing one game today.

Looking forward to the games tomorrow! Let's hope they show them one after the other.

p.s. can you imagine what the PAID attendance was today? It was a sea of empty seats......

The Globe and Mail Takes a Swipe, but at Who?

The Globe runs a feature occasionally, across the top of two pages, with pictures of people who have had a "good week" and people who have had a "bad week." The number of times they have featured a female can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But that's another story.

Today, writer Paul Attfield features Jennifer Jones' picture, a small write up, and then finishes with a swipe. Something about women's curling being on the program of the Olympic Winter Games (the correct name for it), and women's ski jumping not getting on the program.

Here's the email that I sent to the Sports Editor in response to the swipe; it is signed with my city of residence and blog url.

"Good morning, Paul.
Your swipe at the end of the note about Jennifer Jones having a good week reveals quite a bit about you.
Your knowledge about curling, women's ski jumping or the Olympic Winter Games, or perhaps all three of them, is lacking.
Curling, both men's and women's, met the criteria for inclusion in an Olympic Winter Games. Check out the IOC website to find out what is required in order to be on the OWG program.
Women's ski jumping has not met the criteria. Nothing that VANOC or the Canadian government or the COC do, will change that. The IOC will not relent.
And, swipes like yours won't get women's ski jumping into the OWG either!"

The Robert Latimer Saga

Robert Latimer will be released from prison immediately. The right decision.
He should be allowed to return to his farm near Wilkie SK, and required to report to a parole officer weekly. For the rest of the sentence.
Nothing is to be gained by having him establish some sort of life in Ottawa, when his life is at his farm.

Insiders' Perspectives

Last night at a meeting I attended, I sat beside a more avid curling fan than I am. She has been ill, so I asked her if she had seen the Scotties last week. Yes, she had, and immediately went on a bit of a rant about the commentary. Since she had been bed-ridden, or couch-ridden, she had seen pretty well every game. Without slagging Mr Harris anymore, I will just say that she felt that he talked too much and came across as a know-it-all. She didn't want to hear what he thought the skip would do for her next shot either.
Spend a bit of time reading the posted comments on Joan McCuster's blog on the CBC website. I sent in a comment making this point, which has not been posted, so it wasn't me who started this discussion about Mike Harris.
Read "Dennis" who offers up the view that Harris comes across as "Mr Know-it-all."
In spite of comments on this blog from the curling community, it's time to let it go. The point has been made. Let's hope that when the semis and finals of the Strauss Canada Cup are shown on the CBC this weekend, that the commentary is less biased, more sparse, and broader in its perspective.

Seems Others Agree Wiith Me!

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/curling/mccusker/

Well, I'm not the only one who thinks that Mike overdoes it. Log on to Joan McCusker's blog at the CBC (above) and read comments after the last 3 or 4 entries.

Like I said, Joan pulled the telecast out of the embers. Constant yakking by the analysts and host, too much negativity, and talking at breakneck speed. Let's hope that Mike reads the recent Globe and Mail article about the speed of talking.

Fear of "dead air" seems to grip them. For the fans, "dead air" isn't bad! It gives us time to watch, consider, and look ahead.

2008 Scotties and the CBC

As often is the case, the games BEFORE the big game are often the better ones. We've seen that many times in the Grey Cup, the Brier, and in the Scotties. This afternoon's final was a good game, but not one of the best.

Congratulations to Manitoba on their win today! They will do Canada proud at the Worlds in March.

The CBC crew did much better today than yesterday, but there is still a way to go. Joan bailed Mike out a few times, when he said such stupid things as "Jennifer Jones would like to...." while Alberta was still playing its rock. He had no idea what Jennifer Jones would like to do; he had his personal opinion about what HE would do, but that is not what Jennifer Jones might do. Joan was gentle enough to say that there was an alternative to what Harris was saying, and on occasion, he even grudgingly acknowledged it. There's an old saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." Harris would do well to consider this, as an analyst, and maybe even as a skip. Thinking outside the box is a creative way to solve problems.

Analysts who listen to the tape after a game often catch such repetitions as "a huge error," or "a critical mistake," or "a big mistake." Viewers can see these mistakes; if I had to guess, I'd say that anyone watching the Scotties final is someone who knows the game, knows a lot of strategy, and probably has played the game. So they don't have to be told, repeatedly, that something is a "huge mistake." Remember when Harris told us that "this is going to be heavy and wide"? Good grief. Everyoone watching could see that. Telling the viewers the obvious is pretty new-analyst behaviour. Better say nothing, than to report the obvious.

Joan was far more objective in her analysis of the final than was Harris. She deserves a lot of credit for the overall quality of the content.

The telestrater didn't work most of the 2 days of games, so fortunately Harris didn't use it much. The sound in the interviews was out of sync with the talking heads; quite distracting to viewers.

Most viewers would tell the CBC, and TSN, not to talk when the athletes are discussing strategy. That's what we are interested in hearing, not the ideas of the analysist (at least not while the athletes are reviewing their options). And, at the end of any game, trying to talk over the cheering and the tears isn't a good idea. Let the game and the camera, tell the story.

The CBC opted not to give us any shots of the Alberta team. The tears are part of the game. This really is censorship, not just being kind. Perhaps in the moments after the loss, that's fair, but not one shot of the team during the lead up to trophy presentation? The question is where to draw the line. For my money, the CBC drew it way too far away; the reaction of the Alberta team is part of the game, part of the telecast.

It was and is a tremendous loss for Alberta, and no doubt Kleibrink will assume all the load. Yes, she missed her shot, but had others made theirs along the way, it might not have come down to that. Much was riding on this game, for both teams.

In the final analysis, it has been a long week for the last few teams standing. Nixon looked tired today. No doubt that ALL of them are exhausted. Anyone who says that curling isn't a sport, should just spend the week watching this competition. Or the Brier. These weeks require the lighest levels of physical fitness and mental preparation. I hear this in coaching courses I facilitate: "curling and bowling aren't sports because you don't have to be in any kind of shape to do them." Well, the reason people on the street don't do gymnastics or synchro is because they aren't well trained and in good enough shape to do them. And they certainly aren't in the sort of shape that theese athletes are in.

Curling is a great sport, probably the best spectator sport going. It's great to have so much on TV, and to have some of the finest teams in the world in Canada.

We're looking forward to the Brier coming up early next month; let's hope the two TV networks spend some time evaluating their work on the Scotties.

