Congrats to the US for "Owning the Podium!"

[MellowDem]

The US had the highest overall medal count at 37, the most any one country has ever earned in the Winter Olympics! Congrats to all the athletes and may our Olympic domination countinue into the future! :P

[HeresyLives]

1. Well that was a nice try, but by IOC rules

the gold medals are what count in country standings.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. I think the OP is refering to Canada's Own the Podiium program whose goal was to top the overall

medal count.

[obxhead]

4. That may be the rules, but

why do they even give a silver and bronze medal then?

[HEyHEY]

129. Wow, you guys look for any reason to scam a "win" don't you?

[Divine Discontent]

158. "Canada" gets a black eye for allowing that man to die despite heavy complaints months beforehand

other than that, they were great (as a people), and won the most gold. Impressive for a country that didn't even get a medal, if I remember correctly, 22 years ago. The USA was not a winter olympic power until the past 12 years or so, and we ended up with the most medals. Amazing performance by North America with 63 medals! Great job.

[polly7]

166. That luge had been in use for two years with 5000 runs on it.

It exceeded IOC standards because the walls were built higher - inspected beforehand and approved. After that horrible accident, the luge track was shortened to reduce speed and the lugers complained.

But, the designer should have known steel posts on a fast turn were a recipe for disaster. It should have been changed beforehand, I agree.

[John Kerry VonErich]

132. There has been a saying some people believe...

Second place is first loser.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

5. delete......

[HeresyLives]

8. Kay, I'll delete mine then.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

11. The official site has the US at the top,

Germany second, and Canada third.

http://www.vancouver2010.com

[HeresyLives]

17. Well Vanoc didn't even know French was an official language

from the BBC:
http://winterolympics.external.bbc.co.uk/medals/2010-st...

from LeMonde (Paris):
http://lemonde.sports.fr/jo-2010/medailles.html

Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Winter_Olympics_medal...

[MellowDem]

13. Nice try, but who said anything about country standings...

or the IOC? We "owned the podium" and earned the most medals ever at a Winter Olympics!

The IOC also criticized the Canadian women for celebrating, so I say, Screw the IOC! ;-)

[HeresyLives]

21. The OP

Actually the IOC said nothing about the women celebrating. An American took the photos.

[polly7]

122. No, they said there would be no investigation and were quite happy

with the Ladies apology for taking their party out onto the ice.

[fishwax]

43. actually, the IOC doesn't endorse any country ranking/standings

They provide the medal count for information purposes, not as any official ranking.

[HeresyLives]

47. Mmmhmmm

from the BBC:
http://winterolympics.external.bbc.co.uk/medals/2010-st ...

from LeMonde (Paris):
http://lemonde.sports.fr/jo-2010/medailles.html

Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Winter_Olympics_medal ...

[fishwax]

57. um, yeah

Need to feel first down at the old Legion hall? Go to an American-based news media outlet, most of which rank the countries based on the overall medal count, which the United States has been leading. Here, and in many places around the world, China is ahead on the basis of a gold-medal surge that has roughly doubled its total haul from the 2000 Sydney Games with six days remaining.

For those who would like this debate to be formally officiated by a ruling authority, do not count on the International Olympic Committee. “If you read the Olympic charter, we actually see the Games as between athletes, not countries,” Giselle Davies, an I.O.C. spokeswoman, said in an interview Monday.

We’ll pass on the charter and read between the lines. Claiming that it is merely making a concession to the news media, fans and athletes who, as Davies said, “end up wanting to see a tally,” the I.O.C. does compile and present on its Web site a final medal table with a disclaimer at the bottom.

“The I.O.C. does not recognize global ranking per country; the medal tallies are displayed for information only,” it reads.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/sports/olympics/19araton.html?_r=3&ref=sports

This is about the 2008 games, but the point stands. Two of your three links didn't work, but the one that did showed a medal table for the 2010 games, and I assume the other two were similar. Yes, such medal tables exist, and yes the IOC provides such a medal table. My point was that the IOC doesn't have rules to recognize a "winner" in the medal count, because they don't endorse global rankings in that way.

[HeresyLives]

61. Winds you right up, does it? LOL

Interesting that most of the rest of the world ranks by Gold...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/vancouver...
http://www.lemonde.fr/sport /
http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/olympia-2010-vancouver/ho...
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/olympics.html
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/winter/index.html
http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/sport/ol/direkte/arti...

[fishwax]

62. I'm not wound up. I'm just correcting your erroneous statement of IOC rules

:shrug:

[HeresyLives]

64. Oh, of course you are. Sorry.

:rofl:

[fishwax]

65. um, okay

Seriously, I don't quite get what point you're making.

My point was that the IOC doesn't go in for this ranking of countries that the OP and you were buying into :shrug:

[HeresyLives]

67. The world counts by gold,

but gawd forbid anyone would get more gold than you, so sorry.

