When I was much younger I used to bemoan the fact that the Olympics were every 4 years, far too long to wait, why couldn't they have them every year. Why should we have to wait so long to see the great athletes, boxers and swimmers, I still feel this way about the World Cup but the Olympics no longer inspire such longing.
I think the rot set in years ago when I found myself watching an equestrian event where Princess Anne was mounted on a horse which seemed to be dancing like a circus turn, this was called ‘dressage’ and it was obvious that my granny could have made a fist of it.
The horse was ’dressed’ like those black horses which you see pulling the hearse at an East End gangster funeral and the Princess was also kitted out in black with a lum hat, silk scarf and splendid polished black boots, the Olympics were degraded by this and other such farces. Call it what you will but it’ should not be an Olympic sport, Princess Anne won the ‘Sports Personality of the Year for her efforts’ setting new levels of sycophancy, for me this and other trivia wounded the Olympics but it is not the only sport which IMO should not be there.
I will be accused of politicising this argument and I admit that there are now so many sports events that it is difficult to keep up with them but my golden rules which I will probably go on to break are that the event must require a degree of strength, fitness, stamina, skill etc. in addition the event must have a reasonable degree of accessibility for anyone who wants to try to compete.
Based purely on my opinion the following are out :- Canoe / kayak - Equestrian - Fencing - Handball - Hockey - Judo - Sailing - Shooting - Softball - Taekwondo - Modern pentathlon
That should make the games more enjoyable but, I’m sure you have some of your own you would like to add.
I will watch and look out for an Ali, Zatopek, Wilma Rudolph, Teofilio Stevenson, Mark Spitz, Valerie Borsov, Jesse Owens, Eric Liddle, Kelly Holmes, Mary Peters, Steve Redgrave, Coe, Ovette, Lewis, Dick McTaggart etc.
There is a Jamaican running the 1 & 200 Mts. Whom they might have to force to run in wellies to give the rest a chance and his name is Bolt, honestly it is. I will give them another chance, I can’t not watch this Jamaican.
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34 comments:
Hmmm, can't resist having a pop at the Royals can you Councillor?
Dressage is just one event in the three-day eventing programme. So unless grandma was good at show-jumping and cross-country, then dressage would be a cinch.
However, Councillor it is you that look's like a horse's arse.
(Daniel Dravot) 17:06
I recommended that equestrian events be scrapped, all of them.
Did you cheer when she became sports personality of the year ? Did being a royal parasite have anything to do with her winning it ?
Truth now !
Er....in your list of 'People to look out for.'
Why no Alan Wells?
Terry, we don't agree on much but on this we do... why should Princess Anne, or any rider for that matter, get all the credit when it's the horse doing all the actual work?
PS Quite fitting post title really, given that the US Men's 4x400m Relay team have already been disqualified, before the first startung pistol has been fired...
Reach for the smelling salts, Councillor, because, by and large, I am sympathetic to your disenchantmen with the Olympic games, an activity in which sundry drug addicts compete with each other. However, some of the sports you choose for black-listing are certainly open to many, including judo and fencing, both of which 'SoD' (Son of Duff) engaged in whilst young. Excellent sports, both of them, not expensive and usually on offer at a sports centre near you.
Modern pentathlon, I grant you, is not so accessible but it must be kept for the sake of tradition. It originates from the skills required of 19th C. military couriers who were, in an age without radios, the only means of communication across battlefields. Thus, a courier might be required to fight his way out using pistol and sword, then ride cross-country, and assuming his horse drops dead with exhaustion, he might have to swim across a river (with his despatch clutched firmly in his teeth, I assume!) and then run the final mile to deliver his message. Yes, yes, I suppose only members of the armed forces have the time to indulge in this speciality but it is a very tough test of skill, determination and fitness. If it helps you to swallow, I think the last Brit to win a medal was actually a staff-sergeant not an officer.
Truth?
I don't ever watch the Sports Personality of the Year programme, or any awards ceremony for that matter. Can't be doing with the back-slapping and mutual admiration society bulls..t.
Whether Princess Anne won it or not, I can't say. I do seem to remember that her daughter, Zara Philips who is an accomplished equestrian won it a couple of years ago.
"Did being a royal parasite have anything to do with her winning it ?"
Sticky one, politically. What you're saying is that the people who voted for her are eejits? That's the gist, surely.
Jim Lewis
I appreciate that your list is based solely on your own opinion, but I take it you have never tried Judo?
It is a sport that requires excellent fitness and skill. Its robust appearance masks the level of subtlety required to succeed at a high level.
Try it sometime. You might like it.
Terry,
Laughed out loud when I read about you feeling Princess Anne spoiled the Olympics for you, and events which REALLY wounded the Games like Munich disaster, Atlanta bombing, boycotts of Moscow and L.A, Ben Johnson etc. are filed under 'other trivia'.
Still, credit where it's due. I can't see Salmond being blamed in this post, or are you saving that one up?
Odd to see you wanting shooting off the programme, seeing as Cuba were pretty good at it in the sixties....
(Anonymous) 04/08/08
No reason.
(Will) 04/08/08
It has become too big, too commercialised and too corrupt.
(David Duff) 04/08/08
Anyone is free to add or remove from the list it’s down to personal opinion.
The games need to be seriously reduced in size.
(Daniel Dravot) 05/08/08
Clearly a talented family.
(Anonymous) 05/08/08
Since it’s you Jim. I’ll make it easier, the people who support the monarchy are ‘eejits’ and they are likely to vote for her.
