195 replies to this topic

[Covskin]

Much cooler Paralympic advert here.

Its just one week until the greatest show on Earth, the Olympics start. The trials are over, the last minute preparations are being polished (as I type the GB Women's football team are finishing off their friendly against Sweden) and Heathrow Airport is actually kinda coping (until the staff strike on Thursday).

GB Men's Basketball lost to the US Team last night - the GB Men's Football team play Brazil in a couple of hours. There's also one last Diamond League meeting in France tonight, I believe.

I'm lucky enough to live in Coventry, which I will never say again, and have Olympic football right on my doorstep. I managed to get tickets for Mexico VS Gabon, South Korea VS Switzerland, Japan VS Honduras and Senegal VS UAE, all Men's.

I also have tickets for the Paralympics, so will be going to London to see Table Tennis, Wheelchair Basketball and 2 sessions of Athletics. As part of that, I'm seeing Oscar Pistorious, the Blade Runner himself!


To tide us over until the Games start and we begin charting medal tallys, I thought we could share some of our Olympic memories.

For me, there are 2 that stand out. The first was Sydney 2000, and waking up in the middle of the night just to watch Steve Redgrave win his fifth consecutive Gold Medal in a nail-biting race.

The second is from Beijing 2008, and seeing Usain Bolt blow the competitionout of the water. I can't see someone winning a sprint so in such a fantastic manner ever again.

So, how's everyone feeling about the Games this time? And did any of other Brits manage to get tickets?

[VEDJ-F]

I'd be lying if I said I ever gave a shit about the Olympics. Athletics just isn't my thing...nor is sport in general.

I usually just don't watch it and thus can ignore it, but that might be a challenge this time given that all the hullabaloo is coming here to England. D:

[Aqua]

HA! TAKE THAT VED!

Yeah, anyway I'm pretty excited for this. Just the way the world comes together for this one occasion and things just seem...peaceful. Everyone has that shared dream. To be the best you can. Everyone for the most part is a good sport and supports who they support. I'm looking forward to the swimming events and Girls beach volleyball. Oh and the dash events.

[Carbo]

One thing I'd like to see is how they're going to top Beijing's fantastic opening, which they probably won't.

But I'm also looking forward to hearing this played.

[VEDJ-F]

One thing I'd like to see is how they're going to top Beijing's fantastic opening, which they probably won't.

Probably? More like definitely.

[Dan-imeJ86]

One thing I'd like to see is how they're going to top Beijing's fantastic opening, which they probably won't.

Haha! We are British. Over the past 60?/50?/40? years we have excelled at failing stuff. I'd guarantee it would be a massive disappointment compared to Beijing's opening.
I still remember that countdown to the Olympics clock that they made some years back, that broke after the first day. lol Plus we deliberately voted for a moron to be mayor of the capital.

[Megabox!]

I mostly watch the Olympics for the men's basketball tournament. And the USA men's team has been on a rampage lately! they're simply unstoppable

Edited by Megabox!, 20 July 2012 - 07:18 PM.

[Nicknyte]

Excuse me Redcoats as I post this on your board out of sheer disrespect and one-upmanship.



Okay, but I hope you guys do well at the Olympics. I wanted for America to qualify for soc....FOOTBALL, but we fuggin suck at it. Oh well, see yall at the World Cup.

Edited by Nicknyte, 20 July 2012 - 07:20 PM.

[TheNicollette30]

I'm extremely excited for the Mens USA Olympic Basketball Team. They are an incredible group of talented players, and it's always inspirational to see them play. Plus, I get to see them do unique moves, and that's just basically a learning experience to me as a basketball player.

On another hand, My dad is a runner. He loves it. I know he was upset that Robby Andrews didn't make it, but I'm sure he will take over the main T.V. to watch it.

So overall, I am looking foward to Volleyball & Basketball.

[Gabz Girl]

I'm kind of looking forward to it. Not too much into the athletics stuff, but I do enjoy watching tennis and football. I'm supporting Andy Murray for tennis and Tom Daley for diving, the latter because he's from Plymouth (which is where I study at Uni)! I hope he wins Gold!

[Chibi]

Yay Olympics! This year the cable TV I have is going all out for covering the games - 8 channels, all gold medal events live in high def and free if you subscribe to the sports package - so I'm all set for watching some 'lympics. It'll be on at ludicrous hours in the morning, but that's all part of the fun really. =P
Sports I will be keeping an eye on will be Gymnastics, Tennis, Swimming, Athletics, Hockey and Football. Hopefully Australia will bring back a fat stack of medals. The Brits and the Aussies are going to be fierce rivals these games, especially in the Cycling and Rowing. The Brits may have the home ground advantage, but I can see us one-upping then in a few events.
C'mon Aussie!