[fishwax]

69. I never said otherwise

:shrug:

[HeresyLives]

71. IOC is a world body.

[fishwax]

72. Congrats on your grasp of the obvious -- I don't know what that has to do with anything, though

[HeresyLives]

74. Good. Thank you.

Oh, sorry.

[fishwax]

76. Sure. No problem.

[WillieW]

108. Then Germany should be on top!

[alfredo]

2. I'm also glad that Canada did well with hosting, and with

some damn good athletes.

They handled the good and bad with grace.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

7. Yep. It was a good Olympic games.

[alfredo]

50. The death was unfortunate, but sliding is a dangerous

sport. There's no way to make it safe. Canada and the IOC handled as well as they could.

I liked the way they turned a technical glitch into a humorous event in the closing ceremony. It set the mood for the rest of the night.

It was a very good olympics. thank you Canada.

[Oregone]

6. 14 instances of Canada owning the podium vs 9 of the US

The mediocre guys on the bottom don't own the podium...they rent it from the guy on the top that everyone is taking pictures of

[MadBadger]

9. Yes, because when I think of Silver and bronze Olympic Medalists, i think of Mediocre

:eyes:

[Oregone]

12. Well, standards are higher in Canada, so they think differently

You see, Canadians are too kind to talk mad shit. Being raised south of the border gives me an advantage in this land at being an asshole

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. That's funny since it was Canada who created the "Own the Podium" program for the express purpose of

getting the most medals out of the games and it was Canada that faced criticism for doing things like restricting access to the training facilities.

[Oregone]

22. See...high standards. There you go. Don't complain because mediocre nations did no such thing

The program's cocky name was part of the hype and campaign behind the events. Its more about funding the athletes appropriately.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

25. So poor sportsmanship is "high standards" when it's Canada

Somehow I suspect you'd see it differently if it was the United States that was refusing to let other nations train in our facilities.

[Oregone]

30. No... winning 14 gold medals is high standards

Im not sure why you are so bitter since you claim to love all those mediocre silvers and bronze medals. Let it go man. :)

[polly7]

106. Want to see some poor sportmanship?

http://www.thespec.com/article/725664

Compare that to the cheering for the U.S. athletes and come back and tell us who the title belongs too. LMAO.

[Barack_America]

152. Oh, come on. That's obviously just disingenuous trash talk...

...aimed at turning the teammates they play with every day into an "other" worthy of competing against.

Do you honestly think the darling of the Canucks hates Canadians?

That statement was so transparent it was laughable.

[polly7]

93. Most Canadians and the athetes hated that slogan.

However it did give much needed resources to some of them who were struggling financially to get there.

[proteus_lives]

48. So....

After typing that, did you go find a real Canadian to scratch you behind the ear?

[Oregone]

51. All the real Canadians are busy celebrating the domination of the Gold Medal haul

They are not to be found, anywhere. There are 5 more reasons in Canada than the US to be out partying tonight

[proteus_lives]

52. Eye-rolling as always.

:eyes:

[MellowDem]

73. They can't be found...

because they've been buried in a blizzard. I know when Canadians are celebrating because they're all on I-75 heading straight south. Lots of Ontario drivers in Ohio here.

[polly7]

94. You have a completely wrong impression of most Canadians, it seems.

[MellowDem]

145. Oh, I love Canadians...

they can take a good ribbing, I believe. :)

[polly7]

169. When it's a good ribbing and not a bunch of unwarranted put-downs - we sure can.

[Barack_America]

157. What a bummer for the many Canadian silver medalists...

...many of whom missed out on the gold by a fraction of a second. Too bad their efforts were ultimately worthless.

I guess they might as well take those silver medals and flush 'em, eh?

[Barack_America]

150. Oh, please.

That's not representative of Canadian sentiment at all. Canadians are far more gracious than that.

[MellowDem]

19. That's the spirit!

See, we are Americanizing the Canadians and they don't even know it! ;-)

Bragging and bluster, "win at all costs", you're getting the idea! Gold is the only medal that counts, except in the overall medal count and "owning the podium", of course.

[HeresyLives]

24. I blame our robot prime minister for that.

He badly needed a hatpin in the right place to make him look alive.

[Oregone]

31. If you aint first, youre last!

Thomas Jefferson said that.

[MellowDem]

34. See, the Canucks finally found a good influence...

and since we're first in the medal count, Canada is last! :evilgrin:

[Oregone]

36. Ah, Canada was first in more events, so you was last in more.

Being last more makes you further from the most first.

[MellowDem]

42. Touche

Your statement sounds like it should be in Alice in Wonderland or the Labyrinth, and therefore I will concede you the point. But not the podium.

[polly7]

103. We sure did. Our own people! n/t

[polly7]

95. Wrong again.

[polly7]

104. You give yourself too much credit, they gave up the winning at all

costs thing .......... then got going. Your system didn't seem to work.

