Technology At The Olympic Venues
One thing that has dissappointed me has been the information at the venues about what is happening elsewhere. For instance, I really didn’t realise yesterday how we had won the team show jumping until I got home.
Perhaps it’s because everybody relies on their smart phones. But I don’t! I would have paid for a medal update text alert. But I couldn’t find one.
C Gets Stuck To Me!
When we went to Cardiff, it appeared that I lost one of the return train tickets. In the end it turned up in the back pocket of my wallet, stuck in there by an old Post-It note. I was a small one and written on it was an 0208 phone number. The writing appeared familiar at the time and only now, am I sure that it was C’s. In any case it wasn’t like any other of the usual suspects, who might have given me a Post-It note with a phone number on.
So has that note been looking after me, these nearly five years since she died? Who cares? I’m still here! Even if there is a touch of the just-abouts to it.
A Night At The Athletics
I went to see the athletics at the Olympic Park last night.
It was a gold-less night, but at least others have repaired some of damage Gordon Brown did by selling off our gold reserves too cheaply.
The Park and stadium are magnificent and hopefully will remain so, unlike Athens, Montreal and Moscow, which are the only Olympic stadia, that I’ve visited. One of the lasting memories in my mind, will be the glorious flowers. In Athens, all that’s left is weeds.
In fact this post could be titled something like Trees, Flowers, Water and Steel with a Few Sporting Events Thrown In. Only the British and perhaps the Irish, Dutch, New Zealanders and a few others would say that the legacy for the Games needs to be another park. Especially in a city like London, which is already endowed with many large and magnificent parks.
On the other and there is nothing worse in life, than tending a garden. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them!
My Most Expensive Ticket Ever!
I went to the Olympic athletics last night and I got some tickets for Thursday morning in the ballot. But I really wanted to see Mo Farah run on the last Saturday night.
I didn’t get a ticket in the ballot, so as I’ve finally sold my stud, I decided to try to buy a ticket for the Saturday night. But I couldn’t so I bought a ticket for the Friday night, to see some more finals.
I’ve never really paid a high price for a ticket and certainly, I’ve never paid over the odds. Although, I did buy an unwanted Senior ticket at Sheffield Wednesday for £10 instead of £11 from a tout at Sheffield Wednesday.
The most expensive ticket, I’d bought was one for about three hundred to see Ipswich play Torpedo Moscow in the Moscow Olympic Stadium. But I suppose it did include a flight from Luton.
I went on the official site and bought one for Friday night for seven-hundred or so.
Does that seem excessive? Probably at the moment, yes! But ask me again on Saturday!
An I Was There Moment
One of the BBC presenters on Sunday was talking about Mo Farah on Sunday. It could have been Brendan Foster or Steve Cram, who were both good distance runner in their time, but they were nowhere near as good as Mo .
Whoever it was said that it was one of those I was There sporting moments, like Roger Bannister running the first four-minute mile, Llanelli beating the All Blacks or Liverpool winning the Champions League in Istanbul.
Obviously, the 82,000 in the Olympic Stadium were actually there, but how many of the British squaddies on Olympic duty will claim they sneaked in to watch? After all, servicemen are not known to varnish the truth to make better tales are they? Especially, when it’s about something like being the Army’s champion for painting lumps of coal white! i.e. Anything where no-one gets hurt.
A survey done in a few years time, will show that there were at least a quarter of a million crammed into the stadium.
What is going to be the size of the claimed crowd on Saturday?
Presenters Go Mad For Mo
This must surely be one of the best video clips from the BBC, as their presenters go mad cheering on Mo Farah in the 10,000 metres on Saturday night.
To me what makes it even funnier is that Michael Johnson is rather the calm American and he’s cheering on a Brit!
The Anonymous Widower 