Olympics Yay or Nay?

[llmod1]

With the Olympics almost over, I'm interested to hear what people on here thought of the whole experience.

I chose, as I do every Summer, to leave our fair shores for warmer climes so my experience of these games has been very much Internet based having seen only a very limited amount of live coverage of events.

Before the games started their was an awful lot of negative media attention revolving around the cost of the Opening Ceremony, transport issues, etc so at the time I was pretty pleased to be getting out of the whole circus.

However, with hindsight, I kind of regret missing out on the whole thing. Loads of people I have met whilst being away have been surprised that I chose to leave London rather than stay for this "once in a lifetime experience."

Pretty much everything I have read, whether on Facebook, BBC website or elsewhere has been glowing positive. I'm sure this is largely due to team GB's fantastic performance.

So my question is, what was your experience of the games whether you went to events, watched in a pub or avoided it totally.

Was it the transport nightmare for London they predicted or did everything just fall into place?

[eclectiktronik]

Nay.

"Total approximate costs after transport upgrade: £24bn (the equivalent of nearly a quarter of the entire NHS budget for 2011/12). £335, 000 spent on ‘Jurassic Stones’ structure. Lottery revenues worth £675 million were re-allocated from charities towards the Olympic in 2007, on the understanding the money would be returned to its originally intended recipients shortly after the end of the games, using the proceeds from the selling off of Olympic assets. But ministers have now said that the money will not be returned for at least another decade."

[llmod1]

Tumble weed!!!!

[ashra]

Brian May's coat with insignia was a high point for me

[medlar]

A big yay! Sporting triumphs, new world records, enthusiam of the crowd, delivered on time etc etc. A wonderful exercise in showing the rest of the world that they can come here and do business.

Also, even the toffs on horses managed a few medals

[pitch]

Yay from me too.... Success across staging the games and taking part in them. London didn't grind to a halt. Lots of fun events around the city too - London becoming very welcoming to the world - surprisingly uncynical. And I'm optimistic that the investment in the Olympic Park environment moving forward and travel infrastructure across the city will prove everything worthwhile - total costs less than 25% of NHS budget 2011-12.

[reza]

Fantastic, watched everything I could apart from the beginning and end ceremonies

side note > drove past the olympic park and ride for Weymouth on Saturday on my way to Bridport record fair , 20 buses waiting and only two cars in the vast car parking area !

[Headless mermaid]

I have mixed feelings about The Who changing the lyrics to "it's more than teenage wasteland".
Buit I didn't watch anything.

[admcc77]

Brian May's coat with insignia was a high point for me

He's against culling badgers...

[eine]

Big up the ceremonies, especially on Twitter. But I have no interest in sport, and when I try I feel dirty for doing so. I don't like all the nationalistic bollocks and people saying how good the country feels. Fuck that. I do like BBC sport montages of funny bits though.

I would have preferred the money had been burnt KLF stylee and everyone was in a state of I can't believe they did that with our taxes man and then we'd have a revolution and live in paradise.

[eric-adams]

Nay.

"Total approximate costs after transport upgrade: £24bn (the equivalent of nearly a quarter of the entire NHS budget for 2011/12). £335, 000 spent on ‘Jurassic Stones’ structure. Lottery revenues worth £675 million were re-allocated from charities towards the Olympic in 2007, on the understanding the money would be returned to its originally intended recipients shortly after the end of the games, using the proceeds from the selling off of Olympic assets. But ministers have now said that the money will not be returned for at least another decade."

i dont see how that effects any normal working person, they arnt going to put it on for 28 quid are they.

[Brass Monkey]

BIG PRINT YAY from me.

Got tickets for the tennis - saw Federer, got tickets to the basketball - saw Spain. Watched most of the rest on TV. Ennis, Farrah, Hoy, Wiggins, Trott, Rutherford, Murray, Bolt & Blake, Phelps, et al. Fab. Opening and closing ceremonies great in their own rights. BBC coverage superb. I have 2 boys, both of whom where in awe at the experience of being in the village and are now completely fixated by athletics. in terms of inspiring a generation - both my kids are now enrolled in the local athletics club..

That guy in the kayak on saturday was amazing - like a motor.

[Mr Naga]

I went from indifferent to yay.

Mostly because of Nicola Adams.

[mr sayers]

Never watched any of it as I'm a miserable git!

[medlar]

And here is Goro's latest installment:

http://www.goroadachi.com/etemenanki/

I didn't catch the end of the closing ceremony, was the face on mars really part of it? Bloody hell!

