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2022 Winter Olympics


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#1 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 11 January 2022 - 09:14 PM

I just noticed today our Olympic womens hockey team lost every game to a series of 14, 15 and 16-year-old boys teams in Ottawa last month.

 

 

 

 

Considering the tournament was thrown together from necessity, the Capital City Challenge delivered a spirited hockey showcase and just might have helped Canada’s national women’s team fine-tune its game for the Olympics.

 

With travel and health restrictions cancelling the scheduled under-17 international event, three Canadian rosters built from a national pool of U17 boys played the Canadian women in a six-day tournament that ended Wednesday in Ottawa. The talent was first-rate, and the finishes dramatic.

 

Though the Canadian women did not register a win in their four games against future NHL prospects, they were part of a thrilling semifinal against Team Black. After falling behind 3-0, the women’s team rallied to force overtime, before losing during 3-on-3 play on a goal from Zach Benson, the tournament’s leading scorer.

 

 

https://www.sportsne...city-challenge/


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 January 2022 - 09:19 PM.


#2 AllseeingEye

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Posted 01 February 2022 - 06:19 PM

Was chatting online tonight with a pal who is ex-CAF and the principal of a BC-based cyber-intelligence outfit that works with CSIS, the CAF, RCMP and others in that field; it seems the FBI and other key western intel services are strongly advising their athletes and team officials to leave their personal phones at home during the Olympics and take burner units instead due to the very high likelihood of Chinese hacking and cyber-espionage efforts, which seems only prudent given its almost certain our pals in Beijing will attempt just that. So much for "the spirit of friendly competition", heh.......



#3 Mike K.

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Posted 01 February 2022 - 07:38 PM

That’s always (over the last decade) been par for the course, I thought?

Our CF are advised to not take their phones when travelling to China and destroying their burners used in the country. All it takes is an airport check in to have the phone scanned.

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#4 AllseeingEye

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Posted 01 February 2022 - 08:13 PM

That’s always (over the last decade) been par for the course, I thought?

Our CF are advised to not take their phones when travelling to China and destroying their burners used in the country. All it takes is an airport check in to have the phone scanned.

 

Sure but those are military personnel made very aware of security issues by virtue of their profession and their training; Olympic athletes are a bunch of kids who have no notion about (smart phone) security nor I suspect would they care much because they don't understand the broader ramifications. They are there to win medals and not play James Bond. How many of them are on Tik Tok for example, a notorious platform owned by Chinese parent firm ByteDance which reputedly passes along customer information to the Chinese government when and if 'requested' by Beijing. Which is to say its "ordered" to, no ifs, ands, or buts. Its for that reason I wouldn't touch TT for all the $ in the world.

 

Airports are actually a major smart phone security black hole, as they can be highly susceptible to third party operations called man in the middle attacks; this has been written about extensively in the intelligence community.

 

Large international airports especially are frequently used to conduct spying/information gathering/hacking operations due to their very high human traffic and where experienced intelligence officers can operate in relative obscurity. A MITM attack is form of active eavesdropping wiretapping attack in which the attacker intercepts and selectively modifies communicated data or data transfer to masquerade as one or more of the entities involved in a communication exchange. MITM attacks of course can occur within email or PC-based web browsing environments, but the rise of smart phones in the last 15 years has made them a particularly favored target.


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#5 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 04:22 AM

$68 for mittens? Team Canada fans cry foul over Lululemon prices for official Olympic gear

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...price-1.6343926



#6 Jacques Cadé

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 09:36 AM

Lululemon will end up with a lot of leftover gear.
 

Through the first four nights of competition, NBC is on track for the lowest-rated Winter Games in history. Friday night’s coverage on NBC, USA Network and Peacock averaged 12.8 million viewers, significantly down from the 27.8 million average in PyeongChang four years ago. https://www.si.com/o...lympics-beijing

According to results of an online survey by the Vancouver, B.C.-based consultancy Research Co., 47 per cent of 1,000 respondents across Canada say they will make a conscious effort to refrain from watching the sporting event — up two points from results from a similar survey conducted in December 2021.

