The Future of The Olympics

[dutchfire]

As soon as I posted this, I read it again and wondered how long it would take for somebody to go there

Also... Sean White... Murica! Eff Yeah!

Also... I learned today that Netherlanders consider the implication that they skate around on frozen canals offensive/racist. It was a surprise... but after thinking about it I understood.

I don't really know anyone who was genuinely offended. Mostly amused at how ignorant US TV is.

 

[warpus]

Yeah, it's like saying that Americans are good at basketball because they have giant balls and have to carry them around everywhere.

Not necessarily offensive, just mindboggling that a TV station would hire a moron who just makes crap up for no reason, for a broadcast that will be seen by millions.

 

[Hrothbern]

I don't really know anyone who was genuinely offended. Mostly amused at how ignorant US TV is.

Whereby noted that most ordinary Dutchmen have the same ignorance about the US.

 

[warpus]

Whereby noted that most ordinary Dutchmen have the same ignorance about the US.

I highly doubt the average Dutch person has an equally idiotic idea in his/her mind about America as what was said about Dutch people and frozen canals and skating

This was no "ordinary American" either, but a person paid to know this stuff

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I highly doubt the average Dutch person has an equally idiotic idea in his/her mind about America as what was said about Dutch people and frozen canals and skating

This was no "ordinary American" either, but a person paid to know this stuff

Even Canadian newscasters say ignorant things about other Canadians.

During the 1988 Olympics, Calgary put on a special rodeo event for the benefit of international visitors who wanted some sort of Stampede experience, even though the Stampede normally happens in July. So they set up a small-scale indoor rodeo, and I remember watching the CTV news one night... when the highly-paid, professional anchor Lloyd Robertson announced with a perfectly straight face, that one of the rodeo events that day had been ladies' barrel wrestling.

My impression is that nobody in the newsroom batted an eye. But everybody in Alberta fell off their chairs laughing (literally, in my case).

 

[Hrothbern]

I highly doubt the average Dutch person has an equally idiotic idea in his/her mind about America as what was said about Dutch people and frozen canals and skating

This was no "ordinary American" either, but a person paid to know this stuff

Our TV people would indeed not have such idiotic opinions and are pretty ok informed

and our ordinary people would not really have vocalised opinions, but the ignorance is there....
besides some rough thoughts that much in the US tends to be extreme

 

[warpus]

I just can't think of an example of someone being so ignorant about America as to start making stuff up on the spot. I mean, I'm sure it happens, but..

 

[Timsup2nothin]

So, all this uproar is about the guy saying that in the Netherlands skating on frozen canals is a viable way to get from place to place? Why wouldn't it be?

 

[Hrothbern]

So, all this uproar is about the guy saying that in the Netherlands skating on frozen canals is a viable way to get from place to place? Why wouldn't it be?

Strictly speaking it is a viable way..... but the number of days per year that are cold enough long enough to have reliable ice are not that much, perhaps 20 on the very small canals and 10 on bigger canals.

So this ice skating during a whole winter is very much a thing of the past
of the little ice age (16th-19th century) during which so many classic dutch paintings were made,
of before the post WW2 industralisation, urbanisation and generous house heating
of before the climate change

The last real winter we had was 1963 and before that 1944

 

[warpus]

This person wasn't just saying that it was viable, he/she/it was saying that Dutch people are so good at skating because they skate everywhere using these frozen canals

 

[Timsup2nothin]

This person wasn't just saying that it was viable, he/she/it was saying that Dutch people are so good at skating because they skate everywhere using these frozen canals

Well, Canadians are better than Californians at hockey because they play on frozen ponds as kids, so it seems plausible.

 

[Hrothbern]

This person wasn't just saying that it was viable, he/she/it was saying that Dutch people are so good at skating because they skate everywhere using these frozen canals

yes
as if that would be the explanation that we are so good in it......

What does help getting champions with skating is that it is (indeed) a popular tradition, helped by many artificial ice arenas (and rich enough to pay them)

 

[warpus]

Well, Canadians are better than Californians at hockey because they play on frozen ponds as kids, so it seems plausible.

I guess it seems plausible if you're a moron and didn't spend 10 seconds to look this up on the internet.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I guess it seems plausible if you're a moron and didn't spend 10 seconds to look this up on the internet.

Sorry dude, but potentially inaccurate in passing commentary about Dutch life just doesn't merit ten seconds on the internet for me. I figure if things like that aren't accurate some uptight anal retentive will inform me...probably on CFC.

 

[dutchfire]

So, all this uproar is about the guy saying that in the Netherlands skating on frozen canals is a viable way to get from place to place? Why wouldn't it be?

Apart from the fact that seriously frozen waterways happen only a few days a year (most skating happens on grassland that is flooded by only a few inches on purposes), the canals ('grachten') of Amsterdam are only replicated in the city centers of a few old (pre-1850) cities. Most of us live in post-war suburbs that don't have canals. How many Americans live inside a stockade?

 

[dutchfire]

yes
as if that would be the explanation that we are so good in it......

What does help getting champions with skating is that it is (indeed) a popular tradition, helped by many artificial ice arenas (and rich enough to pay them)

This article on the Guardian was quite reasonably informed: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/b...s-dutch-winter-olympics-speed-skating-success

This part is illustrative:

There are 20 long-track ice-rinks in the Netherlands, while there are only six of those in the entire US

 

[Valka D'Ur]

yes
as if that would be the explanation that we are so good in it......

What does help getting champions with skating is that it is (indeed) a popular tradition, helped by many artificial ice arenas (and rich enough to pay them)

Yeah, a little research would help. Canadians are good at skating - hockey, figure skating, speed skating - but it's not like we all have canals to skate on, or even rivers or lakes that go through a reliable annual freeze.

One of the things that has really helped over the last 30 years has been the facilities built for the 1988 Olympics. They're still in use, and have been instrumental in helping athletes hone their skills and make and break new records.

 

[Arwon]

I think what american sports leagues really need is the concept of promotion / relegation that is the way most sports leagues work. I think this would solve a lot of the problems stated here.

I think this takes an overly idealistic view of the administration and business behaviour of European soccer leagues. There's a lot of problems with the pro-rel model, the tendency towards uncompetitive oligarchy being one of the bigger ones.

 

[warpus]

Sorry dude, but potentially inaccurate in passing commentary about Dutch life just doesn't merit ten seconds on the internet for me. I figure if things like that aren't accurate some uptight anal retentive will inform me...probably on CFC.

Not you! Someone hired to talk about this stuff on national TV

 

[uppi]

Apart from the fact that seriously frozen waterways happen only a few days a year (most skating happens on grassland that is flooded by only a few inches on purposes), the canals ('grachten') of Amsterdam are only replicated in the city centers of a few old (pre-1850) cities. Most of us live in post-war suburbs that don't have canals. How many Americans live inside a stockade?

I don't know about the rest of the Netherlands, but the one time I was in Holland, I saw a lot of little canals -- more than I have seen anywhere else.