What did you do when the Olympic Torch passed by?

[FamilyWiggs]

I have ot say - it looks pretty spiffing:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Dorney_Lake.jpg/800px-Dorney_Lake.jpg

 

[Zebra]

Dogs. Better than cats.

 

[Flyfisher]

I have ot say - it looks pretty spiffing:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Dorney_Lake.jpg/800px-Dorney_Lake.jpg

. . . almost as spiffing as this one about 100 miles away at the National Water Sports Centre. So spiffing in fact, that it's being used as a training camp for various international teams preparing for the Olympics.

http://trainingcamps.london2012.com/about-our-training-camps/detail.aspx?Sec=SPORTING+VENUES&advsrch=1&LanguageCode=en&Reg=East+Midlands&PageSize=10&SortKey=sprt20&Page=2&Pid=722674

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Dogs. Better than cats.

Leopards. Faster than zebras.

 

[Zebra]

Dogs. Better than cats.

Leopards. Faster than zebras.

Hohoo! Touche! :lol: (shivers with horror!)

 

[LadyArowana]

Dogs. Better than cats.

Leopards. Faster than zebras.

Hohoo! Touche! :lol: (shivers with horror!)

:lol: aren't the cheetahs a cert to sweep the podium in the sprint races? I would be surprised if Zebra is entered in those events, more of a long distance/ cross country competitor I would have thought. Although I seem to recall that her favorite sport is climbing, so the earliest she might hope for Olympic glory would be 2020?

 

[biffvernon]

There's no doubt that world-class competitive sports are expensive to pursue. But the Olympic games doesn't always help. One example of which I have personal experience (well, via FF junior) is whitewater kayaking. The brand new Olympic Lea Valley White Water facility (LVWW) is a wonderful venue and I've been there many times. But there is already a perfectly good National Whitewater Sports Centre (NWSC) at Holme Pierrepont on the outskirts of Nottingham (as well as the National Rowing Centre on the same site):

"Set on the outskirts of Nottingham, this site built in 1986 and was significantly upgraded in 2009 has played host to the 1995 World Championships and the 2009 European Championships. This course has been the home of GB Canoeing since it opened in 1986 and is next to the GB Canoeing offices."

It costs £10 per day (up to 9pm weekdays) to use the course at NWSC (£5 for juniors). During the summer holidays loads of youngsters spend many hours at the centre and the really keen ones spend weeks there, camping overnight nearby, honing their skills for a pretty reasonable cost. This could be the reason why the current Freestyle Kayak men and women' world champions are both from GB and why the junior men's GB Team took all three medals at the recent European Freestyle kakak Championships in Austria.

However, because it is not in London, it couldn't be used for the London Olympics. So they spent £30m on building a brand new facility in the Lea Valley, just outside the M25. Unfortunately, marvellous though the new Olympic facility undoubtedly is, it costs £10 PER HOUR to use the course. This might be OK for day-trippers but for people wanting to use the facility for serious training, it means one day at LVWW costs more than a week at NWSC.

But it gets worse. Whitewater courses are popular for rafting 'experiences'. At around £50 per person (about £400 per raft) for an hour and a half, they bring in a lot of revenue. The new Olympic facility has the advantage of a bigger catchment area for such corporate 'jollies' and, of course, the kudos of being an Olympic facility. This threatens to reduce the rafting revenue at the NWSC and puts the facility under even more financial pressure after Sport England withdrew funding ahead of the 2012 Olympic priorities. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/4929288.stm

So, the whitewater legacy of the London Olympics is currently looking like a massive hike in the costs for anyone wanting to pursue whitewater kayaking as a competitive sport - hardly the sort of thing to encourage youngsters to take up the sport.

Of course, this is just one small example that you'll never read in any Olympic PR guff, but there will be many other small examples that all add up. And it's not really suprising, is it, when considering the vast costs of hosting the Olympic Games these days, which have to be recovered from somewhere.

