Russians snag Canadian sporting expertise for Sochi Games

Randy Starkman

thestar.com

Some of the chief architects of the Own the Podium program that helped put Canada over the top at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics have a new boss: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The Russians, in an effort to replicate at the 2014 Sochi Olympics the success Canada had in Vancouver, have hired many of the people who headed the creation of OTP, including Cathy Priestner Allinger, her husband Todd Allinger and Jacques Thibault, who like Priestner is a former Canadian speed skater.

Priestner Allinger, a silver medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics, resigned last week from OTP’s board of directors because her work with the Russians put her in a position of conflict-of interest.

While some might view it as sporting treason to leave the nation of poutine for the land of Putin, Priestner Allinger certainly doesn’t regard it that way.

“People can think that,” she said Saturday in a phone interview from Vancouver. “I always look at these types of things as opportunities. I actually believe there’s an opportunity for Canada in this. Russia has to partner with someone along the way to help them achieve their goal.”

Heads rolled at the Russian Olympic Committee after a dismal sixth-place finish in the overall medal standings in Vancouver.

Putin, a serious sportsman who is active in judo, wants a big turnaround for Sochi. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, who recruited Priestner Allinger, is the minister in charge of the Games, reporting directly to Putin.

“We were over a couple of trips ago and just out for a walk, and the Russian we were with said ‘Putin is reading your report tonight.’ I said ‘What?’” said Priestner Allinger. “It’s definitely within the highest levels of interest with the Russian government.”

Priestner Allinger said they would likely hire more Canadians to work in the Russian program, but without stealing away any personnel.

“We’re not going to poach or anything like that, we have no desire to do that,” she said. “There are individuals for sure who we have talked to in Canada and also in the U.S. who have an interest in getting involved.”

Priestner Allinger described talks in May with Zhukov about the evolution of the OTP program in Canada, which began just over five years before the Vancouver Games. The big question the Russians were pondering was: Could it be done in the four years leading up to the Sochi Olympics?

The undertook a review for the Russians, which they presented in late September and which concluded they had the capabilities to take a big step forward but would have to find a way to cut through all the bureaucracy in their system.

Priestner Allinger said she kept John Furlong, chairman of the Own the Podium board, apprised all along of her dealings with the Russians. But it reached the point where she needed to resign because of the potential conflict of interest.

“It’s going to require a lot of change on their part,” she said. “They definitely have gaps in terms of expertise. They have a lot of new leadership, so there’s a catching up for them as well. But if they switch gears a little bit — change is not something that comes super-easy to that country — but they’re going to need to make some significant change. And if they do, it’s possible.”

Priestner Allinger said the first thing the program needs to ensure is that it’s providing athletes and coaches with the basics. Russia also must put resources into the newer sports, not just the traditional ones.

“Really for Russia, they don’t have the basics, which is a shock to people when they hear that,” she said. “But they have a lot of gaps to fill in making sure the athletes and coaches have all the support and equipment that they need.

“You have to make sure you have a sled to slide on, the most current technology possible — and that’s where Canada played a lot of catching up prior to 2010. It’s funny so much of what we’ve heard going into this is exactly what we heard six years ago here in this country.”

After some skepticism in Russia about the Canadians, things have been moving along well. Only half of the Russian sports federations were expected to show up for consultations during their review, but most relented by the time they left.

“We’re setting really new ground in Russia,” said Priestner Allinger. “They’re not really sure what to do with us.”

Own the Podium’s CEO, Alex Baumann, praised Priestner Allinger on Saturday, saying “Cathy played a critical role in the foundation of Own the Podium.”

IOC to decide on additional events in Sochi 2014

Associated Press

tsn.ca

ACAPULCO, Mexico -- Women's ski jumping and new events in snowboarding, Alpine skiing, figure skating, biathlon and luge are being considered for inclusion at the next Winter Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee will decide on additions to the program for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, at a three-day executive board meeting opening here Sunday.