CBC and the Scotties

Yesterday's production of the semifinal of the Scotties was one of the poorest CBC undertakings I've watched for a long time.
I'm a sports fan. I watch every curling game, football game, amateur sport, university sport and almost every minute of the Olympics. So I've logged a lot of hours!
We all agree that Don Wittman will be difficult to replace, so Bruce Rainie will get a bit of slack. It doesn't sound as if he has watched a lot of curling, at least at this level, but that's not the most annoying part of yesterday's telecast.
The most upsetting aspect was Mike Harris' obvious bias toward Ontario. It wasn't so much beating on Manitoba, but it was giving way more air time to Middaugh, and more positive comments about her and the team.
Most curling fans feel for Sherry. She's a fine curler and frankly, in the last year has developed mentally well beyond where she was before. Having lived in Saskatchewan for many years, I watched her and discussed her team's work with avid curling fans. And I give her more than full marks for her fine development in the mental aspect of the game.
But this is about the telecast.
Not only did Mr Harris demonstrate bias towards Ontario's team, he talked much too much, and he overanalysed the game. It was more than annoying. It was as if he was afraid to let the curlers show their abilities to analyse the game. It is THEIR game. What HE would do or WOULD HAVE DONE is immaterial. He is no greater expert than either of the teams on the ice yesterday.
So, today, can we have some "dead air"? The mics on the athletes have given the game to the TV viewers. Let us listen to the athletes, let US think about what they are doing, and let US decide how good the outcome is.

What an Embarassment!

The dreaded LVEC in Kingston appears to be still a work in progress.
Why anyone thought the facility should be open, or even could be ready, for February 22, 2008 is well beyond most people's understanding.
The Fire Department hasn't cleared the building as of 1.15pm today, and the city will make an announcement later this afternoon. What a farce.
This morning, I asked a clerk if she was going to the Frontenac's game on Friday evening. She laughed. Then, she asked me if I thought the building would be ready. She said that she would laugh when they had to have the OHL game in the Memorial Centre. "I wonder if IT will be ready to use?" she asked, laughing.
The process of site selection, management, fund-raising will be a good "case study" for some MBA program. What not to do to get "buy-in" from the community, how not to get community input, tricks to not reaching the fund-raising target, how a council and mayor can sabotage the project, why "design/build" is the wrong way to build your 'showcase' facility....there are so many lessons to be learned here.
Let's hope that other cities study this sad situation, and learn from it.
The next municipal election can't come soon enough for a lot of citizens.

LVEC Opening

The mostly secret opening of the LVEC in downtown Kingston will be on February 22, 2008 from 11.30-1pm in the ice surface area of the building. Enter by the Barrack Street entrance, and be seated in the lower seating area by 11.45am.
Don't forget your camera!

Harassment

Harassment is a serious offence.
Being charged with harassment is a blight on one's reputation that sticks, whether or not a conviction results.
You know who you are, and I know who you are.

Random Thoughts on a Winter Day

* Marion Jones' story is a sad one indeed. Sad for her, for her parent, for her child, spouse, and for USA track and field. Many athletes should be worried however, that when they get found out, they may end up in the klink too. And that is as it should be.
* NFL games are winding down. Yesterday's obsession with Tyrell Owens by FOX was nausiating. You'd think that he was the only one on the field. Since NY decided to double team him, one would think that the cameras should go to the players that had the potential do DO something! Thank goodness that he won't be on the field at the Super Bowl.
* And when will The Globe and Mail stop all this reporting on the Toronto Maple Leafs? The paper is obsessed with them, and few of the rest of us are! Enough! And, the CBC, even the Ontario-wide morning program gave half an hour to the Leafs. Booooring.
* If you missed The Victor Davis Story on CBC last night, you missed a good feature on one of Canada's best athletes. His death in 1989 was awful; there was so much more he could have done. And the media's focus on the chair incident at the Commonwealth Games was just plain unfair.
I had wondered if the identities of the organ recipients had been known, so I was pleased to see that the heart recipient had lived 16 years more after he received Victor's heart. What a fine tribute to Victor. His liver was also donated.
This underlines the importance of signing your donor card, and making yuor wishes known to your family. Organ donation, at any age, is a generous gift to others who need transplants. Tell your family that you wish your organs to be donated. Your permission is necessary.
* Progress is being made on the dreaded LVEC in downtown Kingston. It is expected that the name of the facility will be known after council approves the deal on January 22, 2008. Guessing is rampant! Top of the list is Empire Life, whose head office is in Kingston, and that has a reputation for support of local initiatives. One can hardly imagine that a national business would attach its name to a facility that has engendered such wrath and which has so little support. But Empire Life might have the potential to bring respectability to the rink. It would be a great move for Empire Life.

MARION JONES: THE JUDGE SENDS A MESSAGE

from CBC.ca, Friday January 11, 2008 at 12.31pm

Former Olympian Marion Jones gets 6-month jail sentence

Marion Jones was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a cheque-fraud scam, despite her plea that she not be separated from her two young children "even for a short period of time."
"I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be," said Jones, who cried on her husband's shoulder after she was sentenced in White Plains, N.Y.
Marion Jones has returned three gold and two bronze medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.(Darron Cummings/Associated Press)
The disgraced former Olympic champion was ordered to surrender March 11 to begin her term.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas said he gave her the maximum under her plea deal to send a message to athletes who have abused drugs and overlooked the values of "hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship."
"Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models," Karas said.
The 31-year-old Jones also was given two years' probation and supervised release, during which she will be required to perform 800 hours of community service.
The judge said this would take advantage of Jones' "eloquence, strength and her ability to work with kids."
It was her children that worried Jones most as she beseeched the judge for a lighter sentence, talking at length about her two boys, including the infant son she's still nursing.
"My passion in life has always been my family," Jones said. "I know the day is quickly approaching when my boys ask me about these current events. I intend to be honest and forthright … and guide them into not making the same mistakes."
Jones' coach to be sentenced in cheque fraud scheme
The sentence completes a stunning fall for the woman who was once the most celebrated female athlete in the world. She won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
After long denying she ever had used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted last October she lied to federal investigators in November 2003, acknowledging she took the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. "The clear" has been linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.
She also admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of Tim Montgomery, the father of her older son Monty, in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged cheques.
Montgomery and several others have been convicted in that scam. They include Jones' former coach, Olympic champion Steve Riddick, who was to be sentenced later Friday.

Tearful confession
After her guilty pleas last October, Jones made an apologetic and teary-eyed statement outside court, saying, "It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust.
"I have been dishonest, and you have the right to be angry with me," she added. "I have let (my family) down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down. … I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Jones returned her Olympic medals — golds in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 1,600-metre relay and bronzes in the long jump and 400-metre relay — even before the International Olympic Committee ordered her to do so and wiped her results from the books.
Jones was among the many athletes who testified in 2003 before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
On the day she pleaded guilty, prosecutors said a 2003 search warrant at BALCO uncovered ledgers, purchases, doping calendars, and various blood-test results connected to Jones and former coach Trevor Graham.
She took EPO, human growth hormone and THG using drops and injections, according to the court documents that show use in 2000 and 2001.

