Sunday, October 05, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
This Move Won't Get Any Votes...Sports People Aren't That Gullible...
WWW.UNIVERSITYSPORT.CA
October 02, 2008
2015 Summer Universiade Bid: CIS praises Prime Minister Harper's support
OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport is delighted to announce that the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper, has pledged support in principle to CIS in the bidding process to host the 2015 Summer Universiade.
All three orders of government officially confirmed their support for Edmonton's bid at a press conference in Alberta's capital on Thursday afternoon. "A successful 2015 Summer Universiade Bid will provide Albertans and Canadians the opportunity to host the world and experience the excitement of this major multisport event," said CIS President Dick White. "The support in principle for the Edmonton bid process demonstrates the commitment towards developing an integrated and comprehensive approach to the long term development of Canada's future Olympians."
The International University Sports Federation (FISU) circulated the call for bids on September 1st, 2008. Canada plans to submit a letter of intent to bid to FISU on October 8 and the final bid package by March 15, 2009.
Competing bids for the 2015 Summer Universiade are expected from Spain (Vigo), South Korea (Gwangju), Poland (Poznan) and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).
Canada has hosted the Summer Universiade once, in Edmonton back in 1983.
The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival that is staged every two years. It is second in size and scope only to the Olympic Games.
The Summer Universiade consists of 13 compulsory sports and up to five optional sports chosen by the host country. It is estimated that the 28th Summer Universiade hosted in Edmonton in 2015 would attract over 7,000 student-athletes, 2,000 coaches and team officials, 1,250 officials, 1,200 dignitaries, 250 media and 6,500 volunteers from 140 countries.
The Summer Universiade plays an important role in the Canadian Sport System and developing Canada's future Olympians. Forty-seven Canadian Olympians from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics participated at recent Summer Universiades, including Olympic gold medalist Carol Huynh and bronze medalist Tonya Verbeek.
The next three Summer Universiades will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2009, Shenzhen, China, in 2011, and Kazan, Russia, in 2013.
October 02, 2008
2015 Summer Universiade Bid: CIS praises Prime Minister Harper's support
OTTAWA (CIS) - Canadian Interuniversity Sport is delighted to announce that the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper, has pledged support in principle to CIS in the bidding process to host the 2015 Summer Universiade.
All three orders of government officially confirmed their support for Edmonton's bid at a press conference in Alberta's capital on Thursday afternoon. "A successful 2015 Summer Universiade Bid will provide Albertans and Canadians the opportunity to host the world and experience the excitement of this major multisport event," said CIS President Dick White. "The support in principle for the Edmonton bid process demonstrates the commitment towards developing an integrated and comprehensive approach to the long term development of Canada's future Olympians."
The International University Sports Federation (FISU) circulated the call for bids on September 1st, 2008. Canada plans to submit a letter of intent to bid to FISU on October 8 and the final bid package by March 15, 2009.
Competing bids for the 2015 Summer Universiade are expected from Spain (Vigo), South Korea (Gwangju), Poland (Poznan) and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).
Canada has hosted the Summer Universiade once, in Edmonton back in 1983.
The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival that is staged every two years. It is second in size and scope only to the Olympic Games.
The Summer Universiade consists of 13 compulsory sports and up to five optional sports chosen by the host country. It is estimated that the 28th Summer Universiade hosted in Edmonton in 2015 would attract over 7,000 student-athletes, 2,000 coaches and team officials, 1,250 officials, 1,200 dignitaries, 250 media and 6,500 volunteers from 140 countries.
The Summer Universiade plays an important role in the Canadian Sport System and developing Canada's future Olympians. Forty-seven Canadian Olympians from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics participated at recent Summer Universiades, including Olympic gold medalist Carol Huynh and bronze medalist Tonya Verbeek.
The next three Summer Universiades will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2009, Shenzhen, China, in 2011, and Kazan, Russia, in 2013.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Harper: speaks the most "Spin". Mr Insincerity Himself
Queen’s own spin doctor
Computer model detects deception in political speeches
By Kerri Macdonald and Mike Woods, Journal Staff
Queen’s Computing Science professor David Skillicorn says campaign advertisements are harder to analyze than speeches because they’re more staged. (Tyler Ball)
In so many words
Computing Science Professor David Skillicorn analyzes speeches made by politicians such as American presidential candidates Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Here are some samples of “typical” speeches made by Obama and McCain:
Barack Obama (Feb. 13, 2008)“That our prosperity can and must be the tide that lifts every boat; that we rise or fall as one nation; that our economy is strongest when our middle-class grows and opportunity is spread as widely as possible. And when it’s not—when opportunity is uneven or unequal—it is our responsibility to restore balance, and fairness, and keep that promise alive for the next generation.”
John McCain (May 27, 2008)“I believe we must also address nuclear testing. As president I will pledge to continue America’s current moratorium on testing, but also begin a dialogue with our allies, and with the U.S. Senate, to identify ways we can move forward to limit testing in a verifiable manner that does not undermine the security or viability of our nuclear deterrent.”
In the throes of two major elections, it can be tough to detect which politicians are genuine and which are spinning tall tales. But according to a model developed by a Queen’s professor, sniffing out spin is as easy as crunching a few numbers.
David Skillicorn, a professor in the School of Computing, analyzes political speeches to determine how truthful a candidate’s words are. Skillicorn has examined speeches by American Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama. In comparing speeches from both parties’ conventions, he found Obama’s speech had a higher level of spin than did McCain’s.
Skillicorn said people lie on a spectrum. There are outright, deceptive lies, but there are also more socially acceptable forms of lying. Politicians live somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, he said.
“Politicians are always trying to present himself or herself as the most attractive person they can possibly be, and that’s a form of deceptiveness,” he said.
But that form of political deception is a conscious choice politicians make, Skillicorn said. His research focuses on what’s primarily unconscious and comes across in large, publicized events such as political speeches, as well as in everyday situations such as job interviews.
“What you’re going to get is a variation on what that person is actually like that makes them look just a little bit nicer and better and stronger than they really are,” he said.
Although he works with computing science, psychology is where much of Skillicorn’s model is based. He said his work comes from the research of James Pennebaker, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin.
The difference between his model and Pennebaker’s research is the new focus on correlation information, Skillicorn said.
Skillicorn’s model is based on speech patterns among four classes of words. He said deceptive speech has fewer first-person singular pronouns and exclusive words, and an increase in negative emotion words and action words.
When somebody’s being deceptive, they use fewer singular pronouns such as ‘I,’ he said.
“Psychologically, they’re kind of stepping back a little bit from what they’re saying—distancing themselves from it—and that shows up from this reduction in pronoun use.” Exclusive words introduce some variation to a story, Skillicorn said.
“A part of your brainpower is being spent to create this image that isn’t quite the unvarnished truth, and that means you have to keep things a little simpler than you otherwise would,” he said. “It’s really hard to keep adding complexities to whatever it is that you’re talking about.”
He said people use negative emotion words because it’s socially frowned upon to be deceptive.
“That negative feeling that they have about themselves leaks out a bit into the words they use,” he said.
He said the fourth change—an increase in action words—is the most puzzling.
“It has to do with keeping the story moving, trying to … push the listener over any bumps there might be in something that doesn’t quite fit or because you’ve constructed it on the fly, it doesn’t look quite as perfectly smooth as you’d like it to be,” he said, adding that the first three categories seem more plausible than the fourth on psychological grounds.
Although his program analyzes just over 80 words sending different signals to the listener, some words are more important than others in different contexts.
“The [words] that vary the most in the set of things you’re looking at will tend to tell you more information,” he said.
