The cancellation of 20,000 more tickets to events at Cypress Mountain, on top of myriad other woes, is putting Vancouver Olympics organizers increasingly on the defensive as they attempt to salvage the world's impressions of the Games taking place here.
In an hourlong Tuesday briefing touching on everything from transportation snafus to equipment failures to weather woes to the prison-camp look of the Olympic caldron display, some reporters demanded to know if this might be the worst start ever to an Olympic Games.
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Now the greens are screwing up the Olympics
You may have heard that the men’s 500-meter speedskating event was delayed for over an hour at Monday night’s Olympics. What you probably didn’t hear was exactly why irate skaters, coaches and fans were forced to sit around waiting for the ice to be prepared. It seems that in their zeal to be “environmentally friendly,” the Vancouver Olympic Committee decided to replace the familiar and decades-proven propane-fueled ice-resurfacers, known to ice-sport fans worldwide as Zambonis, with a prototype electric model.
And, as with most business decisions clouded by liberal pressure to “go green,” this turned out to be a bad one.
On Sunday, the women’s 3,000-meter was delayed when one of the green machines dumped water and snow 20-meters from the inside lane’s finishing line. But that was a minor inconvenience compared to Monday, when complaints that the eco-friendly machines had left a huge puddle and visible grooves in the ice brought the proceedings to a crashing halt.
Dutch national team coach Wopke de Vegt was among those complaining even prior to these mishaps that the electric resurfacers were simply unable to keep the ice consistent from one day to the next. Who can blame him? How can champions be crowned or records be booked when the playing field is anything short of even?
Explained chief ice-maker Mark Messer in a Canadian Press interview:
''It's a prototype machine. You're always going to get a few bumps and bruises. It's just unfortunate that it happened this time.''
My take: In the end the greens had to admit defeat and ship in a Zamboni, which means they had to publicly acknowledge that their experiment had been a mistake. As one who has spent a lat of time on ice, it seems to me that neither the hockey nor the figure skating has been up to par in this Olympics. Some of it has been just plain bad. I blame the ice.
And, as with most business decisions clouded by liberal pressure to “go green,” this turned out to be a bad one.
On Sunday, the women’s 3,000-meter was delayed when one of the green machines dumped water and snow 20-meters from the inside lane’s finishing line. But that was a minor inconvenience compared to Monday, when complaints that the eco-friendly machines had left a huge puddle and visible grooves in the ice brought the proceedings to a crashing halt.
Dutch national team coach Wopke de Vegt was among those complaining even prior to these mishaps that the electric resurfacers were simply unable to keep the ice consistent from one day to the next. Who can blame him? How can champions be crowned or records be booked when the playing field is anything short of even?
Explained chief ice-maker Mark Messer in a Canadian Press interview:
''It's a prototype machine. You're always going to get a few bumps and bruises. It's just unfortunate that it happened this time.''
My take: In the end the greens had to admit defeat and ship in a Zamboni, which means they had to publicly acknowledge that their experiment had been a mistake. As one who has spent a lat of time on ice, it seems to me that neither the hockey nor the figure skating has been up to par in this Olympics. Some of it has been just plain bad. I blame the ice.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Is Romney too presidential?
Mitt Romney should be looking good right now, having the strongest claim of any prominent Republican to the title "turnaround expert." That term fits exactly the specifications of many conservatives for the post-Obama president. That raises a serious question. If Romney had decked this guy he'd have a leg up even in some blue states. Why didn't he? It was an opportunity missed.
"Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was threatened by a violent passenger on a flight out of Vancouver on Monday night. Romney and his wife, Ann, were sitting in economy, waiting for takeoff, when the man in front of Ann reclined his seat. When Mitt asked the man to make it upright, the man became “physically violent” and, according to some reports, tried to hit Romney. The passenger was then removed from the plane."
"Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was threatened by a violent passenger on a flight out of Vancouver on Monday night. Romney and his wife, Ann, were sitting in economy, waiting for takeoff, when the man in front of Ann reclined his seat. When Mitt asked the man to make it upright, the man became “physically violent” and, according to some reports, tried to hit Romney. The passenger was then removed from the plane."
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