Hope those buses will have super duper extra heavy duty shock absorbers installed before all these folks will be transported over washboard roads and our pot holes within our community. Disposable mouth guards should be given out to passengers to prevent dental damage from hitting a pothole.

So funny. So witty. So original. So lame.

Consistent with my commenting theme for today; I wonder if the Canada winter games will be as much a shot in the arm for us (the taxpayers and consumers) as it will be for corporations and business.

I have dropped the rah, rah, rah, go BC athletes a long time ago, when I realized organized sport at the national and international level (owelympics) are more about business and corporate profits and marketing opportunities than about us celebrating competitive sport and a health life style for people.

If you’ve been one of the THOUSANDS of athletes, coaches and support people and their families, you’d know that the CWG’s are both a corporate (etc) boon but also an AMAZING life experience and potentially game changing moment for all involved. Inspiration galore. Most complainers are arm chair critics in this case.

People1st: “Consistent with my commenting theme for today; I wonder if the Canada winter games will be as much a shot in the arm for us (the taxpayers and consumers) as it will be for corporations and business.”

Taxpayers and consumers are employed directly and indirectly by many of those corporations and businesses. Employed people tend to spend more money, keeping a functioning economy alive.

a friend of mine worked for PWT when they started out a long time ago in Prince George. He said they were a great family business to work for. Now they have grown into one of the biggest bus companies in the country.

Great to see they are on board with the games and good to see their CEO was here to confirm their support for the CWG.

Lenny; nice that you would look at organized sport at a national (not so much) but international level, through rose coloured glasses.

The security bill alone for the 2010 winter olympics was over $1 Billion dollars. The Turin 2009 Summer Olympics security bill was $1.4 Billion dollars.

Why would you ignore the political implications of large organized sporting events? Even the Boston Bruins cancelled their home game the day of the Boston Marathon bombings.

On another point, how can we be so naive to believe organized sport is only about THOUSANDS of athletes, coaches and support people and their families participating in an AMAZING life experience and potentially game changing moment for all involved… when we know that our athletes are funded and live at poverty level hoping that their performances are good enough to vault them into the international spotlight, where through corporate sponsorships, they may get the opportunity to actually make some money.

Don’t believe me? Then ask your selves; why are so many of our athletes willing to take the risk of cheating through the use of performance enhancing drugs? The answer is MONEY! The pay-off is so huge, they are willing to take those risks.

You state; “Inspiration galore”, yet your rose coloured glasses ignore reality.. that is from this arm chair critic’s point of view. Maybe I can get Ben Johnson, Lance Armstrong, and the countless other notable professional and amateur sport “hero’s” to back me up on my point of view? Or maybe I can get a Nancy Kerrigan / Tonya Harding perspective on what length and extent the competitive sporting spirit can go?

All of these considerations makes me want to ask the following questions; What will be the Canada Winter Games security bill? How many of our winter athletes will be tested and caught for doping?

wow – there are so many errors in your post I wont even bother listing them all people1. Please stick to something you have even the slightest clue about.

Way to go Pacific Western.

JB states; “Taxpayers and consumers are employed directly and indirectly by many of those corporations and businesses. Employed people tend to spend more money, keeping a functioning economy alive.”

How ironic that you would say that when we just re-elected a government that, for a good part of it’s 12 year term, established a non-living minimum wage of $6.00 per hour. How ironic that you would say “employed people tend to spend more money” in a province that has the highest child poverty rate in Canada!

I guess you never heard from the states that “trickle down” economics never worked? The same goers for your “treat the companies and corporations well and wealthy, and the benefits will “trickle down” to it’s employees. NEWS FLASH: Those businesses and corporations will use cheap foreign workers to save even more profit every chance they get… screw the unemployed in Canada and BC!!!

On a related note; I applaud those MacDonald’s workers in NY State that walked off their jobs for one day to protest, and call attention to their need to work for a “living” minimum wage!

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2013/0729/Fast-food-workers-strike-McDonald-s-KFC-and-other-chains

I have not been on this discussion board for that long, but has anyone else noticed that interceptor frequently puts down the comments of others yet rarely puts forward his/her opinions and engages in debate on the issues being discussed?

actually People I think if you look you will find that people quickly learned there is no point in debating with you as you simply change the topic and redirect when asked a blunt question.
Having said that I am friends and family with a couple of Olympic and or National level athletes and there is certainly no money in it. They do it our of drive and determination and actually financially go quite backwards for the love of thier sport. The broad brush you painted them with is absolutely rediculous.

Interceptor; your first post states that my comment has “so many errors in your post I wont even bother listing them all people1. Please stick to something you have even the slightest clue about.”

