47 replies to this topic

[DannyelBrazil]

Any thoughts besides Intoronto's opinion on how big it should be to Brazil to have 0 medals in winter sports?

[Rols O'Bertilsson]

DannyelBrazil, on 07 November 2011 - 12:21 AM, said:

Any thoughts besides Intoronto's opinion on how big it should be to Brazil to have 0 medals in winter sports?

Well, Oz has been a consistent medal winner for the past three games now.

I think the trick is to target a sport with a lot of cross-disciplinary overlap - for example, for Freestyle Aerials, Oz basically recruited gymnasts who were up to it to put their skills to use in a different setting.

The other stategy that's worked for us is to "recruit" Canadian athletes. Works both ways well - gets us medals and pisses off the Canucks!

Edited by Sir Rols, 07 November 2011 - 12:39 AM.

[intoronto1125]

DannyelBrazil, on 07 November 2011 - 12:21 AM, said:

Any thoughts besides Intoronto's opinion on how big it should be to Brazil to have 0 medals in winter sports?

Hey I never mentioned a 0 all that its good to see the smaller (in terms of winter sports) qualifying athletes and taking up winter sports.

[oakydoky]

DannyelBrazil, on 07 November 2011 - 12:21 AM, said:

Any thoughts besides Intoronto's opinion on how big it should be to Brazil to have 0 medals in winter sports?

I suspect not. Some of those winter sports obviously require certain natural landscapes and weather e.g. mountains for skiing with an abundance of snow. The country then has to develop a sports culture for those particular sports.If countries don't have mountains and snow etc, then they will not therefore excel at skiing for example in all likelihood unless they desire it so much they will send their athletes oversees to training camps.

Perhaps sports which occur indoors, such as ice-skating and ice-hockey etc could flourish but that would really require a huge sports programme from the country to encourage people to take up those sports.In Brazil for example, what incentive would there be for someone to be an ice-hockey player when football is far more attractive and easier to learn?

Perhaps if booty-shakin' on ice became an Olympic sport then Brazil could target that?

[intoronto1125]

oakydoky, on 07 November 2011 - 07:16 AM, said:

I suspect not. Some of those winter sports obviously require certain natural landscapes and weather e.g. mountains for skiing with an abundance of snow. The country then has to develop a sports culture for those particular sports.If countries don't have mountains and snow etc, then they will not therefore excel at skiing for example in all likelihood unless they desire it so much they will send their athletes oversees to training camps.

Perhaps sports which occur indoors, such as ice-skating and ice-hockey etc could flourish but that would really require a huge sports programme from the country to encourage people to take up those sports.In Brazil for example, what incentive would there be for someone to be an ice-hockey player when football is far more attractive and easier to learn?

Perhaps if booty-shakin' on ice became an Olympic sport then Brazil could target that?

Thing is Ice hockey is generally for the "rich" and I use that loosely because the equipment costs so much. That is another reason why Soccer is so popular because all you need is any sort of ball to play!

Bringing back the Winter Pan American Games every four years with Argentina, Chile, USA and Canada alternating as hosts would go along way in helping countries develop these sports (with Canada/USA sending developmental teams).

[baron-pierreIV]

I think the BIGGER issue here really is these sports would only blossom where there has been a cultural link.

Two very strange examples:

Danny, u lived in Florida, I think. So you do know that very strange anomaly of the Tampa Bay Lightning ice hockey team surviving in tropical Florida? Well, apparently that's because the large community of transplanted, retired Canadians (and other northeasterners) living down there, support the team. Other than that factor, there's no way sun-bred Floridians would have any interest in a winter sport.

#2 - Oddly enuf in the Philippines, there is a small figure skating following there. That's because the Phil used to be a U.S. colony, so it gets all those ice shows + 2ndly, ice rinks (one or two) found their way in Manila since 1970. A Filipina-American gal from New Jersey (who used to be on the U.S. junior team) will compete in the Ladies's singles under the Philippine flag in the Worlds now and leading up to Sochi. Oddly too, this Melissa gal is like the 4th or 5th in a long-line of half-Filipina-American gals who have made names for themselves in US Figure Skating. Tai Babilonia (pairs, 1980), Elizabeth Punsalan (ice dancing, the late 80s and 90s) were Fil-Am gals into figure skating. Presently, the top rated female US pairs figure skater, Amanda Evora, is also a Fil-American gal.

So any affinity to any winter sports from a non-winter society would have to be a cultural thing for starters.

[DannyelBrazil]

oakydoky, on 07 November 2011 - 07:16 AM, said:

I suspect not. Some of those winter sports obviously require certain natural landscapes and weather e.g. mountains for skiing with an abundance of snow. The country then has to develop a sports culture for those particular sports.If countries don't have mountains and snow etc, then they will not therefore excel at skiing for example in all likelihood unless they desire it so much they will send their athletes oversees to training camps.

