I just reckon that there could be a couple of extremely worthwhile events that the Olympics should cater for: 1) Shooting---------------------lying,cheaing thieiving bankers / politicians 2) a game of truth----------between politicians from both sides 3) and what to do with bent bankers....(and you can choose from a list of torture instruments) 4) and how to get a multi million pound contract and then fook it and still expect to get it paid 5) and finally, guess which politicain DIDN't get a backhander for organising an olympic contract. Include those and I will watch. My prioities are ensuring that the special needs educaion / residential home I work a can get staff in as well as deliveries as local council has closed roads next week around the facility for time trials and Im having great difficulty getting access passes
Not sure why those that remain unenthused about the Limpiks should be seen through your eyes as not embracing life. Perhaps we simply have other interests? I suspect there are things that animate us that leave you cold? Vive la difference, I say.
It's a waste of money both in terms of the amounts spent but also in that money has been funnelled away from grass roots sport as the priority has been the elite with a chance of medals at this games. We don't have the space or infrastructure for it. Fortunately I don't work in Central London but the trains getting in will be absolute chaos, the roads will be twice as clogged as they are now and we'll be left with a huge ****ing white elephant in Stratford. No Olympics ever has had a serious impact on participation rates in sport so, overall, it represents woefully poor value for money to watch sports that only a small percentage of people give a toss about.
By the sounds of it, I'm quite fortunate to be observing the whole thing from afar. What strikes me most is that what started out as a great victory for London when the games were awarded to the city, has turned into a pain in the neck and huge extra expense for most Londoners. This would be slightly balanced out for me if the majority of Londoners were going to get the chance to experience something of the Olympics, but that isn't going to happen. Of all my friends and family in London, only a handful of people who applied for tickets got any...and those that did are having to pay a handsome fee for the tickets. I work in the tourism industry in Paris, and have had lots of people ask me if I'm going back to London for the Olympics, and sadly my reply is that there is no point...it will be more expensive to get to London, and I won't see anything I can't watch on TV here. I started out very optimistic that the games in London would become a major part of sporting history, but as others have said, it seems from afar that the corporate side has almost taken over, and the ordinary Londoner is just being disrupted by the games. Will still try and get excited about it when it starts...I just wonder if it might have been better not to have so many years of build up. I know you need to prepare, but it just heightens expectations beyond what anyone could achieve.
Not the only one NUTS...I will joyfully wallow in every second and enjoy it for what it is (above all the corporate wizzbangs) a festival of many sports. And after it finishes I will take up my three week vacation as a volunteer at the Parlympics...which I will also enjoy I was born a Londoner and always wished we could have an Olympics of our own to enjoy...it is here and I WILL enjoy it regardless of the miserable ***s out there. Tomorrow I will start my enjoyment at the Technical Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony.
The same people moaning about them being here, are probably the same that were moaning about the world cup going to Russia or the Euros in Ukraine. Instead of welcoming all these people to London, people are moaning because they can't wear Pepsi t-shirts. What sort of twat wears branded stuff like that anyway?
I don't think anyone is moaning that they can't wear Pepsi t-shirts. People are moaning because we don't need an Olympics which will cost us a bomb at a time when the country barely has a pot to piss in. People were ecstatic when we were awarded the event because it was a victory over France. They didn't stop and think what it actually meant to win it and the French are probably delighted in hindsight.
Love the Olympics, but hate the Olympic committee who are a law unto themselves. But that's not the point here. It is unfortunate that no sooner did we win the bid to host the games than the whole world decides to go into recession. Nothing you can do about that and just have to get on with it. The news and media love to sing about how much it's going to cost, but actually going in to how much money it will generate is a point that is lost on the media as they just don't see it as being news worthy. The promise of a sporting legacy has been lost somewhat due to the recession, but at the end of the day we are turning in to a country of fat bastards and would probably take an act of god to get some of our teenagers moving. I fully expect the games to be a success and half the moaners will deny that they ever did moan about it. It's a great excuse for a party and we all love a party. But if there is one thing that people in this country like more than a party and that is to moan. Moan and then moan some more, because they don't really have a clue and just jump on the band wagon. The important thing here is to remember what the games are truly about, and that is young men and women who have dedicated their lives to try and be the best at their sport. Their whole young lives are geared up for this one moment. These people don't care about the politics, the money or anything else that people care to moan about, all they care about is winning, and that is a joy to behold.
I bet theyd take a bottle of pepsi off you but allow you in with a bottler of coke. Thats how ridiculous they are. Imagine if we were sponsored by adidas and you werent allowed entry in LR in nike trainers. Theyve also changed the sunday trading laws just so the corporations can rake in more money at the expense of the smaller shop. The olympics are a world wide embarrassment, especially the "security". I like watching some of the events but hate everything about IOC and commercialisation.
My moaning is purely based upon the fact that at the school / residential home for challenging children I work at, the local council have a fook you attitude to the school / residential home and as the staff live in roads that will be closed off, the school is set bang in the middle of two main roads I have had no assistance from the powers that be in tems of getting passes that similar facilities nearby have got. The response I have is that there is limited access passes available (which I believe is bs), so we are basically on our own.
But Ninj, that is down to your local council, not the Olympic committee. Yes it is a disruption for the duration of the games, but its been 8 years in the planning and lasts for 2 weeks. Those 2 weeks will generate several billions for the economy over the cost of hosting the games. Seems 2 weeks of disruption is a small price to pay.
Queens put up a report by the Australian Government a while back which concluded that the Sydney Games actually cost the Country money in the end. Hopefully that won't be the case here.
Even the Greeks managed to make a profit, and that's saying something. Australia may be a different story, but London has a bigger population than the whole of OZ.
LR - I know its just local council, and there are positives than negatives, but I would get more sense from a cheese sandwich than our local council.......
At the London Olympics 2012 closing ceremony, if he were alive and head of the IOC, no doubt the Spanish fascist Juan Antonio Samaranch would still be stating, "I declare these the best games ever". 64 years since the 1948 London Olympics - try and enjoy it, I will from abroad - as Nike says, "Just Do It"! http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/mar/30/london-1948-olympics-austerity-games
