BTHarner
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Posts posted by BTHarner
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I can't believe that the plans I started to make a year ago on a whim (Let's book a hotel in case we actually go to the Pan Am Games) are so close to being realized. Should arrive at our hotel around 1pm Friday. Then within a few short hours we are off to the OC.
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Then go move to Baku if it is so wonderful, just don't come crying to us to bail you out after you've been imprisoned for being too opinionated. You've clearly fallen for a charade perpetuated by a totalitarian regime.
BTW, "bitch-slapped," I do believe Throne's façade of pretentiousness is crumbling.
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Release from ESPN on coverage plans.
It's really a shame that some sports will have no coverage at all since the host broadcast agreement with CBC only covers certain sports. But then, it still beats having no coverage here as was the case from 1995-2003.
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Finally, all my tickets are here. Interesting to note that the OC is the only one where I have a specific assigned seat. All the others are sit anywhere you want within your assigned category or section. To be honest, when I look at the drawings of the field hockey venue, I can't help but think our seats will be on the ground.
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Another great catch Durban. I remember this being the first time I got irritated because they cut out some countries and I just griped about it all day during school the next day. I was also floored that 49 countries were participating, that was a lot at the time. Always got a kick that USA in Serbo-Croatian is SAD, that definitely summed up our performance in Sarajevo (or at least ABC's expectations for our performance). Such a beautiful setting, and wonderful people who genuinely looked forward to welcoming the world. I have a co-worker who is from Bosnia and I always want to hear his memories of the Sarajevo Games, but I'm afraid those memories might be tinged with pain given the events that have transpired since.
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Thanks for posting that. It's hard to believe that the Games are just about 2 weeks away, guess I'd better start studying my three-letter venue codes.
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Did you get them all in one mailing? I'm still waiting for all my other tickets as none came today.
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Actually they are mailing the sports tickets is multiple mailings. Got 2 sports today, 7 to go. Very, very strange distribution system, but I've never been a big Ticketmaster fan to begin with.
One small thing about the tickets. They also allow to you to ride the transit to and from the event. You would think they would have the event date in big bold print on the tickets so the bus drivers, station attendants, etc could read them easily. But the print is actually quite small, this could cause a bit of an inconvenience if lines start backing up.
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An unlimited government bankroll can buy perfect (unless you are dealing with mechanical Olympic rings).
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Our OC tickets arrived today. They must be mailing them separately from the sport tickets.
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That isn't surprising given the bear hug winter had on us (and Toronto) just a few months ago.
I watched the Toronto Indy today in the hope of enhancing my anticipation for next month and I was a bit disappointed. Last year's race had Pan Am signage all along the track but this year had none. Was this a missed opportunity to promote the Games or were the race promoters irritated that they had to move the race up a month because of the Games.. Also the rainy, dreary weather prevented any aerial shots, I was hoping to see if they had even started the beach volleyball stadium yet.
I only want to know one OC spoiler. I'm sitting in section 115L and want to know how close the athlete's parade comes to my seat.
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ESPNDeportes schedule
July 10-730pm-1030pm
July 11-1030am-9pm
July 12-10am-1am (last two hours are tape-delayed soccer)
July 13-10am-8pm
10pm-midnight (tape delayed soccer)
July 14-10am-1030pm
July 15-10 am-11pm
July 16-10am-midnight
July 17- 10am-11pm
July 18-10am-830pm
July 19-10am-8pm
July 20-10am-1130pm
July 21-10am-830pm
July 22- 10am-8pm
July 23-10am-1130pm
July 24-10am-8pm
July 25-10am-4pm
8pm-11pm
July 26-10am-6pm
730pm-10pm
Most of the early end times during the second week are due to those annoying MLS-Euro club or Euro club vs Euro club summer friendlies.