[murphyj87]

10. Canada's 14 gold medals

Canada's 14 gold medals is the most by any nation at a Winter Olympics. The previous high was 13 by Norway in 2002 and the then Soviet Union in 1976.

[MellowDem]

23. This thread is about the US...

I think there are a couple other Canadian threads floating out there where they are trying to convince themselves they are the best. ;-)

[HeresyLives]

26. Canucks call this 'winding someone up' and don't bite.

[MellowDem]

32. Americans call this 'tounge in cheek' and don't take it seriously...

Seriously! :P

[HeresyLives]

38. LOL I know, same thing.

[spoony]

60. Except that you have bitten, numerous times in at least two threads.

:shrug:

[HeresyLives]

63. No, I'm having fun.

One of the few topics ever to appear on this site where someone can do that. :rofl:

[Oregone]

33. No, the title of this thread references a Canadian government program

Its trying to mock the Own the Podium by claiming victory for America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Own_the_Podium_%E2%80%93_2010

[MellowDem]

40. I'm not mocking it...

I'm embracing it! Many Canadians have mocked it, of course, because the arrogance of such a program is offenseive to their Canadianism. But as an American, I must embrace it! This is one year wear the US Olympic Committee didn't set meteoric expections and put forth dazzling predictions of dominance, and I just wasn't feeling right ever since. Of course, Russia's prediction of getting 30-something medals beats out the Canucks, but it's hard to keep up with the Russians in such things.

[Oregone]

44. Well, keep embracing it and in a few years you all might even move up to second place

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/vancouver_2010/default.stm


BTW: The only thing sillier than the Olympics is arguing about who won em. :)


Cause, well, we already know. 14 Golds!!!

[polly7]

96. Being rated the best overall is a good thing, why so negative for us?

We have 1/10th the population you do, also much less than most of the other countries that get snow and ice ......... we did well. VERY WELL.

We don't have to try, our athletes showed they were the best at these games. Once the stupid own the podium thing was publicly scoffed at (mostly by Canadians and our own athletes) they took off like greyhounds. If they hadn't been THE BEST, we'd still be proud of them.

[HughMoran]

173. I guess you get a pat on the head

:P

[sandnsea]

14. Canada did fantastic

No reason to try to diminish their accomplishment.

[Oregone]

16. If the US doesn't diminish a country 1/10th their size winning 5 more gold medals....

national ego is at stake.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

20. The United States spent half as much money on its program as Canada did.

[Oregone]

28. They also spend less on PBS compared to CBC. The Mediocrity is shameful

Hey, if you are happy with all those thirds, then thats fine. I'm not sure why you are angry with Canada, as it seems you are. On one hand you are declaring your mediocrity victorious, and on the other, you are criticizing the expense of Canadian exceptionalism. If your happy with all those silvers and bronze, then to each their own. Canada seems happy doing things their way and actually winning events.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

29. Do you know what "mediocrity" means?

[Oregone]

35. Yes, I used to wallow in it

Then I left the states.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

37. And what a shining example of graciousness you are to all of us.

[Oregone]

39. Im not even a citizen yet, so Im allowed to be an asshole.

Thats just my 'murkin talking. But at least Im not mediocre at being an asshole.

[polly7]

100. Hey, just finally catching up and realizing we do have to support

our athletes. Many of them competing this year came from small towns and have never received a dime until now. If we can't put out a little extra for them in their own host country once every how many years, it doesn't say much about us.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

18. This was a good Olympics for both the U.S. and Canada.

U.S. broke the record for medals and topped the winter Olympics board for the first time in decades. Canada broke the record for most gold medals.

[MellowDem]

46. With our powers combined...

ah, what might have been, what might have been.

[MellowDem]

27. Who is diminishing their accomplishment?

I'm just celebrating the US's own accomplishments. Canadians are strong fellows, I'm sure that a thread noting the US accomplishment's won't bruise them.... too much.

[SidDithers]

41. Well, the bottom 2/3rds of it, anyway...nt

Sid

[MellowDem]

45. 2/3 is greater than 1/3...

Of course, maybe I should be talking in fourths, since Russia owns the lone "Platinum".

[SidDithers]

55. Interesting that most of the rest of the world ranks by Gold...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/vancouver_2010/default.stm
http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/
http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/olympia-2010-vancouver/home/winterspiele-news.html
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/olympics.html
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/winter/index.html
http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/sport/ol/direkte/article2573563.ece

But North American media uses total medals.

As one discussion put it, if Michael Phelps had won 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze in Beijing, would you still consider that better than the 7 gold won by Mark Spitz in 1972?

Sid

[MellowDem]

59. Who said anything about rankings?

I'm just talking about owning the podium and the overall medal count. Rankings are subjective.