Perhaps sports which occur indoors, such as ice-skating and ice-hockey etc could flourish but that would really require a huge sports programme from the country to encourage people to take up those sports.In Brazil for example, what incentive would there be for someone to be an ice-hockey player when football is far more attractive and easier to learn?

Perhaps if booty-shakin' on ice became an Olympic sport then Brazil could target that?

That's my point...

LOL, Ice booty-skakin' would become Winter Games a bit more tropical!!!

[DannyelBrazil]

baron-pierreIV, on 07 November 2011 - 09:36 AM, said:

I think the BIGGER issue here really is these sports would only blossom where there has been a cultural link.

Two very strange examples:

Danny, u lived in Florida, I think. So you do know that very strange anomaly of the Tampa Bay Lightning ice hockey team surviving in tropical Florida? Well, apparently that's because the large community of transplanted, retired Canadians (and other northeasterners) living down there, support the team. Other than that factor, there's no way sun-bred Floridians would have any interest in a winter sport.

#2 - Oddly enuf in the Philippines, there is a small figure skating following there. That's because the Phil used to be a U.S. colony, so it gets all those ice shows + 2ndly, ice rinks (one or two) found their way in Manila since 1970. A Filipina-American gal from New Jersey (who used to be on the U.S. junior team) will compete in the Ladies's singles under the Philippine flag in the Worlds now and leading up to Sochi. Oddly too, this Melissa gal is like the 4th or 5th in a long-line of half-Filipina-American gals who have made names for themselves in US Figure Skating. Tai Babilonia (pairs, 1980), Elizabeth Punsalan (ice dancing, the late 80s and 90s) were Fil-Am gals into figure skating. Presently, the top rated female US pairs figure skater, Amanda Evora, is also a Fil-American gal.

So any affinity to any winter sports from a non-winter society would have to be a cultural thing for starters.

Yes, Florida have Ice-Hockey teams, in fact, Brazilians like to watch Ice Hockey since we think it's a "kind of iced soccer"... You score goals, Brazilian loves goals. Anyway.
I think the your point is even better than Oakeydokey.

Most of tropical countries have no link or tradition with those sports simply because they don't have snow. Few countries can have a weak link due a colony of immigrants or in the case of Australia, because it's a rich country, part of a Commonwealth of a northern Kingdon (it's a enough link to people care about other parts of Kingdom likes in sports).

Despite that, as I pointed in the microblog of GBForums, it'lll be hard to make Brazilians, for example, care more about winter sports, when the Brazilian Championship of some freezing discipline is held in Ushuaia, Argentina... or in Montillo, Chile... Both more than 4,000 Km from the southern states of Brazil...

intoronto1125, on 07 November 2011 - 01:13 AM, said:

Hey I never mentioned a 0 all that its good to see the smaller (in terms of winter sports) qualifying athletes and taking up winter sports.

It's always good, but not major. A line was not written about them in Brazilian Media...
And from times to times, "strange" countries will be joining winter sports and doing ridiculuous like bobsled team of Brazil in Vancouver... It was more dangerous than honorable what they did.

[oakydoky]

DannyelBrazil, on 07 November 2011 - 12:51 PM, said:

That's my point...

LOL, Ice booty-skakin' would become Winter Games a bit more tropical!!!

Brazil could target speed skating (long and short track) -- it's relatively easy to build ice rinks and Brazil seems to have to right kind of people suited to that sport i.e. runners, soccer players types who could convert to it.

Speed skating is one sport where many medals can be won. Look at South Korea -- most of their medals come in the short track skating events.

Developing an alpine mountain culture is obviously more difficult.

[intoronto1125]

DannyelBrazil, on 07 November 2011 - 12:59 PM, said:

Yes, Florida have Ice-Hockey teams, in fact, Brazilians like to watch Ice Hockey since we think it's a "kind of iced soccer"... You score goals, Brazilian loves goals. Anyway.
I think the your point is even better than Oakeydokey.

Most of tropical countries have no link or tradition with those sports simply because they don't have snow. Few countries can have a weak link due a colony of immigrants or in the case of Australia, because it's a rich country, part of a Commonwealth of a northern Kingdon (it's a enough link to people care about other parts of Kingdom likes in sports).

Despite that, as I pointed in the microblog of GBForums, it'lll be hard to make Brazilians, for example, care more about winter sports, when the Brazilian Championship of some freezing discipline is held in Ushuaia, Argentina... or in Montillo, Chile... Both more than 4,000 Km from the southern states of Brazil...





It's always good, but not major. A line was not written about them in Brazilian Media...
And from times to times, "strange" countries will be joining winter sports and doing ridiculuous like bobsled team of Brazil in Vancouver... It was more dangerous than honorable what they did.

Brazil actually didn't qualify a sled for the Vancouver games, but anything is possible Jamaica was in medal range when they crashed on the last turn.