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View Poll Results: This was 13-years in the making...was it worth it?
Yes 74 96.10%
No 3 3.90%
Voters: 77. You may not vote on this poll

 

 
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  #1  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:28 AM
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Question 17-days of euphoric patriotism...was it worth it?

1997: Vancouver defeats Calgary and Quebec City to bid on behalf of Canada for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

January 10, 2003: The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid Committee submits a 400+ page bid book to the IOC in Lausaunne, hand delivered by ceremonial RCMP police officers.

February 22, 2003: Vancouverites vote 64% in favour of the Games in a plebiscite.

Wednesday, July 22, 2003: Vancouver defeats Pyeongchang in a 56-53 round 2 vote to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. "THE GAMES ARE COMING BACK TO CANADA!!!"

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008


October 2009: Torch Relay Begins!

Thursday, February 11, 2010: The flame arrives in Vancouver!

Friday, February 12, 2010: Opening Ceremony!

>>> in between <<< >>> in between <<<

Sunday, February 28, 2010: a bittersweet Closing Ceremony and a hockey game that will be remembered by generations...
     
     
  #2  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:31 AM
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For what it has done for this city, and this entire Country, yes.

I believe we've changed a bit as a nation... it will be interesting to see how we go forward.

This will be an event that, believe me, we will be talking about for decades to come. You can say "Yeah, I was there when..."

For me, being there at the Gold Medal game was a dream come true. Especially considering we won

Which then set off the biggest party in Canadian history, some 30 million strong!
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  #3  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:32 AM
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crosby and the sudden death, probably forever...
     
     
  #4  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:33 AM
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Hah. Yes, Crosby will go down in history for THAT goal. Hopefully people at least remember Jarome passed it to him
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  #5  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:40 AM
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Hah. Yes, Crosby will go down in history for THAT goal. Hopefully people at least remember Jarome passed it to him
ha, hopefully the goalie too...

hopefully he can bring the canucks to such glory
     
     
  #6  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:41 AM
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13-million watched the entire Opening Ceremony...some 23-million watched parts or the entire Opening Ceremony.


I can't wait for the numbers for the gold medal game and the Closing Ceremony...
     
     
  #7  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 10:47 AM
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defeating usa was more symbolic than beating any other country
     
     
  #8  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 11:18 AM
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may as well stick this in here...

It was a great party -- but was it worth the cost?

Games made Vancouver a better place to live, even if economic boost fails to materialize

By Harvey Enchin, Vancouver SunMarch 1, 2010 2:11 AM

That was some party. But now that the first phase of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games is over, with the Paralympic Games on deck, it's time to reconsider the impact of hosting the event.

It cost a lot of money, as much as $6 billion depending on who's doing the counting, and studies of the economic impact of the Games suggest a payback in gross domestic product of anywhere from $2 billion to $10.7 billion -- a decent return on investment at the high end, a dead loss at the other. But there's another side of the ledger. Much of this money was used to purchase hard assets that have enduring value and will help the city and province realize social, environmental and economic goals.

In any case, we won't know the benefit the Games delivered until we have more data, and that will be a long time coming.

For example, Tourism Vancouver along with Tourism BC and Tourism Whistler have surveyed 2,500 people standing in lineups at various venues to ask whether the experience has met their expectations, whether they'd come back, whether they'd like to receive information about British Columbia on a continuing basis and, most importantly, whether they would agree to a followup interview after they return home (80 per cent agreed).

That's how tourism officials will quantify the impact.

The formula used to measure the value of tourism is the number of visitors, times the length of stay, times the amount spent daily.

In the first quarter of 2009, according to the Canadian Tourism Commission, there were 407,900 visits to B.C. from the United States, the average stay was 3.6 days and the average spent per day was $154, for a total of just over $226 million. In the same period, there were 215,200 overseas visitors, who stayed on average 18.7 days, and spent an average of $87 per day, for a total of $350 million.

That kind of detail won't be available for months after the Olympic tourists have left but there are some indicators that forecasts of 250,000 visitors to the Games will be met.

Jana Remisova, manager of Tourism Vancouver's visitor counsellors and volunteers, said the number of Games visitors has been far beyond what the agency had anticipated.