In an incongruous setting, Olympic officials are meeting at a palm-lined Pacific beach resort to approve winter sports to be contested in the North Caucasus mountains of Russia.

Proposed for inclusion are women's ski jumping, men's and women's snowboard and Alpine slopestyle, men's and women's ski halfpipe, a parallel racing Alpine team event, mixed relay in biathlon, a team event in figure skating, and a luge team competition.

Several, but not all, are expected to gain approval Monday.

IOC officials said women's ski jumping may be accepted on a conditional basis, pending a review of the quality of competition at the 2011 world championships in Norway.

Women's ski jumping was previously turned down twice by the IOC in its bid for inclusion at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The IOC said then that the sport lacked a sufficient number of elite competitors.

Women jumpers took their case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, but failed to overturn the IOC decision.

IOC President Jacques Rogge has said he supports the addition of women's jumping but only if there is a continued growth in the number of top competitors.

The inaugural women's ski jumping world championship took place last year in Liberec, Czech Republic, and was won by American Lindsey Van. Next year's championship will be held in Oslo on Feb. 25.

The International Ski Federation, or FIS, plans to start a women's ski jumping World Cup circuit starting with the 2011-12 season. Women have competed on the Continental Cup circuit since 2005.

"Approval for Sochi 2014 is huge for the advancement of the sport," said Deedee Corradini, a women's jumping advocate and president of Women's Ski Jumping USA. "It will bring many more young women and girls into the sport that have stayed away because they haven't been welcome on the ultimate stage: the Olympics."

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper said he is "very optimistic" that all five proposed ski events will win approval, if not immediately then in the coming months.

"They don't need additional courses or anything built," he said. "And there is enough space in the program."

The addition of slopestyle and ski halfpipe events would be the latest push by the IOC to bring in events that appeal to youth. Skicross made its debut in Vancouver.

"It gives us a different image and colour to the Olympic Winter Games," Kasper said.

In slopestyle, athletes do huge tricks while going down the mountain and through "features" -- rails, big jumps and bumps. American snowboard star Shaun White, who won the halfpipe gold medal in Vancouver, has said he would like to add slopestyle to his schedule if it's approved for Sochi.

Ski slopestyle is similar to the snowboard version.

In ski halfpipe, skiers score points for performing tricks and jumps on the same course used for the snowboard halfpipe. The event is on the schedule for the 2011 Freestyle Ski World Championships in Park City, Utah.

The Alpine team event, which has been held at the World Championships since 2005, features racers going head-to-head in a parallel giant slalom.

In skating, a World Team Trophy was held for the first time last year in Tokyo. The event featured eight skaters per team -- two male single skaters, two female single skaters, one pairs couple and one ice dancing couple.

Olympic sports to get $6million boost from federal government

Canadian Press

tsn.ca

A $6-million boost from the federal government is aimed at changing Canada's history of poor performances in team sports at the Summer Olympics.

Basketball, volleyball, field hockey, water polo and recent Games addition rugby sevens will benefit from the new funding, part of a five-year commitment confirmed Tuesday by Minister of State Gary Lunn during the Team Sport Summit in Ottawa.

The money is drawn from the larger $61-million commitment to amateur summer sports announced as part of the 2010 federal budget, and is over and above the $64 million the government provides to the Own The Podium program.

Sport Canada will administer the money, dividing it up based on the guidance of OTP officials, who will base their decisions on teams' performance and their future chances of success.

"We've got a number of team sports that have not made it into that next level," Lunn said in an interview from Ottawa. "They've come in to see us and we want to be able to support them as well. We're putting that money into Own The Podium to ensure that they can invest in the best teams, the right places, and the right amounts."

The additional funding is a boon for the five programs, which have combined to win one Olympic medal -- a silver claimed by the men's basketball team back in 1936.