"Finally, Canada's Top Athletes Will Be Rewarded for Their Efforts"

Posted December 14, 2007 in the Kingston Whig Standard

The headline announced "Money for Medals." It finally happened. Terrific!
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has at long last stepped into the real world of athletic achievement, joining many of the world's top sporting nations. France, the United States, Italy, Australia, Spain, Russia and China, to name just a few, reward Olympic medallists with money, apartments, family security and status. These are some of the countries whose athletes Canadian athletes compete against at the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. They are among our toughest competition.
Starting with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Canadian gold medallists will receive $20,000, silver medallists will receive $15,000 and bronze medallists will receive $10,000. An important aspect of the Olympic Committee's Athletic Excellence Fund is that in each of the three years leading up to the Olympic Games or Olympic Winter Games, athletes who place in the top four or five in the world will receive $5,000.
Olympic medallists are the best athletes from the 205 nations that participate in the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. To get to this level, an athlete often trains for 15 years. Olympians start in their community, taking lessons for a few hours a week, and progress to virtually full-time training and competition on the international stage.
Aspiring Olympians are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. They are extraordinarily focused, first on being the best Canadian, and then on being the best in the whole world. To become an Olympic medallist, an athlete perseveres and suffers both euphoric success and unacceptable failure.
Providing a financial incentive for Canadian medallists sends a clear, powerful message, not only to Canadians but also to the world. The pursuit of excellence that results in Olympic medals is a worthy endeavour. Canadian medallists are remarkable examples for each of us. Canadians are formidable opponents. Canada honours its athletes.
The COC is best positioned to offer these financial rewards. Money in its Athlete Excellence Fund comes from sponsorships, licensing and investments, not from taxpayers. Through the Athlete Excellence Fund, all medallists are treated the same; if you win a medal, you will be rewarded. This principle is important, particularly for athletes in less-known or less- popular sports. Biathlon or luge medallists will receive the same reward as a 100-metre sprinter.
As cornerstones of the Olympic Games, swimming and track-and-field organizations attract sponsors, as do some of their athletes. The public profile of water polo or synchro or fencing or judo or nordic combined just isn't the same. And the road to a medal for athletes in these events is just as long, just as hard and just as expensive as it is for the 100-metre sprinter, curler or speed skater. Now, when athletes in these sports win a medal, they will receive the same amount of money as every other medallist.
The Olympic Committee's Athlete Excellence Fund acknowledges the tremendous human and financial cost of elite training and competition. Costs often include specialist coaches, choreographers, nutritionists, sport psychologists, equipment technicians, customized equipment (such as bikes), physiotherapists, national team fees, everyday living expenses and local transportation to and from the training venue. These latter expenses are necessary because in places like Kingston, facilities are often not available and our athletes have to leave the city to train.
Canadian support can be direct or indirect. Federal and provincial governments provide grants to national and provincial sport organizations, as well as direct athlete assistance. Some corporations sponsor athletes or sport organizations. Athletes and their families still need more aid, as evidenced by the existence of the Canadian Athletes Now Fund (CAN Fund) started by Jane Roos in 1997 to help with everyday expenses. More than 500 athletes have received cash from the CAN Fund, including more than 60 this year alone.
In the immediate future, however, three changes are needed. First, paralympians need to get the same reward for medals. Athletes with disabilities are not included in the Athlete Excellence Fund program because the Canadian Paralympic Committee is a different organization from the COC and currently doesn't have the money.
Second, the rewards should be larger. And third, Canada needs to provide facilities and programming for aspiring Olympians to train in their own communities. I want these young people to be seen training by every child and adult in their community, and that includes Kingston.
-30-
- Diana Davis Duerkop has been involved in amateur sport for more than 40 years. She is currently on the boards of the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame and Sport Kingston, and is a past vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Copyright © 2007 The Whig Standard

Wycliffe and the "Short Course'

You wondered about the piece about Elizabeth Wycliffe?
Well....times on short courses (25m) are different from times on long courses (50m). Times will be faster on a short course due to the turn at 25m...i.e. a swimmer "makes up" time on a turn because she can push off the wall.
We'll be cheering for Elizabeth at the Olympic Trials, which must be held on a long course, i.e. on the same length course/pool that the Olympic Games are held on.
It would be great to have a Kingstonian on the swim team at Beijing, so cheer her on!

Swimmer breaks records

From the Kingston Whig-Standard

Kingston swimmer Elizabeth Wycliffe had two record-breaking performances at the Bell Grand Prix swim meet that concluded yesterday in Toronto.
Wycliffe, a member of the Ernestown Barracudas, set the Canadian short-course record in the 200-metre backstroke at 2 minutes 7.5 seconds in Friday's preliminaries.
She later won the final in 2:13.50.
The weekend's competition had short course (25-metre) races for morning preliminaries and long course (50-metre) races for finals.
Yesterday, Wycliffe eclipsed the short-course meet record in the 100-metre backstroke, finishing in 59.85 seconds.
That time was just 52 one-hundredths of a second off Marylyn Chiang's national record that has stood since 2000.
In last night's final, Wycliffe clocked 1:02.62 to win the gold medal, 64 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Kelly Stefanyshyn of B.C.
Saturday Wycliffe added a bronze medal in the 200-metre individual medley.
Erica Morningstar of Calgary won gold in 2:15.70.
Wycliffe was third in 2:19.21.

An aquatics road trip; Kingston could do worse than to emulate these communities

We were a gang of 11 on a recent Saturday morning, setting out in the pre-dawn darkness on a mini-bus bound for Montreal. Among us were three city recreation officials, a city councillor, a consultant and representatives of local swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and aquafit interests. Longtime aquatics enthusiasts Alex Palilionis and I, acting on behalf of the Kingston Association for Aquatics, Recreation and Sport (KAARS), were tour organizers and guides.

Our mission, in the wake of city council's decision to proceed with feasibility plans for a new aquatics complex with a 50-metre pool, was to educate ourselves by visiting three such facilities in the Montreal area: in Pointe-Claire, LaSalle and Terrebonne. What an inspiring trip!

The first thing our genial host at Pointe-Claire, senior culture and recreation manager Gary Malcolm, did upon greeting us was to gesture to the "wall of fame." On it were mounted 25 bronze plaques with the names of the 25 athletes from the city's program who have represented Canada at the Olympic Games. Pointe-Claire has a population of 28,000.

The Pointe-Claire complex, composed of the original 50-metre pool built in the 1960s, a warmer 25-yard pool and a small wade-in pool for toddlers, was teeming with kids of all ages. That's to be expected on the weekend, one would suppose. But Malcolm told us the place is equally busy during the week with "the Arthritics," day-care kids (1,000 a week), those participating in "adaptive aquatics" for the mentally and physically disabled, gym and swim classes, adult swimming lessons, "aqua natal" courses for expectant mothers, the 3F club (fun and fitness after 50), weight training, competitive swim and diving club practices after school, "aqua percept" (non-competitive gym and swim), recreational swims, adult diving classes and much more.

Even though Pointe-Claire is surrounded by nearby communities with more modern and arguably better physical facilities, it is Pointe-Claire that is the champion by far in attracting users from within and outside its boundaries.

To what does this modestly sized town owe its outsized aquatic success? According to Malcolm, the secret is that from the very beginning, the community got behind aquatics. Originally, seven neighbourhoods raised the capital to build seven neighbourhood outdoor pools. They formed advisory groups for each pool and placed great emphasis on participation and programming.
Those outdoor pools are still running today and act as a feeder system to the indoor facilities, supplying users as well as kids who graduate to becoming lifeguards and instructors. The indoor aquatics centre also has a volunteer, non-supervisory board that has perpetuated the founding values of participation and outstanding programming.