Its ambassadors roving the streets met on average 500 people during each four-hour shift. In the first two weeks of February, 6,800 visitors sought information at the agency's main office, compared with 2,800 in all of February 2009.

During the first week of the Games, Tourism Vancouver served 42,469 visitors, five times the normal volume. Canada's Northern House has welcomed more than 70,000 visitors, while LiveCity has drawn 25,000 a day at Yaletown. Hotels that were at 55 per cent capacity before the Games were 98 per cent filled on the eve of competition.

On Feb. 11, YVR recorded the arrival of 160 private planes, the most ever on a single day, and today is expected to be its busiest day in history with 50 per cent more people and 70 per cent more baggage than has been handled previously.

Another reason the full impact will remain unknown is that meeting planners can have a 10-year horizon. Rachael Nocera, Tourism Vancouver's manager of meeting and convention sales for Chicago and the U.S. Midwest, has been shepherding key decision-makers around town during the Games, including one group looking for a destination for 20,000 room-nights. They were reportedly impressed by the city, the scenery, the crowd control and the facilities, particularly the new convention centre, which they described as elegant and inspirational. And did I mention the head of Expedia was in town?

The Olympics should make Nocera's job a little easier because 174 million Americans watched the Vancouver Games on NBC through the first 12 days, 24 per cent more than the entire last season of American Idol, while average viewership of 25.2 million was 20 per cent higher than the 2006 Winter Games.

Indeed, Stephen Pearce, the vice-president of travel with Tourism Vancouver, said the global TV audience is 2.5 billion and 15,000 accredited journalists and other media workers have been spreading the message of Vancouver's -- and B.C.'s -- beauty, cuisine, culture and lifestyle. It is also the most blogged and tweeted Olympics in history, he added. With this kind of exposure, Vancouver and B.C. can be more aggressive in soliciting the tourist, meeting and convention business.

Although tourism was the most obvious card to play at the Olympics, there was plenty of schmoozing going on elsewhere. B.C. was trumpeting green building technology and clean energy; the independent power producers were omnipresent. Both the forest industry and high-tech companies were displaying their wares and handing out business cards, and venture capitalists were busy shaking hands.

More than a year ago, the Vancouver Economic Development Commission, after learning that Olympic hosts see a 15-to 20-per-cent increase in exports, began targeting global companies and invited 75 of them involved in aviation, business services, wireless communications, film production, digital media, engineering, e-learning and more to meet and greet local businesses during the Games. Again, we won't be able to measure the success of this program until PricewaterhouseCoopers, hired to do an impact study, releases its findings in early 2012.

There are some things that defy economic modelling. Hundreds of Vancouverites may have discovered over the last few weeks that cycling is a wonderful way to avoid traffic snarls, parking issues and fuel costs. Cheap transportation, great exercise and no pollution -- priceless.

Similarly, the Canada Line may persuade hundreds, maybe thousands, that public transit beats driving to work. Over time, the benefits of reduced congestion and lower emissions could amount to billions of dollars in savings.

Finally, there is that amorphous concept of social capital. The party to which everyone was invited -- at least to the free events -- may have strengthened our sense of community and reinforced the relationships that make societies more productive.

Will the Olympics boost the economy?

...

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/g...618/story.html
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  #9  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 11:33 AM
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I think for how these games have united the entire country, and reinvigorated such a passion and excitement among this generation of Canadians. Yeah. I think it's definitely well worth it. I think also the perception of Canadians have changed a bit too, and I hope that Canadians see themselves a bit differently too.

These games will be, as some say, remembered for decades, generations even. Vancouver and its citizens should be proud about being Canadian, but also proud that we've held a pretty good party for 17 years, with the second half of the Olympics a strong push in the podium for medals. It's really quite awesome, and gives you goosebumps to see how these games have united a nation. We're no longer the "country to the north" - but a great nation. I love Canada, my country. Canadians are AWESOME

It'll be interesting to see just how the city, and the country responds moving forward. I hope good things come out of this.

By the way, when does construction on the roof of BC Place begin?
     