Skillicorn said examining the frequency of words used in speech is no easy task for the human ear.
“We don’t have that much control over the way we use language, not consciously,” he said.
He said other researchers examine speech patterns in terms of factors such as facial expression and voice texture to determine whether someone’s being deceptive, but much of that can be controlled consciously. Orators often go through training to learn how to control these other factors, but because spin is primarily unconscious, it’s difficult to modify.
“You could … go through your speech before you gave it and try and change things so that it would score a little bit more the way that you wanted it to,” he said. “But the trouble is what seems to happen is when you actually give the speech, you put all that stuff back again.”
“The only way you can change it is to change the way you frame the whole situation you’re in,” he said, citing Hillary Clinton—whose speech patterns changed when it became clear Obama was going to win the Democratic nomination—as an example.
Skillicorn said what politicians choose to talk about has a strong influence on how they’ll score. When a speech has a personal bent, it’s different than a speech on a broad issue and is less susceptible to spin.
“If you want to say, ‘I’m going to put giraffes on Mars because I’m an expert on space travel,’ then you’re almost forced to associate who you are to that part of that story,” he said.
Skillicorn said the Canadian election has been harder to analyze because the candidates haven’t posted enough speeches online, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s eight posted speeches have varied in their level of spin.
“You don’t have to look at them very hard to see that they’re very different from what’s going on in the U.S. situation,” he said. “Harper’s speeches are almost like press releases.”
Campaign advertisements are also harder to analyze, Skillicorn said, because they’re more staged than speeches.
“The more off the cuff it is, the more revealing it is,” he said.
Acknowledging many campaign speeches are speechwriters’ collaborations, Skillicorn said candidates still change their deliveries depending on how they’re feeling at the time.
“When a candidate’s reading from a teleprompter, they change on the fly some of these little words which are exactly the ones the model’s picking up,” he said. “Even the speechwriters tend not to notice that that’s happened.”
He said it’s more difficult to measure how deception comes into play for public figures in question-and-answer situations.
“If somebody says to you, ‘What are you going to do?’ you’re almost forced to say, ‘I am going to do this and that,’ … which means that now you’re sending a signal which looks like a lower level of spin.”
Skillicorn said his model can’t be applied to speech in different contexts—for example, it can’t compare a politician and a car salesman.
“The problem is that all these things rely on changes in the relative frequency of words, and so you have to kind of know what the norm is,” he said.
In business writing, for example, it’s much more common to use the pronoun ‘I’ than it might be in other situations.
Skillicorn said his model deals with the use of the word ‘I,’ not ‘we.’ He said politicians are trained to use ‘we,’ but psychologists have found that when men use the word ‘we’ it’s not inclusive at all. He said Obama uses ‘we’ much more often than McCain.
“That’s very much the velvet glove around the iron fist, and it’s a euphemism for ‘you,’ a command. So Obama’s ‘we’s’ are a dangerous thing for him to use, in a way.
“‘We’ can be collective responsibility, but you should always stop to think about it. Could you put ‘you’ here? If you can, then it’s a fake.”
Skillicorn said his model could be applied to everyday conversation, but at this point researchers don’t know how.
He has received requests from as far away as the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal to apply his program to politicians. But he said the model doesn’t easily translate to other languages.
“In French you don’t know what to do with the pronoun ‘on,’ because sometimes … it’s equivalent to ‘je’ and sometimes it’s not, and it’s really hard to tell the difference,” he said. Skillicorn also said it would be difficult to apply his model to historical speeches because of changes in the use of language and a lack of political context.
“The problem with all of this is getting some estimate of the ground truth,” he said. “That gets harder as you go back in time because you just don’t know the political context nearly as well.”
See more results from Skillicorn’s research at skillicorn.wordpress.com.
Reprinted from Queen's Journal, September 30, 2008 edition
Computer model detects deception in political speeches
By Kerri Macdonald and Mike Woods, Journal Staff
Queen’s Computing Science professor David Skillicorn says campaign advertisements are harder to analyze than speeches because they’re more staged. (Tyler Ball)
In so many words
Computing Science Professor David Skillicorn analyzes speeches made by politicians such as American presidential candidates Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Here are some samples of “typical” speeches made by Obama and McCain:
Barack Obama (Feb. 13, 2008)“That our prosperity can and must be the tide that lifts every boat; that we rise or fall as one nation; that our economy is strongest when our middle-class grows and opportunity is spread as widely as possible. And when it’s not—when opportunity is uneven or unequal—it is our responsibility to restore balance, and fairness, and keep that promise alive for the next generation.”
John McCain (May 27, 2008)“I believe we must also address nuclear testing. As president I will pledge to continue America’s current moratorium on testing, but also begin a dialogue with our allies, and with the U.S. Senate, to identify ways we can move forward to limit testing in a verifiable manner that does not undermine the security or viability of our nuclear deterrent.”
In the throes of two major elections, it can be tough to detect which politicians are genuine and which are spinning tall tales. But according to a model developed by a Queen’s professor, sniffing out spin is as easy as crunching a few numbers.
David Skillicorn, a professor in the School of Computing, analyzes political speeches to determine how truthful a candidate’s words are. Skillicorn has examined speeches by American Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama. In comparing speeches from both parties’ conventions, he found Obama’s speech had a higher level of spin than did McCain’s.
Skillicorn said people lie on a spectrum. There are outright, deceptive lies, but there are also more socially acceptable forms of lying. Politicians live somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, he said.
“Politicians are always trying to present himself or herself as the most attractive person they can possibly be, and that’s a form of deceptiveness,” he said.
But that form of political deception is a conscious choice politicians make, Skillicorn said. His research focuses on what’s primarily unconscious and comes across in large, publicized events such as political speeches, as well as in everyday situations such as job interviews.
“What you’re going to get is a variation on what that person is actually like that makes them look just a little bit nicer and better and stronger than they really are,” he said.
Although he works with computing science, psychology is where much of Skillicorn’s model is based. He said his work comes from the research of James Pennebaker, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin.
The difference between his model and Pennebaker’s research is the new focus on correlation information, Skillicorn said.
Skillicorn’s model is based on speech patterns among four classes of words. He said deceptive speech has fewer first-person singular pronouns and exclusive words, and an increase in negative emotion words and action words.
When somebody’s being deceptive, they use fewer singular pronouns such as ‘I,’ he said.
“Psychologically, they’re kind of stepping back a little bit from what they’re saying—distancing themselves from it—and that shows up from this reduction in pronoun use.” Exclusive words introduce some variation to a story, Skillicorn said.
“A part of your brainpower is being spent to create this image that isn’t quite the unvarnished truth, and that means you have to keep things a little simpler than you otherwise would,” he said. “It’s really hard to keep adding complexities to whatever it is that you’re talking about.”
He said people use negative emotion words because it’s socially frowned upon to be deceptive.
“That negative feeling that they have about themselves leaks out a bit into the words they use,” he said.
He said the fourth change—an increase in action words—is the most puzzling.
“It has to do with keeping the story moving, trying to … push the listener over any bumps there might be in something that doesn’t quite fit or because you’ve constructed it on the fly, it doesn’t look quite as perfectly smooth as you’d like it to be,” he said, adding that the first three categories seem more plausible than the fourth on psychological grounds.
Although his program analyzes just over 80 words sending different signals to the listener, some words are more important than others in different contexts.
“The [words] that vary the most in the set of things you’re looking at will tend to tell you more information,” he said.
Skillicorn said examining the frequency of words used in speech is no easy task for the human ear.
“We don’t have that much control over the way we use language, not consciously,” he said.