Because of the success of its programs and resultant capacity constraints, Pointe-Claire is now embarking on plans for its second 50-metre pool. When the proposal was registered for public comment, not one objection was recorded. The city council voted unanimously in favour.

The next stop was another suburban centre, the LaSalle Aquadome. Here we were graciously greeted and given a tour by aquatics manager Raymond Kubiak. I had swum at this facility during my Montreal days and was eager to show off the leisure pool and its horticultural adornments to my companions. Our host, of course, saved that for last as we toured team meeting rooms, equipment lockers, changing rooms and even the bowels of the complex, "below decks."

Eventually, we surfaced to gaze upon a beautifully tiled 50-metre basin, one not as intensely populated as its Pointe-Claire counterpart but impressive in every other way. And then came the piŠce de resistance, just as I had remembered it: a warm-water "leisure pool," effectively an indoor aqua park, with fountains, hydrojets, a corkscrew waterslide, a gentle slope for wading in and out, big windows, deck chairs, a patio and real palm trees.

If you know anything about human nature, you will not be surprised to learn that the place was packed with happy kids, teens and parents. We even ran into a grandmother who had journeyed from Kingston to the aquadome to be at her grandchild's birthday party.

LaSalle has a population of 74,000 and, unlike Pointe-Claire, it contracts out the management of its facility, including the programming, to a private company. The community is not organically involved and, as a result, the aquadome's 50-metre pool is not the beacon of programming innovation and user demand that is the case in Pointe-Claire. LaSalle's great strength and lesson for Kingston is the heavily used leisure pool, as symbolized by the palm trees.

A parenthetical note: Pointe-Claire is exploring the possibility of incorporating aqua park-like features into its original 50-metre pool once the new one is built.

The third stop of a long day was the less-well-known suburb of Terrebonne, a half-hour north of Montreal. It has a population of but 84,000, and words cannot do justice to the scale of this community's recreational ambitions for its citizens. This past September, it opened an aquatics complex with a 50-metre pool 10 lanes wide (25 metres across) and a leisure pool with all the features of the LaSalle Aquadome's, including palm trees (plastic this time, but let's not quibble) and a pirate ship.

The scale of the entire complex, integrated with hockey rinks - the heat produced in cooling the ice is recycled to warm the pools - and a vast Olympic-style gymnasium replete with all the requisite equipment, was well beyond anything any of us had seen. Jaws increasingly fell agape, especially when we learned that indoor and outdoor soccer pitches and a football gridiron are still to come.

Our smiling host, recreation manager Sylvie Lussier, pointed out that while the care and maintenance of the physical plant have been contracted out to private concerns, it is very much the community and the city that are responsible for programming. Judging from the hundreds of cars we saw in the parking lot, and the happy faces everywhere throughout the complex, we'd say it is a formula that is going to work.

On the bus ride back home, we exchanged thoughts on what we had learned from our excursion. There was a clear consensus: if three communities smaller than Kingston can find the community spirit and the funding to invest handsomely in aquatics facilities (and palm trees), and then build successful programming around them, then so can Kingston.

Because aquatics is so universal in appeal and scope, we must not sell ourselves short when we draw up plans for our new pool complex in Kingston. Let's do it right, with a creative mix of leisure, therapeutic and competitive elements that will appeal to all sectors of the community.

As with Pointe-Claire, LaSalle and Terrebonne, it's an investment that will pay priceless dividends down the road.

- Christopher West has been swimming since he was in his mother's womb. He is a member of the Kingston Association for Aquatics Recreation and Sport (KAARS) and a former member of the Whig-Standard's Community Editorial Board. Swimming Canada, Swim Ontario, KAARS and members of the public generously contributed funding for the Montreal trip. If you would like more information on this story as it evolves, or more background, go to: www.ktownaquatic centre.ca.

Pointe-Claire pool facts
Population: 28,000.
Number of indoor municipal pools: 3 (including one of 50-metres).
Number of outdoor municipal pools: 7.
Number of Olympic athletes produced: 25.
Cost of 2nd 50-metre pool: $12 million.
New pool provincial funding share: 50 per cent.
Number of user visits annually: 475,000.
Daily average number of users: 1,300.
User fees: Low by comparison with other facilities.
Pool rental fees for clubs: Nil.
Operating deficit: $1 million.
Justification: "Our aquatics programs are why people want to live here. We want to maximize sport and wellness opportunities in the Pointe-Claire community."
Could the deficit be reduced or eliminated by increasing fees? Yes.

[Reproduced with permission of the author]

A CITY CONSULTS ITS CITIZENS

Committee ponders future of 50-metre Harry Bailey pool
Facility fails to meet international requirements

by Jill Smith
The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A city committee will decide this week what to do with the 50-metre pool at the Harry Bailey Aquatic Centre.

The public was asked what to do with the pool, in light of the Shaw Centre's 50-metre pool opening in the spring. The pool at the Shaw Centre will meet the international requirements to host competitions -- something the Harry Bailey pool has been unable to do since 2000 when new facility revisions were made.

"When people got the sense that this pool may close early on, a lot of people stepped forward," said Coun. Bob Pringle, who sits on the committee.

A report headed to the committee states there is "overwhelming support" for keeping the Harry Bailey pool open. In fact, no one who showed up at a public meeting held in March was willing to discuss the idea of converting the pool for land use.

"I totally agree with the public on this one," said Coun. Pat Lorje in an interview. "This is not the time to be closing down public leisure facilities in established areas of the city."

There are three options for the Harry Bailey pool, according to the report.
One option is to close the 50-metre pool and revamp the space to accommodate other land recreational and educational uses. But since no one wished to discuss this, administration found it difficult to decide on specific potential programs.
Another idea is to keep the 50-metre pool open and issue a challenge to the public to increase usage. Swim groups are toying with the idea of developing additional aquatic programs for inner-city kids, and pool administrators are planning creative draws like a pool party and battle of the bands, which they expect will attract about 950 people later this month.
The third option is also to keep the pool open, but to get rid of the bleachers surrounding the pool to make way for other recreational programs.
Many respondents to a phone survey conducted in March liked this idea.
Pringle says that option makes sense to him.
"It makes it more versatile," he said.

Whether it's feasible to keep both pools open remains to be seen -- which is why some people at the meetings suggested doing nothing for a couple of years after the Shaw Centre opens to see what happens to Harry Bailey usership.

Coun. Charlie Clark says the real question for him is, "Is it feasible to shut it down?"

"It's very expensive to replace something like that," he said. "Once it's gone, it's gone."
Several councillors say they expect the population to continue to rise in Saskatoon and they believe there will be a need to have both pools.

They added the Shaw Centre isn't as accessible to many people living in the core area.

"We need to plan for the day, but we also need to plan for the future," said Coun. Darren Hill, whose ward encompasses the Harry Bailey.