     
  #10  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 11:43 AM
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I really think this could have been the best Winter Olympics ever. I just can't imagine how it could have gone better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vancity View Post
By the way, when does construction on the roof of BC Place begin?
I'll be there to pop the roof tomorrow. Boom!
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  #11  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 1:47 PM
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100% worth it. I couldn't help but think how many children will be inspired by what happened here and pursue a dream in athleticism. that in itself made it worth it and will last generations.

I also loved how this event turned into one giant Canada Day, Halloween, New Years Eve/Olympics party. It was great.

finally, i have to give a great big F.U to the media here for focussing only on the negatives leading up to the games. everything from the traffic chaos and road closures to the hours of waiting for transit to anything they could find really - all things that never materialized. i'm so happy the city and people rose above it!
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  #12  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 2:44 PM
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100% worth it. I couldn't help but think how many children will be inspired by what happened here and pursue a dream in athleticism. that in itself made it worth it and will last generations.

I also loved how this event turned into one giant Canada Day, Halloween, New Years Eve/Olympics party. It was great.

finally, i have to give a great big F.U to the media here for focusing only on the negatives leading up to the games. everything from the traffic chaos and road closures to the hours of waiting for transit to anything they could find really - all things that never materialized. i'm so happy the city and people rose above it!
Agree 100%. What a great event. I'd also like to add FU to the protesters. Not the ones smashing windows, they get a separate FU, but FU to the people who parade around a $7B price tag. That number is pure BS.

FU to the bad press at the beginning. They should be eating crow now, with a helping of my boot.

FU to badmouthing Own the Podium. It was already a success before the games, as evidenced by our World Cup standings in all of the winter events. The athletes were obviously having a tough time with the extreme pressure at home. Two thumbs up to Bilodeau for getting it started. He had one of the harder events, in the sense that he had one run to nail it.

Finally FU to the Luongo haters. Good on him for giving the TV-friendly FU to the media when he was asked after the game. Even that idiot-panel was talking up Miller and talking down Luongo going into OT.

I hope he has a nice recording of Kesler's cocky intermissing interview to play for everyone in the Canucks dressing room.
     
     
  #13  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 3:11 PM
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the win, the underside, the future

Whatever way you cut it, the Olympics was a gigantic moral win for Vancouver. Though darkened by early tragedy, the final results seem to have been (here on television and the web, too) that it was a great reinforcement to Canada's national spirit, and gave us a cofidence surge.
It was seen around the world, and read about in every newspaper.

Although the games themselves are over now, there was further talk of foreign investment, possible air routes, and so forth.

In the near future BC, especially the Vancouver region, may prosper as a result of this.

And whether it does or not, go straight away to the addicts, the homeless and the sick and somehow let them share, too.

This a society we're creating. The set of values we exhibit tells us
who we are and who we will be
     
     
  #14  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 3:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yume-sama View Post
I really think this could have been the best Winter Olympics ever. I just can't imagine how it could have gone better.
Nuh-uh... they were "exciting and very friendly"

I still maintain, that guy is a mono-emotional hoser.
     
     
  #15  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 6:01 PM
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I'd also like to second the F.U. to media that dwelled on the negatives too much , and tried to imply complete and utter failure was imminet on day 1.

Being in Mexico for the first couple days, I only had BBC and CNN for coverage.

BBC, thank you for pointing out Vancouver's DARK SIDE. I truly appreciate the scathing report on the "worst drug problem in North America." While there is a serious problem, attributing it to the undefended US-Canada border is purely moronic. Furthermore, they made the "sleepy suburb" of Abbotsford sound like gangland central. Sheesh.

Oh, and CNN, I truly enjoyed watching the Georgian luger's accident in slow-motion, over and over. Great job... sell your ad-space. Not to mention making the protester's smashing a few windows on Georgia street look like a mass riot. Good stuff.

Oh, and CBC isn't off the hook either. Thank you for editing my friend's comment to make him sound like he was hugely dissapointed with his cancelled snowboarding standing-room ticket, and it was all VANOC's fault. Why did you edit out the part where he said "but, whatever, its truely amazing just to be here to show my Canadian Pride and thats what really counts."

Its amazing what you can make the average Joe believe when the media puts their spin on things.