 

[biffvernon]

I've just heard Seb Coe on Radio 4 saying 'probably' when asked whether you will be allowed in wearing Nike trainers. The boss would not give a definite answer!!!
John Pilger's view.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Oh biff, I give up, I really do.

You are one of the silliest people I know. I'm not sure if your world is deeply frightening or just a simply dreary place.

:roll:

 

[biffvernon]

Why silly? The Today Programme was pretty amazed at Seb Coe's answer.

 

[LadyArowana]

I've just heard Seb Coe on Radio 4 saying 'probably' when asked whether you will be allowed in wearing Nike trainers. The boss would not give a definite answer!!!
John Pilger's view.

I see nothing strange in that, I'm sure you would "probably" be allowed in wearing Nike trainers if they were covered by long pants, and I'm sure you "probably" wouldn't if you were wearing nothing but Nike trainers and a vest filled with plasticine, batteries and wires.

 

[biffvernon]

If they are covered by long pants? That wasn't the question. The rest is pure strawman.

Here's Der Spiegel: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/london-and-the-2012-olympic-games-a-match-made-in-hell-a-844599.html

 

[Penners]

the dog lovers, who clearly don't understand why cats are better...

Right - that's it! I don't mind a bit of spirited debate, but that's just going way beyond the bounds of what is reasonable or civil! :evil:

You are a cad and a bounder, sir, and I've a good mind to give you a good thrashing.

(Tosses head, flounces out, pats dog).

 

[Penners]

Here's Der Spiegel: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/london-and-the-2012-olympic-games-a-match-made-in-hell-a-844599.html

And here's NewsBiscuit: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2012/07/19/2012-olympic-organisers-confident-of-fiasco-249/


:roll:

 

[tobydog]

Penners - you've just made my morning. I didn't know about NewsBiscuit up to now but I've not stopped laughing since. Totally off topic but this one I did find particularly funny:

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2012/07/18/lady-boys-acceptable-in-surprise-church-compromise-on-gay-marriage/

 

[MdB]

Penners - you've just made my morning. I didn't know about NewsBiscuit up to now but I've not stopped laughing since. Totally off topic but this one I did find particularly funny:

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2012/07/18/lady-boys-acceptable-in-surprise-church-compromise-on-gay-marriage/

If you are looking for good sources for your news, then you can do worse than the following:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/
http://www.theonion.com/

 

[Gervase]

Coe was also asked if someone would be allowed in wearing a tee-shirt with a Pepsi logo. His answer was an unequivocal "no". You really couldn't make it up.

 

[biffvernon]

Thanks Gervase, I heard that too but thought I must have been having an aural hallucination (is there such a thing?). It just sounded too preposterous to be true. I vow never to drink another Coca Cola again. (Not difficult.)

Here's the view from Huffington.

 

[biffvernon]

And now we're hearing that trading standards officers are being taken from councils to police the Olympic branding!!! You couldn't make this up.

You and Yours Radio 4 right now.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

As usual Biff, the reality is somewhat different to the worthy rhetoric. And living in the real world is just so, well, real isn't it?

First off, it seems the sponsorship is some £2bn not the £750m suggested earlier on the thread. This is a very great sum of money.

Secondly I can quite imagine that IOC/Locog and sponsors would want some protection for their substantial investment. Protection for example from 1000 folk turning up in Pepsi t-shirts and sitting in the front row of the 100m final. I'm sure BiffWindows wouldn't pay for advertising next to ACMEWindows - not unless they were silly, anyway.

Thirdly, anyone who wants to walk around with Pepsi emblazoned on their chest, probably shouldn't be allowed out on their own anyway. 8)

Of course, I really doubt that on the day, Average Joe will be prevented from wearing anything he wants. This is all about sending a message in advance to ambush-studenty-type protestors.

A bit like missiles on the roof - partly a message, but you can also bet that it is only done because professional leaders of the armed services think it is a sensible idea on balance. It's not one Dave or Boris dreamt up for a bit of PR spin, is it?

Move along now folks, still nothing to see.