olympics deprecation thread

Just watched BBC news tonite,they said tickets for  the opening ceremony tomorrow are still available.  Dearest seats £2000.00 a pop. No suprise tickets are still to be had.

Mista H

Of course, pretty-much no-one in a really good seat paid for themselves, so prices at the top-end of town are kind-of irrelevant. We all paid for those bums to be on those seats when we bought the products of the sponsors and the other corporations that see value in the boon-doggle that is the olympics.

What I don't like (and why I don't even watch the Olympics at all any more, which is a shame because at one time it was the "purest" form of sport) is (1) all the BS sports that they have introduced, (2) the sports that have their own platform that really shouldn't be in the Olympics, (3) the Korporate advertising orgy that it is, and (4) the fact that my own country uses it in much the same way as Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia did as a means to whip up nationalistic fervor (just keep yelling "USA! USA!" loud enough and forget about those pesky bankers, or the fact that you're having trouble finding a job, or that you are upside down in your house...after all, we're number ONE!)

Positively mawkish if you ask me - and no insult meant to the athletes who train so hard for it.

http://www.smh.com.au/olympics...-20120727-22wa6.html

Nice to see that the historically disadvantaged and poor can aspire to represent their country at the games. Honestly, is there an any-more-ridiculous (but valid) illustration of the the olympics as a morally bankrupt fraud than this privileged-by-birth-alone mob being part of the whole fiasco? Zara, doing it for the common person.

I understand some people have a thing against this type of event, corporate greed & all the listed & yet to be posted gripes & political cheap shots.

But lets try to get this into context

Some people (me included many years ago) would give anything to be called on by my country to represent the nation in my sport. It is without doubt the pinnacle of any competitive minded sports person. 

To be an Olympian is the ultimate accolade irrespective of achieving a medal. 

The bitching press, politicians & elements of societies fringes can & will find great delight in faults, errors & stuff that didn't quite join the dots. In many of these cases its got blown out of proportion though misinformation, ignorance or just political mischief.  

But FFS,  this is a huge huge operation & getting everything right would in itself have been a miracle.

In my old job I had people providing support services at the last 3 Olympics & all came back with bad experiences & poor - like real poor - security, safety & administration.    I am waiting to hear from them how London compares when we meet up next week. 

But lets get the cost thing right - the government is saying the Olympics will come in under budget at less than £9bn to taxpayers. That is both an investment in future infrastructure & with the possibility of recovering some if not all in the future. 

Within that cost  is a number of local benefits to both London & the many other venues. Its transformed a derelict contaminated wasteland in 7 incredibly short years into what will be a public park, sports facilities & high quality community housing for thousands. Without the Oympics the area would never have ended up as it is - & that's just the Olympic Park.

OK go bitch as you will - its your right - but this is not about corporate greed & a few (very few) operational errors.

Its a celebration of the best sports men & women our human race has on offer

- enjoy that. 

An excellent post Mike, I agree wholeheartedly with everything you've posted. But this is the whinger's thread. Let's leave it to them & go across to Kevin's thread shall we?

Cheaper than a seat at Mitt Romney's Fundraising Dinner at $75000 a seat!

Must remember to come back to this thread and post pics of my great day ahead at the Olympic Stadium, haha.

Chaps

The Olympics is a wonderful event because it gives thousands of young athletes something to go out and aim for. It enriches their lives and the fact that some fat,  overweight, whinger who is probably in his fifties and incapable of running half a mile before collapsing on the road, with a red face,  gasping for breath objects to it,  is really neither here nor there.

If you have to write in to moan about an excellent 4 year event that raises sporting standards then you really do need to get a life.  Most of us have TV's with hundreds of channels, so just exercise your tubby little finger and do a bit of channel hopping and hopefully you will find a programme that you like. It really is as easy as that.

Regards

Mick

> The Olympics is a wonderful event because it gives thousands of young athletes something to go out and aim for. 

Well said Count and Mick, 100% agree .... can't believe anybody is moaning about having the greatest show on earth at their doorstop or being able to witness it on TV.  

I'm delighted I'm lucky enough to be have been able to buy tickets for the Olympic Stadium. I hope everybody who wants to go gets to see something. It is this type of thing that makes it all worth the while. As you say lots of youngsters out to achieve something. 

And at the Olympics you see something worth seeing 

I do long for the Jim McKay days of the 60s and 70s ABC coverage where it was all about the competition and upsets. Every year it gets more extravagant in opening and closing, but that too is a thrill and can be outrageous.  It is the constant corporate commercials that irritate me over here in USA and the constant focus on just our team/awards thanks to NBC coverage. I'm hoping to get more coverage at BBC on cable. I saved the LA Times to reference webcasts and special events not on TV. Badminton anyone?

Still it's exciting with upsets, unknowns, "thrill of victory and agony of defeat" 

I wouldn't give Mitt or Barack 75 cents, much less $75K.

