This one is pretty good and might be compulsive/compulsory viewing in the near future

http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-curling/

Quite!

Makes interesting reading. I doubt the figures include the billions spent by member countries preparing their athletes for the circus! Just think how many curling rinks could be built for that.....

Unquestionably interesting, though hardly objective!  This would be an "opinion" piece, rather than a piece of objective reporting of the facts.  If you are minded to agree with the writer's view, then you will find it more than interesting; you will find that it vindicates your view.

In the interests of objectivity, I give you Pete Saman who, in response to the piece, wrote the following.

Really? I live in between GM Place and BC Place, 2 of the largest venues and I see no police on any corners, no helicopters buzzing overhead.

Whole sections of the city are off-limits, scores of roads have been shut down Can you name these sections and roads because again I'm not aware of this.

This is hardly an objective or factual piece of journalism. It reads more like a Fox News filler story. Oh well I'm going out for my coffee now if I can get past the invisible force fields that the fascist state oppressive police have installed over the city.



I do not doubt that JM is correct that, were you to take out the spend on security defending the "circus" as he puts it, you could build a lot of ice rinks.  Let's look at this another way: what do you remember most about the Los Angeles summer Olympic Games?  The fact that the City of Los |Angeles had a financial crisis after the Olympics were over, or Seb Coe winning the 1500 metres, turning to the disbelieving press box and delivering them a huge vicky for not believing that he could do it again after an injury-hit season?  The thing about the Olympics is that it gives talented athletes the chance to shine on a global stage and the rest of the chance to rejoice in their talent.

Yes - security is a bitch ever since Munich, but what would you have the vast majority of us do?  Give in and say, "OK boys, you win"?  Let these screaming, bigoted madmen, whose only raison d'etre, it would seem, is to convert me to worship their god (and only their god, by the way - the rest of them are all rubbish - actually, I have some sympathy with - no, let's not go there!) - let these bar stewards actually win?

Maybe we should be looking at how the Olympics are financed (hardly a topic perhaps for the likes of this forum), but let's not do away with them as the writer of this article seems to be suggesting.

just ask the multitude of good causes, facilities grant requests, grass roots funding that has been sidelined firstly by the London Olympics (£150m lottery money from scotland that would have been spent up here) and now by the Glasgow Games with its overspend already in motion. Every million of overspend is a million that could have been spent on grassroots facilities.

The next time they announce an overspend of say £25 million  on the total of the CG just think that that easily could have provided TEN ice rinks with some change - and this is all scottish government money !!!

Am i too naive ..........
to think that politicians might actually think that putting money into grassroots facilities might actually help the general society, the health of the nation etc etc and that it might actually have beneficial and financial rewards such as less obesity and illness reducing NHS spending, less troublesome kids on the streets so less crime, a more cohesive society etc etc.
As has been said many time previously a sporting culture developed from the grass roots with a good club structure and good facilities might actually return some of those medals everybody is fixated on whilst achieving all of the above.

WRB - I am the original cynic but i do beleive that you are way off the mark - the politicos just need some guidance away from the pervaiding "Olympic Ideology" and be persuaded that investment in the grassroots sport provide medals

HOWEVER - that persuasion has to come from the various sports national governing bodies - in other words the RCCC has to set an example ........by putting the interests of the domestic curling before that of the Olympic association.