(Anonymous) 11:00
Tried it and it was OK but, it fails the Olympic test because when you are watching it you have to keep checking to see if the TV screen has frozen.
(Jacques Rogge) 11:43
I don’t believe that events including the Olympics should be stopped because of ‘terrorism’ that would be a betrayal and an act of cowardice, perhaps you would throw in the towel though ?
Cuba is a great sporting nation, particularly when you consider the barriers which are put in their way. They are also good at shooting American imperialist gangsters although I concede that’s not a sport.
America, when it comes to something as big as the Olympics seems to be able to tolerate Cuba, interesting eh ?
Salmond (the spiv) might complain that Scotland is being picked on by leaving out ‘caber tossing’ ‘lifting beer barrels etc. he’s slipped up there.
I have just stumbled over this delightful post from Steve Sailer on the sports that have been dropped from the Olympics, which includes cricket! Read and enjoy!
http://isteve.blogspot.com/2008/08/alternative-history-olympics.html
(David Duff)
Cricket is a great game but not for the Olympics, I’ve been watching some of the early stuff and I now include Archery in the banned list, those bows look as if they would cost as much as a small car.
So, Terry are you trying to annoy me.
I Kayak (Slalom and Sprint), Fence (U-16 E-Midlands Epeeist), Tried all the disciplines of Modern Pentathlon whilst in the Army, Ride, Shoot.
What can you possibly have against Judo? Hockey?
Really this is totally arbitary. There are a lot of minor sports and the Olympics are their great stage.
This is a mean-spirited and spiteful post. But I expect little else from you.
(Jackart) 14:00
“Terry are you trying to annoy me” Are you going to report me again ? Did the army train you to do that ? You military types are so tough.
Why haven’t you tried a real sport like boxing or football, I have never been in a canoe and off hand I don’t know anyone who has, likewise horses and Shooting, something not quite right about these things being Olympic sports.
Judo and Hockey are different, I include them because they are about as exciting as watching the fire going out. Maybe the Army should concentrate on soldiering rather than playing games.
“There are a lot of minor sports and the Olympics are their great stage” That is a totally arbitrary statement. You are still an idiot, a pompous one at that.
FWIW Councillor, any sport that is played at a professional level should not be included in the Olympics or failing that, anyone involved in a sport at a professional level should be excluded. Boxing is the only sport with any Olympic credibility in that only amateur boxers are allowed to participate. Olympoc football is a joke, as is basketball, tennis and athletics.
Archery is a sport of supreme skill, and no-one can deny the skill and dedication required for gymnastics and swimming. Personally I'm looking forward to the Water Polo
I see a three day eventer was killed when she was thrown from her horse.
Seems broken necks can haoppen to rich people doesn't it?
Do you think perhaps Princess Anne or Zara are fireproof or is it that knowing the dangers, they have the guts to take them on, just like your Granny would have?
Credit where it's due, you clown
(Bob Flowers) 11/08/08
I agree with your view on amateurism but not your list of exclusions on that basis, suffice to say that it should be amateurs only.
I believe that only sports which are accessible should be allowed, archery for all it’s skill fails because it costs a fortune.
Water polo might be good to play but, I’ve watched it live and it would put years on you.
(Macnasty) 11/08/08
Rather predictable of a creep like you to use a tragedy to bolster your pathetic argument.
"I believe that only sports which are accessible should be allowed, archery for all it’s skill fails because it costs a fortune."
Archery only costs a fortune if you buy your own equipment. Most good archery clubs have equipment available for juniors and novices to use. A good archery bow and kit costs not much more than a replica football shirt & shorts.
(Bob Flowers) 08:00
I’m no expert but I suspect that the archery kit that we are seeing at the Olympics would be outwith most people I know, I’m only referring to the games here.
Councillor, the kit used at national and international competition is almost always provided by sponsors. It's only the picky competitors that will inisist on having their own "lucky" kit.
You should see if there's a club near you. Pop down whenever they have their next meet, they'll only be too glad to let you try out - it's great fun once you've got the hang of it.
(Bob Flowers) 14/08/08
I had a look at the prices a bow can cost as much as £700 and a single arrow over £100. Olympic archery is not an accessible sport, even if it is fun at club level, I would not have it in the games but I wouldn’t object to local clubs.
Those prices you quote would be beyond the reach of most people who compete in archery at club level. I've only ever seen the top line bows and equipment at national competition and as I said in my previous post, most are provided by sponsors (usually manufacturers).
Any promising youngster who is dedicated to archery and wants to progress can apply for lottery funding or Sport England grants. The local clubs are aware of this and will help any promising member to progress.
(Bob Flowers) 07:26
I’m afraid the facts are that it is no more representative than croquet or 3 day eventing and that’s the unfortunate truth.
I have never known anyone who has ever been in an archery club, not one person.
"I'm a socialist".
Actually you're not. You are however a very unpleasant person.
I am so glad you live in Scotland because what is going to happen to the Labour party (and you socialists) has me quivering with anticipatory delight.
(Anonymous) 18/08/08
You sound as if you could “quiver” for Britain at the Olympics.
"You should see if there's a club near you. Pop down whenever they have their next meet, they'll only be too glad to let you try out - it's great fun once you've got the hang of it."
I can picture it now. "Now if you wouldn't mind popping down the far end, Mr Kelly and lean on that board for me. That's it, the one with the nice coloured circles on it. Now close our eyes....."
Jim Lewis
(Anonymous) 19/08/08
Jim, I hope you are not going to start making a fool of yourself again, I got quite worried about you the last time you surfaced, can you not just accept that this kind of thing is not for you.
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