He says swim groups already predict scheduling issues if only the new pool is open.

The report states that in May 2006, council intended to close down the Harry Bailey pool "immediately upon opening" the Shaw Centre pool. The idea was to use the reduced operating costs from Harry Bailey to off-set the operating costs of the Shaw pool.
Although Pringle sees the benefit of having both pools, he's concerned about the cost -- especially since the building costs of the Shaw Centre have gone up since it was first approved.

"At what point do we put some of these public projects on hold and say we can't afford it?" asked Pringle, who added that project building costs and operating costs do draw from different areas of the city coffers.

Pringle says the cost of building the Shaw Centre pool has risen from the original estimate of $23 million to $39 million.

"We've been assured that that's the end of it," he said. "I don't believe that."

Pringle says the Shaw Centre pool will be a huge attraction for the city, adding that there's only a handful of pools like it in the world.

"I like that too -- if you can afford it," he said.

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007

Bullying Won't Stop It

This evening at city council, councillors will once again discuss Queen's Homecoming, and the "party" on Aberdeen Street.

Let's hope that there are no comments like those made at earlier meetings, putting down Queen's students, accusing them collectively of being drunken party-goers, and "laying down the law" to the university.

One is reminded of parenting techniques. When a parent says "this is what you are going to do because I said so" the child immediately gets angry. It only takes a couple of times to say this, and smart parents figure out that this technique doesn't work; in fact, it often backfires.

Homecoming weekend is just a convenient rallying date for students who want to have this event. If alumni weekend were changed to a different, winter date, the Aberdeen event would still take place. It has taken on a life of its own, and will continue, irrespective of a different date for alumni weekend.

So, how should council and Kingstonians deal with it? There is no one, sure way; many small steps, changes in attitude, and less rhetoric will go a long way.

I don't like this party. But it is important to remember, councillors and citizens, that you weren't brought up in this generation. You (and I) don't see things the way a 20 year old does. We probably don't have the same attitudes that this lot of party-goers have.

Let's all, individually, show some leadership here. Councillors and the mayor can demonstrate leadership by doing a bit of reading and thinking about what LEADERSHIP is.

It's time for council and the mayor to offer vision, undertanding, a will to collaborate, a desire to build...in short, leadership. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. Look for other ways to deal with this situation.

Many Kingstonians will be tuned in to Cogeco Cable 13 tonight to watch and evaluate.

There Is A Reason.....

....that newspapers don't publish anonymous letters or alias "letters to the editor."

Anonymous letters and those signed with some supposedly "cool" handle, are written by crackpots, wing-nuts, and cowards who are unwilling to stand by their opinions.

Rants are meaningless.

Those letters go into the garbage because that's what they are.

Didn't Waste Any Time!

Considering that the intersection alternatives were presented to the public less than 48 hours ago, they sure must have had some blueprints in their backpocket! The intersection has mostly been torn up, gravel has been put down on the location that they will place a lane for traffic, and they have staked a second survey marker that they didn't know was there. It will definitely slow down their progress!
With another survey marker discovered, it is likely that a class 4 archeological assessment will have to take place.
And, of course, survey markers cannot be removed.
All this, and it is only 3pm, a day and a half after the public meeting for input.
Sort of confirms an earlier remark that the city just has these things to mollify the locals, and not to ask for any serious or well-considered, or thoughtful, or expert advice.

Curious Thinking

More on the October 30, 2007 meeting at City Hall regarding the intersection at Ontario Street and Place d'Armes.......
The most curious, and unbelieveable aspect of all this deliberation, re-deliberation, justification of a previous plan, is that when TSH was invited to "study" the intersection (apparently in the summer), they were not given the go-ahead to consider implications on the surrounding area, of ANY change at the intersection.
When questioned about the consequences of either plan "C" or plan "D" the consultant said that they were asked to limit their study to the intersection, and (this is the kicker) not to look at any other intersections because that would open it all up, and the study would be (and this is my word) gigantic.
Well, well! Imagine that!
It is beyone comprehension that a traffic expert could study only one intersection, then provide any kind of credible recommendation.
The configuration of this intersection has tremendous implications. Should there be a traffic light at King and Place d'Armes? How are employees in the OHIP building going to cross the street into Food Basics parking lot? (well, we know the answer to that. They are going to dash among the cars!) What is the REAL reason for putting a westbound left turn at Ontario and Place d'Armes?
If the intersection was going to be re-designed to "fit" the Downtown Action Plan (2003), why didn't the traffic people, various commissioners, senior staff, etc. tell the mayor and the former council that putting this monstrosity on THAT piece of land, with that orientation, was a stupid idea? The probable answer to THAT question, is: they did tell the elected officials, and the elected fficials went ahead anyway. "We know best." "We won't get the money from the BIA if we put it anywhere else."
Kingstonians should go to that intersection, and evaluate for themselves whether or not plan "D" was even possible. The city has spent much of this past summer on underground services in that area. There is no room to construct the 4 lanes that TSH proposed. Just take a look at the large utility/services box, the light pole, the property lines (DND property). Even a child could see that plan "D" was only on paper, and had no possibility of fitting into the proscribed area.
Of course, that left only plan "C", the one the city had in 2003 in the DAP.
Still, what will happen to traffic in that area of the city is yet to be determined. The consultant wouldn't even hazard a guess (isn't that what consultants are supposed to do?).
Once again, the city has dropped the ball. Not instructing TSH to study all that part of the downtown, consider the traffic problems, and propose realistic solutions is pure negligence on the city's part.
The most ridiculous decision that the city has made, probably ever, has been made; a consultant should have been given carte blanche to study traffic, and make recommendations. And the consultant should have come from out-of-town, and not have been one that has authored other studies for the city.
P.S. We would be glad to post the two plans that received most consideration, but they are not available on the city's website.

The Best Question of the Evening

It came about half way through the almost three hour meeting.

"After hearing comments and concerns from people at this meeting, and after the report of TSH, is anything going to change? Are you going to do what you planned to do anyway?"

Six possibilities were presented. One of those was to do nothing. Two, alternatives C and D, certainly were the preferences of the consultant, Totten Sims Hubicki., and alternative C was their recommendation.

Alternative C is essentially the way the intersection was described in the 2003 Downtown Action Plan.

Now, we wonder: did the city just hire TSH to confirm its choice? It definitely appears that way. Give the several constraints (the city called them "principles") that the city provided to TSH, it's not hard to see how they came up with (surprise!!!) the same plan that the city had all along!!!

At a meeting at the public library several years ago, a senior staff member told me that since the DAP had been passed by council, city staff were free to execute the plan, and council would not be asked to review any of its details or comment upon any of its contents. Essentially a blank cheque. This intersection was the subject of my inquiry, and the staff person indicated that what was in the plan was what the city would get. So there. Tough.

The response to the question? A senior staff person last night said that comments would be taken into consideration. Well, everyone knows what THAT means. We've seen it for years. "Thanks for coming, but we know best, we've made up our minds, and we're going to do what WE think is best."

