The Olympics

A selection of the very best posts and/or most memorable threads on KUMB since the current Forum launched in 2002.

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davids cross
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Re: The Olympics

Post by davids cross »

Helen Glover pulled my chain a bit,

I see myself and her going out in one of those Sunday lake boats, two seaters, where one person rows (her naturally) and the other (me) sits opposite and stares adoringly at her..... :lol:
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Hambrosia Stu »

The whole thing was amazingly fantastic, from start to finish, imo. Sure, there was the odd moment, like Russel Brand (and most of the closing ceremony, tbf), that had me cringing, but it wouldn't be a British Olympics without the odd WTF moment

As for my highlights, there were just so many:-
Wiggo, Hoy, Trott & Pendleton on the bikes
Mo (x2), Ennis, on the track
Gemma Gibbons's words to her mum
The canoeing pair
The Brownlee's in the triathlon
The Brits boxing gold's, male and female, as well as Katie Taylor
Andy Murray
Tom's Daley's bronze
The women rowers (except the annoying blonde one!)
The men's 800m

Of those, if I had to pick just one, I guess it would have to be Mo. I didn't see either race live, but what drama. None of this Seb Coe leave it 'til the last 100m for Mo. A whole lap (at least) of drama where you really didn't know what was going to happen

Another more abstract highlight for me was how pretty much every GB athlete just seemed like such sound people. Having been used to watching footballers being interviewed, where in the majority of cases I'm sat there thinking "what a ****ing winker", it was massively refreshing to see such decent, grounded, grateful, proud individuals doing themselves and our country proud :clap:

A special mention for the Aussie 100m hurdles gold medalist. Can't even remember her name, but it got me going. Not least due to the excellent background info in the build up. She had been staying at her Aunt's in London for weeks before hand to acclimatise to give her the best chance, she had been at the top of the hurdling tree for yonks, had fluffed it in Beijing, had all the stress of being favourite, knowing she'd blown it last time, and was competing for Australia, who were having a bit of a 'mare....so no pressure then!

She crossed the line 0.02secs ahead of 2nd place, it was obvious to all watching that she'd won it, but she didn't know. She dipped, crossed the line, and straight away all her focus was 100% on the screen waiting for the result to come up. But it didn't. Not for a good long while. It must have taken at least 30 seconds (long enough to run 2 more races...) before it came up, and all that while the camreas were focused on her face, staring unblinking at the screen. You could just see her getting more and more stressed. The result came up, she collapsed uncontrollably backwards onto the track as though Katie Taylor had just hit her between the eyes with her best shot, and, as the commentator put it "the emotion just pours out of her..."
Proper got me going that one
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davids cross
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Re: The Olympics

Post by davids cross »

Hambrosia Stu wrote: how pretty much every GB athlete just seemed like such sound people
Yep,
Hambrosia Stu wrote: Having been used to watching footballers being interviewed, where in the majority of cases I'm sat there thinking "what a ****ing winker",
:lol:

Even Nicola, who won the boxing gold. She worked on building sites, she fights, she hits people. So you might think she's gonna be a bit rough, uncouth infront of the camera. But no, damn her....

Big smile, eloquent, happy and charming.

I've upset the builders now.......(winkage)
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Bishnu »

FrankieMacsPerm wrote:The BBC did some great montages.

Emili Sandu singing Imagine and the one with Thea Gilomre singing London Town (as above!) which I can find on You Tube.

I'm trying to find the montage the BBC did at the beginning of the Closing Ceremony programme when it started at half 7 on Sunday. It had Lord Coe's welcome speech at the Opening ceremony playing with shots of various moments of London 2012. Always makes me moisty eyed!

It's still on the I player, but will probably be gone in the next few days, anyone else seen it?
I know the one you mean, had this track by M83 backing it

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Was one of the best montages (out of so many amazing ones that the Beeb did) that perfectly captured the whole two weeks.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Hambrosia Stu »

^^^
Oooohh, look at DC, on first name terms with the Olympians! :wink:

You are so right though. Nicola came across as a lovely girl

Makes me wonder how I'll respond to watching football now. It may be the case that the moronic nature of a lot of our footballers is even more obvious and annoying after the Olympics. It's one thing, amongst many, that has been putting me off top-flight football more and more over the last few years (though to be fair, most of our lot seem far more decent than most...)
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davids cross
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Re: The Olympics

Post by davids cross »

Hambrosia Stu wrote: It may be the case that the moronic nature of a lot of our footballers is even more obvious and annoying after the Olympics.
I won't be happy till I see Sir Steve Redgrave helping James Tomkins from the field with our centre half absolutely shattered and unable to stand or talk.

That's the standards I'm setting now.... :lol:
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Re: The Olympics

Post by FrankieMacsPerm »

davids cross wrote: I won't be happy till I see Sir Steve Redgrave helping James Tomkins from the field with our centre half absolutely shattered and unable to stand or talk.

That's the standards I'm setting now....
Too right DC!

