RMweb Gold Trevellan Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2012 Overall, relief that it all went so well, thereby denying the media vultures a feeding frenzy. I've never cared much for athletics - even when I was actually capable of participating - so my highlight was the women's football. The quality of play in most games was excellent, largely avoiding the more cynical aspects of the men's game, and that classic Canada v USA match will remain in the memory for some time. My real hope now is that the claimed legacy benefits of the Games will be delivered. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Could we start a campaign to have Premiership football abolished, I wonder? It's the pot of gold we all shoot for, but wish wasn't laced with so much venom all of the time. I've found League 1 football to be much more fun and much more "real" then Premier League football and I fear I won't enjoy the Championship this year because it's that much closer to the top division... Getting back on topic...one thing I forgot to say. Andy Murray hugging that 11 year old who reached out for a hug after his doubles final. Never thought I'd see the day, and to be frank he's grown up a lot over the last two years. Total respect to him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2012 My favourite moments will be the human touch memories, 1) Mo Farrah embraci ng his daughter after the 10,000metres. (I thought it was great that she and his wife were allowed onto the track) 2) The woman who won a Judo silver being interviewed on BBC Breakfast yesterday with an arm in a sling. When asked what she had done she just casually rvealed that she had broken a finger in the second round but hadn't told anyone and fought on through to the gold/silver final before getting treatment and telling anyone. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I'll remember the mens 200m final. Its the only bit I saw, and thats cos it was on when I was queueing in the petrol station... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 My sister-in law's 'Union Jack' lips at lunch yesterday, three days after applying a 'temporary' paint on tattoo, obtained in the stadium. Apparently it was supposed to be applied with water, but the queue for water was lengthy, so instead she used the G&T she had in a vacuum flask (sounds like Ab Fab doesn't it?) and wonders if that might be the reason. We were all most sympathetic, and a succession of abrasive papers, paint scrapers, Brasso, pumice stone, wire brushes were dragged up from around the house and F-i-L's workshop as potential cures as the lunch progressed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I shouted, probably as loudly as anyone, for Jessica Ennis, Chris Hoy and the rest of the UK's medal winners, but, with Charlie Brown, I always ask: "how did the other team feel?" So, when it came to my own special interest, the men's marathon, I was glad of the Beeb's red-button coverage of every finisher. No distracting commentary, just the dogged persistence of those with no good reason to finish other than sheer bloody-mindedness. The last man in, Tsepo Ramonene of Lesotho, had walked much of the last couple of miles, but managed to jog the last straight with a wave of thanks for the encouragement of the crowd as they cheered and clapped him home in 2.55.54. I looked up Ramonene's backstory on the 'net and found that he's the sole breadwinner for his family, feeding them with the small winnings he earns from his races. He's only twenty, and had run 2.16 in his only previous marathon, so I hope his family can look forward to a better life in future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 As one who has no interest in sport whatsoever, I can honestly say I never watched anything at all! Apart from the Opening Ceremoney (only seen it up to the athletes parade so far but will watch it soon) and the 1st part of the Closing Ceremony (also got that on iplayer). However I don't deny other's interests, though to me it is FAR too commercial to be true sport. I'm proud to be British, even though the Union Flag was wrongly flown on so many occasions. We promised, and delivered the goods, and as well as that, won a few medals. Memories for me? 2x 4-day 12hr shifts sitting in the van at Neasden depot, basically on-call for faults on the Underground comms (which never happenned). Absolutely boring! The fantastic way the public transport coped, though no recognition of it by the media that I have noticed. And judging by the extra people travelling, I think we may be in for even more boom in the number of passengers in the coming months, if the newcomers had such a good travel experience? The lack of football coverage (about time too). The fantastic opening & closing ceremonies. Something for everyone, considering they were live performances such a fabulous display, must have been a logistical nightmare to organise. Oh - not quite a memory yet, but another 4x 12hr shifts in the van, at Stratford Underground station, nights this time... Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2012 Fantastic from begining to end. Watched many hours of it with my partner and we thought it was the best olympics yet. Too many highlights to try to mention here (and I would only leave some out anyway). Great that it was in our own time zone and we did not have to be up in the middle of the night to watch it. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2012 As one who has no interest in sport whatsoever, I can honestly say I never watched anything at all! No interest here either, although I did see a few bits. I saw some horses jumping over some poles, and thought the horses should have won the medals rather than the riders. And I saw some men running faster than some other men. A cheetah can run more than twice as fast as any of them, so it does rather put the achievement in perspective. But no cheetah can design the Forth Bridge, decode the DNA helix, or write a symphony. The real lasting achievements of man are those of the mind, not the body. But lots of folks had a lot of fun in the sunshine, so well done to all involved. Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2012 And I saw some men running faster than some other men. And I thought I was cynical when it came to sport. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 The fantastic way the public transport coped, though no recognition of it by the media that I have noticed. The focus is (probably rightly) on the public face of the games and not background stuff like this, but there are acknowledgements in several places (albeit occasionally grudging) that our public transport network might not be the big pile of pants that the popular media loves to tell us about. From what I hear whilst it certainly wasn't perfect or fault free it still appears to have done it's job, just like it's meant to. Some links: http://www.metro.co.uk/olympics/907486-london-2012-olympics-tube-has-coped-with-record-numbers http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19207708 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5 C Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I don't mind admitting admitting that like many, I was a bit cynical about the whole thing before we started. We didn't need it, we couldn't afford it and we probably wouldn't be able carry it off either. I'm happy to have been proved wrong. The high point? Jade Jones winning the Taekwondo gold. Unexpected and underfunded and utterly joyous. One of my favourite moments too. Watching her throw her headguard into the air and tear round the arena with flags in hand like a demented five year old, to me summed up what it was all about. In fact, I always enjoyed the sight of the relative unknowns, who came from nowhere, suddenly thrust in front millions with an interview with Jake, Gary or Gabby and their only media experience no doubt coming from a hastily arranged briefing by a harrassed press officer. Other highlights were spending the afternoon watching Beach Volleyball in the most ridiculous venue of Horse Guards Parade, but one that worked magnificently. Experiencing a London I had never experienced before - happy, smiling, colourful and strangest of all, the site of random strangers engaging each other in conversation. Discovering that in many instances, the women's versions of supposedly male sports are actually better played and more exciting to watch - and not just for the obvious reasons. I'll also remember getting up at 3am to chauffeur my Games Maker brother, lodging in my spare room for two weeks, down to our local station and on a couple of Sundays all the way to St. Pancras, for his early shifts at the Olympic Park. The site of hordes of purple-clad volunteers descending on London reassured me that Britain will still get behind a cause if the cause is right. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2012 Due to all the silly regulations I was sceptical. Opening was great, closing OK Games themselves well covered by BBC, cycling was great and I enjoyed the athletics more than I did in 80 & 84 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 .....our public transport network might not be the big pile of pants that the popular media loves to tell us about. From what I hear whilst it certainly wasn't perfect or fault free it still appears to have done it's job, just like it's meant to.... Would the London area have performed as well without the union ransom payments? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 ...and a new piece of music on me, but one that brings memories flooding back. http://youtu.be/eKSi4N4omj4 And it makes some great ringtones! Best memories are all the athletes who could not believe they had got a gold, the two scullers on the morning of Super Saturday in particular and Greg Rutherford for winning a gold when he had virtually no column inches in the press that morning, it was Jess and Mo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 On the subject of football maybe the FA could take the same position as the Olympic authorities and ban players who do not try, or would than mean the season ends in early September dueto the lack of "players". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Would the London area have performed as well without the union ransom payments? Does it matter? It worked and worked well. Had there been problems the damage done would greatly outweigh payments made. