In one sentence..."do not miss it". If you are anything like me you are in the "cant be bothered to watch" camp, but my other half was at last nights preview show where amazingly the "guests" filled about 80% of the capacity. She says that show is nothing short of spectacular. It has a wonderful British feel running the whole way through it and the music to it really is the best of British from the last several decades. I am not going to spoil it by giving any secrets away but I can tell you that no one left there knowing how or who the flame is lit. Sit back, enjoy, be proud to be British!
Excellent news... I will miss it coz of work but im sure i will be able to catch up on it sometime afterwards...
I'm like you and for a while was worried I might be the only one. I've been a bit worried about the organisational blunders and the sheer negativity (not to be confused with couldn't care less as we're all like that about certain things) but the torch relay has been incredible. Couldn't believe how many people were lining the streets round my way yesterday. Obviously hoping we don't cock it up too royally once it starts but should be great.
Ha! Ha! So it's here at last....the great Olympics- truly an event for the people. Well, the rich ones, that is! Come on then, let's have a REAL DEBATE! They'll all be there tonight- the rich and famous led by Coe, Johnson, and Beckham- greedy, self-supporting, egotistical buffoons typical of the modern age. It started with the shambles of ticket sales.... putting the working man through hell to try and get a ticket. £700.00 to watch the 100 metres final, but all those tickets go you know where. "There's still some left for beach volleyball," says Coe. So now Prince Harry's going to that joke event.....cover up your bottoms, girls! Next comes the Torch Relay....8000 glistening, gold-plated torches costing a couple of million of taxpayers' money- and being resold on E-Bay for about four grand each. What was wrong with having ONE torch and passing it on? No, that's too simple and cheap! Then comes the ZIL lanes in London.....a 32 mile tailback on the M4 and the working man cannot get to work. Of course, he could chance his arm and risk a small £130 fine. The best is yet to come. Also, the G4S fiasco. Give them a 498 million pound contract. Don't check on them...that's God knows whose job! Call in the army and give them double pay. The 'backhanders' will cover that. Highly inconvenient, though. G4S employees were only on £8.00 an hour. And all along we've had the hype! All the medals Team GB are going to win. Sure, we'll do well in sailing and equestrianism... we always do. Most countries' citizens can't afford a horse, let alone a boat! Tonight we'll have the Opening Ceremony... synchronised dancing depicting the history of the British people.. together with NHS nurses. Make of it what you will. The good news is...the Border Agency strike has been called off. Perhaps the young lad who bordered a plane at Manchester (minus ticket and boarding card) will get into the Olympic Stadium without a ticket. No way! We're totally secure! Come on, members! Have a go at cynical Tamerlo! PS. I can't wait for the synchronised swimming. Now there's a real Olympic event!
Hope we put on a fabulous show, best of luck to them and our athletes! The Olympic Park looks spectacular and for once we can celebrate and be proud of Britain.
Tam brilliantly biting Olympics should be running, swimming, jumping and chucking stuff. That's it. Next Olympics we'll have 3-minute Tweeting and synchronised "Call Of Duty: Black Ops" BTW those in the know suggest the Olympic torch will be lit by a member of the great British public. He lives not far away and had been given special dispensation to use the Olympic lane from Greenford to the Stadium. However he won't be allowed to wear his trademark glove puppet as it constitutes a fire risk. Rumour has it a large brown envelope has changed hands .....................................
With a tote place voucher in it. Can't stay up until 3am, but looking forward to it. How dare Romney say anything about a summer Olympics. Atlanta was the biggest shambles ever and it took the Aussies, Greek and Chinese to show them how to do it. Yes the deserved won't be there but do you honestly think another country would be different. I hope it all goes well.
Tam, i have to say you do make a compelling case... And im going to find it hard to look past those cynical eyes of yours as im also in the same boat (though one of those cheap ones you understand...). To be honest though, and i know i should be concerned with it, im only interested in the actual sports and not how much this cost, that cost etc... I should be as its a another albatross around the tax-payers necks...!!! It should do well but unfortunately the people with power want more and more and greed is now a regular thing in our society. Im very much looking forward to the Olympics and im looking forward to the sporting side of the Games, but i do agree with what you say, that its cost us a bleedin fortune...!!!
