Isn't that what the Olympics are about, athletes pumped up to the 9's showing the world how good they are at there specific area?
yeah thats ok . but its only a small amount about the athletes and events. behind the scenes the big parties and the main money spend is on the dignitaries etc.
Alternatively 10% milking it for all they can, because they got there. 90% dedicated to the hilt sportsmen and women, (not to mention volunteers) who train endlessly to reach their goal, regardless of personal sacrifice?
Re: Alternatively your missing the point. these olympics are mostly about pomp and ceremony the ahletes and events are a sideshow its all about advertising and men in suits being lauded and applauded milking the best hospitality on the backs of the sportspeople.
Sorry mate, totally mis read your post. Your right in what you said though. 2 weeks ago I approached the chronicle to see if I could run a advert, in the advert I was going to have a Olympic special offer and 'supporting team gb' obly to be told that certain brands had injected so much money that the whole country had to abide by certain advertising rules just because of the monies they'd spent. A wonder what percent of tickets will have been given to government snobs and there family's Instead of tickets going to children and other genuine olympic fans?
Re: Alternatively Hey, I'm not missing the point at all. I've been clinging onto a job in sport, by my fingernails for18 months, because funding has been directed at elite athletes, rather than grass roots. Medals, medals, medals. That won't stop me applauding the dedication of those who have worked so hard to get there though. As for marketing, men in suits etc. I'm not lauding and applauding anyone, but the fact is that without the commercial side to sport, NOTHING would drip down to grass roots.
yeah i could probably have been a bit more specific in my first post. the fact that we are supposed to embrace the games and the spirit is a con its just to justify tax payers money pumped into the show. probably just as much if not more than the corperates but they have prority .the fact you couldn't capitalize a little on it is a disgrace its a bit like we're all in it together.
Re: Alternatively but you are missing the point. the post has no malice towards ahletes either elitest or otherwise. and neither will i stop applauding the athletes who've worked so hard to get there . and i wasn't talking about you personally lauding the men in suits i was on about our politicians etc.
Re: Alternatively Yes, I get that, but I'd suggest that most people in the country care more about the athletes than the man in the suit, or any other wining, dining and marketing stuff that goes on. Will people care that they are entering the coca cola tent? I doubt it. They'll be lapping up the occasion. Will the man in the street really car that the camera has panned to seb coe ? I doubt it. I think that yes it's about all those sideline things, but the focus will primarily be on the athletes. Whilst I see where you're coming from.... That people buy their way into the whole event, without it there would be sod all investment in sport. Yes it's all very self congratulatory for sponsors, politicians etc, but it's how it is. The days of amateur sport for it's own sake have long gone I'm afraid.
Re: Alternatively It maybe for an elite few(very few), but for most people , it will be about the best athletes/sportsmen from every Country all trying their best to win a medal. Not many will care about the fact that the timing clock will be sponsored by Omega(or whomever it is). All they will be bothered about is who won or where did the British finish.
Re: Alternatively but that very elite few will have ended up with tens of millions spent on them. they're provided with limousines with police escorts to venues to present medals. and probably the whole time their here whole top class hotels are dedicated to their every whim, eye watering banquets are being held in their honour on most days i would imagine.all by the tax payer. goodness knows what riches awaits them from the sponsors.
Re: Alternatively Having read your last few posts on all this I honestly think you would be more at home in Cuba, or North Korea if you want equality for all, because your comments simply sound like jealousy to me. I realise this is all about opinions and you are certainly as entitled to yours as anyone else (unless you're in Cuba or North Korea, ironically enough) but we do not live in an equal world. Yes, there will be an absolutely tiny minority of people (IOC members / sponsors) who will be lapping it all up, but that's the way it is. Always has been, always will be. Do I agree with it, not really (particularly if there is any corruption a la FIFA), but there will always be the lucky few who get to where they are, deserved or not, who will get to live the high life at these events. But they are the tiny minority. I would say this Olympics is 80% about the athletes, (many of whom are not in it for the money at all, it's simply the pinnacle of their sporting careers), 19% about sponsorship deals and promoting London (and to a lesser extent the UK) and 1% giving the dignitaries a fabulous time. A friend of mine has trained for the past 15 years to be a top-class hockey umpire (referee). She's made it to the Olympics and is absolutely ecstatic - I cant wait for it all to begin and to see my friend officiating in the Olympics. That's what it's all about for me.
Re: Alternatively 75% of your post is utter ******, the rest is nothing relating to the topic of my post post
Re: Alternatively Given that most of the Olympics is funded directly by states that sounds like socialism anyway or perhaps corporate fascism. The fact that these supranational bodies like the IOC and FIFA are not answerable to the man in the street ...... that sounds like stalinism.
Re: Alternatively Nail on head Calgary Tyke, I believe it's known as the politics of envy. Anyway I think you're right that for the vast majority of people, the Olympics are primarily about the spectacle, the prestige, with (for us) the added honour of hosting the games (and yes the business/reputational opportunities this will hopefully inevitably present - lord knows we could use the boost), and most importantly of all the prospect and now reality of the finest athletes and competitors in the world coming together to vie for the greatest honours world sport can offer. I love the Olympics, and what I think it still represents for most of us, particularly the honourable ideals it still seeks to promote, and believe me I'm as cynical as they come. That said, I loathe 'corporate sponsorship' of any kind, and the undeserving nonces this seems to accommodate/provide for, but I also understand that without this the cost to the taxpayer of staging an event on the scale of the Olympics would invariably be far higher, so it's not all bad. I also loathe the idea of 'VIPs' such as Blatter and their toadies being ferried around and showered with hospitality when really all he and his ilk deserve is a good kicking, financial ruin, and some time in jail. However for the time being the presence of VIP/corporate guests at such events is an inevitability, and I wouldn't let that fact detract from or spoil one minute of what is the greatest show on earth being held on home soil, in fact I won't be giving them another thought. To me, Blatter and Co are as much of an irrelevance as the mean-spirited whining minority, who've spent most of the time since we secured the Olympics moaning about anything and everything they could think of. They need to get a life and quick.