Fifty-nine per cent of respondents say they think Canada should boycott the Games over China's human rights record.

The results also suggest that 66 per cent of British Columbians surveyed are in favour of a full boycott.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/beijing-winter-olympic-games-boycott-research-co-survey-1.6339061



#7 Mike K.

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 09:51 AM

There's an Olympics?


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#8 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 09:55 AM

Canada's Team Gushue opened its Olympic curling campaign Wednesday with a 10-5 win over Denmark in Beijing.

Brad Gushue, alongside Mark Nichols, won Olympic gold in 2006, and are joined on this Olympic journey by first-time Olympians Geoff Walker and Brett Gallant.

#9 AllseeingEye

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 09:56 AM

I don't think the low viewership numbers and generally very low public interest levels will come as a surprise to anyone given time zone differences especially for viewers in the North American eastern TZ, not to mention the highly charged and very negative geo-political undertones of these games, i.e. China.

 

The only sport I have or will make any effort at all to watch will be naturally the hockey games involving the Canadian men/women. Pretty certain many Canadians are thinking likewise. I know in the US traditionally Winter Olympic TV ratings are generally highest for figure skating. That said is it a surprise that people won't be setting their alarms for a 3am PST start to watch the Norwegians and Germans duke it out in the biathlon?

 

Tim Ryan, a Canadian sportscaster who broadcast for years for NBC Sports and other major US networks, and who is now retired to Victoria, was interviewed before Christmas by the T-C which posed the question about why these Beijing-based Olympics proceeded at all and weren't potentially boycotted or even cancelled, and he nailed it with his response - unsurprisingly its all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.....



#10 Spy Black

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 11:02 AM

Not that my actions or political beliefs will make any difference, and with no intent to in any way disparage the athletes ... I fricking despise the Chinese political system and all Chinese politicians.

It's a domineering political system that considers human lives but a by-product of the making China the dominant country in the world.

 

So I won't watch the Olympics, nor will I engage in any other activity that supports the Chinese political machine ... racist, murdering, socialists that they are.

 

And before anybody asks ... "yes" I have an iPhone, so I get that purchasing some items made in China tends to support Chinese interests ... but I avoid Walmart like the plague, and refuse to purchase anything made in China that has an equivilant made (literally) anywhere else in the world (preferably in Canada or the U.S.).


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#11 AllseeingEye

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 12:18 PM

Not that my actions or political beliefs will make any difference, and with no intent to in any way disparage the athletes ... I fricking despise the Chinese political system and all Chinese politicians.

It's a domineering political system that considers human lives but a by-product of the making China the dominant country in the world.

 

So I won't watch the Olympics, nor will I engage in any other activity that supports the Chinese political machine ... racist, murdering, socialists that they are.

 

And before anybody asks ... "yes" I have an iPhone, so I get that purchasing some items made in China tends to support Chinese interests ... but I avoid Walmart like the plague, and refuse to purchase anything made in China that has an equivilant made (literally) anywhere else in the world (preferably in Canada or the U.S.).

 

I think you are being too kind here - just call them what they are...an antidemocratic and dictatorial, authoritarian bunch of commie a******s who care about one thing and one thing only, the primacy of the almighty Communist Party.

 

On the subject of NOT Made in China I had to look long and hard but if you need good solid hand tools like a broad assortment of hammers, saws, screwdrivers, wrenches etc the Castle outlet in Vic West (and I presume Cook Street too) carries a great line called Estwing, made in the US of A and which I've used happily for two years' worth of outdoor and fencing projects.  :thumbsup:


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#12 LJ

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 07:58 PM

Watch episode three of the current season of "Billions" It demonstrates the naked greed and corruption of the olympics.


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#13 Nparker

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 08:11 PM

That anyone still believes the Olympics are about "the best in sport" is beyond me.


