Airtime&Gravity Posted February 12, 2010 Posted February 12, 2010 ^Even if the poles weren't there, he still would have died as he would have hit the ground at 90mph. Very sad and horrific accident, and although I knew the sport was dangerous, the accident is still unexpected. You'd think that the track would be designed with the safety of the athlete in mind so that accidents like this don't happen.
Sir Clinksalot Posted February 12, 2010 Posted February 12, 2010 OMG, that video ... how can they NOT have padding on those poles right there??? I'm hoping there is some way they can slow that track down. I know the luger's have been complaining about the speed and comments about being "Crash Test Dummies" were thrown around yesterday. Didn't think it was so literal.
Skycoastin Steve Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 I think the biggest issue is the height (or lack thereof) of the walls along the bottom stretch of the track. I mean it took nothing for him to get launched over that wall. Seems like another 2 feet might have kept him on the ice. He would have been in some serious pain, but that's obviously better than dead.
chemical_echo Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Watching the opening ceremonies is bringing out a huge rush of Canadian pride...much more than my usual amount of national pride.
SharkTums Posted February 13, 2010 Author Posted February 13, 2010 I hope the Canadian team comes out surrounded by mounties and beavers!
larrygator Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 OK, so I just turned on the opening ceremonies. Are they indoors? If so, LAME! EDIT: I just confirmed they are indoors. LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
chemical_echo Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Yes, they are indoors; Vancouver doesn't have a large enough outdoor stadium for it. It's the first Opening Ceremonies to be held indoors, so that's pretty impressive in itself.
Airtime&Gravity Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 (edited) ^They did a major renovation of BC Place. The stadium was indoors, but after the renovation, the seats were covered and the field open. It's still an indoor stadium for the most part though. Before: After: Edited February 13, 2010 by Airtime&Gravity
larrygator Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 At least they have a cool mascot, or at least Quatchi is cool, not so sure about the little guy.
chemical_echo Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 That new roof wont be in place until after the games.
SharkTums Posted February 13, 2010 Author Posted February 13, 2010 I love how the Canadian Olympic people keep trying to downplay the Beijing Opening Ceremonies and try to curtail anyone trying to compare them, I think one of the higherups even said he didn't watch it! Just admit, you won't be able to beat them, don't throw in quotes like "We're focusing on different aspects of show"...yeah whatever, you're not blowing up a gazillion fireworks and you don't have a billion people doing random manual labor type stuff in the middle of the field! No one expects Canada to out do the Chinese, unless of course there were a bunch of beavers tapping maple syrup and delivering it to mounties!
Mr. Starr Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 The floor projections were pretty cool though, especially the Orcas swimming.
chemical_echo Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 People also need to remember Beijing had a $100million budget for their opening ceremonies while Vancouver only has $25million. They knew they couldn't compete, and I really don't think they're trying to. They're putting on the best show they can while celebrating our culture. I don't think any country would have been able to compete, including the US. But then again, the Opening Ceremonies aren't a judged competition, so there really is no need to compete and try to outdo each other.
kingsdominionlvr Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 I'm quite surprised NBC aired the video of the crash. Hopefully, they can find some kind of padding to place on the wall (or whatever it was) the guy slammed into after he shot off of the sled.
ParkTrips Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 OK, so I just turned on the opening ceremonies. Are they indoors? If so, LAME! EDIT: I just confirmed they are indoors. LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! these were my thoughts this morning when I heard they are indoors. Canadians suck. At least we in the ATL built a decent place for the Olympics instead of doing the stuff in our older, crappy arenas of the mid 90s Insane video Elissa thanks for sharing
chemical_echo Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 1. Canadians rock. 2. Why build a new stadium and waste tax payers dollars for something that is just going to be used for the Olympics when the current one has everything they needed? The Canucks already have an arena, and BC place is already slated to the get the new roof posted on the other page. I honestly don't see the big deal with holding it inside or out.
monkeyoverlord71 Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Was the girl singing the Canadian national anthem lip syncing really badly? Or was that just me?
ginzo Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Why build a new stadium and waste tax payers dollars for something that is just going to be used for the Olympics when the current one has everything they needed? Because typically the Olympic Committee won't let this fly. You don't like the cost of hosting the Olympics? No problem. They've got like 50 other cities fighting for a chance to build that nice, new facility to put on a proper event. Enjoy it while it lasts. I doubt Canadia will get this chance again.
chemical_echo Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Obviously the IOC didn't have a problem with Vancouver holding them indoors. They could have easily said "no, build a new stadium, or take of the venue's roof," but they allowed it, and people were generally impressed. Oh, and once Toronto hosts the PanAm games in 2015, we'll bid for the summer games again, and we'll get them this time.
BeemerBoy Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 At least we in the ATL built a decent place for the Olympics instead of doing the stuff in our older, crappy arenas of the mid 90s. The construction of ATL's stadium was one of the sweetest deals ever negotiated though. The timing of the Braves' need for a new stadium, Ted Turner's deep pockets, NBC and other Olympic sponsors paying some of the construction costs, etc.; all of it fell into place perfectly. At least Vancouver didn't fail like Montreal did with Olympic Stadium in 1976. Wasn't that place finally "officially" completed like a decade or more after the games ended? EDIT: Here's a quote from Wiki: Well over its original budget, the stadium ended up costing $770 million to construct. By 2006, the final cost had risen to $1.47 billion when calculating in repairs, modifications and interest paid out. It took taxpayers 30 years to finally pay off the cost, leading to its nickname of "The Big Owe" (a play on "The Big O") I don't know, the dome didn't detract from the overall quality of the production last night. Some of that stuff was visually stunning, especially considering the limited budget.
SharkTums Posted February 13, 2010 Author Posted February 13, 2010 I thought the projections on the floor were very cool, but other than that I wasn't really impressed by anything. Although I was laughing several times, like when the mounties came out, or the torch failed, or the giant maple leafs, etc. The intro seemed a bit lackluster as well. Maybe if the snowboarder had a bigger hill or bigger jump, but it just wasn't really amazing or breathtaking or anything. Almost seemed more of a closing ceremonies. BTW, Bryan Adams
RCFreak Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Yeah I don't get the the gripe of it being indoors, to someone who really cares about the issue, why does it matter? And that's not being sarcastic I really would like to know. I watched it last night and I really liked the whole projection aspect of it. Of course I was half asleep so I missed some of it and I did find it a little slow overall. I also liked how it started like Soarin' Over Canada lol. The floor projections were pretty cool though, especially the Orcas swimming. I totally agree, I had a big grin on my face when those showed up.
larrygator Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 My gripe isn't that they used an existing venue. I agree why waste money just for the sake of it. I just would have preferred a toned down spectacular that was outdoors. Lillehammer was about to do this in their ski jumping venue. Granted the King of Norway messed things up by allowing all Norwegians in for free at the last minute and cramming 70,000 people into a stadium meant to fit 25,000.
Philrad71 Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 Uggghh...what a horrible accident. I can't bring myself to watch the video as the pictures I just saw on MSN were more than enough. I still can't believe that the walls were that low! I had always thought bobsledding and luge would be so cool to try - like the most dangerous most kick-ass coaster experience you could ever have! After seeing this, I think I'll just stick with El Toro, Dragster and the likes...
ParkTrips Posted February 13, 2010 Posted February 13, 2010 I consider the Olympic Stadium to be iconic to the games, and eventually the city, one way or another. Its not like the stadiums end up being bulldozed a year later The winter games are a good bit more excusable than if they were to cheap out for summer, because the venue is only used for the ceremonies, but I'd still like to see these cities make something special and memorable. Instead we just get temporarily renovated football stadiums
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