[Filthy Rich]

Bit of a mixed bag for me. The corporatism left a horrible taste in the mouth - all of the baggage associated with setting up the Olympics has been irritating for the last year or so. I went to the free band thing in Victoria Park and the heavy-handed security going in coupled with the unbelievable pricing inside made it a thoroughly depressing experience (ok, I went with a friend to watch a band that weren't worth watching so that can't have helped). On the other hand, central London hasn't been clogged in the way that everyone feared and unless you head east from here it's kinda possible to ignore the whole thing so that's good.
As for the sport, haven't really watched much of it but I understand that it shouldn't be tainted by what goes on around it. I do have a few problems with the inclusion of synchronised swimming and horse-dancing and... well, I could continue for a long time but that's a separate issue. I'm glad that there have been some spectacular wins and close battles and so on and so forth in some of the proper events. I just wish that the whole thing could be done... differently. Why is it controlled by this cabal of wankers who run the whole thing to enrich themselves and descend on a host town once every four years like some kind of parasite? Couldn't it be done without Coca-Cola? Couldn't they use existing stadiums round the country instead of building loads of new things we can't afford? How has the unsubstantiated fear of terrorism come to be used to justify anything that the government wants such as the confiscation of bottles of water at a festival? Who the fuck is Locog?
Plus

[purple_pill67]

Never watched any of it as I'm a miserable git!

Wurd

Nice one for Brian May with the and Fox pics on his jacket

[highland cow]

I wonder how much money Damian Hirst got for coming up with the mind blowing idea of a Union flag which changed colour a bit here and there?

Lord Coe for a future PM?

He bullsh*ts as fast as he once ran...

[Benicio Del Toffo]

I was converted from being totally sceptical to getting quite into it. I still think it was one big masturbation session for London and its corporate ranks and that (as has been predicted all along) there will be very little 'legacy' benefit for anyone not living in the South-East (aka 'Super England'). So the constant self-aggrandisement of London has grated, as has the way that Dave, Boris and Seb have manipulated the event and the feel-good factor for their own Tory ends (Boris moving inexorably towards 10, Downing Street?!).

But the feats of the sports-people have been really enjoyable, particularly that one, crazy Saturday night where a British Somali Muslim brought the stadium to its feet. Think it all really got going when Wiggo blitzed the time trial and everyone started to believe. Obviously, Team GB's medal haul predictably slowed down in the second week when the focus switched to the more 'accessible' events (i.e. where participation didn't necessitate Daddy buying you a pony / boat / sponsorship from the Daily Mail). But there was a lot to be proud of, particularly of the conduct of the athletes involved - especially when compared to the various racists, spoilt twats and retards currently trousering £150k per week in the Premiership.

I'd reiterate the calls for some of the 'minority' sports to get more coverage via a revived Grandstand (not sure if there's enough coke going round to get Frank Bough in shape to present it?). Who would have thought I'd be hooked on volleyball or handball, despite not having a fucking clue what the rules were?! Get these sports some exposure on telly and get some lottery funding into them (bearing in mind that there seems to be very little cost to participation, therefore they are 'accessible' as per the desired remit).

And, while we're at it, get Kendo Nagasaki finishing off his grudge match against Mick McManus / Johnny Kwango / Alan Kiley / Kid Dynamite / Rollerball Rocco etc.

[eine]

To all of the above, Ben.

[babycart]

But there was a lot to be proud of, particularly of the conduct of the athletes involved - especially when compared to the various racists, spoilt twats and retards currently trousering £150k per week in the Premiership.
.

Strangely, the Olympics has made me look forward to the football and its mercenary twats more than I have for years. All those triumphant Olympic athletes are way too smily and Union Jacky for me. As someone who once underwent the utter boredom and torment of a few months of competitive swimming training, I also know that they're almost certainly borderline insane.

I'm also quite pleased I'm missing out on the sporting fever in the UK. I'm OK with thick sadists making the fat kids huff and puff miserably round an icy field for an hour a week, but measuring a nation's worth by its medals is ridiculous, and Boris's two hours a day suggestion indicates exactly how divorced the public schoolboys who rule the UK are from reality.

[eine]

I'm OK with thick sadists making the fat kids huff and puff miserably round an icy field for an hour a week

You are an ECTOMORPH. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an ECTOMORPH. And you could be like him and get all the GIRLIES and still enjoy a nice SUNDAY LUNCH. Now get down and GIVE ME 20

That's how a PE qualification translated into teaching points in the late 80s. Fond memories.

[babycart]

That's how a PE qualification translated into teaching points in the late 80s. Fond memories.

To be fair, only one of my PE teachers was an actual sadist, the other two were a dull brute and a vain dwarf who pushed socks down his tracksuit bottoms in order to pull the lady teachers.

I once got slippered for enquiring why I should repeatedly climb a hairy rope. I had to do a forward somersault, and the brute tapped me lightly on the arse with a plimsoll from lost property. It was more to do with humiliation than pain, I think. Anyway, you can't keep me off hairy ropes these days.

[eine]

Anyway, you can't keep me off hairy ropes these days.

Huzzah! QOTD