[Johnny Boy]

I'm rooting for my home team the good ol USA. But to be honest I'm hoping Great Britian, Jamaica, and China take home some medals as well.

As for my greatest Olympic memory, it would have to be buying the Mario and Sonic games

[Covskin]

The Olympics have (unofficially) begun!

Good news for the majority of the people here, as both Great Britain and the USA won their opening Women's Football matches (1-0 vs New Zealand and 4-2 vs France respectively). Elsewhere, Japan, Brazil and Sweden also claimed victories.

We've also had our first mishap!

Organisers play video introducing North Korean team next to the South Korean flag.

North Korea went on to win, by the way.


The Men's Football started today, and we've had an upset as well! Japan beat Spain 1-0, with Spanish having a man sent off too. No one saw that coming. Mexico vs South Korea and Honduras vs Morocco were both draws.

Archery begins tomorrow, and then there's the Opening Ceremony! I don't typically watch them, but my girlfriend wants to so I probably will this year. Anyone else gonna watch?

[Patticus]

We've also had our first mishap!

Organisers play video introducing North Korean team next to the South Korean flag.

We've already had our second and third mishaps, too...


#2: Dozens of travellers were left suspended 300ft above the River Thames yesterday when a new cable car system linking two Olympic venues broke down.




#3: Spectators who paid up to £50 for a ticket to see Team GB's Tom Daley dive may find their view of the diving action obscured after London Olympic organisers revealed they had sold 600 seats with partially restricted views.




So, not only are the organizers of the event seemingly on a quest to start World War 3 with a flag swapping 'accident', the new cable cars are a tad faulty and the spectacular new Olympic swimming pool has been designed in such a way as to obscure views of the competitions it was designed to host for thousands of people. I actually wondered about the views of the swimming pool thing myself when I first saw pictures of it, and I think others must have too. Why did nobody spot that particularly glaring flaw?

[Noir]

I'm not much of one for athletics but the spirit of togetherness the olympics bring has always made me enjoy them anyway.

Good to see that London's off to a really flawless start and I can't wait for the inevitably disappointing opening ceremony !

[Patticus]

I'm not much of one for athletics but the spirit of togetherness the olympics bring has always made me enjoy them anyway.

Good to see that London's off to a really flawless start and I can't wait for the inevitably disappointing opening ceremony !

Actually, apparently the opening ceremony is all kinds of awesome.

[Noir]

I can't see myself not being disappointed unless it tops Beijing, no matter how awesome it may be on its own. And god knows I'm skeptical that I would do that.

I'll be incredibly happy if it does though.

[Dan-imeJ86]

Why did nobody spot that particularly glaring flaw?

Because when a Brit is doing a job that represents the nation, they are destined to fail. Just look at the England football/soccer team as an example. (That doesn't apply to Andy Murray. I think he'll make it one day.)

I'm not totally against the Olympics. I do like the togetherness it seems to bring with it. But after years of being annoyed by England football/soccer fans, I've developed a sick enjoyment out of watching us fail. And I don't mean in terms of gold medals. As I understand it, we did pretty good at Beijing. I mean fail as the hosts, and we already have 3 mishaps, yet it's not officially started yet...not bad. I'll be interested in seeing a full list of host failings once it's all finished. lol

[Patticus]

Because when a Brit is doing a job that represents the nation, they are destined to fail.

Not necessarily; look at the Millennium Dome, intended to last a couple of years and it ends up becoming a seemingly permanent fixture of the London skyline, rather like the Eiffel Tower.

The spokeswoman said a further 2,400 seats in the same area were not offered for sale because the sloping roof in the award winning Zaha Hadid designed venue affected the diving views.

"Alright John, this is the winning design for the building."

"Erm, Dave, what's this building for again?"

"Watching people dive... Why d'you ask?"

"Well, and I'm just putting this out there, maybe, and I'm just spitballing here, we shouldn't pick the only design that stops people from watching people dive."

"Ah, no, see we thought about that, what we're going to do right... Get this, we'll just sell less tickets! Genius, right?"

"Brilliant, now there's a bloke in reception who wants funding to build a cinema where half the seats face the wall."

"Send him in."

[Coral]

Heh. Those pool shenanigans are a pretty glaring flaw and I feel bad for the people that are unfortunate enough to have secured seats to stare at a pool wall. :/ Even so, I'm still pretty excited for the actual Olympics themselves!

Lebanon didn't get many qualified this year sadly, but I'll still cheer for them to get in some wins! :} Also planning on rooting for good ol' USA and Mexico to take home some of the gold! US did amazing in Beijing, so here's to hoping for a repeat performance. I think the main events I look forward to the most are table tennis, swimming, gymnastics and canoeing. The commercials are def giving hype to Lochte for the swimming events much like what happened with Phelps, so I am looking forward to watching both their performances.

Much luck to all the countries competing! :}