Gerrit End Table -

Gerrit End Table -

PART I: The Benefits of Hosting the Olympic Games, Pan American Games or Commonwealth Games

A country can truly call itself sporting when the majority of its people feel a personal need for sports.  ~ Pierre de Coubertin,

father of the modern Olympic Games

The International Olympic Committee is now accepting bids for the 2020 Olympic Games…. And Oh! how I’d love to see Canada put in a bid!  I’m well aware that there are some people that feel otherwise and today’s blog is dedicated to YOU.  In fact, this is such a heavy topic I’ll be continuing with it on Thursday. 

Every 2 years, for 2 weeks all that is wrong in the world seems to be on hold, while the world watches the Olympic Games.  That is the power of sports!  

Sports brings together people of all decent while discouraging discrimination.  It is a testament to the will of man and the realization of effort.

The benefits of hosting the Olympic Games or any major championship are often marred by the cost of staging such an event.   Oppositions are quick to site the expenses involved while completely disregarding the fact that hosting a major championship allows for belabouring city concerns to finally get taken care of in an expedient fashion.

For example Toronto will be hosting the 2015 Pan American Games.  As a result, commuting concerns are finally being put into place (like a shuttle that goes from Pearson Airport directly to downtown)… The flow of traffic and commuting options in Toronto will significantly improve as a result of hosting the Pan American Games... a project that should have been taken care of 15 years ago…

In truth the benefits of hosting a major games are so monumental that if you could put a price tag on it, the current expenses associated with hosting such an event, wouldn’t cover it.  Indeed, the benefits far exceed the costs… but no one pays attention to it.  As an athlete it irritates me to see people petition so loudly against Canada hosting the Olympic Games or Pan American Games, yet will be the first to sing with Canadian pride when we are on the podium. Where was the Canadian pride before, when we needed it most?!

The hosting of a major championship provides an increase in GDP, drives an increase in jobs, economic gains for small and medium business while showcasing a city to the world.  Tourism has been shown to increase substantially during and long after a championship.  It becomes an elevated tourist destination.  The influx of tourists provides more revenue gains for the hosting and nearby cities.

For example the hosting of the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games will result in Major Economic Benefits to the City of Toronto.

·         $1.4 billion in Capital Investment:

o   12,467 jobs

o   $67 million in tax revenue

o   $837 million Labour Income

o   $1.1 billion to city of Toronto GDP

·         $106 million in Operational Spending:

o   1,679 jobs and

o   $299,00 in municipal taxes for the City of Toronto

o   $84.1 million in value-added to the City of Toronto GDP

·         19.5 million in Visitor Spending

o   222 Jobs

o   $9.3 million in labour income added through the incremental tourist spending

o   $42,000 in tax revenue generated by the incremental tourist spending

o   $13.8 million to the City of Toronto GDP

    Additionally, the visibility of high performance athletes in a large cluster can’t help but inspire youth.  I remember when Canada hosted the 1994 Commonwealth Games, and I, not even an athlete at that point, made a commitment to achieve excellence as I watched our Canadian team do so well in Victoria...  And I still live and breathe this commitment!  Don’t ever underestimate the power of inspiration, provided by hosting a major game!

    As mentioned hosting a major game attends to the improvement of various city infrastructures.  Likewise, it provides facilities.  And in Canada, God knows we are struggling.  I’ve been in third world countries with better facilities than our best National Team Training Centres…. Seriously!  Asking for great performances without the means to train is like asking for blood from a stone. 

     The development of an elite athlete is a long term process.   The lasting effects of the Calgary Olympic Games can be seen in our spectacular performances in VANOC.  And while not everyone who endeavors to be an elite athlete will achieve it, they are more likely to have a lifetime committed to healthy lifestyle, which thereby makes them less likely to be a burden to our health care system… Moreover, such facilities are not exclusive to elite athletes, but become pillars in one’s city for recreation… Like I said before we shouldn’t be focusing on getting more hospital beds but getting less people needing hospital beds (Number 1 cause of death in North America is lifestyle related!) 

     Hosting any major games isn’t just about dollars and cents; it’s about making a better Canada… far beyond the podium!

Desiring a change in how Canadians view sports,

Nicole W. Forrester

Olympian, PhD Candidate

Canadian Olympic Committee Member

2015 Pan American Games, Athlete Advisory Council Member

*On Thursday I’ll review previous major games failures and successes.*

OUR DEEPEST FEAR

Dare to be GREAT!

