News   May 28, 2024
Core Architects Wins a Trio of Awards for 210 Bloor West
 1.3K     1 
News   May 28, 2024
Quayside Resubmission Refines Block 3 and 4 Tower Plans
 1.7K     0 
News   May 28, 2024
News Roundup for May 28, 2024
 573     0 

Toronto 2015 Pan American Games

StatGeek said:
I think I will embrace the Pan-Am games. Sure it's not the Olympics but it's the build up for our athletes to the Olympics.
How many in this city jump on the bandwagon every 4 years to "support the athletes". These athletes don't just "show up". There is competitions like the Pan-Am and the Commonwealth games to prepare them for it.

It's like complaining that the national soccer team doesn't go to the World cup but never pay attention or support the national team when they are trying to qualify.

Plus athletes are normally attractive so that's another plus :p
Click to expand...

I am looking forward to the games.....I have never lived in a city that had one of these multi-sport events before and I am intrigued by the opportunity to attend sports that I do not get the opportunity to on a regular basis. Sports like rugby sevens, swimming races, velodrome cycling and track and field.

The sad part is I have yet to run into anyone that shares my view. Whenever the topic comes up my interest is generally met with "who cares" and/or "second rate games" type comments. Over the weekend I watched a couple of hours of Commonwealth games coverage from Glasgow.....saw some track and field (all preliminary events, ie. no medal finals) and Hampden Park was sold out (holds 55k for soccer but I think it is around 50k for track)......saw some rugby sevens from Ibrox Park the group games were scheduled as 4 "sesssions" (each session was a separate ticket) over 2 days and the attendance total for those sessions was 171,000 (Ibrox holds just under 50k...so that is near capacity on average)......saw some swimming (mix of medal events and prelims) and there did not look to be any empty seats in their 5k venue (2k permanent seats with 3k temporary seats).

I honestly don't know where the commonwealth games and pan am games rank against each other in terms of tier of events...my guess is they are roughly equal....it is amazing contrasting the attitude I am sensing in Toronto relative to what is happening in Glasgow right now. I don't, obviously, know at what point excitement builds for these events but I have a fear that we are building towards games that don't contrast well with how they are accepted/supported in other places.
 
Pan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House pictures - from the TO2015 Twitter account

3ZfyS9h.png


0SIzjlb.png


UorHXBM.png
 
TOareaFan said:
The sad part is I have yet to run into anyone that shares my view. Whenever the topic comes up my interest is generally met with "who cares" and/or "second rate games" type comments. Over the weekend I watched a couple of hours of Commonwealth games coverage from Glasgow....... saw some rugby sevens from Ibrox Park the group games were scheduled as 4 "sessions" (each session was a separate ticket) over 2 days and the attendance total for those sessions was 171,000 (Ibrox holds just under 50k...so that is near capacity on average)......

I honestly don't know where the commonwealth games and pan am games rank against each other in terms of tier of events...my guess is they are roughly equal....it is amazing contrasting the attitude I am sensing in Toronto relative to what is happening in Glasgow right now. I don't, obviously, know at what point excitement builds for these events but I have a fear that we are building towards games that don't contrast well with how they are accepted/supported in other places.
Click to expand...

<snipped> a bit of your quotes. Despite a tough go for the Canucks in Glasgow (won the Shield, but really tough luck being in a round robin with both the Kiwis and Scotland), the rugby community is quite excited to watch some world class sevens in Toronto. BMO field is smaller than Ibrox, of course, but I'd expect packed houses rocking the joint.
 
Riverdale Rink Rat said:
<snipped> a bit of your quotes. Despite a tough go for the Canucks in Glasgow (won the Shield, but really tough luck being in a round robin with both the Kiwis and Scotland), the rugby community is quite excited to watch some world class sevens in Toronto. BMO field is smaller than Ibrox, of course, but I'd expect packed houses rocking the joint.
Click to expand...

I hope you are right....and I hope the, by then, 30k BMO Field does draw crowds for sevens....I just used that as an example but it was really the crowds at non-medal track events and the swimming that got me wondering how we are going to do/look relative to Glasgow2014......I just don't sense a lot of enthusiasm in Toronto for Toronto2015. I hope I am wrong and do appreciate you responding with your upbeat thoughts on the rugby..at least I can say one other person I "chatted" with is looking forward to it!
 
TOareaFan said:
I hope you are right....and I hope the, by then, 30k BMO Field does draw crowds for sevens....I just used that as an example but it was really the crowds at non-medal track events and the swimming that got me wondering how we are going to do/look relative to Glasgow2014......I just don't sense a lot of enthusiasm in Toronto for Toronto2015. I hope I am wrong and do appreciate you responding with your upbeat thoughts on the rugby..at least I can say one other person I "chatted" with is looking forward to it!
Click to expand...

Don't worry, the pan am games are significantly larger than the commonwealth games and drawer better athletes to boot. Ontario's never seen anything like this before!
 
mistercorporate said:
Don't worry, the pan am games are significantly larger than the commonwealth games and drawer better athletes to boot. Ontario's never seen anything like this before!
Click to expand...

Actually the Commonwealths draw out the big names. In swimming the USA will be sending its C team to the games which is unfortunate. (A team to the worlds and B team to the Universiade in Korea). It really does indicate the importance of the events if countries want to send better athletes to the Universiade.
 
Motorsport Park seems like a pain in the ass to get to if you're coming from out of town and don't have a car.
 
ticky said:
Motorsport Park seems like a pain in the ass to get to if you're coming from out of town and don't have a car.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I know. It'd really suck if you're coming from somewhere way out of town and you don't have a car yet or even at all.
 
The CIBC Park (i.e. the EX / ontario place) have they decided what exactly will be located there (the only thing I know for a fact is volleyball) ?
 
taal said:
The CIBC Park (i.e. the EX / ontario place) have they decided what exactly will be located there (the only thing I know for a fact is volleyball) ?
Click to expand...

Rugby sevens at BMO and, Gymnastics at Ricoh and, I believe, basketball at the Direct Energy Centre.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top