This attitude is passe. Look at Canadian businesses, at Canadian cities that are progressing, growing, serving their citizens. Look at the not-for-profit sector. This attitude is the downfall of any entity that continues to hold it. Let the mayor, council and city staff be on watch: Kingstonians are not going to stand for this "my way or the highway" attitude. This is our city. It's time to consult us, with honour and integrity, and with the intention of actually listening to us. There are more "experts" in this community than there are on staff at city hall, there are others preparing to take a run for the mayor's chair, there are citizens gearing up to run for council. All are watching.

The message? Consult before you make up your mind.

Fixing A Mistake

Pretty well everyone knows by the time they become an adult, that if they don't consider all the implictions/consequences of a big decision, they'll have to live with whatever happens for the rest of their life. And, living with a wrong decision for 80 years is difficult.

Take the LVEC in downtown Kingston.

Having made a wrong decision to put it on its present location, city council is now faced with trying to make it work. And, in terms of traffic, there is no "good" solution. Actually, there's no even "acceptable" solution to the chaos that has now been created at the eastern entrance to this city.

Throughout the time leading up to initial decision-making about the LVEC's location, council and the mayor were told endlessly that downtown traffic and parking were issues that could not be resolved in a satisfactlry manner if the LVEC was put downtown.

Never mind, the mayor was determined to have it downtown, for reasons that have never been explained publicly. One day, however, Kingstonians will find out.

Consultants named IBI were hired to "study" traffic and parking, and not surprisingly, said that these two issues would not be issues. Considering the flaws in the premises on which they based their study, this is not surprizing.

When the citizens complained long and loud about traffic on the east end of the city, and the difficulty getting into and around downtown, a second consultant, Totten Sims Hubicki (TSH) was hired to determine how to make a silk purse out of this sow's ear. Tonight, they will tell us how this can be done. It will be an interesting, hot, firey meeting at Memorial Hall.

That morale is low and stress high among city employees who are tasked with carrying out a wrong decision, should be no surprise to anyone. The flack that traffic staff, accessibility staff, and project management have received is gigantic. To say nothing about discussions wiith representatives of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame. One has to wonder if the Frontenacs had totally positive discussions about THEIR new rink, and if they autoomatically got everything THEY wanted. Somehow, most people think so.

But, back to traffic. Vehicles speed off the LaSalle Causeway this morning, apparently the trees on the little "island" have been cut down, residents who live in the complex north of the LVEC are disgusted with the traffic, and citizens who are experts in traffic, parking and recreational facilities are betrayed.

One wonders if the mayor will attend this evening's meeting. Stay tuned.

50m Pool Expedition, November 3rd

We are looking forward to a day-trip to Montreal to visit three aquatic facilities that include a 50m pool as well as other popular features. We look forward to having council members, city staff, and volunteers who are in-the-know about aquatic facilities go on the tour. And, our thanks to Alex Pallionis for planning the trip, and teeing-up senior staff at the facilities as well as senior staff from Swim Ontario and Swim Canada. Both these organizations are fully behind endeavours to bring a new, modern aquatic facility to Kingston.

Point Claire , LaSalle and Terrebonne aquatic complexes will be on our tour. All of them are popular with citizens, and all contain flexible 50m configurations.

To think that Kingston might expand its recreational/sporting facilities to include an aquatic complex, is exciting!

Contravention of the Noise by-Law in Kingston

It is just after 8.40am. Construction on the LVEC has been going on for over an hour.

EllisDon does NOT have an exemption from the city to start work on the building, at this hour, or at any hour on the weekend. [Yes, the Project Manager said on TV that they would be working SATURDAY. When did Council pass an exemption from the noise by-law? No, a Project Manager can't just say "they are going to do it" without Council's approval.]

This is unacceptable. How much are people in the downtown supposed to put up with during the construction of this thing?

Twice this fall I have called the By-Law Enforcement Office at City Hall, and made a formal complaint about work on Sundays (actually, one of the Sundays was the Sunday of Labour Day weekend!!). Twice, I have been given the "we'll check it out" bit, or "we'll ask Ellis Don to inform their subcontractors" bit. I have received at least one email from Project Director Lanie Hurdle; she didn't really say anything in it. [I could put it here, just to prove the point!]

People have been rather nice about this, so far. [It reminds me of the Homecoming Party approach. Some on council say that enough is enough, and it's time to take drastic steps. Two others say that the chatting must go on.] Well, in my view, we have done all the "nice" talk that we can about the city's lack of enforcement of the noise by-law with respect to buildng the LVEC.

It is time for the city to get its by-law enforcement officers out on Sunday mornings, and charge EllisDon for contravening the noise by-law. And levy a fine that will make them notice.

I intend to email my Councillor, Rob Hutcheson, copy the other councilors and Project Manager Lanie Hurdle. She doesn't seem to have any influence over EllisDon.

Citizens in downtown Kingstoon deserve to be able to sleep past 7.30am on a Sunday.

The Kingston Prize 2007

There were over 200 submissions to The Kingston Prize 2007. Of those, just over 30 went to the 3 person jury. At the Opening Gala on October 5th, the jury met, saw the fabulous pieces, and celebrated the winner.
Artist Joshua Choi of Etobicoke Ontario won The Kingston Prize for "Emily," and the generous, supportive commitment of the W. Garfield Weston Foundation.
Honorable mentions were given to Miklos Legrady's "OCAD Student 2225233" and Jennifer Walton's "Self Portrait."
The Kingston Prize, Canada's National Portrait Competition, raises so many questions, chief among them is why the federal government stopped renovation of the Ottawa building that was to house a national portrait gallery. Clearly this federal government has no commitment to Canada's portrait heritage.
In fact, this federal government has as little commitment to Canada's artists, writers, and sport heritage as it is possible to imagine. Few members of these communities speak aloud of this government's commitment to "culture" for fear of being on the receiving end of the PM's wrath. The fact is, however, that Steven Harper is doing all he can to have less and less government involvement in what Canadians believe to be part of the country's "personality."

The Kingston Prize 2007

There's just one week left to see the 30 finalists in THE KINGSTON PRIZE, Canada's National Portrait Competition.
Staged at The Firehall Theatre in Ganaonoque, Ontario, The Kingston Prize 2007 is the creation of Julian and Kaaren Brown. With support of the Kingston Arts Council, the Browns and their many supporters, have brought the second exhibition and competition to life.
As testimony to their idea, work, commitment and belief in the need for and importance of Canadian artists producing portraits, the W. Garfield Weston Foundation has offered a first prize of $10,000.
Hours at 12 noon to 8pm daily. Visitors can make their favourite portrait known by entering the artist's name in the People's Choice Award, being presenteed Saturday Octoober 27th about 7pm at the gallery.
This exhibition is not to be missed!
More to come.....

Paying for Homecoming Party

The mayor of Kingston is interviewed this morning on CBC Radio. He says that negotiating with the university is still the best idea, and that eight councillors were just elected last year, and have no experience in this.
They all just came out from under a turnip leaf? Hardly.
Little of substance in his comments; same points repeated. We've heard it all before.
This council doesn't seem to be in a collaborative mood? Now THAT is a laugh. Does he mean that the previous council was more collaborative? What about the LVEC's location and process? There was NO collaboration between the city and the citizens on that. And there still isn't.