[Elwood P Dowd]

81. If the USA had led in golds but lost to Canada in total medals, then

most of those media outlets would have probably listed Canada ahead of the USA by using total medals. That game has been going on for years.

[HeresyLives]

83. Most media outlets have done so.

[proteus_lives]

49. Good for our athletes!

:thumbsup:

[Nikki Stone1]

53. The Olympics just make me want to be Canadian

I guess Canada won.

[The Straight Story]

54. Don't praise America on here, you should know better

:)

[Elwood P Dowd]

56. Looks like some of the Canadians have cooked up a new scoring system.

Only Gold Medals count. That's like counting only touchdowns in a football game. That's like only counting first place finishes in a track meet or only home runs in a baseball game. Maybe throw in 3-point shots in basketball and birdies in golf. What about laps led in auto racing?

The team with the most superstars at the top does not always end up in the lead when the game is over. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, the US scored the most points. Canada made the biggest splash at the top. Canada won the golds in the sport that really counted most to them - Hockey. Both countries should be happy.

Hey, when you score it 3 points for gold, 2 points for silver, and 1 point for bronze, then the final score of this meet would be 70-61 USA.

:toast:

[HeresyLives]

58. Bothers you that much eh? LOL

[Elwood P Dowd]

77. This coming from someone who said China had a more prosperous middle class than the USA.

How is that per capita GDP for China doing these days? Has it passed $6,000 yet?

[HeresyLives]

78. i said China has a bigger middle class than the US

has population.

And middle class prosperity is the same in every country.

[Elwood P Dowd]

79. LOL!!! Based on figures from.....

the communist china propaganda machine. Why don't you just move over there you love it so much.

[HeresyLives]

82. Boy, the Olympics must really bother you.

I had no idea. You going to drag an old discussion into every new thread?

Actually, the figures are world figures that even your govt agrees with.

Why would I move anywhere? I can discuss the good and bad point of 200 countries without moving anywhere.

For now I'll stick with the country that got the most gold medals.

[Elwood P Dowd]

84. Bother me? The USA won a record 37 medals.

How in hell would that bother me?

When is that Chinese per capita GDP going to rise above $6,000? Talk to me when it hits $40,000.

[HeresyLives]

85. But few gold.

And that really bugs you. LOL

Prices are much lower in China than in the US, so they are just as comfortable as the American middle class...or as comfortable as the American middle class used to be.

[Elwood P Dowd]

88. Yes, they are nice and comfortable breathing that poison in the air and drinking

that polluted water and making $6,000 a year putting up with that shit along with a communist dictatorship that can put you in jail for visiting the wrong web site.

[HeresyLives]

89. LOL oh give it a rest. The Olympics is over.

Better luck next time.

[MellowDem]

66. It bothers them...

so Presto! Now only gold medals count. And apologizing. ;-)

[HeresyLives]

70. LOL apparently!

[polly7]

99. No, bad sportmanship bothers us...... but just a little.

[polly7]

101. You sound so bitter.

We don't apologize for anything we haven't done wrong, so what are you referring to? And yes, rankings in papers all over the place have us at No. 1 (for a nice change) based upon the number of gold medals. That's just a fact. Maybe your turn next again heh??

[polly7]

98. No, it's always been that way, as per IOC guidelines.

[polly7]

102. No, papers all over the world have ranked the top Gold medal

country as No. 1. It wasn't Canadians.

[polly7]

121. No, it's long been this way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Winter_Olympics_medal_table

Not that it matters much, every athlete there deserved a gold for effort.

[HEyHEY]

149. It's always been that way, dipshit

Why do you think all the european press ranks the winner that way?

[Cali_Democrat]

156. geez...did you have to call that poster a dipshit?

:eyes:

[HEyHEY]

160. Yeah, cause I'm sick of this fucking nonsense.

[Cali_Democrat]

177. It's just sports

You don't need to get so bent out of shape over something so inane.

Calling someone a dipshit is uncalled for.

[2Design]

68. Canada owned the podium with HEALTH Care, friendly, kind, and generous people n/t

[MellowDem]

75. LAME...

The US owned Canada's podium... over and over and over again. And no, we won't apologize for the stains.

[2Design]

80. LAME

[LostInAnomie]

86. I'm glad it's all over so I don't have to hear about sports no one cares about for another 4 years.

Seriously, winter sports suck. They're boring, made for rich people, and pretty much exclude challengers from over half the world.

[HeresyLives]

87. oh come now

I personally don't care about them, but millions do, as the Olympics got very high ratings.

And countries like India, Ghana, South Africa and so on were there too.

[LostInAnomie]

90. I think there were 82 countries at the Winter Olympics.

Compare that to the 205 that participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics. I think that says it all about the number of people that care about winter sports.

[HeresyLives]

91. Yeah, a couple of billion.

[Rebubula]

112. wow...