He said other researchers examine speech patterns in terms of factors such as facial expression and voice texture to determine whether someone’s being deceptive, but much of that can be controlled consciously. Orators often go through training to learn how to control these other factors, but because spin is primarily unconscious, it’s difficult to modify.
“You could … go through your speech before you gave it and try and change things so that it would score a little bit more the way that you wanted it to,” he said. “But the trouble is what seems to happen is when you actually give the speech, you put all that stuff back again.”
“The only way you can change it is to change the way you frame the whole situation you’re in,” he said, citing Hillary Clinton—whose speech patterns changed when it became clear Obama was going to win the Democratic nomination—as an example.
Skillicorn said what politicians choose to talk about has a strong influence on how they’ll score. When a speech has a personal bent, it’s different than a speech on a broad issue and is less susceptible to spin.
“If you want to say, ‘I’m going to put giraffes on Mars because I’m an expert on space travel,’ then you’re almost forced to associate who you are to that part of that story,” he said.
Skillicorn said the Canadian election has been harder to analyze because the candidates haven’t posted enough speeches online, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s eight posted speeches have varied in their level of spin.
“You don’t have to look at them very hard to see that they’re very different from what’s going on in the U.S. situation,” he said. “Harper’s speeches are almost like press releases.”
Campaign advertisements are also harder to analyze, Skillicorn said, because they’re more staged than speeches.
“The more off the cuff it is, the more revealing it is,” he said.
Acknowledging many campaign speeches are speechwriters’ collaborations, Skillicorn said candidates still change their deliveries depending on how they’re feeling at the time.
“When a candidate’s reading from a teleprompter, they change on the fly some of these little words which are exactly the ones the model’s picking up,” he said. “Even the speechwriters tend not to notice that that’s happened.”
He said it’s more difficult to measure how deception comes into play for public figures in question-and-answer situations.
“If somebody says to you, ‘What are you going to do?’ you’re almost forced to say, ‘I am going to do this and that,’ … which means that now you’re sending a signal which looks like a lower level of spin.”
Skillicorn said his model can’t be applied to speech in different contexts—for example, it can’t compare a politician and a car salesman.
“The problem is that all these things rely on changes in the relative frequency of words, and so you have to kind of know what the norm is,” he said.
In business writing, for example, it’s much more common to use the pronoun ‘I’ than it might be in other situations.
Skillicorn said his model deals with the use of the word ‘I,’ not ‘we.’ He said politicians are trained to use ‘we,’ but psychologists have found that when men use the word ‘we’ it’s not inclusive at all. He said Obama uses ‘we’ much more often than McCain.
“That’s very much the velvet glove around the iron fist, and it’s a euphemism for ‘you,’ a command. So Obama’s ‘we’s’ are a dangerous thing for him to use, in a way.
“‘We’ can be collective responsibility, but you should always stop to think about it. Could you put ‘you’ here? If you can, then it’s a fake.”
Skillicorn said his model could be applied to everyday conversation, but at this point researchers don’t know how.
He has received requests from as far away as the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal to apply his program to politicians. But he said the model doesn’t easily translate to other languages.
“In French you don’t know what to do with the pronoun ‘on,’ because sometimes … it’s equivalent to ‘je’ and sometimes it’s not, and it’s really hard to tell the difference,” he said. Skillicorn also said it would be difficult to apply his model to historical speeches because of changes in the use of language and a lack of political context.
“The problem with all of this is getting some estimate of the ground truth,” he said. “That gets harder as you go back in time because you just don’t know the political context nearly as well.”
See more results from Skillicorn’s research at skillicorn.wordpress.com.
Reprinted from Queen's Journal, September 30, 2008 edition
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Fall Election: Scandalous
Haven't heard or read about ANYONE wanting a fall election in Canada. That's in a national newspaper and on the radio, and in conversation.
ThePM even says that there will be a minority government after a fall election, so WHY in the world should Canadian taxpayers pay close to $700 million dollars to run an election? And why would parties want to spend their donated money to get the same sort of government?
Until this government, it was said that minority governments in Canada produce some of the best legislation possible. That is because, until the Conservatives got into their current position, the previous PMs were willing, able and committed to governing. THIS PM does not know what "negotiate" or "compromise" mean.
He is a "my way or the highway" person; or "I'll take my ball and go home if you don't play my rules."
Most of us learn how to play on the schoolground, and we make an effort to get along with our peers.
This man refuses to be "nice," to try to work with the other parties. The word "leader" does not apply to him. He's a bossy, mean man.
So, here's a short (but getting longer) list of his disgraceful decisions.
1. Cutting arts funding and supposedly giving it to athletes. Now that's a move that the artistic community hates, and one that athletes can see through, so there will be no votes from athletes in this.
ThePM even says that there will be a minority government after a fall election, so WHY in the world should Canadian taxpayers pay close to $700 million dollars to run an election? And why would parties want to spend their donated money to get the same sort of government?
Until this government, it was said that minority governments in Canada produce some of the best legislation possible. That is because, until the Conservatives got into their current position, the previous PMs were willing, able and committed to governing. THIS PM does not know what "negotiate" or "compromise" mean.
He is a "my way or the highway" person; or "I'll take my ball and go home if you don't play my rules."
Most of us learn how to play on the schoolground, and we make an effort to get along with our peers.
This man refuses to be "nice," to try to work with the other parties. The word "leader" does not apply to him. He's a bossy, mean man.
So, here's a short (but getting longer) list of his disgraceful decisions.
1. Cutting arts funding and supposedly giving it to athletes. Now that's a move that the artistic community hates, and one that athletes can see through, so there will be no votes from athletes in this.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Michael Phelps is NOT the Greatest Olympian
BEIJING -- Could everyone please stop hyperventilating about Michael Phelps?Yes, he now has won more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history.
Your Vote
Who is the greatest athlete in the history of the Summer Olympics?
1.3 %
Birgit Fischer-Schmidt, Germany, kayak
2.2 %
Larisa Latynina, Soviet Union, gymnastics
24.7 %
Carl Lewis, U.S., track and field
3.9 %
Paavo Nurmi, Finland, track and field
3.8 %
Steven Redgrave, United Kingdom, rowing
50.1 %
Michael Phelps, United States, swimming
14.2 %
An athlete not listed here
7238 total responses
Ahead of him?1. Carl Lewis, U.S., track and field.2. Paavo Nurmi, Finland, track and field.3. Larisa Latynina, Soviet Union, gymnastics.4. Birgit Fischer-Schmidt, Germany, kayak.5. Steven Redgrave, United Kingdom, rowing.Why is Phelps sixth?It is easy to win multiple medals in swimming.The sport is far more forgiving on the body than track or gymnastics.And Phelps does not yet have the long-term record of the others.
Lewis won nine gold medals, four in the 1984 Olympics and four straight in one event, the long jump.Nurmi won nine gold medals at distances from 1,500 to 10,000 meters over three Olympics. He likely would have won more had he not been declared ineligible after 1928 under rules that demanded Olympians be amateurs.Latynina won nine gold medals and 18 total medals over three Olympics.Fischer-Schmidt won her first of eight gold medals in 1980 and her last 24 years later as a 42-year-old mother of two. She won three for the old East Germany and five for the unified Germany. She won in singles, doubles and fours. She also won four silvers.Redgrave won gold medals in five consecutive Olympics while rowing in three different boat types.I asked Phelps on Thursday if winning the most golds makes him the greatest of all time, and he sounded like a man wisely focused on the present."I have no idea," he said. "I just get in the water and swim. That's the only thing I think about."I asked Olympic historian David Wallechinsky the same question, and he ranked Nurmi and Lewis as co-leaders."I think Phelps needs one more Olympics to join them," Wallechinsky said.