How Right He Is

Stephane Dion sure is right about this. Canadians don't want an election. He says he is commited to making Parliament work.
Well, he may be, but Steve Haprer sure isn't. He is doing everything he can to precipitate an election, and if he causes it, Canadians will show him the door. His tricks and schemes are transparent.
This PM is taking my country down a road that I and many others don't want it to go. Harper is insensitive to people who are unemployed, who are ill, who are aged, municipalities...the list goes on.
Arrogant, self-important, holier-than-thou, "I know what's best for you," all words and phrases that suit Mr Harper.
One day soon, he will get his come-uppance.

Queen's Should Pay

At last night's City Council meeting, councillors agreed that the university should pay the real cost of servicing the Homecoming Party on Aberdeen Streeet last Saturday night. This is to include police, paramedics, KGH costs. Most councillors (only the Mayor and Councillor Ed Smith voted against the resolution) felt that the time for talk is over, and Queen's must take strong steps to stop this.
With headline stories in The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail about this party, Queen's gets negative national attention.
Taxpayers do not want to pay the estimated $500,000 that this party will cost. It's time for the university to discipline its students, and to pay the costs fr the gathering.
And the police to lay more charges.

Second Speech from the Throne

This evening, the Governor General will deliver a speech crafted by the Prime Minister's office.

The PM should be aware that Canadians do not want a federal election. Ontario's citizens have had it up to their mascara with elections: two federal, one municipal, and one provincial, all since January 2006. Enough!

Not only are voters ready to enjoy an election-free period, but election workers are not in any mood to undertake that work again this fall. The PM doesn't know one chestnut about how elections are run, from the perspective of those on the ground. Not only are they costly (which he should know) but they are also wearing for workers. The PM would pay dearly in Ontario, if not other provinces, if he provokes an election. As one person said on TV last night, voters are not so naive that they will not recognize the PM's treachery; they will tell him at the polls.

That's just the practical aspect of elections.

More Aberdeen Street

Reports certainly are mixed on the Aberdeen Street party on Saturday evening/Sunday morning. Reviews oveerall seeem to be positive, if that word can be used!
Much more could be done by The Beer Store and the LCBO, however. If they sold only cans of beer in the 2-3 weeks leading up to Homecoming, things might be different. There isn't any good reason for selling bottles, and $$$ isn't a good reason.
Former VP George Hood was interviewed on the CBC just after 12 noon; he did simmer down by the end of the half hour, but he began in a rather defensive mode.
The university (and perhaps the police service) might talk to some people who aren't employed by the university, aren't students, don't live in the area, and find out what THEY think of all this. They might be surprised at what they hear. The circle of citizens consulted is too small.

The Cowardly Way

This blog is not a vehicle for anonymous bloggers to vent their opinions. Those who refuse to hide behind the shield of anonymity are welcome to comment.
If you comment anonymously, don't expect (ever, anywhere) to be taken seriously. There is a reason that newspapers refuse to publish anonymous letters. People who refuse to put their name to their opinions, should not expect anyone to listen.

Alumni Weekend, and Aberdeen Street

This is the morning after.
If reports of last night's gathering on Aberdeen Street are all like The Whig's this morning, we have legitimate reason to say that the newspaper is not contributing to a solution, but rather adding to the problem.
It's not helpful to use inflammatory language in reporting this situation. Many in the community believe that the local daily, The Whig, is not helping. Of course, a newspaper is supposed to "report the news." Just "how" it does that is the question. The headline says "the party" is just beginning, and later people "stumble" onto Aberdeen Street. Neither of these is necessary in reporting the situation.
Once again, we see the importance of more than one newspaper in a community. We saw skewed reporting all the way through the process (such as it was) related to the dreaded LVEC, and we continue to see skewed reporting on Queen's Homecoming. The Whig's monopoly is damaging to the community, and many citizens' efforts to build a positive, forward-thinking city that will attract people, business, and build tourism.
It would be great if citizens wrote to The Whig to express this commonly-held view, but we will never know if they have done this, as the newspaper decides what letters it will print, and whose views it will contain. It's no wonder that the university feels hard done-by in the paper; it is.
A sad situation.

Why Not This Way?

When looking at the (dreaded) LVEC, its placement, the troubles that have been demonstrated, one has to wonder why, if the mayor and council were determined to put it downtown, why they didn't place it on King Street, along side Food Basics, and aligned north/south. In other words, why didn't they consider placing it at running parallel to King and Ontario Streets?
Had they eliminated Barrack Street, and put it with one end near Place d'Armes, and the other end near Queen Street, they would have had far fewer prooblems, would have been able to include the amenities that would have made it attractive to a wide variety of activities, and would have ended up with something that had multiple functions.
And, the greatest error on this project because of its location and placement on one downtown block, is the blatent disregard for persons with disabilities, those with mobility issues, and those who desire to drop off their passengers. It is baffling that the province would allow a facility to be built with its money without all citizens being accommodated.
With a larger facility, they would have had meeting rooms, a large restaurent (they eliminated the 300 seat restaurent when they figured out that they needed more space for other things), more and larger athletic facilities, plenty of room for the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame that is being squished into the facility.
Let it be said that this idea WAS suggested, but, like most of the other suggestions, was given short-shrift.
And, while we're on the short-comings of the facility, there is wide-spread opinion that the design-build method for this facility was a big mistake. Already, the city is reaping the deficiencies of this method of construction. To keep it within the financial limitations given by council, a lot of short-cuts are being taken, and items either left out or of lesser quality.
There are a lot of people who are aching to get into the site to see what REALLY is going on.!

Kingston's LVEC: there is no "good" solution

The city has "postponed" a meeting scheduled for this evening; it was to be about the intersection of Ontario Street and Place d'Armes.
Citizens and tourists entering Kingston from the east, via the LaSalle Causeway, know what a mess the eastern entrance to the city has become.
Having decided, in error, to put the LVEC on a block that is far too small, the mayor and council are now forced to sit back and watch frustrated city employees make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Not only is this block too small for such a monstrosity, the streets in the downtown are totally unsuitable for dealing with traffic coming into the city (that is, just reegular traffic). Just think: the Downtown Action Plan, approved by the previous council, identifies Ontario Street as a "scenic drive." And, staff said that the intention is to have little traffic in front of City Hall.
This obviously meeans that since there are, and always will be, only 2 lanes of traffic going off the Causeway, there will be big problems moving the estimated 2000 cars/day into town at that location.
Locals who haven't driven on Place d'Armes toward Fort Frontenac, should do that. At the moment, the (dreaded) LVEC consumes what was an entire lane of the street.
Just how in the world can the intersection of Ontario Street & Place d'Armes be configured? It's no wonder that the consultant TSH needs more time, although the intersection was drawn and included in the 2003 DAP. At that time, design of the intersection was known, according to one senior city staff member.
Residents of Frontenac Village whose backyards face Place d'Armes, are going to find traffic speeding off the causeway (that's what is currently happening, and will continue to happen), travelling closer that 20' from their windows. This is disgraceful.
The city has treated citizens who live in the area of the (dreaded) LEVC with contempt and disrespect. The city should be ashamed. There are, in fact, city employees who are ashamed and who are embarassed by what the previous council has inflicted upon the city. It is they who are charged with finding "good" solutions to something for which there ARE no "good" solutions.
The city awaits the solution to an impossible situation.

