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TITLE: The Olympic Games Are Coming To London In Less Than Five Hundred Days, But Will They Actually Live Up To Expectations Or Will The Bad Side Of Sport Ruin The Party
I’ve loved watching sport since childhood, having been encouraged to watch football by my neighbour when I was about eight years old. John was lucky enough to get a ticket for the F.A. Cup Final one year, and I, with childish innocence, spent the afternoon watching the match on television in the hope that I would be able to see him in the stands. Of course, I didn’t spot him, but I had got drawn in by the spectacle of the big match. During my teens I turned into an addicted football fan, with the results round-up at five o’clock|5pm|tea-time on a Saturday afternoon affecting my wellbeing for the remainder of the weekend. Fortuitously for my family, I followed a team who won more often than they lost!
In the years since, I started to watch numerous other sports on television. Test cricket was soon a firm favourite when an attack of glandular fever left me holed up in the house during a series in the West Indies, snooker had been pulled from the pubs and clubs of the British Isles and turned into primetime viewing thanks to some creative branding and the realisation that here was a sport that was reasonably cheap and simple to broadcast. And then there was the Olympic Games, an incredible sporting spectacle which came around every four years and in which the whole world took part on equal terms. Or so we were told.
Given that my earliest recall of anything connected with the Olympics was the tragic events which happened in Munich in 1972, it’s possibly strange that I embraced the whole concept of the event so much. But the Munich games also produced Mark Spitz’s incredible tally of seven gold medals in the swimming pool – an achievement only bettered three years ago by Michael Phelps. Hours of seeing East European athletes effortlessly defeating all the other athletes due to performance enhancing drugs which went undetected didn’t diminish my enthusiasm either, and I have enthusiastically watched as much footage as I could over the decades – until now. (Is it any great shock that I now need glasses to see properly and am considering having Laser eye surgery? Too many days spent watching sport on the small screen!)
It doesn’t matter how hard I try, I’m finding it difficult to find any enthusiasm for the London Games. Even colleagues who generally don’t enjoy sport are of the opinion that they’d rather like to go and watch a couple of events, as it will be the only chance to do so that that they have in their lifetime, yet I, who used to be such an enthusiastic sports fan, and can reach the main Olympic stadium in less than an hour from home, have no interest at all in trying to buy tickets.
I would suggest that there are a few reasons for this. Firstly, I am tired of the number of scandals and unpleasant events that are starting to discredit many sports – violent footballers, bribed cricketers, drug using athletes, jockeys accepting backhanders, and in the background, the dubious types who are responsible for most of the damage and who create such havoc simply for personal financial gain.
Secondly, big business has forced its way into on so many events now. Everything has business branding, events are planned to suit television executives wishes ahead of the fans, sportsmen and women are told what clothes they must wear and which products they have to endorse, including diet supplements and Laser eye treatments – aren’t these really ‘legal’ cheating? But the outcome for the public is paying ridiculous prices to watch a match in order to fill the corporate pockets of the organisations who are running the show, and without necessarily being convinced if teams or competitors are really playing against each other on equal terms. The golfer who publicises Laser eye surgery – doesn’t the surgery give him an unfair advantage? The football team whose directors have employed some obscure type of therapist – is everything he asks the team to do totally legal?
Finally, I don’t see the wealth of personalities in sport any longer. There are a handful of characters who might be described as entertaining, but because of the money now involved, many sportspeople don’t believe that they can let loose every now and then because anything they do or say might have an effect on their contract. I find myself wishing for another Linford Christie, James Hunt, Tony Currie, Henry Cooper or John McEnroe (though I can guess that he’d probably be promoting Laser eye treatment if he was still playing at his peak now – although for the tennis officials and not for himself!)