...what a great, sour grapes whiney-ass post.

[polly7]

120. Bull.

Brenden Morrow lives 20 minutes from me and his family was far from wealthy. Many! are far from wealthy and had to rely on gov't or other sponsorship simply to get time off from work or school to practice. They only suck for people who aren't very good at any of them, imo. I don't understand football, CHL or NHL, but I wouldn't say it sucked. I'd say I was behind the times and maybe should find out just what makes all those fans so fanatic about it.

[bvar22]

92. For what THATS worth. I'd trade in a hartbeat for Canadian Health Care

[MadHound]

97. U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A,

Geez, and originally the modern Olympics were about trying to decrease nationalism and instead come together as world. So much for that idea.

America has become ever more nationalistic over the past thirty years. No wonder we're considered ugly Americans.

Can't you just be happy that it was a great Olympics, with great performances, and leave it at that?

[Renew Deal]

109. You're a self-hating american, not an ugly american.

There's a difference. There's no shame in being proud of your country's Olympic performance. And the US can't compete with the internal pride felt by citizens of other countries for Olympic medals.

[MadHound]

119. So you're denying history?

The historical truth of the matter IS that the Olympics weren't to be a venue for nationalistic expression, but rather an opportunity for the world to come together and celebrate the best in athletics AS A UNITED WORLD.

The much vaunted medal count didn't even begin until thirty years after the origin of the modern games, and that was brought about by the media, both here in the US and abroad. The Olympic committee decried this nationalistic spirit as detrimental to the games and fought hard against it, but as you can see, eventually lost.

That is the historical truth.

As far as being a "self-hating American" I find it funny that you can say that to a person that you've never met. Perhaps if we met you would find that I'm not a "self-hating American", but rather an American who pines for the country we were, the country that was waning even as I grew up. A country that hadn't yet taken a horrible slide into nationalism and worse, a hard right slide that now balances on the edge of fascism.

Your post is laughable, the stuff of RW assholes of the "love it or leave it" variety. That you stoop to such a level says much more about you than it does about me, none of it good. What's even sadder however is that sadly, in this country that has drifted so far off course, you are probably the norm in this country. And that is what I hate.

[onenote]

139. I know the practice of playing national anthems began in 1924

curious about the history of the media's role in that practice and the IOC's opposition to it. Do you have a link?

[Shell Beau]

174. You have a team, and you root for it.

Sports and fans can get ugly. That is the way it seems to go. It goes on within the U.S. with just about every sport. Yankee fans hate on Red Sox fans, etc. The Olympics are no different in that aspect.

[CBR]

105. Congrats to the United States for having the most medals,

Canada for having the most golds and to every nation who participated.

Good grief... this thread is nauseating on all accounts. It is ok to be proud of the US and it is ok to say that Canada did better at golds as well.

[Shell Beau]

175. It is like a bunch of 2 year olds are in this thread.

I would like to congratulate all who accomplished something spectacular. Making it to the Olympics is pretty spectacular.

[WillieW]

107. Olympics

Congratulations to the US.  But other countries also
participated in the Olympics. For instance, Germany had a high
metal count and one more gold than the USA. Considering that a
country with 85 million people versus the USA of 350 million,
that is quite an accomplishment, but no one is talking about
that! 

[polly7]

111. Yes, Germany also did very, very well.

They're always impressive in every winter Olympics. Per capita, they are amazing athletes.

[onenote]

110. the US team did great, but wasn't necessarily the greatest ever

37 medals in a single Winter Olympics is a new high water mark. But put in perspective, its not necessarily the greatest showing by a country in a single winter olympics, or even the greatest showing by the US team in a winter olympics.

There were 86 events in the Winter Olympics this year, with a total of 258 medals available to be won. The US captured 37 (14.34%). In 2002, there were only 80 events (240 medals) and the Germans won 36, or 15 percent. If you go back to 1932, the US team won 12 medals out of the 42 awarded -- over 28 percent of all of the medals.

The point of all this is that historical comparisons are rather pointless, particularly if you were to go back and combine East and West Germany during the years they competed separately (or combine the former Soviet republics after they started competing separately).

The US athletes did terrific...many of them exceeded expectations. The same, of course, can be said of many of the athletes from other nations as well.

[TexasObserver]

113. And congrats to Canada, too, for finishing in the top five.

[Romulox]

114. Honestly, I think it was overall a crappy games. Also, special boo to NBC/Bob Costas! nt

[Jennicut]

115. I actually liked this one. I enjoyed seeing a tiny bit of Canada.

[polly7]

116. Oh well ............ we and much of the rest of the world enjoyed them.

Guess you could have watched something else.

[Romulox]

118. So long as my news programs aren't pre-empted by Curling tonight, I'm glad for them! nt

[polly7]

123. Should be all over showing replays by then, I would think?

I'll miss the news tonight though when we go curling. Oh well ......