Marion Jones: this is the best column

The author of Jones' book talks about watching her as a young star and his reflections on what might have made the superb athlete resort to performance-enhancing substances.

By Ron Rapoport, Special to The Times October 9, 2007

At the 2000 U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Sacramento, Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won the first women's Olympic marathon in Los Angeles in 1984, entered a corporate box above the stadium with her two young daughters and saw Marion Jones watching the competition on the track below. The girls were fascinated by Jones, Samuelson told a publicist. Would it be possible for them to meet her?Soon Jones was fussing over them, and Samuelson, beaming, was asking me how old Jones was. Twenty-four, I said.

Jones returns Olympic medals
"Twenty-four . . . 28 . . . 32 . . . Samuelson said, grinning as she ticked off forthcoming Olympiads on her fingers. "You know, [Jones] should compete in as many Olympics as she wins medals in Sydney. Maybe she could finish her career by running the marathon.
"With the image last week of Jones standing weeping on the courthouse steps still fresh, it might be difficult to recall a time when she was all but inescapable as the symbol of the possibilities, and the joy, that could flow from a life devoted to sport. Marion in a series of Nike commercials whose punch lines ("Where's the love? Can you dig it?") became national catchphrases. Marion on billboards scowling behind Jack Nicholson-like wraparounds for Oakley Sunglasses. Marion wearing a sexy tube top in an ad for TAG Heuer watches. Marion coming out of the starting blocks in a book of photos by Annie Leibovitz. Marion in fashion shoots for Vogue. Marion on the cover of Time and Newsweek at the same time and -- I swear this is true -- in a robotic diagram superimposed over her picture on the cover of Scientific American.
How she got to that point might also seem a little hazy now. Jones, whose nine state sprint and long jump championships and basketball prowess make her possibly the finest high school athlete, male or female, California has ever produced. Jones, who as a freshman was the starting point guard on North Carolina's NCAA championship basketball team. Jones, who in 1998 compiled the most astonishing season in the history of track and field, competing in 38 events on five continents and winning 37 of them. She emerged from that odyssey ranked No. 1 in the world at 100 and 200 meters and in the long jump, and I had seen enough.
Write a book with me, I'd asked her. I'll hang around next season and we'll get it out before the Olympics. Fine, she said. Let's do it.We talked about drugs at length and about the perception that her sport is full of cheats, many with Olympic medals in their drawers. She took it very personally, she said. It made every top track and field athlete a suspect, which wasn't fair. "All I can do is continue to be clean and to be around people who are clean," she said.
I would see those words plucked from the book and thrown back at her many times in the years to come.In the last few days, it has been said that Jones' admission of doping is a tragedy for her sport, and although that is certainly true it is also quite embarrassing.
The woman who finished second at 100 meters in Sydney, Katerina Thanou, was banished from the 2004 Olympics in her native Greece one day before the opening ceremony after failing to show up for a drug test. She came up with a cock-and-bull story nobody believed about a motorcycle accident, and her coach was later caught possessing large amount of steroids.
So the International Olympic Committee finds itself in the uncomfortable position of stripping a gold medal from one drug cheat and giving it to another.
But Jones' fall from grace is a tragedy for her too, particularly -- and here is where I go outside and start baying at the moon -- because it was so unnecessary. Jones says her coach, Trevor Graham, first gave her steroids in 1999.
But BALCO chief Victor Conte, whose interview in 2004 with ESPN the Magazine offered the first credible charges against her, says he didn't begin providing them until a year later, six weeks before the Olympics. He didn't even meet Jones, Conte says, until after the Games had begun. Whatever the case, there is no evidence that Jones took drugs until long after she had established herself as by far the finest female track athlete in the world.After the 100-meter final in Sydney, Sports Illustrated ran a picture of the race. Or rather, two pictures on facing pages. The page on the right showed Jones dashing toward the finish line. The one on the left showed the other runners almost comically far behind. Her victory in the 200 a few days later was by the largest margin in 40 years and her 1,600-meter relay leg turned a close race into a U.S. rout.
How many yards would you have won those races by if you hadn't taken drugs? I want to yell at her. What was the point? Why did she do it? One hypothesis, a favorite of amateur psychologists everywhere, is the bad-man theory. She put her faith in a manipulative husband/boyfriend/coach/trainer/lawyer/advisor, take your pick. It all goes back to her father deserting the family when she was very young and her search for a surrogate. I don't buy it for a minute.
Jones is a strong, determined, intelligent woman who took charge of every aspect of her career. Did she listen to bad advice? Certainly. Was she Trilby to some evil Svengali? Certainly not.But all right then, why? I think it was her determination to do something nobody else had done. I think it was those five gold medals she wanted to win.I think she and Graham looked at the Olympic schedule and saw that in a period of 10 days she would have to run three races at 100 meters, three at 200 meters, compete twice in the long jump, run heats in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays and then run the relay finals less than two hours apart. I think they decided she would need help. I think they bought into the widespread notion among athletes that steroids would help her recovery time.
And that is the real tragedy. If Jones had settled for less -- the sprints, say, and the shorter relay -- she would have ended up with so much more. Evelyn Ashford won an Olympic gold medal when she was 35 years old. Merlene Ottey ran in the Olympics when she was 40. Gail Devers beat an Olympic champion in an indoor race this year at age 41. Jones, who should now be in training for her third Olympics, retired a week to the day before her 32nd birthday.Look at her standing on the courthouse steps. Listen to her admission of guilt, to her apology, to how heartfelt her words are, to how perfectly her sentences are constructed. She is not reading from a script. She never does. I have seen her do this dozens of times -- to stadiums full of people, to clusters of adoring little girls and admiring men and women young and old, to news conferences before laughing reporters who are putty in her hands.She is as good at this as she was at running, and she could have made a life out of it -- traveling the world as a goodwill ambassador for track and field, returning to the Olympics as a television commentator and honored guest, speaking as a powerful advocate for women's sports, inspiring youngsters wherever she went. Instead, she's going to prison.Jones says those of us who admired and believed in her have a right to feel angry and betrayed, and I suppose I do, a little. Mostly, though, I just feel sad. Sad that smiling golden girl who was cheered on tracks all over the world has made such a mess of things. Sad she traded her future for two bronze medals.

Ron Rapoport was a sportswriter for The Times and a sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. He has written a number of books, including"See How She Runs: Marion Jones and the Making of a Champion."

Reprinted from the LA Times, October 9, 2007