Over 12 years, Lewis won two gold medals in the 100 meters, one in the 200, two on the sprint relay and an unprecedented four straight in the long jump, an event in which the impact on the body of the run-up and takeoff has been likened to falling off a truck at 25 mph."What Lewis did is extraordinary. He is No. 1," said France's Marie-Jose Perec, one of three runners to win the 200 and 400 meters in the same Olympics."You can't compare track and swimming. In swimming, you can recover. You can do five races in a day and get world records in all of them. That's impossible in our sport."Don't try to argue that Phelps has been part of world-record performances in his first five events.New pool and suit technology have made swimming's world records meaningless, with 18 record performances through Thursday in the Olympics alone.
Just four world records have fallen in track and field all year.Swimming allows an athlete to race two finals in 29 minutes, as U.S. Olympian Ryan Lochte planned Friday morning.Track and field is so much more physically demanding that neither Allyson Felix nor Sanya Richards dared a 200-400 double after the Olympic schedule put the second round of the 200 within three hours of the 400 final."Swimming is pressure off your body, where we are pounding on it," Felix said.Swimming offers three relays with the risk of a false start minimal. Some sprinters run both of track's longer relays, the 400 and 1,600, but the exchanges on the sprint relay are so dicey Lewis lost a certain medal in 1988 when other U.S. runners botched a baton pass in a preliminary round.If Olympic track had an 800-meter relay, an event in which Lewis was part of a world-record performance, he probably would have won at least two more gold medals.Three of swimming's four strokes -- everything but the breaststroke -- might as well be the same. Otherwise, how could backstroker Matt Grevers say he barely trained that stroke before winning an Olympic silver medal in the 100? Nearly every good freestyler can be a good butterflyer, and vice-versa.
You don't see any 100-meter runners in the mile, or any milers in the long jump.Don't get the wrong idea. Track athletes have great respect for what Phelps has accomplished."It's inspiring to watch in amazement at everything he's doing," Felix said.But he's not the most amazing Olympian ever.
Hersh covers the Olympics for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Your Vote
Who is the greatest athlete in the history of the Summer Olympics?
1.3 %
Birgit Fischer-Schmidt, Germany, kayak
2.2 %
Larisa Latynina, Soviet Union, gymnastics
24.7 %
Carl Lewis, U.S., track and field
3.9 %
Paavo Nurmi, Finland, track and field
3.8 %
Steven Redgrave, United Kingdom, rowing
50.1 %
Michael Phelps, United States, swimming
14.2 %
An athlete not listed here
7238 total responses
Ahead of him?1. Carl Lewis, U.S., track and field.2. Paavo Nurmi, Finland, track and field.3. Larisa Latynina, Soviet Union, gymnastics.4. Birgit Fischer-Schmidt, Germany, kayak.5. Steven Redgrave, United Kingdom, rowing.Why is Phelps sixth?It is easy to win multiple medals in swimming.The sport is far more forgiving on the body than track or gymnastics.And Phelps does not yet have the long-term record of the others.
Lewis won nine gold medals, four in the 1984 Olympics and four straight in one event, the long jump.Nurmi won nine gold medals at distances from 1,500 to 10,000 meters over three Olympics. He likely would have won more had he not been declared ineligible after 1928 under rules that demanded Olympians be amateurs.Latynina won nine gold medals and 18 total medals over three Olympics.Fischer-Schmidt won her first of eight gold medals in 1980 and her last 24 years later as a 42-year-old mother of two. She won three for the old East Germany and five for the unified Germany. She won in singles, doubles and fours. She also won four silvers.Redgrave won gold medals in five consecutive Olympics while rowing in three different boat types.I asked Phelps on Thursday if winning the most golds makes him the greatest of all time, and he sounded like a man wisely focused on the present."I have no idea," he said. "I just get in the water and swim. That's the only thing I think about."I asked Olympic historian David Wallechinsky the same question, and he ranked Nurmi and Lewis as co-leaders."I think Phelps needs one more Olympics to join them," Wallechinsky said.
Over 12 years, Lewis won two gold medals in the 100 meters, one in the 200, two on the sprint relay and an unprecedented four straight in the long jump, an event in which the impact on the body of the run-up and takeoff has been likened to falling off a truck at 25 mph."What Lewis did is extraordinary. He is No. 1," said France's Marie-Jose Perec, one of three runners to win the 200 and 400 meters in the same Olympics."You can't compare track and swimming. In swimming, you can recover. You can do five races in a day and get world records in all of them. That's impossible in our sport."Don't try to argue that Phelps has been part of world-record performances in his first five events.New pool and suit technology have made swimming's world records meaningless, with 18 record performances through Thursday in the Olympics alone.
Just four world records have fallen in track and field all year.Swimming allows an athlete to race two finals in 29 minutes, as U.S. Olympian Ryan Lochte planned Friday morning.Track and field is so much more physically demanding that neither Allyson Felix nor Sanya Richards dared a 200-400 double after the Olympic schedule put the second round of the 200 within three hours of the 400 final."Swimming is pressure off your body, where we are pounding on it," Felix said.Swimming offers three relays with the risk of a false start minimal. Some sprinters run both of track's longer relays, the 400 and 1,600, but the exchanges on the sprint relay are so dicey Lewis lost a certain medal in 1988 when other U.S. runners botched a baton pass in a preliminary round.If Olympic track had an 800-meter relay, an event in which Lewis was part of a world-record performance, he probably would have won at least two more gold medals.Three of swimming's four strokes -- everything but the breaststroke -- might as well be the same. Otherwise, how could backstroker Matt Grevers say he barely trained that stroke before winning an Olympic silver medal in the 100? Nearly every good freestyler can be a good butterflyer, and vice-versa.
You don't see any 100-meter runners in the mile, or any milers in the long jump.Don't get the wrong idea. Track athletes have great respect for what Phelps has accomplished."It's inspiring to watch in amazement at everything he's doing," Felix said.But he's not the most amazing Olympian ever.
Hersh covers the Olympics for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Friday, August 08, 2008
No Harper, and No Minister of Sport (We Don't Even HAVE One). Canada sure is a Loser
IOC President to meet with world leaders
On the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, IOC President Jacques Rogge is to meet with some of the world’s major leaders, who are visiting Beijing for the opening ceremony. Among the leaders Rogge will be meeting are Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Brazillian President Luiz Lula da Silva.
More world leaders – more than 100 sovereigns, heads of state and heads of government - will be attending the Beijing Olympic Games, as well as 170 Ministers of Sport.
As well as discussing the Beijing Games, Rogge will be using the meetings as an opportunity to raise issues of concern to the Olympic movement – the fight against doping, and the role of sport in education and in improving public health.
Sport’s role in improving health outcomes “It is essential that we promote the central role of sport in modern society,” said Rogge today. “Everyday sport can deliver substantial social, environmental and economic benefits by reducing obesity and cardiac disease and creating a healthy society. The IOC wants governments to support elite sport and the Olympic movement – that’s essential – but we also want them to invest in public sports facilities.”
Just as vital is that the IOC and governments collaborate in the fight against doping by providing consistent funding for WADA, enabling co-operation between law enforcement and doping authorities; and application of the World Anti-Doping Code. This may require legislative change.
Doping – a problem to be tackled together Doping, and particularly steroid abuse, is a public health issue – it is not simply a matter for elite sport – it reaches down into amateur sports clubs, universities and high schools and causes physical and psychological damage to the user. This trickle-down effect is what should worry everyone. Moreover, steroid use and crime are inextricably linked – many acts of violent crime in society are thought to be connected to steroid use.”
