Sadly. purely from personal conversations, there is a LOT of cynicism about the gameshere in rural Hampshire. I respect those who live in London and will be adversely affected but I'm dead excited. Also, look at the crowds of smiling happy faces along the torch route - mostly cheering on unsung, deserving carriers. The tickets for me and my boy to watch the sailing in Weymouth came yesterday.. do I know anything about sailing? Nope. Will we see much but distant sails? Nope. But we will have had a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience a tiny part of the greatest sporting spectacle to be in this country ever. And I can't wait. You can't stop it, it's happening. I'm with Beth and co on this. I know nothing anybody says is gonna change anyone's opinion .. but hey, there's my tuppence worth.
A big boo to the olympics from me, the only thing worth watching is the sprint finals and they only last a few seconds add to all the traffic and all the bother that will inevitably goes on, from a completely selfish personal view, I hate the bloody thing! but I can see why some people are so eager for it and I agree it is nice to have a major tournament in OUR city
Maybe it's because I now live over that way, but I'm looking forward to it. It really looks impressive, never thought they'd be able to polish the turd that is Stratford but even that was looking nice in the sun yesterday.
I genuinely hope it goes well and people have a fantastic time. But the constant harping on about the legacy etc and ignoring the negative impact on ordinary businesses and people is bullcrap. See below for the official summary of the Sydney Olympics, the most successful ever. Also note that the cost to us will be 3 times as much. In 2002, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6.6*billion, with a net cost to the public between A$1.7 and A$2.4*billion.[3][4] It has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2.1*billion has been shaved from public consumption. Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years 2000, foreign tourism to NSW grew by less than tourism to Australia as a whole. A "multiplier" effect on broader economic development is not realised as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture is that resources have to be redirected from elsewhere: the building of a stadium is at the expense of other public works such as extensions to hospitals. Building sporting venues does not add to the aggregate stock of productive capital in the years following the Games: "Equestrian centres, softball compounds and man-made rapids are not particularly useful beyond their immediate function."[5] In the years after the games infrastructure issues have been of growing concern for citizens, especially those in the western suburbs of Sydney. Proposed rail links to Sydney's west are estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games.[citation needed]
They have painted a stretch of the A30 in Egham to be an olympic lane it can be one of the busiest stretches of road and is often gridlocked as it is an approach to the M25. It is there because the *****lian or some other minor country's canoeing teams training base is, this is what ****s people off. I could have bought a house for what thgem white lines and electronic signs cost, it is ridiculous
Well, the Olympics is bigger in that it has more sports (doh), more participants (doh), and costs more to stage. But fewer countries participate in the Olympics than in the World Cup and the TV audience worldwide is much bigger for the World Cup Finals. I'd guess the World Cup also attracts much more sponsorship for precisely that reason. I bet the finals of the Olympic football competitions get amongst the highest viewing figures for the whole event. I have no problem with a showpiece event for the range of sports we have in the Olympics. There will be some fantastic performances and great drama. There will also be misery for lots of ordinary people and businesses, but it seems 'unpatriotic' to mention this. And I bet the locals in Stratford are really looking forward to playing in their brand new velodrome ( alright Beth, I'm sure it will be converted into something else) and watching professional football at an otherwise unsustainable stadium.
My latest collection of random thoughts... I would say that for most of the people behind these Limpiks it's not much more than a vanity project. I truly wish that I could get excited about it, because I agree with those that are saying it's a once in a lifetime event. But I'm not. To be honest, I'm completely unexcited about the Euros too. Maybe I'm just getting old? As a kid I remember the Montreal Limpiks in 1976. I used to read Valiant Comic and they gave away, in four weekly instalments, a game called 'Go For Gold'. I spent ages meticulously cutting out the playing pieces and gluing the playing surface, which was shaped like an athletics track with the five Limpik rings in the centre field, onto a piece of cardboard. You rolled a die to travel around the board, landing on certain squares where you picked up a card which made you do specific exercise tasks to a stopwatch, e.g. do ten squat thrusts in ten seconds or whatever. My mates and I played it for hours upon hours until we were cream-crackered. I think the rot set in at Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 when, respectively, the US and Russia boycotted over political issues. Afghanistan in the case of the Yanks... can't remember why the Reds reciprocated. One of you will know. After that, they somehow seemed artificial and contrived. I mean, Alan Wells won the 100m in Moscow simply because all the better sprinters stayed away. I know many will say that things have improved since then. Barcelona, Seoul, Sydney and Beijing were huge successes. And they'll be correct. The problem lies with me. It is just that there is so much hype around the Limpiks now. We're fed an endless diet of it, growing to a crescendo for the past 4 years or more. First was that God-awful London 2012 logo, followed swiftly by those two loveable characters that were designed by a couple of special needs adults. Coverage of this sodding torch relay is boring beyond words for those not dirrectly involved in it. Take a step back and what you have is people jogging 300 metres carrying a large lit matchstick, whilst crowds clap their hands and go 'whoopee'. None of this would mean anything, of course, without the fact that the Beeb cover just about every mind-numbing step of the way, or the fact that the flame was first created by someone trying to set fire to an ant with a magnifying glass on top of a Greek mountain. Another huge laff is the food sponsorship. A global celebration of sport and fitness, and the official food of the games is Ronald McDonald's gurgle burgers. A colleague of mine who went to the Beijing games said that punters queueing to get into the Birdsnest were searched and had their cans of Pepsi confiscated because Coca-Cola was the official drink sponsor inside the stadium. Apparently, spectators were having full-scale picnics in the queues rather than lose their lunches. Is that the true spirit of the games? The answer is, perhaps, yes.
Athlete's running shoes have to be Adidas, whoever their official sponsor is. And your good health is ensured by McDonalds and Coca Cola. It's a total sell-out. Someone should hire a fleet of planes to fly around London with Burger-King and Pepsi banners, mind you they'd probably be shot down or nuked...
Uber, that was an excellent, funny post man. I am just as 'Mr Grumpy Old Man' when I climb on one of my many soapboxes. Enjoy the Summer anyway mate!
And today we hear that one of the reasons that Abu Quatada has been turned down bail (don't misread me, I have no problem with this) is because the security services will be so stretched for the Olympics they could not say they would stop him absconding with any confidence. Despite having a helicopter attack ship parked on the Thames! Wonder who is sponsoring that.......suggestions welcome.
