Olympics 2012

Massively enjoyable Olympics. I was a bit peeved with the BBC (British Boasting Commentators) but having seen how we have dealt with Katie and JJ etc my peevation is tempered.

Some of the stuff in the Excel will live long in the memory. Bolt and Rudisha superb - in totally different ways. Seeing Chris Brown getting a gold was great. US women's relay this evening were superb. Brits getting hockeyed 9-2 was sad ...

I also a suspicion that we will pul another medal out of nowhere ... think Heffernan ....

The dutch womens hockey team are a well conditioned bunch. Anyone that bought tickets for beachvolleyball was mis- sold.

OMAR wrote:Does he not have go defect to turn pro or has this softened in recent years ?

Not a problem anymore. I think the biggest stumbling block anyway is the GAA type ethos the Cubans had to boxing ... which is not what it was. In GAA either!

Parouisa wrote:
I also a suspicion that we will pul another medal out of nowhere ... think Heffernan ....

Patsy has twigged Jayo's log-in....Incredible scenes............

Women's 1500 final .... horrible race ........ horrible winner....

Parouisa wrote:Women's 1500 final .... horrible race ........ horrible winner....

Yeah, once only behind the 100m in terms of status, the 1500m for both men and women were among the poorest events on the track, both with dubious victors.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Women's 1500 final .... horrible race ........ horrible winner....

Yeah, once only behind the 100m in terms of status, the 1500m for both men and women were among the poorest events on the track, both with dubious victors.

The blue riband no more

I was just looking at the stadium tonight .. and feeling the atmospehere - even on TV - and thinking imagine what support a Sonia or Eamon would have got - once team GB weren't in the medals. Its a pity. Since Sonia retired we have had no track athlete with a real medal prospect .... Sad

Parouisa wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Women's 1500 final .... horrible race ........ horrible winner....

Yeah, once only behind the 100m in terms of status, the 1500m for both men and women were among the poorest events on the track, both with dubious victors.

The blue riband no more

I was just looking at the stadium tonight .. and feeling the atmospehere - even on TV - and thinking imagine what support a Sonia or Eamon would have got - once team GB weren't in the medals. Its a pity. Since Sonia retired we have had no track athlete with a real medal prospect .... Sad

I think that Eamon would have struggled to compete in the modern era with the blistering africans, but Sonia was very gifted. She would have been up with the best. It is a shame that we can't produce a top athlete, if not on the track, then perhaps we should focus on throwing events. Or the heptathlon, which the Brits seem to be able to dominate, despite being average everywhere else (Lewis, Ennis, Sotherton all at the top in the last decade).

But yeah, would be lovely to have a 1983 version of Coughlan in the 5,000m tomorrow. As it is, I'll be cheering on Somalia

Back to the O'Callaghan days maybe!

To be fair to Loyal, while he may have been shy on his cost estimations for a velodrome, he is spot on when he talks about focussing on events that we could be good at, and trying to win medals in them.

The Brits have come from nowhere in cycling and gymnastics, and have also improved in boxing and athletics. Even their rowing tradition is relatively new. While we can't match them for funding, if we could find a couple of sports that people enjoyed, and run something like that 'Golden Giants' campaign that our neighbours ran, then maybe we could start to compete at more sports than just, as RKF put it, fighting and riding!

There's loads of cock thingys added to the Olympics of late.
Bicycle riding, diving into pools of water, horse prancing, soccerball, kicking lads (under the guise of Tai-kwan-do)....FFS.

Aren't the modules/olympic rings to signify longest, fastest, strongest etc.....

Aren't there other places for these gimps to delude themselves. There'll be Horse-shoe pitching next.....Jokers....

Sky/Money/Prestige and above all, rip-offs......

Yes we need to focus - and I would cut a lot of funding to erstwhile 'important' /traditional events. I think the likes of sailing could be good to focus on. Mind you - have a look at the medals table at the end and see who are behind us - a lot of 'big' countries ... even India at the moment!

Parouisa wrote:Yes we need to focus - and I would cut a lot of funding to erstwhile 'important' /traditional events. I think the likes of sailing could be good to focus on. Mind you - have a look at the medals table at the end and see who are behind us - a lot of 'big' countries ... even India at the moment!

India is the great mystery. 1.2 billion people who, aside from their cricketers, are rubbish at sport. There is enough money in the country to be successful, but they just don't seem to be sporty types. I'd suspect that when Delhi eventually gets the Olympics, that might be when things start to change.

Boxtyeater wrote:There's loads of cock thingys added to the Olympics of late.
Bicycle riding, diving into pools of water, horse prancing, soccerball, kicking lads (under the guise of Tai-kwan-do)....FFS.

Go on, be honest, how close were you to typing 'women's boxing' at the end of that list?!

To be fair though, all sports can appear pointless and infantile if stripped down to the bare bones, but I think that when you watch some of these lesser light events, and see the passion among the competitors and supporters, they can still be great viewing.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Yes we need to focus - and I would cut a lot of funding to erstwhile 'important' /traditional events. I think the likes of sailing could be good to focus on. Mind you - have a look at the medals table at the end and see who are behind us - a lot of 'big' countries ... even India at the moment!