Right, to change tack into 'positive and nostalgic mode.' I love the athletics, rowing, weghtlifting. Cycling's OK and so is the triathlon- but you need to be a masochist to do that. Fencing's a laugh- especially if you know where to poke your barbed wire. The rest of them you could throw away. Some wonderful memories... 1. Vasily Alekseyev, 25 stone Russian weightlifter who had 24 eggs- and that was just for breakfast. When he said it was Thursday...it was Thursday! 2. Bob Hayes' fantastic burst to win the 100 metres in Tokyo, and his colleague, graceful Henry Carr winning the 200m. Later that year, Carr raced a greyhound at White City- and gave it a run for its money. 3. Gammoudi of Tunisia using his hands to burst clear in the Tokyo 10000 metres- only for Mills of USA to come from nowhere to deny him close home. 4. Kip Keino beating 'unbeatable' Jim Ryun in Mexico and heralding the start of a great period for Kenyan Athletics. 5. David Hemery's wonderful win from the outside lane in the 400 metres hurdles in Mexico. What a great win and a smashing bloke! Give us some of your favourites.
I loved the efforts of Hicham El Guerrouj when he took out the 1500 - 5000 double at Athens. Amazing stuff.
Today's gaffe.. Man travels 5000 miles from Portland, USA, to watch Preliminary Archery event- which is labelled as "unticketed." Along with a few hundred other fans, entry disallowed. Fans assumed that 'unticketed' meant either free entry or pay on the day. Why not list the event as "closed to spectators?" But should any Olympic event be closed to the public, anyway?
I have to say that my all time favourite event is the men's 10,000m. You don't get to see guys like Haile Babrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele strut their stuff at this level all that often. It's breath taking stuff when they turn it on at the bell lap.
I can understand the cynicism but I was lucky enough to be at the Opening Ceremony Rehearsal on Monday night and it really was as everyone else has said totally amazing! ok it is a bit of a slow burner as they wander around first with a few sheep and cows but give it 10-15 minutes and it is sensational, probably the best thing I have ever seen live. I won't give anything away but make sure you watch the 9-10.15pm bit which is the main part of the ceremony.
Lol Tam!...brilliant! I'm only 50% British so will watch half of it! Sounds worth tuning in for given the money and effort that has been invested in it.
Memories, well i will give a few of many and will miss a few off... 1) Seoul 1988 - As Sean Kerly scores against the Germans Barry Davies says on commentary 'Where were the Germans...?' to be followed up with 'Frankly, who cares...!' A team that punched very much above its weight but overcame the Aussies and the Indians i think... Sean Kerly is the only bloke i can remember from that team, but the quote will stay forever... 2) Seoul 1988 - 100 metres final... Well we know the story but you didnt know that at the time, well i didnt as a 16 year old lad who was completely mad about sport. To then find out Ben Johnson had cheated from using drugs made me very, very anti drugs to any sportsman who uses them... 3) Beijing 2008 - Usuain Bolt... Liverpool were playing away at Sunderland when this race was on and would be shown over here at around 2.30ish. So with my turn to drive me and my mate set off talking about all sports, but mainly on how good this bloke was. We got to Sunderland, found a pub to watch him, and couldn't believe our luck when two seats right in front of the big screen became available... If i thought what Ben Johnson was amazing, before learning of what he did, then this just blew everyone away in the pub. Not one person in that pub didnt have their eyes fixed to that screen. What he did still amazes me... He made a mockery of the modern day sprinters to absolutely demolish them... 4) Sydney 2000 - Jan Zelezny... I threw the javelin for my school and held the local record for a while to, gaining a Lancashire's schools medal, and Steve Backley was one of my sporting hero's. But this man was just unbelievable to the extreme. He did everything your told not to do in run up, execution and release but boy could this lad throw a javelin. Held the world record on a few occasions and between them there were many a battle in the heat of top competitive sport, many in the big finals to... 5) 1984 Los Angeles - Ed Moses... One of my earliest Olympic memories but i have since read a lot about the bloke. Truly one of the greatest athletes that has lived in my opinion. If the 400m sprint race is the hardest sprint race to take on then putting hurdles in front of you as you try to run round it must make it THE hardest event going full stop...!!! The fact that this man ran and won 122 consecutive races in his time over a period of nearly 10 years tells its own story. He also was responsible for starting up the 'Out of season' drug agency, something that he is very proud of... A true Olympian legend...!!! I have loads more but i will stop at them for now...