[Romulox]

127. For some reason, NBC used its news stations to show the Curling tourney in its entirety

So, for example, coverage of the "Health Care Summit" was pre-empted on Friday to go to Canada-Norway curling (IIRC.)

Nothing against the teams, but the Summit was more important.

[polly7]

128. Wow, I didn't realize that. Yes, I agree, in the U.S. the summit was

far more important. My apologies for jumping to conclusions. Sincerely.

[onenote]

144. of course there were other stations carrying the summit

so if you really wanted to see it you could.

[alcibiades_mystery]

117. Still kinda fun to watch Sidney Crosby make USA chanting clowns

have to eat a little shit.

:-)

[onenote]

125. I'm curious why those cheering for the US were clowns, but those cheering for Canada were not

The crowd that I observed at the game didn't seem too reluctant to express their pro-Canada sentiment, which seems pretty reasonable to me.

[MadBadger]

136. Because some DUers dont like US nationalism, even when its acceptable

like at the Olympics

[1awake]

159. Yea Crosby was great.. sure he's back home where he lives in the USA.

Just like most of the other Canada hockey team lives. I could take this so much further.. but I wont.


Congratz to Canada for a great show, and great effort winning the most gold! Congratz to the USA for the most medals over all.

...I think I'd trade in all the medals to have a few more weeks of the hockey play.. get rid of the NHL and have the IHL (international Hockey league).

[invictus]

124. How dare you congratulate America! Didn't you know that we suck and Canada rules?

:sarcasm:

[polly7]

126. Everyone congratulated the U.S.

Nobody said anything like your implying. Where does all this come from?

On edit: Canada ruled at 'Gold' in these GAMES. Just a little four year ceremony meant to enjoy one another ...... I guess it took a bad turn here.

[HEyHEY]

130. Wow, what a dick move

You're a classy guy. PIssed about the hockey game? Or the nation of 33 million that only won ten less medals than your insanely funded system that puts ten athletes in every competition? Or are you full of bullshit and sour grapes like Apollo Ohno and all of Russia?

[alcibiades_mystery]

131. LIKE

:thumbsup:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

133. Funny you would speak of Russia. The OP's spin struck me like the USSR...

...boasting the "Glorious People Revolution's" achievements.

"In 1977, The USSR's wheat production was 23 million tonnes, beating the previous record of 21 million!"

later...

"In 1978, The USSR's wheat production was 20 million tonnes, beating the previous record of 19 million!"

[MadBadger]

135. Oh, Come on. I think Canada has 6 less Olympians than the US

[MellowDem]

143. Awww... sour grapes?

Sorry you feel you have to denigrate a thread celebrating the US Olympic performance. Hmm, sounds like a "dick move". I am a classy guy. I like to celelbrate my country's accomplishments! Like owning the Canadian podium. It feels pretty awesome, what can I say? :P

[HEyHEY]

146. Your post was clearly to start trouble and you got it, so don't bitch

Just cause golds are what determine the winner.... loser.

[MellowDem]

151. Not at all!

The thread was going just fine until some "friendly" Canucks showed up. I was expecting them to come in apologizing for their meager efforts in the Olympics, but I think some of them were drunk on Polar Bear urine, so I won't blame them. :D

I just stated the facts in my OP. If some Canucks took umbrage at that, good for them! If this thread has sparked some nationalistic fervor in Canadians, then I have done some good in the world. And if it got certain despondant Americans on this board to finally feel some pride in their country, then I've done the near impossible! :P

[HEyHEY]

155. Don't deny it, you wanted to start trouble.

[MellowDem]

182. I know I know...

I DARED to say something positive about the US. And oh, those poor Canucks couldn't handle it. They're used to being worshipped on here and bashing the US constantly, I get it, it threw a wrench in their system. :-( Poor, poor babies.

I think it's hilarious that some Canucks have found the thread to be offensive. Seriously, they have to be the most sensitive, defensive, and insecure people on the planet by the look of this thread.

[polly7]

162. Awwies ............. our meager efforts took us STRAIGHT to the top

in rankings. Numero uno. Woot! Woot!!! I don't normally care much for medal totals, but your posts just bring out a little extra pride in how well we did. So thanks!

[MellowDem]

181. You're very welcome!

Glad I could stroke some Canadian ego!

[polly7]

183. Aw, nice of you. Every four years some country gets to host a

Games meant to bring people together for fun, learning a bit about each others cultures and for hard-working athletes from around the world to strutt their stuff. The only ego I see here that needs stroking might be yours. I don't really think I have one. Don't need one, just defending all the crap being thrown around about people who don't deserve it. Being the best to brag just to brag about it isn't really all that impressive. Knowing you did your best is ........ ours did their best, as I know did all the others. We just happened to get ranked first according to custom. And bruised a lot of egos in the process. Oh well ............... :hi: There's always next time:)

[Barack_America]

148. You might look into how much Canada spent on these games.

Their Olympic program was anything but underfunded leading up to these games.

