What was the lowpoint of British journalism at the Vancouver Olympics?

[Locked In]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

Well, at least the British didn't call Canada a Nazi Nation, like Gil LeBreton did:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02...ians-only.html

...

I just can't believe this guy claims to have covered 15 Olympics, 7 of them winter, yet, in his original column, was shocked by this:

The Vancouver Games' ticketing policy didn't help the partisan scene at the venues. To order Olympic tickets through the Vancouver 2010 Web site, a buyer had to have a Canadian address. China sold 6.8 million tickets to its 2008 Summer Olympics. Vancouver only made 1.6 million available. The Canadians wanted to "Own the Podium," but organizers made sure that they owned the grandstands at each venue as well.

You've watched (covered?!) 15 of these things and you've never noticed that they might be selling more tickets in the summer!? As for selling tickets to Canadians... there were endless tickets available for resale at 'market' prices. We're paying for the games. I'm not really keen on subsidizing Americans who want to attend events or flip tickets themselves.

And that was probably the least offensive part of his article. Anyways, this type of reporting and the squawking in the British media really isn't worth getting worked up about, but it's unfortunate. I guess there is just so much being said, broadcasted, written, blogged, posted etc. that being outrageous and sensational is the best way to get heard when you don't actually have an interesting story to tell or any particular talent for telling one.

[Rusty Gull]

Here we go again - this time another Dallas-based journalist, from the Dallas Observer, is trashing Canadian patriotism, and referring to the Vancouver Games as a "disaster".

"By all accounts the Vancouver Games were a disaster (dead luger, no snow, Opening Ceremonies malfunctions, etc.). So when Canadians partied in the streets and called theirs the greatest Olympics ever, LeBreton took - that's right - offense. I read his column the Sunday it came out. Insightful, I thought. My takeaway was that Canada's hockey triumph and chauvinistic propaganda diluted a supposedly world event..."

And it goes on and on from there...

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/spor...ebreton_pi.php

[SpongeG]

people will criticize mother theresa and god so whatever

[mooks28]

Why do we care about this so much? Not everyone is going to agree that these were good games -- nor should they. Many journalists make a point of being contrarian.

It's just one guy's opinion.

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by mooks28

It's just one guy's opinion.

Nuh-uh, it's by ALL ACCOUNTS, because he SAID SO!

[ozonemania]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

Here we go again - this time another Dallas-based journalist, from the Dallas Observer, is trashing Canadian patriotism, and referring to the Vancouver Games as a "disaster".

"By all accounts the Vancouver Games were a disaster (dead luger, no snow, Opening Ceremonies malfunctions, etc.). So when Canadians partied in the streets and called theirs the greatest Olympics ever, LeBreton took - that's right - offense. I read his column the Sunday it came out. Insightful, I thought. My takeaway was that Canada's hockey triumph and chauvinistic propaganda diluted a supposedly world event..."

And it goes on and on from there...

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/spor...ebreton_pi.php

Was this guy even at the Olympics to make such qualified conclusions? Yeah, hearsay is such good journalism...

I have to admit, there has been some uncomfortable backlash from the American public on the Canadians' reactions to these articles. I fully realize this observation is made through the extremely distorted lens of the Comments Sections. I find reading them as much entertaining as disturbing.