Jeremy Foster

Since the Vancouver 2010 Olympics came to a close and Canada finished with its best medal-count ever setting a record for the most medals received for a host country and most gold medals, there’s been a lot of talk about the “Own the Podium” (OTP) campaign. This was introduced in 2005 and provided transparency for the traditional providers as well as Corporate providers of funds to National Sports Development Associations into where their money was to be spent.

After the first week of competition, I was skeptical of the OTP as the results were nowhere near where they were predicted to be. But as the games closing drew nearer the Canadian athletes finished very strong and proved me and many other Canadians wrong about our ability to “own the podium”.

One concern I saw with this was the affiliation of Corporate funding to events. I would hate to hear something like: “This gold medal in Men’s downhill brought to you by Bell Canada….”. There should only be one logo affiliated with any result in the Olympics – Winter or Summer and it is that of our National Flag. Every brand I’ve worked with wants their logo splashed and tagline read with every success they accomplish and my worry is that this is where the Olympic Games are headed…. As many media reports pointed out – The Olympics are a big business.

Canada achieved a better result because of not-only the usual sponsors but because more people got involved with local and school-level sports development. There was more money for kids to learn how to ski, luge, skate and curl and many people got out of the proverbial armchair, rolled their sleeves up and helped develop the athletes that brought home Gold Medals in Vancouver.

This brings me to the (perhaps) crowning achievement of the Canadian team, the Men’s Hockey team winnning Gold. CBC published the credo that adorned their dressing-room wall and it’s a testament to the will and determination they showed in battling through each round to meet the US Men’s team again in the final game:

• LEAVE NO DOUBT
• That this is our game.
• That this is our time.
• That 14 days in February will be 2 weeks for the ages.
• That every day counts.
• That every meeting matters.
• That every practice makes a difference.
• That each one of us will rise to every occasion.
• That this isn’t about us, it’s about our country.
• That we know 33 million Canadians will attend every game.
• That home ice is an advantage.
• That nothing can distract us.
• That nothing will stop us.
• That our determination will define us.
• That we are built to win.
• That we are a team of character.
• That we are a team of destiny.
• So let the world be warned on February 28, 2010, we will …
• LEAVE NO DOUBT

Before leaving for Cabo San Lucas, Melody (my wife) had gathered a bunch of t-shirts from her school (Calgary Preparatory School) that they were no longer in need of. These t-shirts filled a suitcase which we checked and brought with us to take to the Captain’s Kid’s Daycare Center. This school in Cabo San Lucas, literally a 10 minute drive North of the resort areas that line downtown Cabo was a very eye-opening and humbling experience.

The school is situated in one of the “better off” areas according to the director giving us the tour. We could see that most of the neighbourhood citizens didn’t have running water, electricity or even walls or ceilings over their head. We saw a truck with a loud-speaker on the hood which the driver would read the daily news through as 90+% of the people living there could not read. This driver of the truck was also selling water to those who stopped him in the street – right outside the school.

The school facilities actually started as a simple palapa – or small grass hut – in the neighborhood. After years of donations and support the facility now has classrooms, a medical clinic, shelter, showers, running water, a kitchen and secure entry for all the children. Patricia Lozano, the director who showed us the school mentioned the need for security considering the poor conditions of the surrounding area. When we were there, the thrift shop that the school also operates out of the facility was closed due to the fact that no one has any money until people are paid on the 15th of the month.

During the visit we went through each of the classes with children in the age-range of 1-5 years old. Melody, being a pre-school teacher, taught the kids couple of songs and all I could do was snap pictures and sing along. Despite the tough conditions of the neighborhood and some of the heartbreaking stories about some of the kids attending the school, the children seemed so happy to have visitors and were constantly smiling and waving and craving attention.

We gave the t-shirts to Patricia and last week received the photo (above) of all the student population wearing their “Calgary Preparatory School” t-shirts and ball-caps that we’d donated to them.

Both Melody and I intend to visit the Captain’s Kids each year we go to Cabo and will donate whatever we can to such an excellent foundation for the children of Cabo San Lucas.

To see the slideshow on Flickr of all the photos taken that day at Captain’s Kids, click the photo above or click here!

So a bunch of us from work decided it’d be a pretty good idea to get together and go check out Kim Mitchell when he came through town. The show was originally slated to be in the Big Sky room at the Stampede Casino. When the tickets were sold to us, it was unbeknownst to us that the Casino was in receivership…. Yes, they sold us tickets to a show that was never going to happen on their premises and knowing that it would be impossible for them to refund us those funds.

About a week after the tickets were sold,

• Kim Mitchell cut his hand and cancelled his tour.
• The Stampede Casino (publicly) went into receivership.
• The Stampede Casino was no longer a Ticketmaster outlet.

Due to the fact that the Casino was in receivership, all of their accounts were locked down by a court order and all monies controlled by an external party until the Casino is sold and all of their assets liquidated…

My beef is the fact that the Casino was still selling tickets to a show knowing they had no control over that money once it came through the front door. Now that the show is cancelled, I’m out $100 plus service charges because some shit-for-brains realized it’d be a quick cash grab to sell tickets until Ticketmaster yanked their license.

I refuse to support the Stampede Casino because of this lapse of responsibility and you should too… Customer service aside, if you are in the business of taking people’s money you should also have the decency to refund it if you can’t provide the promised good or service….period.

It used to be that everyone at a concert would have a lighter. When that ballad came on all the lighters went up in the air. Now it’s cellphones. At the Coldplay concert in June, Chris Martin had everyone hold their cellphone up and do the wave. There were enough cellphones to pretty much light up the Saddledome here in Calgary.

So what’s next? Will everyone hold up a netbook? Light-sabre?

What is the next thing that is pretty much guaranteed to be in a concert-goer’s pocket other than perhaps a bag of goodies, keys, a lighter and a cellphone….

For anyone wanting to check out some great classic rock this weekend in Calgary come down to Denim Lounge and check out Stash. I’ll be sitting in with the band on drums Saturday night making loud noises!

The setlist includes hits moving from The Rolling Stones, ZZ-Top, The Beatles and Lynyrd Skynyrd all the way up to Van Halen, Jet and The Black Crowes.

Come down for a pint and a plate of wings and a whole bunch of classic rock!!

Happy New Year everyone – here’s to a successful 2009. Be safe and have fun!
Cheers, Jeremy.