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Games+report+card/2627327/story.html

I'm not saying that Canadian athletes weren't motivated by national pride, I'm certain they were, but money certainly helped prepare them for the games.

[HEyHEY]

154. I am well aware of how much was spent

But I'm dealing with a cockhead above, not rational people.... this is not time for reason.

[polly7]

163. Any comparisons to money spent in past U.S. or any other past

Olympics? That would only be fair. I'd like to see a complete listing, if possible.

[Barack_America]

170. Why?

What the US or other nations spend on their athletes does not negate the fact that Canada invested heavily in these games.

Of course the US pays a ton (although an exact figure is hard to estimate given that many athletes are primarily supported by corporate sponsors). That's the point; these days, if you want to garner a lot of Olympic medals, you have to spend the big bucks. It's true for all nations.

[polly7]

171. Because we're apparently horrible for all the money we spent

putting on these Olympics and giving athletes the ability to compete. I'd like to know what others have spent as a comparison.

[Barack_America]

172. Horrible? How so? Canada just didn't get 14 golds through pride or divinity alone.

Neither did the US, Germany or Norway, for that matter.

But it's not all the money, either. Russia invested a ton too and went home disappointed.

[Barack_America]

176. Okay, it looks like the US Olympic Committee spent $58 million...

...compared to $110 million spent by Canada.

But, like I said, corporate sponsorships that are harder to quantify also come into play, i.e. Shaun White's secret personal half-pipe courtesy of Red Bull.

This article I found quotes the figures I provided you and discusses our "hybrid" funding system as well.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575085513033681950.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks

[Angry Dragon]

134. Since they started

letting pros in I do not care what happens. It has just cheapened it.

[onenote]

137. yeah, the women's hockey is so much better since there are no professionals

Of course only two of the teams can actually skate and chew gum at the same time, but those 12-0 games are really great testimony to amateur sports.

Personally, having the very best athletes in the world compete is far more compelling. Would the halfpipe competition be worth watching if it didn't have professionals competing? If watching folks do tricks that the very best moved beyond years ago is your idea of compelling athletic competition, maybe. Not for me.

[onenote]

138. delete dupe

[marmar]

140. To my Canadian brothers and sisters.....

..... we aren't all so, well, like this.

[MellowDem]

142. But we would be much better if we were!

I think you should go join the Canadians. We don't need people who apologize for having pride in our Olympic performance. That's for Canadians. ;)

[HEyHEY]

147. Yeah, I know

I was actually thinking that, besides the hockey thread last week, the Americans had been pretty gracious. I even ran into a couple in downtown Vancouver yesterday that were drunk as hell and just having a blast even after the game, they were very cordial and great ambassadors from the USA... then I saw this thread.

[citizen snips]

141. Weighted medal count: U.S. still tops, Canada finishes second.

The United States won the most medals in Vancouver, but Canada ended the Winter Games with the most golds. The press has declared the U.S. the winner of the medal count, but the International Olympic Committee will rank Canada at No. 1 by virtue of those 14 gold medals. So, which nation was the true victor of the 2010 Winter Olympics? Fourth-Place Medal has created a new medal tabulating system to answer that very question.

For years, the media has used total medals to determine the winner of the medal count. It's an imperfect system in which a country winning six bronze medals would be ranked ahead of a delegation bringing home five golds. That method is only slightly better than solely using gold medals as a benchmark, which is the official IOC stance. Should silvers and bronzes really mean nothing? Why even award them then? Canada's 14 golds are a great achievement. But are they more impressive than the 28 silvers and bronzes won by the United States?

In an attempt to end the confusion, Fourth-Place Medal developed a clear-cut, weighted system to evaluate the Olympic medal count. It assigns value to each medal and also gives added importance to medals won in marquee events. It's not perfect — are five bronze medals really equal to one gold? — but our weighted count is a vast improvement over the simple tally currently used to determine the "winner" of the Winter Olympics.

In FPM's system, most gold medals are worth 25 points, silver medals are worth 10 points and a bronze earns five. Other attempts to assign a value to the medals have used a 5-3-1 distribution. That scoring system overemphasizes the importance of silver medals. Two silvers certainly aren't worth more than one gold.

more...
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Weighted-medal-count-U-S-still-tops-Canada-fi?urn=oly,224789

[polly7]

165. Confusion cleared up.

http://winterolympics.external.bbc.co.uk/medals/2010-standings/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Winter_Olympics_medal_table

http://lemonde.sports.fr/jo-2010/medailles.html

[Barack_America]

153. North America owned the podium...

...that's what I'm proud of.

But, of course, mine is a mixed American/Canadian family.

