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DickieDunn

NHL may rethink Sochi

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You guys do remember that in Lake Placid 1980 Olympics, the Olympic village was in a prison, right?

The dorms in Olympic village were converted into a prison after the games. They were also stripped of a lot of their amenities.

What seems really crazy today is Lake Placid was the only city bidding to be a host. Vancouver was a candidate but withdrew before the final vote.

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Remember back when the Olympics was started in the hopes that it would foster friendship amongst countries and that we'd all put aside politics and just watch the best athletes in the world do their thing?

Me neither. I'm not that old. Sure would be nice, though.

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Remember back when the Olympics was started in the hopes that it would foster friendship amongst countries and that we'd all put aside politics and just watch the best athletes in the world do their thing?

Me neither. I'm not that old. Sure would be nice, though.

I don't think fearing health and safety of the athletes has anything to do with politics. Overall i fully agree but the circumstances are what they are.

All we can do is hope, that nothing happens and the best hockeyteam wins without any controversy.

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Vancouver Oly village athletes room

http://blu.stb.s-msn.com/i/7E/3F5818FA3829B9A39A7216B1A769.jpg

London Oly village athletes room

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/120702-olympicvillage-bed.photoblog600.jpg

Beijing Oly village athletes room

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/08/05/us-olympics-village-idUSPEK27865720080805

I couldn't find contemporary photos of the Lake Placid Oly village rooms, but here's a contemporary description:

"

The Village has 937 "sleeping rooms"—later to be known as cells—which will be occupied by either two or four Olympians. The rooms have bunk beds, wardrobe and equipment lockers and a writing table and chair for each occupant. There is also a towel bar, a sink and a mirror. The majority of the rooms have one window, a tall, narrow aperture that isn't barred, but has a steel rod running down the middle of the glass to discourage escape—or, in the case of Olympic terrorists, entry. The windows are 8'10" high and 15" wide, and there is some question as to whether or not they can be opened. There also are a number of rooms that have no windows at all. The doors are made of heavy steel with small peep-windows that will be used by prison guards in the Village's next life.

The rooms are arranged in two tiers around a large, brightly decorated and carpeted "leisure area." There are sofas and banquettes, and by next winter each of these 20 or so areas will be equipped with vending machines, television sets, games and other entertainment devices. Although the rooms are tiny to the point of incipient claustrophobia—about 10' by 10'—there is an aura of pleasing spaciousness in the lounges. Toilets and community showers are down the hall."

Source: http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1094796/index.htm

If the rooms were to be "stripped of a lot of their amenities", I can't imagine what they were.

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Every one of those places looks much better than Sochi.

I don't see any difference. Small room, two beds, two nightstands, nothing else. If you didn't know which was which, you wouldn't guess which was Sochi.

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"Fifty-one billion dollars spent... thus far? On what?"

No argument here. Way too much was spent on the Games, when there are (IMO) much higher priorities.

But the rooms, the amenities, and the sports venues are sufficiently good (at least from what we know)

People carping on those are nitpicking.

And I don't see how that TV sketch applies at all. What's the punch line? :P

Edited by sibiriak

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Theres three tiny beds in that sochi picture

There are 25 players on a hockey team. Two to a room. Uneven number. Therefore one room must contain an odd number of beds. Be thankful it's not 5.

Also, if I were the Russian coach, US team rooms would be freshly painted 2-3 days before Russia USA game , to take a page from Scotty Bowman's book.

Edited by sibiriak

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The bed complaints are ridiculous. Are they supposed to build five star hotels for temporary guests? It makes sense for the athletes to live in dorms. No biggie. Western world problems.

Are they supposed to ? No, but seriously the pictures, water quality and below average standard and we are talking about the best players in the world here they aren't used to that kind of stuff. If a city can't even offer good quality on top of spending 50 million $ they shouldn't get the games period.

The only thing players should have to worry is the competition and nothing else but in Sochi they have a lot of stuff to worry about: attacks, supbar quality of life, safety and water which isn't even drinkable...thats bad standards no matter how you look at it, pathetic.

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These are world class athletes.

I'm not saying they need five star accommodations but clean water isn't a creature comfort.