History of the Olympic Games
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The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games (Illinois History of Sports) $17.83 Politics has always been an integral part of the Olympics – not an occasional intruder in the form of a boycott, protest, or act of terrorism. In this probing social history, distinguished by a lively mix of journalism and scholarship, Allen Guttmann discusses the intended and actual meaning of the modern Olympic Games, from 1896 to 2000. Recounting the memorable and significant athletic events of… |
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A Brief History of the Olympic Games $91.34 For more than a millennium, the ancient Olympics captured the imaginations of the Greeks, until a Christianized Rome terminated the competitions in the fourth century AD. But the Olympic ideal did not die and this book is a succinct history of the ancient Olympics and their modern resurgence.Classics professor David Young, who has researched the subject for over 25 years, reveals how the ancient O… |
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HITLER’S 1936 BERLIN OLYMPIC GAMES – behind the scenes drama? (Strange but true series) $2.99 HITLER’S 1936 BERLIN OLYMPIC GAMES: Part of the new Strange But True Series by Don Hale: As we approach the next Olympic Games in London in 2012, perhaps it is worth looking back to the famous 1936 Olympics held in Berlin and hosted by Adolf Hitler. Read the facts about the propaganda, and find out what really happened before, during, and after this prestigious event – and who were the genuine win… |
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Option #1: Getting the Chills at the end of the 1980 USA vs USSR Olympic Hockey game photo – 8×10 Photo with Clear Protective Sleeve $19.95 Print Title: Getting the Chills at the end of the 1980 USA vs USSR Olympic Hockey game photo – 8×10 Photo with Clear Protective Sleeve… |
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Framed Prints of Olympics Games – Paris – 192 from Mary Evans $119.99 Framed 20×16 Print, Black Satin Frame with White Mat. , Olympics Games – Paris – 1924. A souvenir card from the Olympic Games in Paris, France in 1924 Date 1924. Chosen by Mary Evans. 30×20 wooden frame with mat and RA4 20×16 print. Finished back including brown backing paper, hanging bracket and corner bumpers…. |
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Framed Prints of Official Programme for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles from Mary Evans $119.99 Framed 20×16 Print, Black Satin Frame with White Mat. , Official Programme for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The Official Programme for the Games of the Xth Olympiad, held in Los Angeles, USA. . Chosen by Mary Evans. 30×20 wooden frame with mat and RA4 20×16 print. Finished back including brown backing paper, hanging bracket and corner bumpers…. |
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Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Ancient Olympic Games from North Wind Picture Archives $24.99 Photo Puzzle, Ancient Olympic Games. Racers cheered at the finish line in the Olympic Games, ancient Greece. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration. Chosen by North Wind Picture Archives. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This item is… |
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Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Olympics Games – Paris – 1924 from Mary Evans $29.99 Photo Puzzle, Olympics Games – Paris – 1924. A souvenir card from the Olympic Games in Paris, France in 1924 Date 1924. Chosen by Mary Evans. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This item is shipped from our American lab…. |
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Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Official Programme for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles from Mary Evans $29.99 Photo Puzzle, Official Programme for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The Official Programme for the Games of the Xth Olympiad, held in Los Angeles, USA. . Chosen by Mary Evans. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This item is shipped from our… |
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The Real Olympics $9.99 Commemorating the return of the 2004 Summer Olympics to its place of origin in Athens, THE REAL OLYMPICS tells the true story of the original games, comparing the Ancient Greek Olympics to the modern games of today. The series examines the ideals, the events themselves, the stories of the athletes and the politics and financial considerations that were as much a part of the Olympics 2000 years ag… |
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The Olympics Through Time – The History Of The Olympic Games [DVD] [Region 2] [UK Import] $7.66 Revived in 1896 by the prompting of Baron de Coubertin, the Olympic Games have become the largest sporting occasion in the world. From a nine sport Olympiad attracting 241 athletes, the Games have grown into a 28 sport spectacular attracting over 10,000 competitors. From Spiridon Louis triumph in the first marathon to Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis multi-medal efforts, this is the ultimate history of m… |