Sunday March 14, 2010
Find local businesses. Fast!

question of the week



Letters
Olympics: far from a scam

Editor:

I wish to respond to the news item regarding the COSCO sponsored meeting, where speaker Chris Shaw delivered his take on the myths and realities of the Olympic Games. (“Author debunks Olympic myths,” Coast Reporter, Jan. 22).

I was unable to attend Mr. Shaw’s talk, as I was attending yet another briefing session in Vancouver on my role as a volunteer at the Games.

Mr. Shaw asserts that many “fall for” the Olympics (as a scam), vis-à-vis not falling for a Nigerian banking scam. I would like to ask Mr. Shaw and his supporters, why is it over 30,000 volunteers don’t think the Olympics is a scam? How come tens of thousands of spectators who have paid big money for their tickets don’t think it’s a scam? How come over 10,000 athletes, officials and staff, some 5,000 international media people from all over the world and 8,000 torchbearers don’t think it’s a scam? How come the hundreds of thousands of people who are coming out, cheering and waving Canadian flags, to see the torch relay don’t think it’s a scam?

There’s an old saying, Mr. Shaw: “Fifty million French-men cannot be wrong.”

Frank Brown

Gibsons


Comments

fcotton says...

I do count the infrastruture- it would have been built a lot cheaper. And speaking of Calgary, yes everything is still there- why not use it instead of blowing six billion plus here. Furthermore there will never be a full accounting. When it becomes so obvious that the Liberal (socreds) have groken the treasury and bankrupt the Province, they'll let the N.D.P. win an election and blame them.

Posted on February 9, 2010 @ 9:10 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3241207 

flipper says...

afreegreek...alrighty. I'm out. I will enjoy the Oly's, and you won't. Fairly simple.

Posted on February 5, 2010 @ 3:50 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3212968 

afreegreek says...

anyway, the point is moot. the deal is done, the money is spent, and the games start in a few weeks. the only thing left is to see who wins a medal. personally, I couldn't give a crap.

Posted on February 5, 2010 @ 9:28 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3212855 

afreegreek says...

flipper..

if you look it's cherylb's numbers, not mine. my point is I don't want to subsidize this investment with my tax dollars period. I'd rather have the opportunity to willingly invest my money with the potential for a return on that investment than have the government take my money and invest it so someone else sees the return on it. legacy?? I remember Expo. the return I got on that was home prices skyrocketing into the stratosphere so I, as a working stiff could no longer afford to live in the city I grew up in.. Calgary is booming because they have a conservative government, low taxes and a zillion dollar oil industry, not because they hosted the Olympics for 14 days.

Posted on February 5, 2010 @ 9:12 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3212848 

flipper says...

afreegreek - I'm guessing you'll be waiting a long time. Interesting that you don't have a response to my question though. So, you can't prove either number then? I've had a good look, and I can tell you that the $6 Billion is out of whack, and if you take out the infrastructure spend (because those dollars would've been spent eventually), it's even more out of whack. The security $'s? Also out of whack. Need to remove salaries and equipment costs for the RCMP, CSIS and Military as those expenses exist with or without the Olympics. I'm guessing the real number is about 40% less than stated. As for revenue, doing the math on the Men's Gold Medal Hockey game - approximately $14,000,000 from ticket sales. That's ONE event. All the detractors, such as yourself, seem to think that come March 1, it's all over. The billions of people that watched on TV won't decide to take a vacation in the area. The infrastructure will sit empty or unused. There's a little term, legacy, that you all conveniently seem to have forgotten about. Calgary's legacy is STILL going on - 22 years later!

Posted on February 5, 2010 @ 7:03 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3212797 

afreegreek says...

flipper..

if it's 10 billion, good. I'll be looking for a tax rebate then...

Posted on February 5, 2010 @ 5:03 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3212783 

flipper says...

Afreegreek...fine, then show me how you get your numbers. Show me where the $6 Billion figure comes from (the Vancouver Sun article was nicely skewed). Show me where the "only $1 Billion in return" number comes from (that too was a "let me scare you with this number" article - true estimates have consistently been closer to $10 billion).

Posted on February 4, 2010 @ 8:00 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3204475 

afreegreek says...

I'm not anti-Olypics flipper.. I'm anti-public funded Olympics. when the numbers are in, I'd rather Coca-Cola be on the loosing side than me.. you get it??? no, probably not..

Posted on February 2, 2010 @ 3:47 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3189995 

flipper says...

Where are the "businesses tripping over themselves"? Coca-Cola, Visa, GM, HBC, RBC, CTV, NBC, BBC, Birks, McDonalds, just a few, ever heard of them? You anti-olympic types have forgotten about those dollars, haven't you? You can spew whatever you want now, but the fact remains that until it's over, and the final accounting is done, your numbers are just guesses.

Posted on February 2, 2010 @ 8:04 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3189847 

afreegreek says...

** cherylb says..
A 6 billion dollar investment for a 1 billion dollar return is a scam.

too true but it's not a 6 billion dollar investment, it's a 6 billion dollar theft. the government doesn't have 6 billion dollars, that's our money.

if the Olympic Games was something worth investing in, people wouldn't need to subsidize it with their tax dollars, businesses would be tripping over themselves to invest in it.

Posted on February 1, 2010 @ 5:04 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3181008 

afreegreek says...

I don't know Frank.. how come millions of people world wide don't think man made global warming is a scam??

Posted on January 31, 2010 @ 9:09 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3180835 

Anne says...

Gee Frank, millions of Americans believed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Millions still believe he was responsible for 9/11. In the middle ages most people believed the earth was flat. The fact that the majority of people believe in or go along with something (such as the value of the Olympics) has nothing to do with whether or not it is true. There is even a name for this logical fallacy--it is ad populum, if I recall correctly.

Posted on January 30, 2010 @ 12:18 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3173955 

wangodurango says...

You never know You have been scammed till the party's over Frank ...Keep drinking the Campbull Koolaid ...hope you and those 30000 nitwits have a plan on how to bail us out of this scam ...when the final scam total comes in ...hope your not waiting on the highway for the torch to go by in the van Frank ...another scam thanks VanCrock ..are you helping out with the hay and wood at Cypress Frank ...lol

Posted on January 30, 2010 @ 8:44 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3173934 

fcotton says...

This just goes to show that b.s. baffles brains.
Who came in third at the babsled event in Calgary-Aspen-Salt Lake?? Neither does any of your tens of thousands of scamies.
Fred

Posted on January 29, 2010 @ 9:43 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3173916 

cherylb says...

A $6 billion dollar investment for a $1 billion dollar return is a scam.

Posted on January 29, 2010 @ 9:50 am PST | Report post to Editor | 3169477 

Post a comment

You must be Registered and logged in to post a comment.

Register or

The Coast Reporter welcomes your opinions and comments. We reserve the right to edit comments for length, style, legality and taste and reproduce them in print, electronic or otherwise. For further information, please contact the editor or publisher.




About Us | Advertising | Contact Us | Sitemap / RSS    Glacier Interactive Media & their Glacier Websites    © Copyright 2010 Glacier Interactive Media | User Agreement & Privacy Policy

LOG IN



Lost your password?