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#14 AllseeingEye

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Posted 09 February 2022 - 09:06 PM

Older Canadian hockey fans will recall one of the biggest scams ever in the winter Olympics, back before the fall of the USSR, with respect to the status of the so-called 'amateurs' on the Soviet hockey teams - all commissioned and PAID officers in the Red Army - who just happened to play hockey eleven months every year. Biggest loophole ever as those old Soviet teams were professional in everything but name, but it worked right up until 1989.

 

And of course the Olympics have been politicised at least since the 1936 Berlin games when ol' Adolph used them to showcase the supposed superiority of his Aryan athletes. The games haven't been about the purity of amateur athletic competition for a very long time......


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#15 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 10 February 2022 - 06:49 AM

The games haven't been about the purity of amateur athletic competition for a very long time......

 

What makes an amateur somehow more pure than a professional?

 

I'm told we are tied for top spot in the medal count.  But not heavy on the gold. 


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 February 2022 - 06:49 AM.


#16 AllseeingEye

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Posted 10 February 2022 - 09:49 AM

What makes an amateur somehow more pure than a professional?

 

I'm told we are tied for top spot in the medal count.  But not heavy on the gold. 

 

Its not my contention - "amateur" athletic competition was the official stated Olympic goal as part of their charter for decades after the reintroduction of the modern games; that started to change by the 70's at which point the IOC actually removed the term from the Olympic Charter - which many people to this day don't realize hence the frequent comment about the games being "better" without the participation of NHL or NBA professionals, for example.

 

Regardless as Tim Ryan correctly noted ultimately its all about the money, not to mention the various scandals involving the IOC over the years. Amateurs or pros the spirit of Olympic "purity" died ages ago....

 

As for total medal count as you probably know that is not the determining factor about which country wins the overall Olympic competition as each medal type - Gold, Silver, Bronze - is assigned a point value with Gold obviously being at the top of the scale. So you can have the most total medals but if most of them are Bronze and another country has more Gold and Silver they "win" the overall competition.


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#17 lanforod

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Posted 10 February 2022 - 09:58 AM

Yeah, the Olympic charter doesn't include the word amateur or professional in its current state. Many Olympic sports would not include anywhere close to the best in the world if the 'professionals' are excluded or chose not to participate, as we well know with the men's ice hockey regularly an example of that.

 

I chose to ignore the problematic money and sponsorship junk behind it and just focus on the competitions as they happen. Watching a Canadian woman bail in moguls and get up and finish them is inspiring. Watching a Canadian team figure skating pull off a perfect ice dance (albeit not difficult enough to medal) is also inspiring. That's the point, to me.


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#18 LJ

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Posted 10 February 2022 - 08:00 PM

Older Canadian hockey fans will recall one of the biggest scams ever in the winter Olympics, back before the fall of the USSR, with respect to the status of the so-called 'amateurs' on the Soviet hockey teams - all commissioned and PAID officers in the Red Army - who just happened to play hockey eleven months every year. Biggest loophole ever as those old Soviet teams were professional in everything but name, but it worked right up until 1989.

 

 

I played hockey in the arena the Red Army team used in Moscow, it was a dump by our standards.


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#19 spanky123

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Posted 10 February 2022 - 08:59 PM

I played hockey in the arena the Red Army team used in Moscow, it was a dump by our standards.

 

A lot of European arenas are. The focus in those countries in on playing hockey , they are not designed to be the entertainment venues that we have.



#20 AllseeingEye

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Posted 15 February 2022 - 11:06 PM

Slovakia takes the US men first to OT and then to a shootout (is there a s***r way to lose an Olympic or World Cup game than via shootout? Ugh); and then takes the Americans right out of the Olympic men's hockey tournament, in a surprising and probably unexpected result tonight. Canada plays the Swedes next in their quarterfinal game.


Edited by AllseeingEye, 15 February 2022 - 11:06 PM.


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