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!