Thread: Don't mention the Olympics London 2012 (discussion of the organisation and logistics

To be fair about the unsold tickets they are mostly for football where we have vast stadiums to fill for matches that nobody cares about. Football is probably one of the least prestigious Olympic competitions.

Originally Posted by MrJan

No re-entry is a complete joke, especially given what the tickets cost.

I'd say not allowing even water is even worse. Water should be free.

Originally Posted by donKey jote

I'd say not allowing even water is even worse. Water should be free.

Couldn't they drink water from toilet room? ( from the washbasin, of course )

Where I live it's ( still ) drinkable.

Agreed water is completely excessive. That's a safety issue.

Presumably medication will be allowed? Then you'd have to buy a bottle of water in order to take your drugs?

What about a bag of sweets? To most people a snack, to a diabetic, life or death.

Oh and it's £7 a pint apparently.

I agree it is all way too OTT and FUBARed. However, I vote with my feet, and will be enjoying a quiet life in Scotland while all the wallahs who bought tickets pay through the nose for everything and find out just how shyte our public transport really is!

Mind you, I'm buggered for the Paralympics, as we live 10 minutes from Brands Hatch, and the area will no doubt be locked down in a security/HSE complete wet dream of overkill.

For those in the UK, last weeks Question Time mulled over the Olympics briefly. Griff-Rhyss Jones made a very good point.....

Originally Posted by Mark

Agreed water is completely excessive. That's a safety issue.

Presumably medication will be allowed? Then you'd have to buy a bottle of water in order to take your drugs?

What about a bag of sweets? To most people a snack, to a diabetic, life or death.

Oh and it's £7 a pint apparently.

There would be a REVOLUTION in any civilised country...

The outrageous degree of greed allowed makes me wonder where is your Government? Or has Corporations overrun all levels of Government in England, too?

I read in the paper this morning that you are allowed to take in an empty bottle and fill it from drinking fountains inside the stadium.

That's Ok then, unless they charge you for the fountains too

Originally Posted by A.F.F.

...... Novadays I'm only interested of sports where the use of doping is minimal and the success depends on the level of skill for instance..... hmm.... let's say rallying That could in both, summer and winter Olympics.......

What about nitrous oxide?

I don't know, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver had it's issues, but we didn't as cynical here as you lot. That said, the Olympic "movement" (is that like a bowel movement?) has a lot to answer for, and a ton of people make money off the games, but the people of the country do not. AT least in Vancouver, the folks out there paid for most of the games themselves, and voted to do so. They like taxes I guess.....but I am thankful on so many levels the idiots in Toronto never got those 96 games. It would have been fun watching Donovan Bailey win the 100m in his home turf but the cost overuns, stupidity and scandal would have made it a short lived party.

I am a fan of the Winter Games, not so much the summer games..until the start and I ignore the crap and enjoy the athletes.

Originally Posted by janvanvurpa

There would be a REVOLUTION in any civilised country...

The outrageous degree of greed allowed makes me wonder where is your Government? Or has Corporations overrun all levels of Government in England, too?

We have a Tory government just now, which by definition is in the pockets of the corporations.

Originally Posted by MrJan

basketball has the NBA

The NBA is the equivalent to European club football/Champions League.

Originally Posted by Mark

Completely agree with that. The pinnacle of a cyclists career would be winning the Tour de France, not the Olympics. A tennis player wants to win at Wimbledon, not the Olympics. Football they don't even field the proper teams, it's U21.

There's plenty of other sports without duplicating like this.

Personally I'm not too keen on the Olympics but it does have its place and is regarded as an accolade for most athlete's CV. For instance without it who would give a toss about cycling? The only time cycling gets coverage is the Tour de France but because Britain has a 'golden generation' coverage is now far greater.

The IAAF World Championships are every two years. The Olympics, like the football World Cup, is every four years so winning back to back Olympics is much harder.

Originally Posted by Mark

We have a Tory government just now, which by definition is in the pockets of the corporations.

And the Labour government wasn't?

Originally Posted by wedge

Personally I'm not too keen on the Olympics but it does have its place and is regarded as an accolade for most athlete's CV. For instance without it who would give a toss about cycling? The only time cycling gets coverage is the Tour de France but because Britain has a 'golden generation' coverage is now far greater.

There is a lot of interest in the Tour de France already. Most of the Olympic interest is in the track events, which are different entirely.

And the Labour government wasn't?

True, but the Tories are by default in the pocket of business, whereas Labour is in the pocket of the unions

Originally Posted by wedge

The NBA is the equivalent to European club football/Champions League.

You've missed my point. The NBA is the pinnacle of basketball, ask Luol Deng or LeBron James which they'd rather win then they'd almost certainly say the NBA.

It's not enough for athletes to simply be proud of it on their CV, it needs to be at the very top. With cycling, tennis, golf etc. it simply isn't for the big guys, because there's the Tour, Grand Slams and the Masters instead.

Same with football. Ask a footballer which they'd like to win and the Olympics will rank behind the World
Cup, European Championship, Champions League, Premier League and many others.

The Olympics should be the pinnacle for the amateur sportsman that will later, if he chooses, look for the higher platitudes in professional sport.

Originally Posted by MrJan

You've missed my point. The NBA is the pinnacle of basketball, ask Luol Deng or LeBron James which they'd rather win then they'd almost certainly say the NBA.

It's not enough for athletes to simply be proud of it on their CV, it needs to be at the very top. With cycling, tennis, golf etc. it simply isn't for the big guys, because there's the Tour, Grand Slams and the Masters instead.

Originally Posted by MrJan

You've missed my point. The NBA is the pinnacle of basketball, ask Luol Deng or LeBron James which they'd rather win then they'd almost certainly say the NBA.

It's not enough for athletes to simply be proud of it on their CV, it needs to be at the very top. With cycling, tennis, golf etc. it simply isn't for the big guys, because there's the Tour, Grand Slams and the Masters instead.

Agreed. Certain events aren't fit for the Olympics.

Cycling is an odd one. Like motorsport there are a number of disciplines and specialisation. Ask Sir Chris Hoy how important the Olympics are? Does track cycling have blue riband events?

Originally Posted by Mark

Same with football. Ask a footballer which they'd like to win and the Olympics will rank behind the World
Cup, European Championship, Champions League, Premier League and many others.

South American countries take it rather seriously.

Uruguay won the first Olympics football sanctioned for pros which set the template for the World Cup.

Brazil has never won a gold medal.

Originally Posted by wedge

South American countries take it rather seriously.

Uruguay won the first Olympics football sanctioned for pros which set the template for the World Cup.

Brazil has never won a gold medal.

This is correct.

They always send as strong squad as they can. This time Brazil will probably send Neymar for one, who is not a second rate player.

Also on Uruguay they won those earlier Olympic tournament and firmly regard them as World Championship victorys in all but name.

To there credit the South Americans take any tournament they play in seriously. I hope one of those two win the tournament.