Things You learn In The Middle of The Night
I woke early, so got up and made a cup of tea and did a bit of writing, whilst listening to the excellent Doton Adebayo on Radio 5.
At one point he was talking to a Canadian journalist, who said that due to cutbacks, the Commonwealth Games are not being shown on Canadian television. All they are getting is the odd highlights.
Is Rugby Sevens The Ideal Team Sport For A Games?
I’ve spent some of this afternoon watching the rugby sevens at the Commonwealth Games.
I’ll watch rugby on television, if there’s nothing else on, but rugby is getting more and more like American football, which to me is a game of large men playing to an obscure set of rules, occasionally broken up by some outstanding skill.
But to me, rugby sevens is a completely different game, where agility,speed, skill and tactics are more important than brute strength.
I wouldn’t be interested in going to see a full size rugby match, but if someone said come along to a sevens tournament, I’d probably go.
Rugby sevens is also unique amongst multi-team tournaments in that the game is designed to fit into two days and like it is at the Commonwealth Games on a Saturday and Sunday. So unlike all other team games at Games, like football and hockey, it is very easy to fit into the schedule.
Also, like in Glasgow, all you need to stage it is a decent football or rugby stadium. It is even better though, if you have a top quality stadium like Ibrox, you could use.
And then there’s the advantage that teams are small, so organisers don’t have to provide masses of accommodation for rugby players and officials.
So to me, it’s not surprising that rugby sevens is going to be a sport at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil! Especially, as it is already played in the Asian and Pan American Games.
Did two butchers from Melrose in the Scottish Borders realise what they had started?
The Glasgow KISS Games
The Scots are known for their thrift and they certainly seemed to have used the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) to produce an affordable opening ceremony last night.
The only extravagance would have been the amazing video screen, but that was probably hired through Sports Technology in Sussex, so we’ll see that and others like it, at events in the future.
The costumes and props for the show weren’t on the level of extravagance we’ve seen lately at some Games.
And it would appear that the only problem with the dogs was finding enough of them!
But the KISS principle has also been applied to the venues.
In a way holding the opening ceremony in Celtic Park by the athlete’s village was following what was done in London, where the athlete’s village was with all the main venues. This meant that athletes could enjoy the ceremony and then go to bed at a reasonable hour for competing today. We shouldn’t have games, where the athletes are some way from the venues. Both Glasgow and London have sufficient transport to cope for athletes and spectators.
But surely the masterstroke is building a combined sports hall and velodrome, with the facilities between the two arenas. You must get a hell of a lot more useable space for your money.
This one will be copied ad nauseum, all over the world.
I Wonder What The Duke Thought Of It!
Glasgow has got past the first hurdle, by opening the Commonwealth Games without any obvious hitches.
It will be interesting to see how the Duke of Edinburgh rates the ceremony amongst the dross, he has watched in his lifetime.
I would rate it fairly high up the scale, but Glasgow had two big advantages over say the Olympics in Beijing or Athens.
All the proceedings were done in a language that we and most of the spectators understand perfectly.
But perhaps more importantly, Glasgow had one of the first uses of a 96m. wide video screen, which meant instead of training masses of drummers, dancers and musicians, you just set some good programmers and video editors to work to weave some magic. You then prayed that you didn’t get a blue screen of death like Beijing did in 2008.
Perhaps it was just to save money on costumes and performers, but Glasgow kept it simple and colourful. Which worked!
But will Rio do the same for the 2016 Olympics? I hope so.
They’ll certainly use the screen or perhaps two! Without doubt it was impressive technology.
Ipswich Town Blue
On the BBC Radio 5 commentary for the Open, someone has just said, that Rory McIlroy is wearing trousers in Ipswich Town blue.
I didn’t think that Ipswich Town’s blue was that unique.
The World Cup On The Big Screen
London may have been a bit short of big screens on which to watch the World Cup, but there was one in the centre of Reykjavik. I watched the Third Place Final.
It’s funny but I think I’ve only watched football once before on a giant screen and that was part of a Cup Final between races at Newmarket.
Those Seagulls Get Everywhere
Some coastal parts of the UK and other parts of Europe have a seagull problem.
But this story from Brighton must be unique, where one of the birds finished second in the 7:10 race according to the photo finish.
Va Va Froome
By chance I travelled yesterday on a DLR train bedecked with Va Va Froome for the Tour de France.
I’d actually seen it on the bridge as the cyclists passed underneath on Monday.
As the train went towards Canary Wharf, we passed another with Cavendish going the other way. I hope that one doesn’t have an accident.
Blitzkreig
Whether you think this German side is good is irrelevant, but the Brazilian side has about as much commitment as a bad Division One side!
Will anybody beat the Germans?
Yes! But I don’t know who will!
Getting Ready For The Tour
I took these pictures yesterday in mid-morning, as I walked around Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly.
The crowds were as expected later, but as the pictures show, the streets were surprisingly empty. The BBC is reporting this morning, that traffic was down twenty percent yesterday, so perhaps a lot of people took the day off yesterday, or came in later on public transport.
Speaking to a couple of bus drivers and some Transport for London ambassadors, who were there to answer questions, none said that they’d heard of a bus passenger wanting to use cash. The ambassador told me, that no-one had even raised the subject of cashless buses with her.
The Anonymous Widower 