Yet here you are in your next post affirming my stated fact that; “the majority of athletes live at poverty level.” Thanks for playing… anyone else care to debate the facts contained in my comment? I promise not to bully, I am just in a debating mood today is all ;-)

“why are so many of our athletes willing to take the risk of cheating through the use of performance enhancing drugs? The answer is MONEY!”
so youre debating yourself I guess

During the winter games perhaps it is time to quit keeping score in the hockey games, tuck the stop watches away in the skiing and skating events etc and just give every competitor a participation medal:P

Will be just like the schools where the precious little snowflakes will never know the agony of defeat(at least until they enter the real world).

Or could continue that practice on to the real world and EVERYONE gets the same size check- does not matter if they are standing over a deep fryer salting the fries or standing over an operating table transplanting a heart.

People1st: “On a related note; I applaud those MacDonald’s workers in NY State that walked off their jobs for one day to protest, and call attention to their need to work for a “living” minimum wage!”

I’m guessing you have never owned or run a business, small or large. What in your mind would be a fair minimum wage?

Spare me the cynical political left rhetoric lonesome, and support my following suggestion:

Why are all the news stories in both opinion 250 news and the PG Citizen about corporate and business sponsors for the CWG?

If this is mainly about; the athletes, their families, coaches and the spirit of pure and fair competition… why are there no articles profiling our own local athletes who either have qualified, or will be competing in Provincial Winter Games to qualify for the CWG?

Great coverage so far on business and corporations, nothing on the athletes themselves, coaches, families and the sacrifices, grit, drive and determination it takes to compete at a national level. How about covering the “human” aspect of the CWG rather than just the business and corporate side of things? Just my opinion on what is missing here!

Maybe one day, our source of local TV, print and website news will get back to being more community driven, rather than corporate and business driven… dream on hey?

The sponsors of the games do not make money by donating goods or services but instead are showing that they are a valuable part of the community. If they get some recognition and maybe a bit of ink so much the better.

Hard to profile athletes when the games are a year and a half away and in most cases not decided who will gain a spot to attend. As the games approaches the focus will shift to the people involved including volunteers and the sponsors will be in the background.

I will admit that local media does cater to the business side but heres a story on getting judges / coaches etc ready for one sport at least http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20130729/PRINCEGEORGE0201/307299973/-1/princegeorge0201/pg-to-host-badminton-test-event-in-march

and heres one with a couple of hopeful athletes
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20130729/PRINCEGEORGE0201/307299972/-1/princegeorge0201/national-badminton-team-members-host-skills-clinic

Good comments from both of you; lonesome, it’s not that hard to profile local athletes hopefuls a year and a half out from the CWG;

http://m.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20130204/PRINCEGEORGE0201/302049973/0/princegeorge02/local-archer-aiming-for-the-games&template=JQMArticle

interceptor, add one more sport (archery) that has received at least some coverage to date! Despite an exhaustive search that’s about it… unless someone can find more.

On May 9-12, 2013, Douglas College in New Westminster hosted a Canada Winter Games coaching clinic on competition development high performance coaching… anyone from PG attend? Do we have any coaching hopefuls from PG?

Time for local businesses and corporations to take a “backseat” because although your support and sponsorship is important… ultimately the CWG is not about you! Save your exposure for your names and logos on signs and in TV commercials in local, provincial and national TV, print and website media coverage, and on location CWG sporting event signage.

The upcoming CWG is much bigger that corporate and business sponsorship and recognition, get over yourselves and take that backseat where you belong, for now until the events start.

Looks to me that the media is covering the athletes.

The donation of thousands of dollars(and in some cases many thousands) to a event is a news story and is therefore covered by local media-get over it.

Without these donations the games would not happen and athletes from all across the country would not have the opportunity to meet and compete with their fellow athletes.

Gold medal for the good corporate citizens who step up to support the games with their checkbook.

Consistent with my moniker, it will be “people” that will ultimately be required to pull this event off successfully. Without the 5,000 volunteers and half that many billets, for the expected 2,500 athletes to stay over nights, the CWG will fail miserable.

A gold medal will definitely be require for the thousands of “people” who will need to step up to support the games, through volunteerism… and not their chequebooks!

Businesses and corps may be required to provide a small amount of money and services, but it will be the “people” who will be the “hosts” that will open up their homes to the athletes and provide hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours required for this event!

Good luck with getting the people involved, they have taken a back seat to business and corps for too long! A great example was the referendum on the proposed multi-million dollar river dike system that would have only benefited business. Thank god the “people” in this city voiced their displeasure through that referendum to put an end to that business handout for our tax dollars!

Typical, cannot come up with anything to support your argument so try to minimize the valuable contribution(hundreds of thousands of$$$$if not more)that the local corporate community make and change the subject.

I think you have become people non grata – bye.

Wow; “valuable contribution (hundreds of thousands of $$$$$ if not more) that local corporate community make..”

Someone who actually thinks business and money is the be all and end all, yet without “people” there would be no consumers for business, and with out the consumer of business products and services where would a business’s
money come from?

Everything comes back to “people”… ever heard of “consumer confidence” lonesome? Yup that’s “people confidence”, which is such an important indicator of economic health, now don’t you forget that! Until your next lesson… bye.