President Rogge will continue to promote these issues, through both the IOC and collaboration with other Olympic organisations, in his regular schedule of visits and consultations with world leaders regarding their national sport agenda.
[This is an IOC News Release, dated August 8, 2008]
On the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, IOC President Jacques Rogge is to meet with some of the world’s major leaders, who are visiting Beijing for the opening ceremony. Among the leaders Rogge will be meeting are Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Brazillian President Luiz Lula da Silva.
More world leaders – more than 100 sovereigns, heads of state and heads of government - will be attending the Beijing Olympic Games, as well as 170 Ministers of Sport.
As well as discussing the Beijing Games, Rogge will be using the meetings as an opportunity to raise issues of concern to the Olympic movement – the fight against doping, and the role of sport in education and in improving public health.
Sport’s role in improving health outcomes “It is essential that we promote the central role of sport in modern society,” said Rogge today. “Everyday sport can deliver substantial social, environmental and economic benefits by reducing obesity and cardiac disease and creating a healthy society. The IOC wants governments to support elite sport and the Olympic movement – that’s essential – but we also want them to invest in public sports facilities.”
Just as vital is that the IOC and governments collaborate in the fight against doping by providing consistent funding for WADA, enabling co-operation between law enforcement and doping authorities; and application of the World Anti-Doping Code. This may require legislative change.
Doping – a problem to be tackled together Doping, and particularly steroid abuse, is a public health issue – it is not simply a matter for elite sport – it reaches down into amateur sports clubs, universities and high schools and causes physical and psychological damage to the user. This trickle-down effect is what should worry everyone. Moreover, steroid use and crime are inextricably linked – many acts of violent crime in society are thought to be connected to steroid use.”
President Rogge will continue to promote these issues, through both the IOC and collaboration with other Olympic organisations, in his regular schedule of visits and consultations with world leaders regarding their national sport agenda.
[This is an IOC News Release, dated August 8, 2008]
"Last Minute Harper" and He's Still Staying Home. Probably a Good Thing.
Harper backing city's Pan Am bid
McGuinty off to China to lobby sports officials at Olympics to boost Toronto area's chances
Aug 08, 2008 04:30 AM
Be the first to comment on this article... Robert Benzie Queen's Park Bureau Chief
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is backing Toronto's $1.77 billion bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Harper yesterday gave Ottawa's endorsement of efforts to host the international sports event in Toronto and a dozen other Golden Horseshoe municipalities.
"It's very positive. It's a boost for the entire region," federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the Star last night.
"Toronto hasn't had a major sporting event in many, many years," said Flaherty, who is Harper's Greater Toronto Area minister.
He added that in difficult economic times, the Pan Am Games would "create jobs and construction activity" and leave behind an infrastructure legacy in the GTA and beyond.
Flaherty emphasized that Ottawa's funding commitment is still being finalized because security costs are being calculated with the OPP, the RCMP and other agencies.
Ottawa's move, which came months earlier than expected, led Premier Dalton McGuinty to start packing to fly to China to lobby sports officials at the Olympics.
"The premier will be taking the important next step of going to Beijing Aug. 13 to 15 to speak with key national Olympic committee chairs, to make sure Ontario has the best opportunity to make a winning case," said press secretary Jane Almeida.
"Moving forward, we will be working closely with the federal government and municipalities."
McGuinty had been gearing up for the lobbying trip. "I am ready and raring to go," the premier told reporters on July 23.
"To say I'm really, really, really keen on this is a gross understatement," Michael Chambers, the Canadian Olympic Committee president, told the Star's Jim Byers in Beijing. "I really believe we can do this and that it's not a shot in the dark. It's a bid we can win.
"We'll have tremendous games and it will be a building block for what we're seeing here in China."
Chambers said the southern Ontario bid will be officially presented to Pan American Sports Organization officials at Canada Olympic House in Beijing on Aug. 14.
The Pan Am Games, open to 42 nations in the Americas, are held every four years. They were held in Rio de Janeiro last year and will be in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2011.
Other cities expected to bid for the 2015 Games are Bogota, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; and Lima, Peru, but insiders say Toronto – one of the largest media markets in North or South America – has a great shot at hosting them. The winner will be chosen next year.
There had been concerns that Ottawa would not have completed its study of the bid before the Pan American Sports Organization's general meeting in October.
While the municipalities, the province and Ottawa will each be on the hook for about $620 million, Queen's Park has agreed to cover any overruns to the expected $1.77 billion tab.
McGuinty off to China to lobby sports officials at Olympics to boost Toronto area's chances
Aug 08, 2008 04:30 AM
Be the first to comment on this article... Robert Benzie Queen's Park Bureau Chief
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is backing Toronto's $1.77 billion bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Harper yesterday gave Ottawa's endorsement of efforts to host the international sports event in Toronto and a dozen other Golden Horseshoe municipalities.
"It's very positive. It's a boost for the entire region," federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the Star last night.
"Toronto hasn't had a major sporting event in many, many years," said Flaherty, who is Harper's Greater Toronto Area minister.
He added that in difficult economic times, the Pan Am Games would "create jobs and construction activity" and leave behind an infrastructure legacy in the GTA and beyond.
Flaherty emphasized that Ottawa's funding commitment is still being finalized because security costs are being calculated with the OPP, the RCMP and other agencies.
Ottawa's move, which came months earlier than expected, led Premier Dalton McGuinty to start packing to fly to China to lobby sports officials at the Olympics.
"The premier will be taking the important next step of going to Beijing Aug. 13 to 15 to speak with key national Olympic committee chairs, to make sure Ontario has the best opportunity to make a winning case," said press secretary Jane Almeida.
"Moving forward, we will be working closely with the federal government and municipalities."
McGuinty had been gearing up for the lobbying trip. "I am ready and raring to go," the premier told reporters on July 23.
"To say I'm really, really, really keen on this is a gross understatement," Michael Chambers, the Canadian Olympic Committee president, told the Star's Jim Byers in Beijing. "I really believe we can do this and that it's not a shot in the dark. It's a bid we can win.
"We'll have tremendous games and it will be a building block for what we're seeing here in China."
Chambers said the southern Ontario bid will be officially presented to Pan American Sports Organization officials at Canada Olympic House in Beijing on Aug. 14.
The Pan Am Games, open to 42 nations in the Americas, are held every four years. They were held in Rio de Janeiro last year and will be in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2011.
Other cities expected to bid for the 2015 Games are Bogota, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; and Lima, Peru, but insiders say Toronto – one of the largest media markets in North or South America – has a great shot at hosting them. The winner will be chosen next year.
There had been concerns that Ottawa would not have completed its study of the bid before the Pan American Sports Organization's general meeting in October.
While the municipalities, the province and Ottawa will each be on the hook for about $620 million, Queen's Park has agreed to cover any overruns to the expected $1.77 billion tab.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Beijing, Echos of Cuba
On Monday night, Pastor Mansbridge began his National News program from Beijing.
There he was, smog and all behind him, but no teleprompter.
He had a segment about security in China, noting the neighbourhood community watches that have been set up. These are citizens who have volunteered (and recieved a little red band for their left arm) to keep watch on their own neighbourhood, and report anyone or anything suspicious.
There was even a shot of two women fanning themselves, sitting on pots or something, "looking out" for their neighbourhood.
How it took me back. In 1990-1991 when we made trips to Cuba in preparation for the Pan American Games, we saw and knew that locals would "report" on their neighbours. We saw the grandmothers out for their morning exercises, calesthenics actually, then they would disperse, and go about their business. Part of that business was ratting on their neighbours.
