2010 Vancouver Olympic & Paralympic Super-Thread

[Yume-sama]

By 0.02 seconds! And we missed out on Bronze, too, by 0.07 seconds.

[GeeCee]

Wooooo!

[SpongeG]

seems like you have to have a name that starts with "C" to have a better chance

christine
catriona
clara
cindy

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by Innersoul1

I am a *gasp* curling fan. I must admit that I was disappointed that the venue for curling was so small. I have been to many a brier and cheered among 15k people. But I understand that the legacy would not be sustainable. I thought maybe a medium sized arena could be constructed with one of the universities other than UBC but I guess not. Oh well notthe end of the world.

I agree with your last statement. Rather than pursuing a temporary speedskating oval, which would have been the laughingstock of the games, SFU should have pursued a 7,000 seat arena (similar to UBC's) to host the curling venue for the Olympics.

But I can't agree with a 15-20k curling venue. As it is, curling has been the easiest and cheapest ticket to buy at these games - even easier to get than women's hockey tickets. I can't imagine successfully selling 3x the curling tickets as we have today. There are way too many curling games, no single game is that lucrative.

[Yume-sama]

Yes, it would have been silly to build a huge curling stadium. And it would have looked even sillier to have 2/3 of the seats empty, for 3/4 of the games.

[Innersoul1]

Originally Posted by Zassk

I agree with your last statement. Rather than pursuing a temporary speedskating oval, which would have been the laughingstock of the games, SFU should have pursued a 7,000 seat arena (similar to UBC's) to host the curling venue for the Olympics.

But I can't agree with a 15-20k curling venue. As it is, curling has been the easiest and cheapest ticket to buy at these games - even easier to get than women's hockey tickets. I can't imagine successfully selling 3x the curling tickets as we have today. There are way too many curling games, no single game is that lucrative.

I wouldn't say that a 15k rink would make sense at all. You are right even at the Brier most of the round robin games leave the rink empty. It's not until the playoff draws take place that the place really fills up. That being said SFU should have pursued a rink to host the curing. I think that you are spot on with the 7k-8k capacity being perfect for the Olympics and the sustainability of the venue

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

I saw George Clooney and Nicole Kidman arriving to the Hotel Vancouver where they are staying

There are a lot of celebs from around the World staying there, along with the IOC.

Omega spokesperson said Clooney was not in town.. was just a rumour. Maybe he just wants to avoid attention?

Ron.

[Yume-sama]

He is definitely here. I nearly forgot all of my rage over his horrible portrayal of Batman.

Canada vs. Swiss game was a bit of a shocker. 3 - 2 Canada after shootout!

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Zassk

I agree with your last statement. Rather than pursuing a temporary speedskating oval, which would have been the laughingstock of the games, SFU should have pursued a 7,000 seat arena (similar to UBC's) to host the curling venue for the Olympics.

But I can't agree with a 15-20k curling venue. As it is, curling has been the easiest and cheapest ticket to buy at these games - even easier to get than women's hockey tickets. I can't imagine successfully selling 3x the curling tickets as we have today. There are way too many curling games, no single game is that lucrative.

they would have sold the tickets cheaper to fill out the seats - i think they start at $65 isn't it?

I agree though 15,000 seats is a lot for curling sad we won't ever become a training centre like Calgary has

[SpongeG]

I was just the hotel vancouver and saw michael phelps and alexandre bilideau

michael presented alex with an omega watch - huge crowd inside lots of media

it was just something me and my friend stumbled across

hes a short little dude

[giallo]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

Supposedly the Canada vs. Norway game was the very first Olympic hockey game to be broadcast in China, and over 20 million people watched. Hockey is becoming popular there, and the New York Islanders will be playing some exhibition games in Beijing this Summer.

I watched it from the comfort of my bed in Shanghai. It was a bit of a trip to watch hockey, any hockey, from my apartment. I'm currently watching China and Russia duke it out on the ice. The announcers are really getting in to it.


Just so everyone knows, the Olympics are being played all over the place here. All bars and pubs have the games on. CCTV5 (China's sports channel) is doing 24/7 coverage of it. Actually, most people I talk with (Chinese and expat) seem to either be watching it or know what's going on.

[SpongeG]

wow USA gets Mens Figure Skating Gold - it was so close

[SpongeG]

the pics
omega store inside the hotel vancouver - its just temporary - we had no idea who was showing up but there a small crowd had gathered....


than we see why!
Canada's first gold medal winner!


the crowd grows and media shows up






Michael Phelps


he signed some book




he got a watch








this is the same kind of watch he received

[ozonemania]

The Canada-Swiss game was too close for comfort. Crosby was clearly unhappy with himself as Captain. While I'd like to say... this game will hopefully wake up the Canadian team to get their act together... honestly Switzerland played a very good game.

Feel sorry for our neighbours to south on the west coast... they still don't know the medals they got (or didn't get) today.

[SpongeG]

i must say i have never seen NBC show so much coverage before - in the niddle of the night its on in repeats and seems to be on all day with a break around dinner time

[Yume-sama]

Quite the stunner at CHP tonight. Slovakia defeating RUSSIA in a shootout.

[Locked In]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

The Vogue Theatre on Granville St now has TV coverage of the Olympics on their big screen every day. I noticed their street sign when Canada was thumping Norway, but with only 3 minutes left in the game I wasn't interested in going in at the time.

Not sure if they have beer & food during the shows, but I'll check them out next time I'm downtown.

I watched Canada-Norway at the Vogue - the main level was close to full, balcony was mostly empty. It has the best screen, by far, that I've seen anywhere in town yet. 42 foot HD projection, nice and bright, in a dark theatre with big sound. The bar is open ($6-7 beers) and you can buy snacks too (and drink/eat in the seats). All day passes are $27 I think (and 5 goes to Haiti).

[SpongeG]

sounds cool

[SpongeG]

• Video Link

[SpongeG]

• Video Link