Agree to disagree but sub standard living conditions isn't something Olympic athletes should have to concern themselves with, they should worry about playing to the best of their ability...

When's the last time you got a good night's sleep in the cold with no heat?

I'd say its a strategy for russia to get an upper hand, but I haven't heard anything about the Russians bunking.

And I'm completely fine with them having dorm type rooms, but dorms in this kind of disarray get shut down.

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Are they supposed to ? No, but seriously the pictures, water quality and below average standard and we are talking about the best players in the world here they aren't used to that kind of stuff. If a city can't even offer good quality on top of spending 50 million $ they shouldn't get the games period.

The only thing players should have to worry is the competition and nothing else but in Sochi they have a lot of stuff to worry about: attacks, supbar quality of life, safety and water which isn't even drinkable...thats bad standards no matter how you look at it, pathetic.

The water was yellow in one instance that we saw. If you ever moved in a brand new building, there is always dirt in he pipes. It flashes out in a few hours.

Worrying about terrorist attacks? By your logic the Boston Bruins should refuse to ever play at home . Unlike the US, Russia had never had a terrorist attack at a sporting event. Newsflash: terrorism is a global threat. If we go by the historical number of victims, the USA would be in the top 4 right after Iraq, Afganistan, and Syria. Yet the NHL thinks nothing of holding games here.

Quality of life? For the athletes it will be the same as in any Olympics before. The income level/standard of living of the Russian citizens of Sochi will not matter to the athletes at all. The environment around the Olympic events will be fine, the same as anywhere else.

Safety? That's a new one. Even in this nitpicking thread I haven't seen any complaints about safety or crime in Sochi.

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But before any Russian conspiracies could take off, Whyno pointed to Pavel Lysenkov's video tour of a Russian Olympic team room. One less bed, but hardly more comfortable:

Canada's athletes are actually receiving some of the best accommodations in Sochi, according to an article Whyno later wrote for the Canadian Press. Thanks to their 14 gold medals in 2010, Canada's chef de mission Steve Podborski told CP, the country had extra leverage in room negotiations.

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These are world class athletes.

I'm not saying they need five star accommodations but clean water isn't a creature comfort.

Agree to disagree but sub standard living conditions isn't something Olympic athletes should have to concern themselves with, they should worry about playing to the best of their ability...

When's the last time you got a good night's sleep in the cold with no heat?

I'd say its a strategy for russia to get an upper hand, but I haven't heard anything about the Russians bunking.

And I'm completely fine with them having dorm type rooms, but dorms in this kind of disarray get shut down.

(The temps in Sochi are in the 80s. Noone will be sleeping in the cold).OOps that was last week. It's down to the 40s now. Still, the heat will be fixed, the shower curtains hanged and the nitpicking foreign press mollified. No worries.

Edited by sibiriak

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Temps in Sochi are in the 80's? They should have submitted a bid on the Summer Olympics.

That's what I said when I first heard about their bid. :)

The stated purpose of the Russian Government at the time was that after the Games were over, Sochi would be left with first class tourism infrastructure, that would enable it to reclaim its former Soviet prominence as a major resort for the Russian people.

You can take this with as much salt as you wish.

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Dude is beginning to sound a lot like Baghdad Bob.

I don't see any difference. Small room, two beds, two nightstands, nothing else. If you didn't know which was which, you wouldn't guess which was Sochi.

It's three to a room in Sochi.

People have legitimate concerns based on reports from people in Sochi.

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Dude is beginning to sound a lot like Baghdad Bob.

It's three to a room in Sochi.

People have legitimate concerns based on reports from people in Sochi.

Please look at the pix at the links in my post, and tell me if there's any difference between rooms in London, Vancouver, Beijing, and Sochi? The 3 bed room is not a typical room. See the video by Lysenkov that someone posted in this thread. That's what the rooms look like. Spartan, but not much different from earlier Olympics.

Edited by sibiriak

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I looked at all the pictures you posted before I wrote anything.

At this point, you're coming of at the very least as an apologist. The Press is swirling with reports that things aren't very good in Sochi (they're killing dogs .... you going to put a nice spin on that?).

How about some more pictures:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics/media-reports-sochiproblems-olympic-village-article-1.1602530

Edited by stillwater

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