This is the way Castro keeps the population in check: have spies who report up the ladder.
Castro reigns not through the love of his people, but by fear. Do something wrong, say something about the government or a "leader" and find yourself in the clink.
The Cuban people are an amazing lot to have survived with so little, without contact with the outside world, and living in constant fear. It becomes a way of life.
So little "freedom" in China and Cuba.
How fortunate Canadians are.
There he was, smog and all behind him, but no teleprompter.
He had a segment about security in China, noting the neighbourhood community watches that have been set up. These are citizens who have volunteered (and recieved a little red band for their left arm) to keep watch on their own neighbourhood, and report anyone or anything suspicious.
There was even a shot of two women fanning themselves, sitting on pots or something, "looking out" for their neighbourhood.
How it took me back. In 1990-1991 when we made trips to Cuba in preparation for the Pan American Games, we saw and knew that locals would "report" on their neighbours. We saw the grandmothers out for their morning exercises, calesthenics actually, then they would disperse, and go about their business. Part of that business was ratting on their neighbours.
This is the way Castro keeps the population in check: have spies who report up the ladder.
Castro reigns not through the love of his people, but by fear. Do something wrong, say something about the government or a "leader" and find yourself in the clink.
The Cuban people are an amazing lot to have survived with so little, without contact with the outside world, and living in constant fear. It becomes a way of life.
So little "freedom" in China and Cuba.
How fortunate Canadians are.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Trouble on the Horizon and Lying
Trouble on the China borders as well as protests in Beijing that are quelled by rounding up the people and herding them into a paddy-wagon, foreshadow a stressful Olympics and serious trouble during the Games.
If anyone in the world still thinks that China is a fair and honourable nation, they must have been snoozing while the media reports on the third athlete whose age is in doubt. I hope that reporters don't let this one go. These female gymnasts are under-age, as their earlier documents show. The docs they submitted to the Organizing Committee were "doctored" to have these young girls able to compete in Beijing. FIG instigated the age rule for a reason...to stop medal-hungry nations from overtraining girls and putting their lives in jeopardy.
The Chinese are lying. Getting those medals ahead of the USA is the most important thing, except of course spending $35 billion on these Games, China's "coming out party."
China shames the Olympic Movement, and countries let them get away with this stuff.
Shame, Mr Rogge.
If anyone in the world still thinks that China is a fair and honourable nation, they must have been snoozing while the media reports on the third athlete whose age is in doubt. I hope that reporters don't let this one go. These female gymnasts are under-age, as their earlier documents show. The docs they submitted to the Organizing Committee were "doctored" to have these young girls able to compete in Beijing. FIG instigated the age rule for a reason...to stop medal-hungry nations from overtraining girls and putting their lives in jeopardy.
The Chinese are lying. Getting those medals ahead of the USA is the most important thing, except of course spending $35 billion on these Games, China's "coming out party."
China shames the Olympic Movement, and countries let them get away with this stuff.
Shame, Mr Rogge.
Some Beijing Stuff
With the Olympics just 3+ days away, we hear that Mr Emerson will lead a delegation to Beijing. Not the Prime Minister.
When talk of an Olympic boycott started several months agao, the PM said he would not be going to Beijing. Supposedly boycotting, although he said that wasn't the reason.
So, when Mr Emerson gets to Beijing, and is asked why the Prime Minister didn't go, which of the following will he answer?
1. He is too busy.
2. He is boycotting China because of its human rights record.
3. He had a vacation planned.
4. He didn't feel like travelling all that way.
5. His medical shots aren't up-to-date.
6. He is worried about the food (one reporter noted "Donkey Pot Pie" on a menu in Beijing)
7. He just didn't think it was important.
8. He's not good at "small talk."
9. He didn't want to have to answer questions about the federal government's dallying about and not being able to make a decision about support for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
10. None of the above.
Canadians are embarassed that he is not going. Once again, he demonstrates his disregard for Canada's international reputation, his contempt for the Canadian people, and his arrogance.
Let's get to the polls in the fall, and get rid of this government and this Prime Minister.
When talk of an Olympic boycott started several months agao, the PM said he would not be going to Beijing. Supposedly boycotting, although he said that wasn't the reason.
So, when Mr Emerson gets to Beijing, and is asked why the Prime Minister didn't go, which of the following will he answer?
1. He is too busy.
2. He is boycotting China because of its human rights record.
3. He had a vacation planned.
4. He didn't feel like travelling all that way.
5. His medical shots aren't up-to-date.
6. He is worried about the food (one reporter noted "Donkey Pot Pie" on a menu in Beijing)
7. He just didn't think it was important.
8. He's not good at "small talk."
9. He didn't want to have to answer questions about the federal government's dallying about and not being able to make a decision about support for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
10. None of the above.
Canadians are embarassed that he is not going. Once again, he demonstrates his disregard for Canada's international reputation, his contempt for the Canadian people, and his arrogance.
Let's get to the polls in the fall, and get rid of this government and this Prime Minister.
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Globe & Mail and the 21st Century
It's hard to believe, but check this...The Globe does a nice story about swimmer Julia Wilkinson breaking her own Canadian record, set 3 weeks ago at the Olympic Trials.
BUT, along side the good-news story, they run a photo of a MALE swimmer competing in the 200m fly. And it doesn't even say that he won his event!
How far have women come????
Better still, how far has The Globe come?
BUT, along side the good-news story, they run a photo of a MALE swimmer competing in the 200m fly. And it doesn't even say that he won his event!
How far have women come????
Better still, how far has The Globe come?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Heat of the Moment
Sometimes when people get wound up, they get carried away, and say things that listeners cannot figure out.
Such was the case on Tuesday evening during a long, unfocussed discussion about an aquatic facility in Kingston. Background...city staff suggested continuing to explore details for a new aquatic facility. Their recommendation was quite clear: spend the money already agreed to in the current budget to get some answers to questions that were arising (this was Commissioner Beach's remark).
Nearing the end of the rambling, unfocussed discussion about the recommendation, Councillor Hutchison remarked "We are trying to hit a home run and we haven't even got to first base."
Does he know what he said? If so, what does this mean? A player hits a home run from the plate, not first base. What a comment.
On more than one occasion, the mayor (to his credit) reminded council what the proposal actually was...the one agreed to many moons ago, and described in the council materials: an aquatic facility that would be comprised of one long pool that could be divided into two 25m pools PLUS another 25m pool that would have a number of leisure features incorporated into it. He rightly commented that a long pool, the 50m pool, would not be adequate for competitions (major or minor) because there would be no warm-up pool.
On this he is absolutely correct. Proponants of a new aquatic facility support the location at the Invista Centre, and they support a complex that would be suitable for major competitions (in all 4 Olympic sports). This is in agreement with current practice around the world: if one expects to hold any kind of elite compeition, a warm-up pool is mandatory.
Let's hope that councillors read and understand the material that they have been given.
Councillor Osanic's frustration at the process (going over the same, already-decided material repeatedly) is I am sure felt by other councillors who have kept up with the debate, read their material, talked to people who know what they are talking about. And it surely must be frustrating for Commissioner Beach and her colleagues on staff, to have to find answers to questions that have already been answered, or worse, answers to questions that can only be answered when additional study has been done. [one councillor suggested that a Murtha pool was best, having just heard Councillor Gerretsen say "we are not experts in this." ]
Patience is the order for this day, this month, and for the last 2 years. One must admire the patience of Commissioner Beach who is carrying this project.
My patience is wearing thin.
