Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life: The Atmosphere
(Because you can never see this song too much, here it is again. From Monty Python's great The Life Of Brian .) There's been a lot of criticism of these Winter Olympics over the past few weeks, much of it deserved and some of it even by me . However, what many of the critics are overlooking is that there are real positives to the event that also deserve coverage. One of the most significant bright spots so far has been the atmosphere the Olympics have brought to Vancouver. The Vancouver area is a great place to live, but for all its charms, it often feels awfully restrained. In one of the Hardy Boys' novels, it was described as "a sleepy fishing village", and ABC sportscaster Jim McKay commented during the Vancouver Whitecaps' 1979 NASL series against the New York Cosmos that "Vancouver must be like the deserted village right now" thanks to all the people watching on television. The village characterization isn't particularly fair given ...