Plus i'd want to see Jeff Shreeves in tears!! :lol:
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davids cross
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Re: The Olympics

Post by davids cross »

FrankieMacsPerm wrote: Plus i'd want to see Jeff Shreeves in tears!!
Can I offer to kick him in the bollox..................really hard, that would do it... :lol:
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Re: The Olympics

Post by FrankieMacsPerm »

davids cross wrote: Can I offer to kick him in the bollox..................really hard, that would do it...
How about if I told you he doesn't rate the lovely Helen Glover?

We'd be talking a kick of Olympian porportions no doubt? :lol:
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Re: The Olympics

Post by sendô »

Noticed Roy Hodgson commented on the perceived differences in attitudes between footballers and Olympians, making a fair point that the fans were far more supportive at the Olympics than they ever are at football.

Seems there's a lot more pressure on footballers than there was on Olympians, which probably showed through in their attitudes.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Clucking Bell »

sendô wrote: Seems there's a lot more pressure on footballers than there was on Olympians, which probably showed through in their attitudes.
How do you figure that out?

Cup games excepted, if they play like a bag of **** one week, they get to try again the next.

You f*** up in one of the sports where the Olympics is the pinnacle of achievement and, at best, you've got a four year wait until the next opportunity. Take Rebecca Adlington as an example - if she'd equalled her personal best in the 800m, she'd have had a gold medal not a bronze one. On the track, Osagie set a PB that would have won a medal at any previous Olympics but he came eighth!

In all honesty, the only reason footballers come under pressure is that a Premier League team's wage bill is the size of a small country's GDP and yet half the players can't pass wind and control a ball rather less well than another ball would.

I've got a fair bit of sympathy for a lottery- funded Olympian on 30k a year who ****'s up on their big day .... rather less for the typical pre- literate numpty on 30k a week who seemingly doesn't give a f*** about the team, the fans or their own performance.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by kielhammer »

Well maybe that impression of how spoiled footbaal players are,comes from times like the world cup in South Africa when thousands of english fans travelled,spend a fortune,wayched crap football and then have Wayne the genius Rooney mouth off way to support.

i only saw praise from the athletes because they were grateful for the support even if they didn't win.

yes football players are under more pressure probably,and there are genuine nice guys among them. Vincent Kompany spending parts of his money to have schools and hospitals built in Congo,but the Terry's the Rooneys sure spoil it for alot of them.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Denbighammer »

Clucking Bell wrote:Cup games excepted, if they play like a bag of **** one week, they get to try again the next.
Due to the demand. If there was a downhill kayacking competion or horse dressage league encounter or even a World Series of archery next week nobody would turn up. There is only interest once every 4 years. Its like tennis at Wimbledon. If the BBC shows any other tournament, even another Grand Slam and viewing figures tumble. Nobdy cares that Murray or Henman or Rudedski won plenty of tournaments around the globe and were generally hugely successful, they didn't win Wimbledon.
You **** up in one of the sports where the Olympics is the pinnacle of achievement and, at best, you've got a four year wait until the next opportunity. Take Rebecca Adlington as an example - if she'd equalled her personal best in the 800m, she'd have had a gold medal not a bronze one. On the track, Osagie set a PB that would have won a medal at any previous Olympics but he came eighth!
Not sure what your point is? The examples you site are as much down to the depth of the competition as much as anything. People get lucky, some are Champions when the competition level is poor, others have to contend with far harder opponents and achieve nothing. This has always happened in sport. Ken Norton would have been a dominant boxer in the 70's if he didn't have Ali, Foreman and Frazier to contend with. Andy Murray would be a multiple Grand Slam winner at any other point in history except now as he has to face Federer, Nadal and Djokovic every time. Osagie did a PB in the fastest 800m in history. Shame for him but surely that is the random nature of sport, keeps things interesting.
In all honesty, the only reason footballers come under pressure is that a Premier League team's wage bill is the size of a small country's GDP and yet half the players can't pass wind and control a ball rather less well than another ball would.
Thats their luck though. Footballers are good at a popular sport. Nobody want to watch a genius at archery no matter how skilful they are. There are great bands knocking around bars and clubs, yet X-Factor muppets get all the glory. Lifes not fair.
I've got a fair bit of sympathy for a lottery- funded Olympian on 30k a year who ****'s up on their big day .... rather less for the typical pre- literate numpty on 30k a week who seemingly doesn't give a **** about the team, the fans or their own performance.This is just rubbish. If you watched Olympians week in and week out and they had their every move scrutinised all the time then you'd be bored of them. You think Olympic boxer Fred Evans is any brighter or more engaging than Wayne Rooney? Its easy to be fresh-faced and interesting when you're only in the public eye once every 4 years. Less so when your asked for comment three times per week. I guess it all comes down to money then? And what generates the money? Interest.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Clucking Bell »

Actually, Denbig, I disagree. People are fans of and want to watch the sports that they have a connection to.

