It’s showtime!
February 11th, 2006 by Bill
Over in Torino, the Canadian contingent took part if the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics. They proudly waved the maple leaf and wore their ear-flap lumberjack hats – at least, I think they’re lumberjack hats. I’m not really sure how else to describe them. Not knowing any lumberjacks personally, I can’t confirm this guess. (“Is that the sort of hat you would wear?”)
But tell me … is it just my imagination or does this look like a scene from early James Bond? Don’t they remind you of an army of evil henchman at some secret missle plant in the Arctic devising ways to take over the world? Don’t you expect Sean Connery to suddenly jump in and save the day?
A number of questions come to mind when I see all the hoopla about the Olympics. One of the first questions is will I be spirited away in the night by secret Olympic police for having used the word Olympics without official sanctioning? Am I compromising the Olympic brand – which, of course, is not at all compromised by the obsequious toadying the Olympics do in order to nail down those corporate sponsorships.
Sorry … it’s hard not to be cynical when it comes to the Olympics. But it seems more about corporate deals and ways around drug-testing than anything else.
The Olympics are simply too big. Too much razzle dazzle; too much money. And way too much media.
Just too much nonsense.
Minor update: By the way, I’m ready for these Olympics with my silly winter hat.
Tags: Olympics, Winter Games, Business
Well, we’ve already got one gold medal–Jennifer Heil in moguls (which is a bumpy ski event). I didn’t get to see much of the opening ceremonies, but I’ll tape the closing ones if I need to.
I dunno. I’d rather watch the women’s hockey team than the men’s this year. Damn you, Gretzky!
I missed the opening entirely. I don’t even know when it was on.
I’m kinda more interested in the women’s hockey team than the men’s too. Although that first game against Italy seemed a bit extreme. (16 to 0? Good grief.)
i am like the only human alive who didn’t watch the opening ceremony?!