Both the men's and women's basketball teams are facing tough odds to qualify for the 2012 Games in London, but the extra funding will allow Canada Basketball to build on promising youth programs that may pay dividends at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Canada does have one volleyball medal -- a bronze won by beach duo John Child and Mark Heese in 1996 -- but the traditional teams are still looking for their first trip up the podium, as are the field hockey and water polo squads.

Rugby sevens makes its Olympic debut in 2016, and the Canadians will be looking to come out of the gate strong. Rugby Canada CEO Graham Brown said his organization is getting just under $500,000 in the first year, a good starting point toward that end.

"What it's saying to me is that there is funding that will be allocated to allow you to begin the process of building the program to be at an Olympic standard," said Brown.

"We feel we've got the right high-performance coaching in place, with support from this money that has been allocated, and now we feel we can focus on providing our athletes with the best opportunities starting in 2011 through the qualification which will conclude in 2015."

The amount each organization gets in each of the five years will vary depending on how much progress each makes or does not make in the eyes of Own The Podium officials.

Securing the money from the larger $61-million allocation to the Sport Support Program, which goes to the 44 national summer sports organizations, has been in the works since last fall. Lunn has been lobbied by a coalition of team sports seeking additional support, an idea he eventually came to embrace.

"We've got funding for the Special Olympics in the budget, we've got funding for Own The Podium, we've got funding for the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and now we've got funding for team sports," he said. "I believe in all of them, and we were very fortunate to be so successful for all of these endeavours in such a tight budget."

Brown said the funding infusion represents about five per cent of Rugby Canada's total budget and will be spent on completing internal restructuring, enhancing existing programs and on getting his sevens teams to more games.

A focus will be on the women's side, which has received far less support than the men's team due to the way much of its sponsorship money has been targeted. The women's team will now be sent to take part in the Hong Kong Sevens tournament next February or March.

Brown also insisted the traditional version of rugby will not be neglected to support sevens.

"Two-thirds of that money is focused on developing a better structure for women's rugby and enhancing the women's rugby platform," he said. "We look at rugby as a combined sport, we don't believe you can develop sevens without 15s, but the reality is you need to have more sevens tournaments to give the athletes a better opportunity.

"Part of this money has allowed us to enhance our competition structure."

Olympic hockey final produces record Canadian audience

March 1, 2010 

The Olympic hockey gold medal thriller on Sunday pulled in a record television audience in Canada.

  A total of 16.6 million viewers watched Canada’s 3-2 overtime win against the United States, the largest viewership ever for a telecast on Canadian television.

  That audience figure represents the combined total of viewers on nine channels, including the main CTV network, where the majority watched the game. Included among the nine channels were the affiliated French Olympic outlets as well as the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and the Rogers Omni ethnic channels.

   It’s an impressive audience, but not a surprise given the hockey rivalry between Canada and the United States, and the quality of the game. Canada took a 2-0 lead, but the Americans narrowed it to 2-1 and then scored in the final seconds of regulation time to sent it into overtime where Sidney Crosby got the winner .

  CTV reports that 80 per cent of Canadians (26.5 million) watched some part of the game.

  CTV also had a big number for the closing ceremonies. A total of 14.3 million watched, making it the second most viewed telecast of CTV’s Vancouver Olympic coverage.

   In the United States,  NBC earned a 17.6 overnight rating (percentage of potential households tuned in) for the Canada-U.S. game. That’s the largest rating ever for a hockey game televised in the United States. 

   That rating, SportsBusiness Daily reports,  represents a 45 per cent increase over the rating for 2002 Salt Lake final also between Canada and United States.

   It also ranks third highest among NFL regular season telecasts in 2009. It’s also higher than the rating for a World Series game dating back to 2004 and every NBA Finals game since 1998.

  SportsBusiness Daily suggests the rating will make it difficult for the NHL to discontinue participating in the Winter Olympics.

Aussies claim Bilodeau's gold tainted

By STEVE BUFFERY

steve.buffery@sunmedia.ca

VANCOUVER — Members of the Australian Olympic contingent believe their moguls skier, the Vancouver born Dale Begg-Smith, got shafted by the judges Sunday night and that the historic winner, Montreal’s Alex Bilodeau, may have been undeserving of the gold.

