Piling On

God I hate the media, even when I agree with them.


Having worked at The Toronto International Film Festival for many years, I have some concept of what is involved in trying to make very large events function. To be clear, I'm just a foot soldier at TIFF, trying to execute the visions of others and just a minor cog in a large machine. And while TIFF has grown into a world class event, it constantly evolves and the organisation is smart enough to be very introspective and aware enough to learn from any mishaps along the way.


The Olympics are a much more grandiose matter, and you only get one kick at the cat.There is no reviewing and tweaking so you can be better next time. As a former Vancouverite and someone not unfamiliar with large cultural events I am becoming increasingly angry at the media coverage from these shwag addled half drunk leetches who pass for the arbiters of opinion in our culturally bankrupt society.


The truth is that if one of the elders of this fools congregation says something, the rest fall in line. This is especially true at sporting and entertainment events, where left and right can throw aside their political differences to dance on the grave of any endeavour with impunity.


From unqualified and egomaniacal American talk show hosts opining on serious matters in front of millions of even more ignorant viewers, to a onetime former caddy,  former session musician, and current mouthpiece for The Guardian Newspaper, a rabidly left wing entity that has managed to convince a significant portion of Great Britain that what they do should pass as journalism, the feeding frenzy is clearly at hand. I just hope the paper has a dental plan, cause God knows a large percentage of Brits are in need of one.


Mr. Donegan announced after  three days of competition that Vancouver could be the worst  games ever. The geniuses at the Guardian, obviously on a break from the pub, elected to pull that post so they wouldn't have to edit it, probably because it was Cornish Pasties and warm beer night at their local. But they did print this.


Mr. Letterman is nothing but an aging parody of himself who made me laugh once twenty five years ago. Here is a part of what Mr. Letterman had to say on his show lifted from Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly. I would like to ask Mr. Letterman if he is talking about the tragedy of the luger from Georgia or about  Paul Dana . Hippocrates indeed.Nuff said, but ya might want to grab a couch and start talkin'. Ya didn't get the Tonight Show and you're banging interns to try and compensate. We're aware and we don't care.


Early Tuesday morning CBC picked up both stories, CTV followed and by the end of the day the story was spread and picked up by the international media, who tend to give a lot of weight to what the local media are saying at such events, predominately because their contracts forbid them from being capable of seeing and thinking for themselves.


So lets break the problems down before we call in The Red Cross to hand out coffee and cookies.


The death of the luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, (and yes I copy and pasted his name). A terrible and tragic event.

This led to three different questions regarding the track, access to Olympic facilities for training and the qualifications of the rider.

There is little doubt that the track is extreme and that many athletes expressed this sentiment prior to the games. However, having athletes compare this horrible incident to Munich is absurd. Some question the steel girders, which provide an excellent visual scapegoat, but the truth is that unpadded girders matter little. If you're getting  flung at 95mph no amount of padding is going to save you, no matter what. On the other hand having the governing body issue a "report" saying it was the riders fault is self serving and tasteless. 


Limited Access To The Facilities

In my mind, limiting access is simply un - Canadian and if this went on it taints every medal that we win. The sad thing is that it did go on and our athletes had nothing to do with it. Shame on those in power at VANOC, I want to live in a country that strives to be better than that, and the claim that "others do it" carries no truck with this Canuck. 

Equipment Problems

Another complaint was equipment problems at the Richmond Oval. Equipment fails, get over it. You could be waiting at a soup line in a Sudanese refugee camp. At least you had a seat. Gimme a break.


Own The Podium


What the hell is the problem here? Criticism because Canada wants to win a lot of medals at an Olympics that it is hosting? Of course this is in contrast to Salt Lake and Beijing, which merely wanted to welcome the world, with no thought whatsoever to personal gain, national pride or corporate sponsorship. As a Canadian, I profusely apologise for wanting to win. Suck it.


Weather Problems

Weather is a huge problem and I have to say that I have seen many, many warm days at this time of year in Vancouver. For Mr. Rogge and Mr. Furlong to pretend that they are shocked by the warm weather is disingenuous.


Warm weather has resulted in the powers that be refunding tix because the viewing areas could collapse at Cypress  due to soft ground. Is the media showing compassion for the ticket holders missing an event, or are they sorry that they missed out on a potential story about bleachers collapsing?

But at the end of the day, why must everything be picked apart so that we may seek justifications for our petty anger? Can't we just enjoy all the marvelous things about this event, instead of seeking out petty stories about how an upper middle class white grandmother had to wait fifteen minutes for a bus, or how someone had to wait in line for a drink, how a piece of hydraulics failed or the placement of a fence makes it difficult for morons with digital cameras who don't know how to operate them?


Its the freaking Olympics, you spoiled morons.

Lets appreciate what we have, 'cos we got more than most.


ps: I don't care what anyone says, I'm still with rap artist Classified, are you? Yo,  one two, one two, mic check, one two, one two.


Watch your step Colbert.







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