So, just to keep the forum General Chat area tidy, anything connected with the Olympics can be shoved on this thread, whether it be about the flame run (that brings back memories! ), sporting achievements, events, dramas, funnies, whatever.

And here goes.....


I heard this today on the radio and had to double-check but perhaps Bockers can confirm this; Heathrow airport has reserved the parking spaces closest to the terminal buildings for the athletes?

What the Hell is that all about

Surely these are the fittest people in the world today, therefore the most suited to walk further and carry their own cases? They'd even welcome the exercise perhaps?

It has to be a wind-up surely?

Not a wind up at all, there will be a separate terminal for them!

Now we have a thread....

An another thing, the Olympic Cycle Road Race

What are LOCOG on?

They have already wrecked the Olympics for me The relentless commercialism is just grating, it is such a shame as I was looking forward to the games being in the UK. The juggernaught that is LOCOG is killing it IMHO.

Classic case is that businesses in my borough have been “Instructed” by LOCOG via local authorities that they have to install extra facilities in order to cater for demand on the route or they “must” close!! What? The reason is that many of these businesses will not be able to get stock for the 2 whole days that the roads will be closed. It is just madness, and why are the roads closed? That is due to the amount of screens and turnstiles being installed to make the public pay to view something going down their street, outrageous. Cycling has and should always be a free spectator sport. The worlds largest annual event (The Tour de France) has the road closure thing down to an art. The road is closed 4 hrs prior to the race arrival and opens again within an hour of the last rider/tour caravan passing through. It does not close roads for two whole days at a time. The whole of Surrey will be in Gridlock for that weekend.

That must explain why the A30 Egham bypass and Egham Hill has one lane designated an Olympic lane in each direction.

I did wonder when I came across it the other week.

My 'favourite' Olympic story is the Urinals, and other sanitary earthenwares.

They are all unbranded in the Olympic Park, as Armitage Shanks (or whoever) would not pay the Olympic Partner Sponsorship costs. Frankly, who would, just so people can piss on you? I'd say that is crazy.

What is more crazy, however, is that in the pre-existing stadia they are using the same rule applies. So, at the Ricoh City of Coventry Stadium they are having to go round covering all these little logos in the Bogs.

Bonkers. I really hope this sort of stuff does not spoil the games, and I don't think it will, but it does not give a great impression.

Nope, that lane is for the Rowing! They are using Royal Holloway College at the top of Egham hill as a base for the rowers in Dorney, there are numerous ways to get to Dorney from Egham with little need to go on the A30 Egham bypass, one route which would utilse the roads through Liz's Garden. Madness!

It just gives them an opportunity to raise more money in fines for thos using the lane. I half expected to see Golden Arches painted on the lanes too as they have sold everything else to corporate sponsors.

The torch run went through my town the same day I went to pick up my tickets for the shooting. I was met at the entrance to the post office road by a tesco value policelady who informed me I couldn't get my olympic tickets because of the olympics.

They also changed the routing on the fly when they realised they would pass several big name businesses who were not official sponsers i,'m told.

read that on a lot of the routes the "posh peeps" will use they are digging up all the speed humps only to replace them post games for an estimated cost of £50,000 and we all know what happens to olympic cost estimates don't we...?

The Olympic torch is coming through Bicester now - and none of the torch bearers are Bicester. Brilliant.

Lewis carrying it this morning.



but would have been funny if Jensen had popped up and overtaken him on the last hundred yards

Or Maldonado/Massa had bumped into him and he'd dropped the torch!

On a more positive note, when I went to see the Torch, in Selby, it was actually really good. I'm glad I took the time to go. The kids loved it, too, but I think they were more into the Police Motorbikes than anything.

Yes. My wife went to see the torch when it came through St Helens. She said it was a great atmosphere and was really glad she went as it's a once in a lifetime event really. I was at work

Apparently it came through Hemel at the weekend. I avoided it.

One of our employess is carrying it through Henley in about 20 minutes and they've kindly set up a few TV screens around the building. I hope they switch them over to Le Tour later

Indeed and this is indeed the positive side to the event, especially seeing some of the inspirational people carrying the flame.