“I thought Dale won,” Australian coach Steve Desovich told the Aussie media after Sunday’s moguls race. “Alex is a good kid. I just thought Dale won.”

The Aussie camp felt that Bilodeau, the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil, was given turn scores from two judges that were too high. Three of the five judges awarded Begg-Smith, the 2006 Olympic champion, superior scores for his turns, but two judges, the Finn Pipsa Pohjavirta and a Norwegian, Morten Skarpaas, awarded Bilodeau higher scores of 4.8 and 4.9.

Turns are traditionally not Bilodeau’s strength. Ironically, the Canadian judge, Susan Verdier, gave the Australian a higher scorer, a 4.7, and only a 4.6 to Bilodeau.

“My own opinion is probably that Alex is not capable of a 4.8 or 4.9 for turns,” said Australian team high-performance director Geoff Lipshut. “He’s just not capable.”

The Australians felt the pro-Canadian crowd may have swayed the judges to some degree.

For his part, Bilodeau took the high road when asked about the Australian’s concerns.

“Sometimes you’re in the good graces of the judges, sometimes you’re not,” Bilodeau said. “Judged sports can’t be perfect. It can be a bad part of my sport. I see it. But everybody is going to be equal in the end.”

Lipshut believes Bilodeau was overscored for his turns, which make up about 50% of the final mark. Bilodeau scored 26.75 points to win the gold, followed by Begg-Smith in second with a score of 26.58. Bilodeau had a much faster time down the Cypress Mountain course, crossing the finish line in 23.17 seconds, to 23.72 for Begg-Smith and the Aussie camp acknowledged that Begg-Smith may have ultimately lost the gold on speed.

“Dale could have been quicker,” Lipshut told reporters. “That’s the bottom line, if Dale is three 10ths of a second quicker, Dale wins.”

Canadian Freestyle Association CEO Peter Judge was not overly concerned with the Australian complaints, but said Bilodeau won fair and square, as he was faster and his jumps were more difficult.

“That’s part of the drama of sport. It’s WWE. It’s whatever. If you have controversy, you have the drama, and the drama is what makes things great,” said Judge. “If there’s a (different) opinion out there, that’s great. We can sit and debate and have beer about it afterwords.

“It doesn’t have to spin into some holy war. It’s opinions about sport and it’s passionate opinions about something we love.”

Bilodeau added: “The only thing I control when I’m on top of the hill is my performance, what I can do. The same thing for Dale. He did the best he could. I did the best I could. And the rest was in the judges’ hands.”

Oh, Canada

By Rick Reilly
ESPN The Magazine

It's always so cute when Canada hosts an Olympics. Canadians try so hard. This comes from living next to America and having an inferiority complex worse than Tito Jackson's.

For instance, it's rained every day I've been in Vancouver, athletes are starting to withdrawal because of pruny fingers, and Canadians feel terrible. They're always saying "Gee, sore-ee about the rain, eh?" Do you realize they've been helicoptering snow up to the mountain venues? Who does that?

These people are nice. Preposterously nice. Aunt Bee in mukluks nice. This is a country that has human-chomping grizzlies on every corner and yet chose the furry beaver for its national animal.

Here's how nice: Twice already, Canadian mogul star Jenn Heil's bus has broken down on the drive up from Vancouver to Cypress Mountain. And both buses were from California! Peter Judge of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association was quoted as saying after the second time: "It was a bit of a concern." A "bit of a concern"? If it had happened to an American star, they'd have made everybody responsible stand against a wall in front of a running 2010 Prius.

Anyway, I think Americans who come to these Winter Olympics should try to be nice back. You can't be nicer than Canadians, but you can try. Here's how:

• Do not talk about hockey. A Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup in 17 years. This is possibly because there are no more Canadian hockey teams left. OK, that's not true. Still, if Canada doesn't win the gold in men's hockey this time -- something it's only done once since 1952 -- fans here might all throw themselves under stampeding moose.