Such was the case on Tuesday evening during a long, unfocussed discussion about an aquatic facility in Kingston. Background...city staff suggested continuing to explore details for a new aquatic facility. Their recommendation was quite clear: spend the money already agreed to in the current budget to get some answers to questions that were arising (this was Commissioner Beach's remark).
Nearing the end of the rambling, unfocussed discussion about the recommendation, Councillor Hutchison remarked "We are trying to hit a home run and we haven't even got to first base."
Does he know what he said? If so, what does this mean? A player hits a home run from the plate, not first base. What a comment.
On more than one occasion, the mayor (to his credit) reminded council what the proposal actually was...the one agreed to many moons ago, and described in the council materials: an aquatic facility that would be comprised of one long pool that could be divided into two 25m pools PLUS another 25m pool that would have a number of leisure features incorporated into it. He rightly commented that a long pool, the 50m pool, would not be adequate for competitions (major or minor) because there would be no warm-up pool.
On this he is absolutely correct. Proponants of a new aquatic facility support the location at the Invista Centre, and they support a complex that would be suitable for major competitions (in all 4 Olympic sports). This is in agreement with current practice around the world: if one expects to hold any kind of elite compeition, a warm-up pool is mandatory.
Let's hope that councillors read and understand the material that they have been given.
Councillor Osanic's frustration at the process (going over the same, already-decided material repeatedly) is I am sure felt by other councillors who have kept up with the debate, read their material, talked to people who know what they are talking about. And it surely must be frustrating for Commissioner Beach and her colleagues on staff, to have to find answers to questions that have already been answered, or worse, answers to questions that can only be answered when additional study has been done. [one councillor suggested that a Murtha pool was best, having just heard Councillor Gerretsen say "we are not experts in this." ]
Patience is the order for this day, this month, and for the last 2 years. One must admire the patience of Commissioner Beach who is carrying this project.
My patience is wearing thin.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Support A Progressive Community!
At the city council meeting tomorrow evening, councillors will consider whether or not to continue investigating the feasibility of a fine aquatic centre for Kingston.
Let's hope that this city council demonstrates what so many citizens want: a council that is progressive, that leads, and that isn't satisfied with just plodding along, but rather, wants to raise the bar for this community.
Eastern Ontario will use an aquatic facility full-tilt if they build it and then hire a creative, experienced programmer for it. This has the potential for being the hub of activity for this city, but it will take progressive councillors to make this happen.
No city in this country has even thought about building a 25m pool that could be expanded. Expanded? What is that...a miracle happening?
With the Olympics barely 26 days away, city council can take a lesson from athletes. Not one of them got to the Olympics by saying "I can't do it. I'm not good enough." Every one got there by believing they COULD do it, and then getting busy making it happen. And not one of them is going there planning to be second or third or down the pack. Every one is going there to win, to be first, to bust their buns. If they can do it, why can't Kingston?
Kingston can be a leader. It can be proactive. It can plan for today and the future. Let's hope it does.
Let's hope that this city council demonstrates what so many citizens want: a council that is progressive, that leads, and that isn't satisfied with just plodding along, but rather, wants to raise the bar for this community.
Eastern Ontario will use an aquatic facility full-tilt if they build it and then hire a creative, experienced programmer for it. This has the potential for being the hub of activity for this city, but it will take progressive councillors to make this happen.
No city in this country has even thought about building a 25m pool that could be expanded. Expanded? What is that...a miracle happening?
With the Olympics barely 26 days away, city council can take a lesson from athletes. Not one of them got to the Olympics by saying "I can't do it. I'm not good enough." Every one got there by believing they COULD do it, and then getting busy making it happen. And not one of them is going there planning to be second or third or down the pack. Every one is going there to win, to be first, to bust their buns. If they can do it, why can't Kingston?
Kingston can be a leader. It can be proactive. It can plan for today and the future. Let's hope it does.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Stop Stabbing Your Finger At Me!
Stop Stabbing Your Finger at Me!!!
One of these days, "important" people are going to figure out that we hate being pointed at and finger-stabbed at!
Look at this photo of Steve Harper, on July 6th.
http://www.thestar.com/news
Stop pointing!!!!
He's probably taken a lesson from that awful George Stroumboulopoulis on the CBC. He points to the camera, the fans, everyone all the time. No wonder we aren't watching his show. Or Obama or Clinton.
Do they think we like this? Someone tell them we don't!!!
Give them presentation lessons, quickly!
help!!!
One of these days, "important" people are going to figure out that we hate being pointed at and finger-stabbed at!
Look at this photo of Steve Harper, on July 6th.
http://www.thestar.com/news
Stop pointing!!!!
He's probably taken a lesson from that awful George Stroumboulopoulis on the CBC. He points to the camera, the fans, everyone all the time. No wonder we aren't watching his show. Or Obama or Clinton.
Do they think we like this? Someone tell them we don't!!!
Give them presentation lessons, quickly!
help!!!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
As for the Olympics, don't you dare mention the B-word
Printed in The Kingston Whig Standard, July 2, 2008.
By Diana Davis Duerkop
Parents spend a lot of time helping their offspring understand the consequences of their behaviour. If you leave your clothes on the bedroom floor, one day, you won’t have any clean clothes to wear. If you don’t lock your bike securely, someone may steal it. If you drive a vehicle after drinking, you could be in an accident and cause tremendous harm to yourself and others
Young people aren’t the only ones that have to learn about consequences. Organizations, including governments, also need to understand the consequences of their decisions.
Talk of a Canadian boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games has thankfully dropped to a whisper. The consequences of boycotting are now apparent not only to athletes, but also to the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and to the government of Canada. Many people do not realize that the decision about whether or not to go will be made by the COC, not the government. It is in this context that the undeniable link between sports and politics is demonstrated once again.
Let’s look at a few of the negatives of missing these Olympics. It costs the COC a lot of money to send a team composed of athletes, mission staff and medical support. The money doesn’t come from the federal government because the COC is a private, not-for-profit organization responsible for Canada’s participation in the Olympics. The COC raises money through sponsorships, licensing goods and services, and donations. Interestingly, when the COC wilted under the federal government’s pressure not to go to Moscow in April 1980, the compensation package was about $3.2 million in 2008 dollars. Given that costs have increased and there are more athletes and support staff, it will cost around $5 million to send this team to Beijing. Much of this money has already been spent.
All the International Federations that organize sports on the Olympic program hold elections of executive and committees in the host city prior to the games. Key decisions about the sport are made at these meetings. If Canadians do not attend these meetings, they won’t have a voice or get elected, and Canada’s representation and ability to influence international sports will be greatly diminished. Election to these positions requires years of politicking; if missing this time, it is doubtful that Canadians will be elected even at the next meetings in 2012. Our ability to lead and influence in the international arena is therefore compromised.
If we didn’t attend the games, Canada’s reputation would suffer tremendously, not only in the sport community but in the social, economic, education and political spheres. A few illustrations. Canada is, for example, investing $13 billion in the Port of Prince Rupert and railway lines leading to it, to develop a transpacific trade corridor. The city is to become the gateway to Pacific nations from mid-America. Any uncertainty around Canada’s support for China, a significant trading partner, would be disastrous economically.
One other illustration. Since 2001, Canada has signalled its interest in once again holding one of the non-permanent seats on the United Nation’s Security Council. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think that China, a permanent member, would not welcome Canada at the table if it boycotts their games, and might actively campaign against Canada.
All this is not to ignore the people for whom the games are organized. Rather, it is intended to illustrate the interrelationship of sport and politics, and importance of being aware of some of the less obvious consequences of boycotting Beijing.