As someone who has watched every Olympics since I can remember and was so looking forward to seeing it arrive back in the UK I am close to that enthusiasm being extinguished by the officialdom and commercialisation that has infected this event.

The Olympics are supposed to be for the people not for the corporate

Will try and see the Cycle Road Race but fear the best viewing points will be obscured by LOCOG screens

I think that's true of all major sports nowadays. Look at how bad football has become.

It all gets exploited to make money.

So other food is available on the olympic park providing.....

Sums up what is wrong with the whole damn thing.

The Olympics used to be about sport, now it is about making money for commercial interests.

As an aside - Rangers and their position in the Scottish leagues... they are, as I understand, a new team since the old club was dissolved. So they have lots of expensive players, but no standing and in any rational world would enter the league at the lowest ranking.

However, that impacts the earnings for the remaining clubs due to complex TV rights deals... I shall be interested to see whether ethics triumphs over pragmatism.

It's exactly the same logic... it doesn't *really* take ten billion quid of public money and another two billion of sponsorship to see who can run fastest/jump highest etc.

I listen to 5Live most of the time, and there have been plenty of debates recently about which sports should be contested. In my opinion, any sport where the Olympics is the ultimate prize is fine. Golf? No. Any golfer would sooner win the Masters than the Olympics. Tennis? No. Any tennis player would sooner win at Wimbledon or Roland Garros. Football? No. Any player would sooner win the Premiership/Champions League, even more than the Euros or World Cup.

I enjoy watching the Olympics as a spectacle mainly to get involved in sports that I participate in (hockey; I played against every member of the Men's team from Seoul 1988), or sports that I do not normally see on tv (sailing, rowing, gymnastics) just to appreciate the utter dedication of the athletes involved who get little if any recompense for their efforts.

I will spend more time watching England v South Africa at cricket though

I wholeheartedly agree with your logic there Tim. Gold at the Olympics, why? It is not as if they need more money.

Of course all this was different in the old amateur vs professional era but that has long since faded, and beside calling the old eastern block athlete amateurs was streatching a point.

It's hard to see someone who's just won the thick end of six hundred grand at Wimbledon as an 'amateur'.

mmm, not the spl

no thank's said div.1

see you, said div. 2.

bottom of the football league div 3 is where they start,

iNteGrITy

morals do count

Indeed.

I should say that I'm no great fan of football, but it did tickle me that some of the big clubs were warning that this 'might decrease the size of the football economy in Scotland'. It occurred to me that had the club practised some economy in the first place, instead of trying to spend what they didn't have, they might not have been in this position.

As another aside (although not quite as random as Rangers appearing in this thread )

I can totally understand why G4S were unable to supply the required number of security personell, and i dont think they should take 100 of the blame either.

YES, they were over ambitious and said they could do things which they obviously couldnt but the expectations levelled on them and the timescales given were ridiculous.

2 years ago they were asked to supply 2000 security staff by LOCOG. Thats fine, and they were well on track for doing that without problem, they were given 2 year's notice and everything was grand.

But then just 6 months ago, so 7 months before the games is due to start, suddenly LOCOG tell them to provide an additional 8000 security guards!

Increasing your initial order by 500% and only given the company 25% of the time to do it is was an absolute recipe for failure.

I have no doubt that G4S should have negotiated the agreement so that, say, they supplied 4000 addition guards and the army or TA was used to supply the other 4000. That would have avoided this problem.

But surely LOCOG should take a fair amount of the blame for underestimating the security requirements by 500% !!

On the other hand...

£275,000,000 for 10,000 security guards. That's twenty-seven and a half grand each, for about a month's work for most of them.

Someone is making some serious cash on this, even with the expenses associated with uniforms, training, transport etc...

The whole thing is just a massive metaphor-mixing cash-cow gravy-train.

Who is this LOCOG? They sound like a bunch of t*ssers.

Just listen to LBC radio station to hear how much of a fccuk up these games will be. mainly the olympic lanes rules and regs.