If your birthday is August 9, always look at the ground, shake your head and add, "The day Wayne was traded."

• Use the "organics" recycling container in your hotel room. This is one of 14 recycling containers you'll find there. The mind recoils as to what you're supposed to put in the "organics" can in a hotel room, but the little sign says to put "meat, poultry, fish, plants and flowers." That's weird. I always leave my poultry in a gift bag for the maid.

• Speak Canadian. ATMs are ABMs. Street hockey is "shinny." Butt is "arse." Beer is "brew." Stuff is "whatnot." Newfoundlanders are "Newfies." Never say the "g" in "ing." And yay is not a cheer, it's a measurement, as in: "I'm lookin' for my malamute, about yay big and yay long?"

• Call Vancouver "Van City" or even "The Van" but do not call it the name it hates: "No Fun City." It IS a fun city, except that a lot of the bars close at 11. In the morning.

• And it apparently NEVER STOPS RAINING.
• Use abbreviated words whenever possible. For instance, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police becomes the "RCMP," which becomes "the Armsee," as in the sentence: "I sure hope Bode Miller doesn't get pinched by the Armsees this Olympics. I got 10 Loonies on him."

• Abbreviate your new friends' names, too. Hamilton becomes "Hams." If your friend's name is already short, add "er" to it. This is how you get a sentence like, "Let's go play some shinny, eh? You be Gretz and I'll be Nasher."

• Compliment their national anthem. It's way better than ours.
• Pretend that you have to plug in your engine block at night to keep it from freezing, too. Makes them feel better.
• Go to Tim's (short for "Tim Hortons") and have a double-double (two creams, two sugars) and some Timbits (donut holes) and stand around and talk about curling. This will be a welcome topic. The Canadians are still great at curling.
You: The boys oughta do priddy good, eh?
Him: Oh, sure. The sweeps are beauties.
You: You thinkin' they might be winnin' and whatnot, eh?
Him: Boy, would that ever be neat!
• When referring to Elvis, be sure its Stojko not Presley. If you're talking about acting, don't forget the god of all Canadian thespians -- Lorne Greene from "Bonanza." If your birthday is August 9, always look at the ground, shake your head and add, "The day Wayne was traded."

• Never say "said." Say "goes," as in: "So Lindsey goes, 'I'm freezin' way up here in just a bikini.' And I go, 'Linds, it's a bitchin' career move!' And she goes, 'K, but it's colder 'n a Newfie's arse up here!'"

• If you're a snowboarder and you snap your neck in three places doing your Double Fakie Ollie Grab and they're putting you in the ambulance, smile and go, "It's fine! Canada's got free health care!"

But if those bastards say anything about their dollar being worth more than ours, slam them in the nose with your organics can.

"Scary" Future Ahead For Canadian Sport System

Randy Starkman
February 02, 2010

Roger Jackson, who heads Own The Podium, the organization designed to help Canada win the medals race at the 2010 Winter Olympics, is holding a teleconference today to talk about the team's prospects on the eve of the Vancouver Games.

But there's an even more important question at the moment: What happens after the show is over?

There is a lot of uncertainty and doubt in the Canadian sport system as it gets ready to enjoy what should be its greatest time on the international stage. The biggest worry is future funding.

The sports federations recently got a letter from Jackson recently saying basically they can only guarantee the winter sport system $10 million a year in funding going forward. The current level of funding is $29 million. Couple that with expected decreases in sponsorship and no more money from the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) in the future and you've got a bleak picture.

“We got $2 million from OTP,” said Max Gartner, chief of athletics for Alpine Canada. “Providing we have the results they expect, if the reduction is that severe, that's a lot of money out of our budget that's not going to be there.

“You add that with maybe some sponsors that are not going to be there after the Olympics, all of a sudden the future doesn't look so bright anymore and that's really scary. We knew it was going to go downhill after this year. But our budget is $6 million and if it goes down to $4 million, that means some significant changes.”