The biggest impact a boycott would have would be on the athletes. The road to the Olympics is long, difficult, and rewarding. One has only to follow the process to understand that few Canadians actually get to an Olympic Games. Canada’s men’s basketball team is in the final stages of preparation for the last opportunity to qualify for Beijing. Only 20 players in all of Canada were even invited to try-out for the team. The team must place in the top three at the conclusion of the July tournament to get to Beijing. This is a monumental task, and one that head coach Leo Rautins relishes. You see, he was a player on the men’s basketball team that didn’t go to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. He knows the meaning of a boycott because he was one of the disappointed athletes. And just what did that boycott accomplish?
Let’s not even whisper of boycotts. They do more harm than good.
-30-
Diana Davis Duerkop is a former Vice-President of the Canadian Olympic Committee. She is a board member of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame and Sport Kingston, and lives in Kingston.
By Diana Davis Duerkop
Parents spend a lot of time helping their offspring understand the consequences of their behaviour. If you leave your clothes on the bedroom floor, one day, you won’t have any clean clothes to wear. If you don’t lock your bike securely, someone may steal it. If you drive a vehicle after drinking, you could be in an accident and cause tremendous harm to yourself and others
Young people aren’t the only ones that have to learn about consequences. Organizations, including governments, also need to understand the consequences of their decisions.
Talk of a Canadian boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games has thankfully dropped to a whisper. The consequences of boycotting are now apparent not only to athletes, but also to the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and to the government of Canada. Many people do not realize that the decision about whether or not to go will be made by the COC, not the government. It is in this context that the undeniable link between sports and politics is demonstrated once again.
Let’s look at a few of the negatives of missing these Olympics. It costs the COC a lot of money to send a team composed of athletes, mission staff and medical support. The money doesn’t come from the federal government because the COC is a private, not-for-profit organization responsible for Canada’s participation in the Olympics. The COC raises money through sponsorships, licensing goods and services, and donations. Interestingly, when the COC wilted under the federal government’s pressure not to go to Moscow in April 1980, the compensation package was about $3.2 million in 2008 dollars. Given that costs have increased and there are more athletes and support staff, it will cost around $5 million to send this team to Beijing. Much of this money has already been spent.
All the International Federations that organize sports on the Olympic program hold elections of executive and committees in the host city prior to the games. Key decisions about the sport are made at these meetings. If Canadians do not attend these meetings, they won’t have a voice or get elected, and Canada’s representation and ability to influence international sports will be greatly diminished. Election to these positions requires years of politicking; if missing this time, it is doubtful that Canadians will be elected even at the next meetings in 2012. Our ability to lead and influence in the international arena is therefore compromised.
If we didn’t attend the games, Canada’s reputation would suffer tremendously, not only in the sport community but in the social, economic, education and political spheres. A few illustrations. Canada is, for example, investing $13 billion in the Port of Prince Rupert and railway lines leading to it, to develop a transpacific trade corridor. The city is to become the gateway to Pacific nations from mid-America. Any uncertainty around Canada’s support for China, a significant trading partner, would be disastrous economically.
One other illustration. Since 2001, Canada has signalled its interest in once again holding one of the non-permanent seats on the United Nation’s Security Council. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think that China, a permanent member, would not welcome Canada at the table if it boycotts their games, and might actively campaign against Canada.
All this is not to ignore the people for whom the games are organized. Rather, it is intended to illustrate the interrelationship of sport and politics, and importance of being aware of some of the less obvious consequences of boycotting Beijing.
The biggest impact a boycott would have would be on the athletes. The road to the Olympics is long, difficult, and rewarding. One has only to follow the process to understand that few Canadians actually get to an Olympic Games. Canada’s men’s basketball team is in the final stages of preparation for the last opportunity to qualify for Beijing. Only 20 players in all of Canada were even invited to try-out for the team. The team must place in the top three at the conclusion of the July tournament to get to Beijing. This is a monumental task, and one that head coach Leo Rautins relishes. You see, he was a player on the men’s basketball team that didn’t go to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. He knows the meaning of a boycott because he was one of the disappointed athletes. And just what did that boycott accomplish?
Let’s not even whisper of boycotts. They do more harm than good.
-30-
Diana Davis Duerkop is a former Vice-President of the Canadian Olympic Committee. She is a board member of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame and Sport Kingston, and lives in Kingston.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Nearly Olympics Time!
Yeserday in a local grocery store, a couple of clerks were decked out in red and white to celebrate Canada day today.
One woman wore the Team Canada T-shirt and pants (aka pyjamas), which she said were very comfortable. [Get them at The Bay, and support the team. Remember, there is NO government money in getting the team to Beijing, keeping it fed and accomodated there, and getting it home. Not even unis .]
Apparently they weren't made for Canadian men: they are, shall we say, binding. A team meembr had tried theem on, and turned thumbs down.
Sure is going to be tough on the eyes, if they wear that outfit as the Parade outfit at the Opening Ceremony. Which I doubt. Athletes have several outfits, one of which is spiffy and is to be worn at the Opening.
One woman wore the Team Canada T-shirt and pants (aka pyjamas), which she said were very comfortable. [Get them at The Bay, and support the team. Remember, there is NO government money in getting the team to Beijing, keeping it fed and accomodated there, and getting it home. Not even unis .]
Apparently they weren't made for Canadian men: they are, shall we say, binding. A team meembr had tried theem on, and turned thumbs down.
Sure is going to be tough on the eyes, if they wear that outfit as the Parade outfit at the Opening Ceremony. Which I doubt. Athletes have several outfits, one of which is spiffy and is to be worn at the Opening.
No one Thought About the Equipment?
Thanks to all for your comments. Too bad the anonymous notes (left by those who just bitch and have no particular reason to be anyoymous) are left by people who are not prepared to stand by their opinions. That's why The Whig won't publish your letters: they only publish letters written by those who have the guts to sign their names.....
And, in follow-up to the comments about the generators.....keep checking the tenders on the city's website, and the line items in the dreadful reports of the LVEC operations that are sent to council. Soon, there will be calls for tenders for, not one, but TWO more generators for the LVEC. Yes that's right. The power supply was so inadequate for at least 2 of the shows that came through Kingston since the opening on February 12, that management has said that more power is needed, and two generators will be ordered. Probably when that can be done under cloak of darkness! ha ha.
For at least 2 shows, auxillary generators had to be "rented" in order to supply suffieient power.
Just keep watching for this....
And for those who enter downtown via Place d'Armes, 2-3 weeks of Ontario Street only should cause a few headaches. It's not really funny, particularly for fire truck drivers and ambulance drivers. If you have seen fire trucks travelling north on Ontario Street, screeching to a manageable speed at Fort Frontenac, you will have much appreciation for them. Especially when they are carrying a full load of water....2000 lbs. They don't really like it at all.
And, in follow-up to the comments about the generators.....keep checking the tenders on the city's website, and the line items in the dreadful reports of the LVEC operations that are sent to council. Soon, there will be calls for tenders for, not one, but TWO more generators for the LVEC. Yes that's right. The power supply was so inadequate for at least 2 of the shows that came through Kingston since the opening on February 12, that management has said that more power is needed, and two generators will be ordered. Probably when that can be done under cloak of darkness! ha ha.
For at least 2 shows, auxillary generators had to be "rented" in order to supply suffieient power.
Just keep watching for this....
And for those who enter downtown via Place d'Armes, 2-3 weeks of Ontario Street only should cause a few headaches. It's not really funny, particularly for fire truck drivers and ambulance drivers. If you have seen fire trucks travelling north on Ontario Street, screeching to a manageable speed at Fort Frontenac, you will have much appreciation for them. Especially when they are carrying a full load of water....2000 lbs. They don't really like it at all.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
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