The proof is in the pudding (live footage); not journalistic garbage, trying to dwelve into the "deeper issues." Do your freaking homework before trying that, PLEASE.
     
     
  #16  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 6:29 PM
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I echo all of your comments. FU to all of these people and media.



With regards to Global BC, they are worried that CTV Vancouver's exposure to everyone in Vancouver will steal the Vancouver media market from them...and Global BC dominates the Vancouver market. That's one of the reasons why they've been reporting the Games in such a negative and cynical manner.

The same can be also said for CBC Vancouver, they don't want to lose even more of their viewership to other local stations. But above all, CBC Vancouver is quite bitter that they're not broadcasting the Games.
     
     
  #17  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 7:39 PM
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Well, the NBC Olympic Coverage (which is the only foreign coverage which matters) was totally spetacular. Watching NBC for 17 days one would think that these Games were the greatest show on earth, that British Columbia was the most majestic place in the world, and that Vancouver was a splendorous, glistening jewel.

By the way, I sure hope people watched all the figure skating events on NBC. It was far superior in every way to CTV. NBC made the Joanne Rochette story the emotional, inspirational centerpiece of not just skating but the entire Games themselves. No one does the emotional montages better than NBC.

Last edited by Prometheus; Mar 1, 2010 at 7:55 PM.
     
     
  #18  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 8:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mininari View Post
I'd also like to second the F.U. to media that dwelled on the negatives too much , and tried to imply complete and utter failure was imminet on day 1.

Being in Mexico for the first couple days, I only had BBC and CNN for coverage.

BBC, thank you for pointing out Vancouver's DARK SIDE. I truly appreciate the scathing report on the "worst drug problem in North America." While there is a serious problem, attributing it to the undefended US-Canada border is purely moronic. Furthermore, they made the "sleepy suburb" of Abbotsford sound like gangland central. Sheesh.

Oh, and CNN, I truly enjoyed watching the Georgian luger's accident in slow-motion, over and over. Great job... sell your ad-space. Not to mention making the protester's smashing a few windows on Georgia street look like a mass riot. Good stuff.

Oh, and CBC isn't off the hook either. Thank you for editing my friend's comment to make him sound like he was hugely dissapointed with his cancelled snowboarding standing-room ticket, and it was all VANOC's fault. Why did you edit out the part where he said "but, whatever, its truely amazing just to be here to show my Canadian Pride and thats what really counts."

Its amazing what you can make the average Joe believe when the media puts their spin on things.

The proof is in the pudding (live footage); not journalistic garbage, trying to dwelve into the "deeper issues." Do your freaking homework before trying that, PLEASE.
Having seen it first hand. It is probably easier to understand why you can not take everything at face value by the media.
     
     
  #19  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 8:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prometheus View Post
Well, the NBC Olympic Coverage (which is the only foreign coverage which matters) was totally spetacular. Watching NBC for 17 days one would think that these Games were the greatest show on earth, that British Columbia was the most majestic place in the world, and that Vancouver was a splendorous, glistening jewel.

By the way, I sure hope people watched all the figure skating events on NBC. It was far superior in every way to CTV. NBC made the Joanne Rochette story the emotional, inspirational centerpiece of not just skating but the entire Games themselves. No one does the emotional montages better than NBC.
I happened to watch the NBC repeat of the women's figure skating around 4am after I got back from work. I could tell the male commentator was getting teary eyed as his voice was starting to squeak.


As for the games I do feel it was one of the best if not the best thing to ever happen for this city and Country. I feel the torch relay and how they did it was one of the smartest things. It got people in the mood.

Also big FU as well to the negative press. Although I do understand nothing goes perfect and so you expect it in someways. At the same time you need t also show the good stories.

Question to everyone.

If before the start of the games someone had shown you a picture of how people were reacting during the games and towards the end. Would you have believed it?
     
     
  #20  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2010, 9:51 PM
WarrenC12 WarrenC12 is offline
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Originally Posted by cabotp View Post
Having seen it first hand. It is probably easier to understand why you can not take everything at face value by the media.
True, or the constant talk of a "party for the corporate elites" by the protesters, who were once again boo-ed down by the big crowds yesterday.
     
     
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