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of mankind is our inability to see how great we can be.  It's easy to set limits, see the reasons why not and the obstacles which may come in our paths.  Ironically, while we want to achieve so much, we don't have to search far because it's in each and everyone of us.  It's always been there...  But, why is it so hard for us to know this and see this?

Just as Maya Angelou has said "Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives."  Perhaps as adults we should be more like children.

"Our Deepest Fears" written by Marianne Williamson, is certainly one of my most treasured poems... It is most recognized as being read by Nelson Mandela in his Innaugural speech.  And it speaks of this inner power we each have but are too afraid to realize. (Perhaps this is why "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho is my favourite book.)

Since, none of us knows when our final moments will be (like The Dash) or when the end of the world will occur, I challenge you to start living by first facing this fear.  I share with you a moving video which encapsulates the poem "Our Deepest Fear."

 Dare to be POWERFUL beyond measure!

Video Script:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure, beyond measure... beyond measure.

Ima show you, how great I am!

Last night I cut the light off in my bedroom, hit the switch, and was in the bed before the room was dark.

Ima show you, how great I am!

Only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick, Im so mean I make medicine sick.

Ima show you, how great I am!

This kid is gonna be the best kid in the world.
This kid is gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew.

Ima show you, how great I am.

I have wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale, I done handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail.

Ima show you, how great I am!

All you chumps are gonna bow when I whoop him, all of you, I know you got him, I know you've got him picked, but the man is in trouble.

Ima show you how great I am!

But somewhere along the line you changed.  You stopped being you.
You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good, and when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame... like a big shadow.

Let me tell you something you already know.  The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows.  It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.

You, me, or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life; but it ain't about how hard you hit.  It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward!  How much you can take and keep moving forward!
Thats how winning is done!


Cause if you're willing to go through all the battling, you gotta go through to get to where you wanna get, whose got the right to stop you?

I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to somebody, something.
And you're told no even after you pay your dues, whose got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody.

It's your right to listen to your gut.  It aint nobody's right to say no... after you earn the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do.

Now if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth.
But you've gotta be willing to take the hits.  And not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody!  Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.


Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

All you chumps are gonna bow when I whoop him, all of you, I know you got him, I know youve got him picked, but the man is in trouble.

Ima show you how great I am!

Sunday's Lyrics: It's The End Of The World As We Know It

Yesterday, the world was suppose to end, with the commencement of the Rapture.... apparently, if you subscribed to some random person's belief. I must admit I did not pay much attention to this man's hypothesis, so perhaps I cannot fairly critique it....

But, it isn't a bad notion to consider what you would do if you knew the time and date of when the end of the world would occur.  Would you live differently?  And if so, why?  Why not start living that way now, because in truth none of us know when our final ours will be, much like the poem "The Dash."

Today's lyrics are inspired by this discussion.  It's a fast song, which can make it difficult to understand.  I've taken this song to point out all the challenges facing the world, and that all signs point to the end of the world closely coming.  It's actually morbid, in someways.  But, if you take the glass half full approach it can inspire you to start living in life BECAUSE now is all we have guaranteed.

 It's The End Of The World As We Know It
Songwriters: Stipe, Michael; Berry, William; Buck, Peter; Mills, Mike;

That's great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes, an aeroplane
Lenny Bruce is not afraid

Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves it's own needs, don't mis-serve your own needs
Feed it up a knock, speed, grunt, no strength
No ladder structure, clatter with fear of height, down height

Wire in a fire, representing seven games in a
Government for hire and a combat site left her
Wasn't coming in a hurry with the
Furies breathing down your neck

Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered, crop
Look at that low plane, fine, then
Uh, oh, overflow, population, common group
But it'll do, save yourself, serve yourself

World serves it's own needs listen to your heart bleed
Tell me with the rapture and the revered and the right
Right you vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light
Feeling pretty psyched

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine




 Six o'clock, TV hour, don't get caught in foreign towers
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Lock him in uniform and book burning, blood letting
Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate

Light a candle, light a motive, step down, step down
Watch your heel crush, crush, uh, oh, this means
No fear, cavalier, renegade, steer clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)

It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine, I feel fine

It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
(It's time I had some time alone)

The other night I tripped a nice continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom
You symbiotic, patriotic, slam, but neck, right? Right

It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine

It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine

It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine, fine

It's time I had some time alone

End Table With Bamboo Top:

end table with bamboo top:

An End Table Design Similar To

An End Table Design Similar to

End Tables, Set Side By

end tables, set side by