Couldn't agree more! It might not be to all the home nations' tastes, but the experience will be fantastic.
If that was aimed at my comment about not giving a damn about team GB just to confirm I dont have any interest in the England team either. Club football only for me.
" wont be supporting them myself, sorry. The whole things is a total waste of time, space and most importantly money. " Makes me wonder why on earth you support Ipswich at the minute, as that's exactly what we are ! No idea what peoples issue is with team GB. Its fine for other nations to put a team in, but we, as the hosts, have so many issues with it. If the Welsh / Scottish and Northern Irish want to be as pathetic with how they've gone about the whole issue, then that's their issue, not England's. Personally, I feel sports such as tennis and football should NOT be at the olympic games. However, seeing as they are, lets support team GB.
Westlake, you most probably have a point in your argument although the waste of money I was speaking about refers to the countries money for the whole olympic package rather than what i choose to waste my own spare cash on. I have nothing against the whole Team GB idea but I have no love of international football or any interest in the Olympic Games, therefore I dont care whats happening. I detest Cricket, yet when you say you dont care about the Ashes that seems perfectly acceptable, yet people (in general, not aimed at you) seem to think it is a disgusting attitude if I say I dont follow the national football team, I cant see the difference. I have no tie to anybody or any club due to their nationality. I like F1 but hate Hamilton, I hate Tennis and couldnt care if Henman or Murray got to the final or got knocked out in round 1. If Man Utd reach the Champions League final then I wouldnt care if they won or lost and If it happens to Chelsea then I would actively want them to get humilated, no matter who they played. ITFC may well be a waste of time and money but its something I care about because I want to, not because I should.
Some good points both Westlake and tractorbhoy. I for one cannot understand the amount of negativity toward having a GB football team, I can understand not being overly bothered about it but to be so negative about having a GB team, I just don't understand why people get so riled up about it!!! Like you Westy I would question whether the bigger sports like football and tennis should be in the olympics, I think the olympics is a chance to promote athletics and the smaller sports which aren't in the mainstream but I wouldn't go as far as saying these sports definitely should not be in it. As for the notion that the Olympics is a waste of time and money for this country, I cannot disagree more with this and I think its important that as a country we fully embrace the oppertunity and try not to be cynical about it. There are certain aspects of the olympics which are dissapointing particularly the ticketing side of things and taking advantage of volunteers but the overall concept I like and as a country we should make the most of what it brings and build upon that.
I have nothing against Olympic games per se, its as important to the world of sport as any other event but its not for me. My 'waste of time and money' comment relates to the staging and infrastructure elements rather than the sporting aspect but I dont understand what we are meant to embrace from this opportunity?
You see tractorbhoy, I take it more from another view due to my line of study and profession within the public health and physical activity development sector. To me although the main focus of the olympics is clearly the sport side it will if the country embraces it so much more to offer than just a sporting event, particularly with the current gloomy times. The olympics should be used to inspire people into sport(amongst other things) and that we can aspire to achieve things(in every walk of life). The infrastruture brought with the olympics should largely be maintained in the long term and can only benefit the communities which it reaches(which will hopefully be far and wide and the more everyone embraces it the further it will go), we do not want to be like the Olympics held in Beijing where it was just a show of an event which the country could put on. Improved facilities, improved transport links, exposure of the communities it effects, a sense of national pride and also being welcoming of other cultures and countries. This is what I mean by embracing it as if we do so,(particularly the government) it will have major contributions to all parts of society, the health side, the environment, employment, economically and many more. If we just let it be an event over a few months not particularly bothering about it and then not building upon what it has left behind, it will be a monumental waste of an opportunity. This is why it angers me particularly because of my background when people are cynical about the Olympics coming to the UK!! Like I've said there are undoubted negatives with parts of the infrastructure, I have some serious gripes but to be cynical about it coming to the country I personally find frustrating. Apologies for going completely off topic regarding football etc
Football chat on this board is dead mate so I wouldnt worry to much about going off topic. If it works then I will concede that you have a point and I think in an ideal world your view would work, but call me cynical I dont see it happening. Euro 96 had a similar argument about getting kids active but our footballing talent base dwindles by the year (admittedly combined with other facts, money instant success etc) I think there is a major difference between enjoying a spectacle and actually becoming interested in that topic in a physical form and lets be honest for the amount of money it is costing you could give free sporting activities for everyone which may also help the larger social problems. The most shocking part for me is that we are putting aside £30 MILLION to remove 25000 seats from the main stadium after the event. It is just unbeleivable squander in what is meant to be a project to reinvigorate the poor east london area. Will it help the greater population of East London or will it make the immediate area more desirable and put other parts of London into even further decay? The project as a whole has the potential to do wonders but it also has the potential to be another Millenium Dome/ Wembley and knowing what officals are like in this country I know which one I would bet on.
I think that I have a point whether it works or not. This is what I and I'm sure alot of people believe is the idea of London hosting the olympic games and was particularly what the previous government was focusing on, whether this one is as enthusiastic about it I'm yet to be convinced. But I do also share your reservations about whether this will be the case or not, although I do think the games itself will be a success and it will bring some improvements to society but whether these will be as big as they could potentially be I'm not sure. I'm not saying everyone will suddenly want to become the next athlete but hopefully with the exposed coverage and improved facilities, not just in london but across the UK it will encourage more people to become active and like I say it could potentially create alot of jobs, and bring a fair amount of money to the UK. I think the idea about reducing the seat capacity is to make it sustainable, which in some ways is a good thing because at least we are thinking about it in the long term. And yes it could put other areas into further decay if those areas are not supported sufficiently but that does not mean we should not strive to improve all areas. I think the Millenium Dome(which I might add is now a very successful venue) and Wembly is different, Wembly was a fiasco, I think mainly because well its football and its all about making money etc, the Millenium Dome was misunderstood as to what it actually was I think was the main problem, the government should have done more to actually get across what the idea behind it was. But for me the Olympics is different and I remain positive that it will have a big positive effect on society, perhaps it won't go as far as we all want and there will be undoubted problems along the way. But to me it would be foolish to not make the most of the opportunity. And I'm sorry to say tractorbhoy it frustrates me when people are cynical about what this could potentially do for the country.
Its good to have a true debate on here without it turning into a name calling exercise. I can see why my views could frustrate you but I think they have tried to combine too many different aspirations instead of being quality at 1.
Indeed, I have no problem having debate like this even if there are disagreements about things, its what these boards should be like all the time. Unfortunately what winds me up as you can probably tell is when people goad others in making a response and it doesn't become a debate it becomes a slanging match or becomes a big joke. Which then results in someone(usually the person who goaded the others) suddenly taking the moral high ground!! There are rarely arguments on here that are actually coherant, that annoys me aswell, I can disagree with someone but sometimes I just feel people are being ignorant or going along with populist opinion. On this topic we have disagreements but even though I am frustrated by your cynicism about the Olympics I can see your reasoning behind it!!
to be honest mate, its amazing that we have found something to disagree on!! I was beginning to think we were identical twins seperated at birth after agreeing constantly on the old 606 boards
Anyway who's gonna get the Olympic football shirt very reasonable at only just over FIFTY Pounds, what with the four week shelf life i think its a snip.