I was going to add ESPNDeportes to my satellite lineup like I did four years ago and just record all the coverage while I am in Toronto from the 10th to the 18th. Turns out they need to send a tech out to realign my dish to actually pick up the channel. Still debating whether to do it for a channel that I will keep for only a month or two and then dropping it.
Almost forgot to add that most days feature a highlight show from 9-10am, and a show called Toronto al Dia at different times during the Games.
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A great day for football fans everywhere. For the first time in a long time, I can say there is hope for the future of the game. We just need to rid FIFA of the remnant of Blatter's cronyism and hope their successors are truly dedicated to change and reform.
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Look who is calling the vase Ming.
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The comments beneath any Pan Am Games article in that paper all always the same, written by the same people over and over. They used to tick me off with their worn out rhetoric, but then I decided they are just a bunch of people who don't like sports and complain constantly about their politicians. To judge the impending success or failure on 20 comments (don't know the exact number since I ignore them), which may or may not have been written by 20 different people is just preposterous.
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Thanks for the info.
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Everyone of Throne's posts constitutes a MAJOR FACEPALM event.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. BTW, the official Games app is now available for download. It's a work in progress, as is Triplinks.com the site that is supposed to help you plan your way around the games. The site doesn't seem to want to give me any direction on how to get from my hotel to Centennial Park for BMX.
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The website has a new look today.
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Throne needs to study the history of the Pan American Games in order to understand just how good these Games will be. Cali 1971 and Caracas 1983 had claustrophobic accommodations for the athletes who also suffered from a lack of availability of safe drinking water. Indianapolis 1987 also had a overcrowding issue at the military barracks that served as the Pan Am village, a problem only solved when he US athletes moved out to hotels. Then there was Santo Domingo 2003 and the cows wading in the rowing venue. Rio 2007 had issues with the power supply at the one venue cluster. Guadalajara's athletics stadium was not ready until the Games got underway. Toronto's preparations have been almost impeccable in comparison.
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At the risk of turning somebody into a music critic, I will post that the official song of the Games, Together We are One by Serena Ryder is now released. I just listened to it on Spotify.
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ESPN has already tweaked it's broadcast schedule, mostly by shortening many of the first week shows to 2 hours. The second week remains largely unchanged.
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Well, to be honest the nationality of the person who said it was Mexican, Don Mario Vázquez Raña, late-President of the Pan American Sports Organization, who said the Winnipeg Games were the best-organized since his own Games in Mexico City in 1975. Despite the "unpardonable attendance record" the 1999 Games still turned a healthy profit of $8.9 million.
Throne, despite the fact that I have blocked you, I still come across your posts because others quote them, or I happen to check this page out on my phone where I am not signed in and my block list in not in effect. That aside, I must say your mostly negative posts about these games are really dragging me down, given that I will be spending a fair sum of money to attend the Games. I have made my peace that this event is not as popular as it once was, and that the populace of Toronto may not we enthralled as a whole about hosting them, I frankly, do not give a damn about what other people think about them. I care about the Games and given the proximity to home, felt an obligation to support them. I do not care that I will not be seeing Usain Bolt and Micheal Phelps (I am not mesmerized by superstars). I will be still be seeing top level athletes who are grateful for the opportunity. Then you come along and criticize all the marginalia (the street banners, the torch, the Brazilian uniforms) that will be forgotten the day after the ParaPan Ams end. Like I said many pages ago, start a new thread about that stuff and leave this one to Games news. Give the handful of us who care about the Games and the competition a break.
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I predict a slow start to the games attendance wise, but once the locals get a feel for the event, you'll see a lot of walk-up sales. Some sports will naturally draw better than others (keep in mind that the ceremonies, soccer, and rugby represent 500000 of the available tickets just by themselves), and the success of the Games cannot be measured in attendance alone. Everybody considered Winnipeg 1999 a success yet I remember reading that one of the women's water polo games was played before 21 fans.
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Beach volleyball draw tomorrow.
Toronto 2015
in Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games
Posted
Novotel in Mississauga.