In the UK, pretty much everyone grows up watching and playing football so they carry on doing it as adults. Here in the US, it's taken several attempts to establish a professional league with any longevity because it's only been the last twenty or thirty years when a generation has grown up with a connection to the game because they played it as kids. Even now soccer has established a foothold, it's still less popular than football, baseball and basketball. In the UK, rugby and cricket are less popular as spectator sports because far fewer people play them or have a connection to them .... it's a chicken and egg kind of thing ... if your parents were, say, swimmers, the chances are that you would also be a swimmer and be interested in swimming. I watch every bike race and triathlon that's televised because I used to be a cyclist and, am still a triathlete. I only got into cycling because my mate's uncle was Rory O'Brien who used to own a bike shop in Romford .... without that connection, I'd never have got into the sport as I would have had no access to it.
I take your point with respect to Wimbledon but, I sort of equate that to Cup Final Day before the advent of the Premier League, it used to bring out the casual fan who took no interest in the game the rest of the time.

My point with respect to the relative pressure of footballers and Olympians is quite simple. In football, a player's opportunities come around a lot more often .... if Chelsea, Man U or Citeh don't win the Premier League or the Champions League this year, they've got a pretty good chance of doing so the next. A good, professional like Scholes therefore has had a dozen or so chances to win a Champions League medal during his career. However in, say, swimming, the "equivalent" championships only come around every four years and very few athletes have more than two bites at the cherry. It seems logical to me that having an opportunity to win the highest honours in your sport every year would place you under less pressure than someone who only has the opportunity every four years.

You're also missing my final point. With the exception of the really high profile athletes such as Jess Ennis and Tom Daley, even those on the top tier of lottery funding aren't exactly making out like bandits and I doubt that there are very many for whom money is much of a motivating factor. A friend of mine competed in Seoul and Barcelona in the Modern Pentathlon and he's still pretty much paying for the privilege now .... he found that great jobs for 32 year old graduates with an Olympic bronze medal and no work experience were in pretty short supply. Contrast this with even a fairly average Premier League player who's won the square root of f*** all .... Matthew Upson anyone ..... who will almost certainly never have to work again when he hangs up his boots. So yeah .... I have sympathy for someone who gives up fourteen or so years of their life for little or no money for a couple of attempts to win Olympic gold in a sport where drawing the wrong horse can mean the difference between first place and thirtieth and much less for someone who spends the same years on thirty grand a week and gets to compete at the top level in their sport every year.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by pablo jaye »

Another highlight of mine has sprung to mind ...Bert Le Clos , father of Saffer swimming champion Chad, being interviewed by Clare Balding. A larger than life chap who was very entertaining and probably reacted like any parent would! Talking of parents, there was also Christ Hoy's Ma, peering out behind her hands at the velodrome!!
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Re: The Olympics

Post by Hammers Dad »

mcan wrote:Don't normally pay much heed to Chris Evans but liked this one. 'Why is it the Olympics is every four years and The X Factor is on every week? It should be the other way round surely?'

Good montage that was on the BBC a couple of times -

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Welled up after just 54 seconds when Gemma Gibbons said "I love you mum"
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Re: The Olympics

Post by OFT »

Hambrosia Stu wrote:The whole thing was amazingly fantastic, from start to finish, imo. Sure, there was the odd moment, like Russel Brand (and most of the closing ceremony, tbf), that had me cringing, but it wouldn't be a British Olympics without the odd WTF moment
Best part(of the after show) was Freddie Mercury finally 'performing' in front of the c****(Olympic Commitee) who carved him up at Barcelona.
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Re: The Olympics

Post by inter me nan »

Even Nicola, who won the boxing gold. She worked on building sites, she fights, she hits people. So you might think she's gonna be a bit rough, uncouth infront of the camera. But no, damn her....

Big smile, eloquent, happy and charming.

I've upset the builders now.......winkything

I don't think you could have been more patronising if you,d have tried there.

"even Nicola" ............building sites, hits people = stupid, aggressive, uncouth.
As a builder, and ex boxer......I wouldn,t say I was offended , or upset as you put it ....smiley winkything.
More astonished that someone might have these preconceived ideas to start with.
Now I may be wrong ...but it read to me , like you were saying that you thought she might be , less comfortable , and coherent in front of a camera as, maybe a rower, or even one of the equestrian competitors for instance, because she spent some time on a building site, and participates in a sport that requires physical contact.
Really?.......only to be surprised that in fact she was , a happy, smiling person that could in fact talk....like a real human .

The "even Nicola" comment was ****ing terrible......."even Nicola" c'mon fella that's bad.
And then to sign off and say " I've upset the builders now" as if you knew it might be condescending , but to hell with it, So you put in a winkything....to make it all good.
:wink:
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davids cross
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Re: The Olympics

Post by davids cross »

Forgive my stereotypical assumption inter..

Me very bad person..... Now tuck your arse into your trousers please... ...:D
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davids cross
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Re: The Olympics

Post by davids cross »

Couple/Three, complementary reads from Aussies newspapers.

Someone who loved the closing ceromony
http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/news- ... 2448t.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone who loved the Games.
http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/news- ... 242we.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone else who loved the Games very much.
http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/news- ... 2418t.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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