Jackson acknowledged his concern in an interview in December.

One of the big issues is that Sports Minister Gary Lunn has yet to release the findings of the 2010 and Beyond commission. That study is to determine the future of Own The Podium. Most people in Canadian sport want Own The Podium to remain an independent entity, while incoming Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut is pushing hard for it to come under their umbrella.

“We cannot go into the Games without knowing that there's a future for all the staff,” said Jackson. “That's a very, very serious problem and one that needs to be addressed. The minister will hopefully release the report very quickly.”

The report was expected to be released months ago and everyone is still waiting.

This isn't the sports system whinging. How can any business operate without knowing their budget, without knowing who's in charge?

Canada has to decide if it's in or out of the medal winning game. The Vancouver Olympics are going to give the public a real appetite for excelling on the world stage. That doesn't come cheaply.

And while it's expected this should be a great Games for Canada in the medal standings, the real rewards are likely to come in 2014 in Sochi and beyond – if we maintain a strong sports system.

It's estimated that $1 from taxpayers goes towards sport. That's a pretty good investment to these eyes, particularly if the system can continue to do a better job of linking the playground to the podium.

And by that I don't mean creating the next generation of Olympians, but motivating kids to be active and showing them the great role models that are out there in Canadian Olympic sport (They sure beat Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton as role models). That's a big part of this picture that needs to develop, showing the Canadian public the real worth of Olympic sport.

There's so much more that can be tapped into in this regard.

Minister Lunn, like has his ilk, has shown a propensity for the photo op. Here he is bussing Clara Hughes in front of the cameras when she was named flagbearer in Vancouver the other day. Hope he asked her about how her Olympic dream was sparked and what sport has done for her.

Maybe that will motivate him to stop dithering on this issue and not leave the future of sport twisting in the wind.

'Colbert Report' to sponsor U.S. speedskating

'Colbert Report' to sponsor U.S. speedskating

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Athletes say Canada playing nasty ahead of Olympics

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No way to gild a golden economy: Economists say B.C.'s boom means the Olympics won't provide much of a financial boost
PATRICK BRETHOUR
Globe and Mail