[whosinpower]

161. Dominate is such an ugly word

But one thing about it - the rivalry between USA and Canada in regards to Hockey - has guarenteed the highest ratings of any hockey game in history!

Your 300 million to our thirty million people. For the pool of people - I would think you should of done 10 times better than we did.....

We kicked your butt when it came to gold. Sorry about that....NOT!

It was a great games. The final nailbiter will go down in the history books. Thanks Yankee friends.

[MellowDem]

179. I think it's a beautiful word...

given the context. Such as "The US dominated the podium" ;-)

[whosinpower]

186. Well then.....

Canada dominated the gold medal count.

Yeah - see, we canucks don't even feel comfortable about saying something like that. It is just not part of our upbringing. Even though it is totally true.

[NeedleCast]

164. it amuses that people are seriously arguing about who the "winner" is

[Arugula Latte]

167. I know! Are we back on the playground or something?

Childish! :crazy:

[polly7]

168. It seems so. We all congratulated the athletes last night and said how much we

appreciated each and every one of them. Today it's dump on Canada day for pretty much everything from getting 'sympathy votes'to our closing ceremonies. Nothing we did was right. I guess it was to be expected.

[MellowDem]

180. Awww...

dump on Canada day? HA! You think this is bad? Pretty much every day is dump on America day, and it is much worse than 'sympathy votes' or closing ceremonies. It's to the point that many refuse to acknowledge anything that is actually positive about the US. I was bold enough to do so, and now I get a bunch of whiny Canadians jamming up the thread about US accomplishments, a thread that would never have been created most likely otherwise, even though there were multiple threads for Canadian Olympic accomplishments on a US site. One thread, just one thread that points out the US accomplishments, and a bunch of Canucks can't handle it. "Oh no, he referred to the own the podium thingie! That's so rude, eh?" It's not rude, it's the truth, but Candians, they can't handle the truth!

I think the Canadians put on a great show. But I don't think I should have to talk about how great the Canadians were on a US Olympic thread every five minutes to assauge the low self-esteem of Canadians. There must be a deep river of insecurity running in Canada for them to go so crazy about a US Olympic thread after winning the most golds. And after winning the men's hockey gold, for chrissakes!

All I can think is that, on DU at least, the worship of Canada has gone to DU Canadian's heads, and the roles have been reversed. Now Canadians on here feel like they must always defend the glorious Canada and point out its superiority, while Americans feel they must constantly apologize and never ever indulge in nationalism of any sort. Well, I say, no thank you sir! No thank you indeedy!

:patriot:

[polly7]

185. LOL

whatever, I'm not going to read any more of your blah, blah Canada crap. Get over it. They're done. We all enjoyed them. Sorry they left you so bitter. Wait til your turn to host the Games comes. We'll see how they go. Well, I hope.

[whosinpower]

187. Here is your problem

"All I can think is that, on DU at least, the worship of Canada has gone to DU Canadian's heads, and the roles have been reversed. Now Canadians on here feel like they must always defend the glorious Canada and point out its superiority, while Americans feel they must constantly apologize and never ever indulge in nationalism of any sort."

The US never indulges in nationalism??!!?? Good lord. You guys are immersed in in, indoctrinated in it, swallow it hook line and sinker. Your media portrays America as the centre of the Universe....and all us lesser nations must kowtow down to your magnificence. Of all the narcisissitic self centred nations - America takes the cake. And when another nation steps up, asserts its own worth, then you cry out that it is pointing out is superiority, and must have low self esteem. But it is you that is comparing one against the other, not the other way around.

You will note I used the words carefully - asserting its own worth is not the same as blaring on about superiority. If you don't care for another nations own self worth and patriotism - think carefully how we must swallow it every single day sitting on the other side of the fence. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

How many of you were aware that your biggest oil trade partner is Canada? NOT Saudi Arabia. How many of you were aware that your biggest trade comes and goes across our border. How many of you were aware of the efforts we made on the day of 911 to keep safe your air traffic? And what thanks did we get from George W. Bush in his state of the Union address following 911? Not a word. I guess it was because most of the efforts made, came not from an army, but instead from normal regular citizens who stepped up. President Bush responded glowingly and ever so lovingly at the UK and Tony Blair and all they did. Yeah - we get it. The UK has a bigger army.

Look, America is a great nation. 300 million people, an economy that helps propel the world. You have done some amazing things in the past, and will again in the future. As your neighbor, and your friend, we don't ask for apologies...only that you recognize others for their contributions and their own accomplishments. If you can't do that, without feeling sorry for yourself, then it is you that has the low self esteem, not the other way around. It is you that constantly has to remind yourself how wonderful you are.

[GoneOffShore]

178. Meh...

:shrug:

[begin_within]

184. Why does the medal count mean anything at all?

I thought the Olympics was about being the best you can be, not about what you get out of it.