India is the great mystery. 1.2 billion people who, aside from their cricketers, are rubbish at sport. There is enough money in the country to be successful, but they just don't seem to be sporty types. I'd suspect that when Delhi eventually gets the Olympics, that might be when things start to change.

Well no more than us (with GAA) cricket is their life ... but then again Finland, Portugal, Argentina, Greece, Thailand, Belgium, Bulgaria, Mexico, Egypt and numerous others are behind us too .....

ps Dressage is shocking! Fooking dancing horses!

Parouisa wrote:
ps Dressage is shocking! Fooking dancing horses!

I think you have to put it in context though. It made it's debut 100 years ago, a time when mastery of a horse, and it is that, was something to be highly valued. A bit like fencing too, which was probably much more useful skill in 1896 than it is today (unless you live in Limerick City).

These events are there because of tradition, and I don't mind the odd one being included on those grounds. They are still probably more relevant than clay pigeon shooting!

Thomas Clarke wrote:
Go on, be honest, how close were you to typing 'women's boxing' at the end of that list?!

Never close at all TC. She's captured the heart of the nation, given people a lift and restored a bit of pride.
In a funny way, although deviating into another "sport" anathema to me, the day in '88 in Gelsenkirschen, when we quashed the invader, gave rise to an ebullience and swagger to our outlook not seen since Independance.

This time though we're lacking the leadership/involvement/man of the people skills that Mr.Haughey and Bertie could offer....

Boxtyeater wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:
Go on, be honest, how close were you to typing 'women's boxing' at the end of that list?!

Never close at all TC. She's captured the heart of the nation, given people a lift and restored a bit of pride.
In a funny way, although deviating into another "sport" anathema to me, the day in '88 in Gelsenkirschen, when we quashed the invader, gave rise to an ebullience and swagger to our outlook not seen since Independance.

This time though we're lacking the leadership/involvement/man of the people skills that Mr.Haughey and Bertie could offer....

Summed up very well Boxty, and was along the lines of the point that I made a few pages back when contesting Loyal's view that the Olympics is basically all about the athletics. The stories hidden in a world of unlikely events are what it's about and, as you say, the smiles they put on many more faces in many countries.

Thomas Clarke wrote:[Summed up very well Boxty, and was along the lines of the point that I made a few pages back when contesting Loyal's view that the Olympics is basically all about the athletics. The stories hidden in a world of unlikely events are what it's about and, as you say, the smiles they put on many more faces in many countries.

Hmmmmmm.

David Rushida is some runner. Trained by an Irish missionary priest.
Does the phrase "Outa' here faster than an altar-boy before the Bishop's visit" have any resonance.....

Another fourth place for little Ireland. Beaten by Russia, Australia and China - as if they haven't enough medals.

Felt sorry for Johnny Joe. Could not see how he was 5-3 down after Round 1- and this changed the whole course of the fight.

Yesterday was an unbelievable night in the Olympic Stadium, unlike any sporting event that I've been at before.

I can honestly say that, despite having been to AI finals, rugby grand slam deciders, Heineken Cup finals and other similar events, I've never heard a noise like the one that took over the stadium on the last lap of the Men's 5,000m. A lot of the race was spent on my feet, including the final 800m, but in the last 400m the noise just built and built, to the point that you couldn't actually hear any words from anyone, just ear-popping sound. An unforgettable experience.

The rest of the night was great too, especially the men's relay, and the Jamaican's world record was the perfect way to finish. I thought that Yohan Blake was sensational, devouring Tyson Gay on the third leg, and he showed that he will soon be the King of Sprinting. But what a guy the current King is - Bolt must now be regarded as one of the greatest sportsmen in history, not only for his achievements, but also for the affection that men, women and children clearly have for him.

As I mentioned after the swimming, the combination of organisation and exceptional, to the degree that, despite 150,000 people pouring out of the various venues in Olympic Park at the same time, I didn't have to break stride to queue from the time I left the stadium to the moment I stepped onto a train, which itself left within a minute. The friendliness was also there, with the enthusiasm of the volunteers undampened after a fortnight. The public too have continued to show their massive hunger for the games, as evidenced by the crowds that turned out for the men's marathon this morning. Phelps, Farah, and others were outstanding but, for me, the star of the games must be Seb Coe, as the man in charge of a sensational olympic games.

Parouisa wrote:Felt sorry for Johnny Joe. Could not see how he was 5-3 down after Round 1- and this changed the whole course of the fight.

Struggled with this too. Didn,t hear much about it in the anaysis.
I thought he threw 3 combinations in the second half of the first round and that these alone would have been good for 5 points plus 1/2 other hits would be 6/7

Agree TC the credit will be given to Bolt but Blake seemed to eat up 5 yards on Tyson Day which was where the real damage was done

Great that you enjoyed it TC. Proud of John Joe and disappointed he did not hit gold. The very night he needed support it was sadly absent maybe because the Brits had gobbled up the tickets. Anyway the boxers were brilliant.