VANCOUVER — The 2010 Winter Games don't start for another two years, but Chris Gardner already has his Olympic gold - in the unlikely form of manufactured steel buildings.
Mr. Gardner and his company, Britco Structures, have won a $32-million contract to build a lodge and townhouse complex in Whistler for the Winter Games, a success that will send the rapidly growing company on yet another hiring spree.
The lure is not just the contract, lucrative as that may be. The real payoff for Britco will come from the ability to tout its Olympic performance, meeting the tight, unforgiving deadlines of the march to 2010. And it won't hurt that its two projects, a 100-room lodge and a 20-unit townhouse complex, will be in the background as the world watches the Games.
"Our facility is going to be in all those shots, all those photos," says Mr. Gardner, director of strategic planning and corporate development at Britco. "We're looking at this as a tremendous opportunity to market a B.C.-based company."
But first the company has to find new workers to manufacture and assemble those buildings; the new business means it will be expanding by 25 per cent. Britco will be on the hunt for help across British Columbia: in Langley, where the company has its headquarters; in Whistler, where it needs construction workers to assemble the buildings; in the Fraser Valley's eastern reaches, where it has a manufacturing facility in Agassiz; and in Penticton in the B.C. Interior, where it has a second manufacturing operation.
The work force at the Penticton site has already tripled in size, so Mr. Gardner is all too familiar with the increasingly severe shortage of labour in B.C. The skilled tradespeople that Britco needs to put up its buildings are in short supply, a consequence of the construction boom reverberating across the province. But with the unemployment rate hovering at an all-time low, B.C. is running short of workers of all sorts. "You see the Help Wanted signs everywhere," Mr. Gardner says.
He knows it won't be easy to find the workers needed for the planned expansion - but he's confident Britco will succeed, and cash in on its Olympic contract, before and after the Games.
"For us, it's a once-in-a-lifetime project," he says.
Britco's ambitions are the standard-issue Olympic dreams in B.C., where the entire province is focused on turning the two-week sporting extravaganza into an enduring economic benefit. But those hopes are coming face to face with the reality of the B.C. economy. Like neighbouring Alberta, B.C. has an unemployment rate lower than what economists believed - at least until very recently - to be possible over the long term.
And super-low unemployment means that, to an extent, any big new initiative such as the Olympics will be diverting workers from existing jobs.
Economists call this crowding out, but another way to look at it is the teeter-totter economy: For something to rise, something else must go down. Concrete used to build the Sea to Sky highway isn't being poured as the foundation of a new office tower. Carpenters who might be renovating homes are building ski jumps instead. And, if the 2010 Games hold true to earlier Olympics, B.C. tourist attractions will find that some of their business ends up flowing into Olympic venues instead.
Despite the glitz and glamour, economists don't believe the Olympics will fundamentally reshape the B.C. economy, which would chug along quite nicely without the 2010 Games. "The overall structure of the economy would not be much different," says Ken Peacock, director of economic research of the Business Council of British Columbia.
Just three blocks away from the rapidly growing Britco's Penticton operations, Greyback Construction Ltd. faces a much different outlook. The 25-year-old construction company doesn't have any direct connection to the Olympics, but it is feeling the pinch from the constricted labour market. It is experiencing the downward swing of the teeter-totter economy.
Greyback has all the work it can handle, and more, from construction jobs throughout the B.C. Interior. The construction sector is sizzling, yet Greyback is turning away work. The reason for this paradox: The company can't find the skilled workers it needs to take on a larger volume of jobs. "If we could get them, we'd go get more work, 'cause there's lots of work," says Larry Kenyon, Greyback's president.
He could always hire staff from competitors, but he has made a deliberate decision not to snatch workers from rival firms. Mr. Kenyon doesn't cite economic theory as his motivation - just the gut conviction that, once he starts luring employees from other firms, his own staff will be targeted. But his hunch aligns perfectly with what economic theory has to say about the state of the labour market in B.C., where full employment means that recruiting employees is a full-time headache.
In part because of the fact of full employment in B.C., the most recent study of the economic effect of the 2010 Games found only a limited impact. British Columbia's gross domestic product is projected to be $186.6-billion in 2016, about 5 per cent more than the $179.4-billion size of the economy if there were no Olympics, according to the study by the Urban Futures Institute in Vancouver prepared for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. And the Olympic effect will largely dissipate by 2016, according to Urban Futures, with the economic growth rate snapping back to what it would have been if the Vancouver Games had never existed.
Still, the expectation remains that the Olympics will deliver a long-term boost to British Columbia. That is certainly the hope of Delta Hotels, which doesn't foresee any great profit windfall from its direct Olympic business, in part because of a deal struck within the industry to limit the price official Olympic visitors pay for rooms in 2010.
But Gordon Johnson, regional vice-president for Delta in the province, says there is a hidden cost to that Olympic business: Other travellers will stay away from Vancouver during the time of the Games. It's an open question for Mr. Johnson as to whether Delta will be better off financially from the Games being held in B.C., at least in the short term.
"This one is so up in the air. We just don't know what business will choose to stay away from Vancouver in February," he says, noting that the arrangements with the Vancouver organizing committee leave the hotel industry with little scope to book other major events during the Games. "My instincts are that it will be a wash."
But he, like much of B.C., remains optimistic that a little of the Olympic glitter will rub off during the span of the Games, boosting the province's profile - leaving Delta to welcome tourists back long after the roar of the crowd has faded. "There are an awful lot of people in this globe," he says, "who have never been to Vancouver."

