2010 Winter Olympics
Author: Doug King


I live here in Vancouver the site of the 2010 winter
Olympics. I am totally excited about this fabulous
sporting event. Providing the world stage for this amateur
event is a huge accomplishment for the organizing
committee. I just wish more people felt the same way.

The local media is of course all over this event and all
the preparations that are going on to make it all come
together. What I can't seem to get my head around is all
the negativity that seems to be surrounding the coverage.
Granted lots of money have to be spent to ramp up the
facilities required to put the Olympics on. But the
naysayers seem to be forgetting that not only is all this
money being spent in the local economy stimulating many
local businesses but we will also have all these venues
left for future generations to enjoy. They won't go away
after the two-week event. These facilities will be enjoyed
by many generations to come.

I know that some of the previous Olympics have not been a
smashing financial success. But I bet that very few of
those host nations in the end regret having done all that
they had to do to put on the show. The boost to the local
economy and the dollars that follow no doubt made up for
any front-end investment in the event. And let's not
forget the Olympics are about the athletes not the
opportunity to profit from the event.

Of course there are financial risks. Especially in these
tough economic times. Isn't stimulus spending the order of
the day though? It seems to me that the Olympics are the
perfect place to stimulate our local economy. The Olympic
village being built to house the athletes is an example of
this. Due to the global credit crunch the city is being
forced to underwrite the cost of construction. The media
seems to think this a complete outrage. What they miss
reporting on is these condo units are going to be for sale
on the open market once the Olympics are done. In that
neighborhood condos sell for an outrageously high amount of
money. The city can't help but not only just make their
money back but make a tidy profit as well.

I am confident that when the opening ceremonies start the
detractors will be largely silenced. Pride in our hosting
the Olympics will be overwhelming. I suspect even the
media will be jumping on the bandwagon and be reporting on
the amazing job that Vancouver and Whistler is doing
putting on the games. Olympic fever will trump even cost
concerns at least until the events are over.

No doubt on the day following the closing ceremonies the
headlines will return to cost overruns and financial
mismanagement. Even without any real possibility so soon
of an accounting of all that happened. The true cost and
revenue generated can't possibly be known for at least a
few years following the event. Tourist numbers and dollars
will likely grow for several years after.

Security is obviously a huge issue around these types of
events and the cost is very high. I admit this might be
turn out to be an outrageously high expense. It is a sad
testament to the times we live in. But even with these
added costs I am confident the games will be a success both
financial and as an event that will put Vancouver on the
map.

Having said all this I would still like to see the Olympic
games brought back down to reality. Do we really need
those opening and closing ceremonies that have become
larger events then the athletic events themselves? The
money and efforts they consume has risen to the point of
being absurd. The Olympics is supposed to be an amateur
sporting event not the commercial spectacle that it has
become. I am certain the athletes would welcome the focus
returning to the games and away from the circus it has
become.


About the Author:

I recently produced the feature film The Harvest Project,
the tag line is " What would you do to save the life of
someone you love".
You can see more at http://wwwtheharvestprojectmovie.com