Devion's Views #284

THE PARTY'S OVER...MY FRIEND (posted Aug. 12, 2024)

My favourite version of that song is by Peggy Lee. (ask SIRI to play it on your HomePod)

And what a party it was...as only les Francais can do it with style in the City of Light.

From the Opening Ceremony to the wondrous athletic performances to the Closing; it was - in a word - spectacular.

And it was just what the world needed to (temporarily) provide a much needed respite and lift the oppressive veil of gloom and doom...if only for nineteen days.

Yes, and there was cheating, but what else is new for the IOC and their games?

Who can remember an Olympic Games without cheating, when the end-goal is winning... at all cost, if necessary?

The punishment, humiliation and disgrace is only for those who get caught...they alone pay the price.

The Canada Soccer spying scandal is only the latest variant of "cheating" at the Olympics.

It will live on because "We" (Canada) got caught for being stupid...flying a drone in the most secure airspace on the planet???

Plain and simple, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! Stupid in its conception, stupider in its execution.

What were "We" thinking? "We" really weren't, were "We"?

Head coach, Bev Priestman, sent home in disgrace, stated "Everyone knows, everybody's doing it".

If everyone "is doing it" and "everyone knows", why is this particular incident likely to heap shame and embarrassment onto our athletes and nation?

Was anyone on the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) surprised "We" were cheating? Or, when the news broke, were they "feigning surprise" and opted to deflect, deflect, deflect.

NB: People will forgive you for anything if you apologize. So stand up and own it.

Remember the last time "We" were caught, Big-Time?

At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Canada's Ben Johnson was stripped of his 100m gold medal and world record 9.79 time...because he was caught cheating (failed a post-race drug test).

The gold medal was awarded to second place U.S. runner, Carl Lewis.

It would be revealed (years later) that doping was so prevalent in the sport that six of the eight finalists that lined up on that September day in Seoul, were also doping, including Lewis.

The race would be forever labelled "The dirtiest race in history".

The only difference between Ben and five other competitors; he was caught and subsequently, very publicly, "hung out to dry" by an enquiry set up by his own government i.e. "The Dubin Enquiry".

Can you name another country whose athletes have been exposed as cheaters and proceeded with a public enquiry to shame them? Germany? Russia? China? America?

What is it about Canada that "We" appear to be the only nation doing this to ourselves?

And why? Are "We" too polite? Too naive? Too stupid? Isn't it high time we "smarten up" and play "the game" like all the others and their backers?

Question: Can the cheating be stopped?

Answer: No.

Why not? There's too much money involved and a lot of it is going into the pockets of too many unscrupulous individuals.

And it starts at the top with the very people who control the IOC (FIFA et al) whose scandalous conduct has been well reported, but not stopped.

Does anyone have the gonads, chops, guts, clout or power to bring these gangsters to justice? Sadly, it appears not...there's too much money involved.

The only solution to this dilemma - accept this reality: "Everyone cheats and steals if they truly believe they will never be caught".

                                               FUN FACTS AND NUMBERS

The "purported" cost of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, $25 billion + additional billions for infrastructure improvements. (The most expensive games in history)

The "purported" cost of the Paris summer Olympics, $8.2 billion + over $3 billion for infrastructure improvements.

"L'addition, s'il vous plait" - When the IOC circus leaves Paris, following the Paralympic Games, September 8th, "Le check" will be left on the table of the organizing committee, for the taxpayers of France.

As with previous games (the exception being LA 1984) the real total cost left for the "stiffed" taxpayers to pay will remain a state secret.

Couverture Televisee (sorry about the missing accents): The 33rd summer Olympics was crawled over by cameras transmitting thousands of hours of coverage to an audience of more than three billion (half the world's population).

Massive coverage provided in North America by CBC/Radio Canada and NBC on all of their "platforms" was superb.

My only criticism of our public broadcasters coverage: 1) advertising interrupting live events, 2) particularly ads and those posing as program segments encouraging gambling.

NB: a) Media firms are piling into gambling to keep young fans interested b) Problem gambling is highest in younger males.

CBC/Radio Canada should never be involved in promoting gambling, period.

The Paris Organizing Committee charged media companies $3.3 billion for the right to broadcast the action, contributing the biggest single part of the games' income and making the event the most valuable two weeks of entertainment in history.

Mass media is reshaping the sports business. A third of viewers of the Paris games watched, not via broadcast but by online streaming...the main way young audiences tune in.

Sport is the last big content category propping up viewership of broadcast and cable television, which still provides a large chunk of the profits of big media companies.

The TV business has been turned upside down in the past five years by the migration of viewers from broadcast and cable to streaming. Today, streaming accounts for 40% of TV viewing in America. For the first time in decades, a majority of households no longer subscribe to cable.

Which presents a significant challenge to Canada's media companies who will need to reinvent themselves or vanish into an American controlled media vortex.

    ANNIVERSARY OF THE XVth COMMONWEALTH GAMES, VICTORIA, AUG. 18-28, 1994

Hard to believe...it was 30-years-ago.

Following three and one half years of planning by an incredibly talented and fondly called "the seven crazies" management group, who brought, under contract, 700 people and thousands of pieces of broadcast equipment from the North American mainland (arriving by boat and plane) to provide radio and television services to the broadcasters of 59 participating Commonwealth nations.

The flawless execution of this enormous task by the CBC Host Broadcaster Team during those eleven stress-filled 24/7 days and nights, contributed in great measure, to the overall success of the biggest event ever staged on Vancouver Island.

Remember it all like it was yesterday.

Ron Devion, No Guts, No Glory