Another way to fund health care in Canada

Ottawa urged to get more active in funding sports facilities
JAMES CHRISTIE
Globe and Mail

As provincial and territorial sport ministers get ready for their trip to the Canada Games in Whitehorse this week, each will pack two things — a parka and a message for the federal government to get serious again about sport and physical activity.
"Like a lot of people, my perception is that it looks like a step back," Jim Watson, the Ontario Minister of Sport Promotion, said of the federal cabinet shuffle that knocked sport back from being a full ministry to a file being handled by a junior Secretary of State, Helena Guergis. She is already laden with the weighty portfolios of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Monday, the federal government put $5-million over two years into a revival of ParticipAction, the non-profit marketing program for physical activity, but that's nowhere near enough, Watson says.
The federal government is sinking more than $500-million into the Vancouver Olympics and inspiring kids to break the bad habits that have led to a rise in childhood obesity. But where will those kids get active, Watson questioned in an interview.
"A lot of our infrastructure at the grassroots level dates back to Centennial projects in 1967," he said. "Arenas are old and crumbling. In Ontario, 13 per cent of our arenas are 50 years or older. The ice plants are inefficient and there are environmental challenges. We need the federal government to be engaged. We had a [provincial and territorial sport ministers] meeting in September, and the feds didn't show up."
Big shows do figure in federal spending, he said.
Aside from the hundreds of millions going into the Vancouver Olympics, more than $30-million in federal money is going into the Canada Games, a domestic type of Olympics, Watson said.
"But we don't get that kind of investment in Ontario unless the province gets international games, and that hasn't happened since the 1930s, when Hamilton had the Commonwealth Games," he said. ". . . London [Ont.] did have the Canada Summer Games a few years ago, but we need more community-based facilities.
"I'm looking forward to the Whitehorse Games and to meeting the third federal sport minister in a year . . . and to impress on federal ministers that the government has been missing in action for years."
Watson said that after three decades of cutbacks in sport that pushed Ontario athletes to look for training in other provinces or U.S. schools, Ontario is getting back into the game.
The province has committed $40-million in the past fiscal year to refurbishing and building sport infrastructure, he said.

NHL to end its participation in Olympics?
There are 9 million people in Sweden. 3.4 watched the gold medal hockey game. And yet many of the talking heads are suggesting the NHL participating in the Olympics is a bad thing. At least according to one of my faves, ex-Leaf Nick Kypreos, aka: the mouthpiece of the dinosaurs. Perhaps a few more athletes from a global talent pool and the new NHL, sans the Antoskis, Belaks & Cashmans, will even better...

Post-Olympic thoughts

Hockey
Who will be in charge for 2010?
Gretzky two biggest mistakes:
i) Bryan McCabe. He did not score and led the team in penalty minutes with 18.
ii)Todd Bertuzzi. His final stats: 2 Assists v. ITA, 1 Assist v. GER, 4 Pim v. SUI, 2 Pim v. RUS

Media
The success of the Olympic Games as rated by the Neilsen ratings on NBC?


















Canadian sport
Canada had its most successful Olympics ever, winning medals in 10 of the 15 Olympics events, which ranks first. Overall tally: 24 medals plus 13 4th place finishes. Does this make the "national pain” of the loss by Gretzky & Co more tolerable? Or is Canada finally growing up as a country and excelling in more than just hockey?

The future of the Canadian sport delivery system might mean track sprinters’ suffer in order to fund speed skaters. Is it a problem to make winning medals as #1 prirority? Memo to fairplay4all advocates: Bronze medals are good but not the best. In 2010, the host of the party deserves has the opportunity to be the best dressed. Holding a party and hangin’ out all night in the garage is no way to entertain. Fund Canada's elite athletes!!!

Other
Challenge for the next American century: To come 2nd in something and not whine about it.
If the rest of the world cares and the US doesn’t, does it make a sound?
NBC held back the big events (i.e. Bode Miller: The great American hype) for prime time in order to capitalize on its fake fireplace.
2038 Headline: Global Warming and/or US disinterest threatens Future of Winter Games