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 From my perspective over the pond and far away, sadly, what I will remember of London 2012 is the appalling coverage by NBC. Apart from their truly shameful 'editorial' decisions during the opening (A Phelps interview rather than the 7/7 tribute - like terror attacks only happen in the US) and dropping The Who and Ray Davies (even if he wasn't great on the night I didn't see him - yet) in the closing (just so they could cram a crap sitcom preview down a ready-made audience's throats) the opening/closing coverage was awful. Except on the secondary channels (CNBC, NBCsports, MSNBC and Bravo) you didn't get to see competition that didn't include the US. These channels mostly carried sports like boxing, judo, fencing, table tennis etc, football and tennis. I really struggle to identify much that's positive to say about them. The football coverage on MSNBC was fine and they did broadcast the non-US volleyball final. (There - that's my positive.) Tennis on Bravo was horribly marred by Pat O'Brien's interviews - unwatchable. (And you had to put up with Bravo's advertising.) If the US wins an event you wouldn't know the podium has space for three medal winners. The evening package was awful. Most of the events were edited down - they would start volleyball sets with one team at 18 points - and I can't stand the sympathy/drama back stories of Olympians they persist in showing. The athletes work so hard. You don't say! Some US atheletes like Phelps and May-Treanor/Walsh Jennings had some truly remarkable accomplishments but all the bottom kissing in the commentary is just too much for me. My apologies for my negativity here but I got it out of my system. I'm sure London 2012 was a truly fantastic event. I really loved the symbolism of the cauldorn. Lord Coe said something to the effect of "we did it right". The 'Britishness' of the hosts came through and was very notable. In comparison, there's so much more chest pounding when the US tries to do this sort of thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold griffgriff Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2012 Positives - the GB eight winning in the rowing final... Alas they didn't get gold but the sight of them being a 'bow ball' up at 1500M will be my abiding memory, I shall remember the myriad emotions that I experienced during those 330 seconds (approximate race duration) for the rest of my days:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2012 Alas they didn't get gold but the sight of them being a 'bow ball' up at 1500M will be my abiding memory, I shall remember the myriad emotions that I experienced during those 330 seconds (approximate race duration) for the rest of my days:) Yes you are quite right. It went into my brain as a win because they were so brilliant. As you say it was an amazing race. Right up to the last stroke I wasn't sure where they would finish. Having promised myself I wouldn't bother with the olympics it was that race that got my attention, and adrenalin! I Usually only shout like that when watching footy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold griffgriff Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2012 ... but the W2- won gold half an hour before and that set the whole thing off... oh happy days:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted August 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2012 I'll remember reading about all the cynics that were converted to the cause. And there's a good few on here Ok - there are a few that never got the bug and that's their right to do so, but I haven't yet come across anything, anywhere, where someone was a supporter of London 2012 and ended up being anti-Olympics at the end of it. I can only hope that I'll see a home games again, but they'll have to get a move on..................... Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Apart from all those wonderful performances, the smiles and the sorrows, it made me realise one thing. That the majority of our men footballers are a bunch of overpaid, overhyped, inarticulate money chasers who care little for their team. Rant over... I must admit I was glad when they got knocked out. Not really bothered about the coming football season at all now. Lost interest in the lot of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted August 19, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 19, 2012 My favourite parts were the acknowledgements out atheletes gave to their trainers, coaches and best of all mums and dads - i.e. those people who'd take them all over the place at silly o'clock in the morning and sit in the cold rain during countless training sessions and early races. Seeing these humble and well spoken atheletes was a refreshing change to the Premier footballers that will be all over our screens for the next 11 months. I wonder where British football would be if footballers had the same work ethic as our cyclists, rowers etc. More training & working with kids and less time at parties and buying expensive cars. BBC's Sports Personality of the Year should be interesting this year. Proud to be be British. Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted August 19, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2012 BBC's Sports Personality of the Year should be interesting this year. Steven B. Absolutely and thats going to be a tough call this year with so many outstanding candidates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.