Funny, but my "pudgy little finger" at age 50+ was involved in workout that included a set bench pressing 240 lbs 5 times (I weigh 178#), and officiating 2 ice hockey games - all in the last 48 hours.

No, I don't know anything about commitment to athletics.  I don't have to watch sports (although I do) - I participate in them, certainly not as well as 10-20 years ago, but I am probably in the top 5-10% in the world in my age group.  No doubt it gets more difficult each passing year now, but I have my own "olympics" each week!

The athletes are doing their best, and are to be applauded, but the theater in this instance is a manipulative corporate orgy, and I guarantee you, as with most such events (e.g., the Super Bowl, etc.) the "economic benefit" will go to those who put it on, and the average taxpayer will get left with nothing but a bill.  I shuddered when I lived in Dallas and they were vying for the games - because it makes life a living hell for the 2+ weeks they are on (I had a friend who lived in LA during their games, and you couldn't get around the city to transact normal business), and the economic benefit somehow never seems to make its way to me and my ilk.

Why are the Olympics any more "special" than the annual world championships?  I had a friend who was the USA weightlifting champ twice back in the 60's, but his peak didn't happen to coincide with the Olympic years - does that diminish his athletic accomplishment since he was never on an Olympic team? Only because the TV networks and Madison Ave say so.  And I still stand by my statement about the USA using it as did the Nazis & Soviets..we will win the most medals, and that somehow justifies us being in unnecessary wars...because the rest of the world needs what we have.  (McDonalds anyone?)

I also treated a number of Olympic athletes in my practice (as well as NFL & NHL players) - so I understand fully the training and sacrifice required, and made my contribution to it to the best of my abilities to aid in their success.

Spot on Mr. mudwolf. Unfortunately NBC spent so much to get the broadcast rights they feel compelled to uber-commercialize everything. When I lived in Western New York I used to enjoy the coverage from  Canadian television. They covered many more obscure sports with teams from many different areas.

But it's not "..the greatest show on earth at their doorstop..." on my doorstep, it's 300 miles away. (Actually I'm glad it is.)

It's called the London Olympics, remember? I don't live in London and it brings s*d all benefit to Yorkshire where I do live. How many jobs will it create in a seriously depressed are like Hull? Or Newcastle? Or Glasgow? Or Liverpool?

As has already been pointed out, we have the magic eye box in the corner of the room, the bl**dy thing could be anywhere and those who want to watch can do so in the comfort of their own home.

At least now it's started the thing will be over in a while.

steve

PS It's not "soccer" it's called football!

All I will say to the whingers is: I live in London, and in my travels today I've seen a lot of smiles and grins and excitement. Despite cock-ups on the Tube and elsewhere, London seems a very happy, excited place tonight.

Let's just see how tonight's ceremony goes. If it's as good as the rumours say it is, and we (GB) come out of the traps and win some medals early on, it will be a big boost to the capital AND the country. Just what we all need at the moment.

I don't live in London and it probably won't bring jobs to my local neighbourhood which is over 100 miles away without a direct rail link, but for a couple of weeks there is something worth enjoying and it is fantastic. 

Yes it is called the London Oylimpics and as much as I'd have like the stadium to be in my local village I accept that was unlikely to happen, but it is here in Britain. How can anybody not be overjoyed. 

I live nowhere Manchester, but enjoyed the commonwealth games there and visiting the City of Manchester stadium and there are great things that happen in Newcastle and Glasgow too. However, the Olympic Committee was only ever going to award the games to London ... Manchester and Birmingham have tried before.  

So it's here in GB and I'm looking forward to my trip to Stratford,  

As C,S & N said ... rejoice, rejoice you have no choice. 

Or as Juicy Lucy said ... Lie back and enjoy it. 

Is it just me, or my ears, but why, during the opening ceremony, is each country being introduced in French, followed by English........and, trust me, I am watching proceedings on the Beeb.

Maybe it's my ears..........time to offload the Naim and purchase an additional house!

Hmm.

Dave.

Because French is the official language of the Olympics.

Comme le français est la langue officielle des Jeux Olympiques

At least Tim Berners-Lee made his appearance in the opening ceremony, that was a nice idea.

"Comme le français est la langue officielle des Jeux Olympiques "

So why is it not being run in the pays de frog and paid for by them out of their EU subsidies

Pourquoi? 

I've previously posted hereabouts about not being interested whatsoever in all the running and jumping about stuff, but must say that the opening ceremony was something very special indeed to behold.

Beautifully conceived and executed with some lovely quirky British touches. Nice to see us doing the patriotic thing for a change, and celebrating the contributions from this fine country down the ages.

There's no where else in world I'd want to live.

John.

Je ne sais pas!

And to the question before that, I don't know either - but maybe it's because their EU subsidies are being provided in a currency that will either be devalued (printed) into oblivion or outright destroyed and will no longer exist.  (Or is that the US dollar I'm talking about?  Or maybe it's both...interesting times we live in...)