Well yes, I did say you were all a bunch of whingers on an earlier thread, but good on ya fer gettin in to it! Congrats on a fantastic day in the track and field! How about our Kiwi effort tho', 3 Golds, 4 Bronze, for 13th place ATM, there's only 4 million of us.
Yes well done to NZ too. To be fair the action, no matter where from, and the coverage (certainly in the UK) has been excellent throughout. And I've been enthralled by some of the minority sports like the archery and shooting too. Wonder why that is this time??
And from a "foreigners" point of view is it a good Olympics? Is it on a par with others in the past? Or better? And if so what makes it better?
Always proud to be English/British. Its very easy to cheer when we're winning, but cheering when your side it getting a hammering (thats the Cricket team again :smile, that shows your tru colours. Regarding the Olympics; I have been looking forward to it since it was announced, but was surrounded by nay-sayers. Now these very people are all over the place saying how wonderful it is. The GB team is doing the whole nation proud and imo, London 2012 is already a stone cold success and Im glad I could see at least one event live
Looks pretty good from this side of the world, and you know it will be fair and just, well, because you are British, so alls good, I think all of our participants are very pleased with their "digs" and how the events are being run :biggrin:
My housemate was there yesterday. Despite being filled to capacity he said the organization was incredible, and he didn't have to queue for anything trains included. The organization and atmosphere were better than any other event he has been to anywhere in the world. Given our achievements both in the games and behind the scenes, even I'm starting to feel patriotic. It's amazing what we can do when something other than filthy embarrassing chavball is given airtime (which we are not even any good at)
Unfortunately that is firmly embedded as the World's sport with good old Uncle Sam now embracing it too. The incomes of the players can only go upwards making the majority of them even more abhorrent, never mind the mindless minority of supporters. I enjoyed the game before the cheating, diving win at all costs approach became prevalent around the invent of the Premier League.
On a lighter note from Colm O'Regan at the BBC website:- Welcome to the Olympiad here in Ancient Greece, brought to you by the B.C.BC. It's been an eventful day, with a winged horse, the Oracle of Delphi and an athlete named Achilles making the headlines. The running track and field are crowded with athletes from dusk till dawn, yet as is always the case, it is events away from the sporting arena that have received most prominence from journalists and fans alike. For a start, although it is now nearly a week since the opening ceremony, its resonance is still being felt. The ceremony's very overt tribute to slaves and women has been condemned as "multi-cultural lefty nonsense" - according to a short message hurriedly carved on a wall. Despite that, the evening's entertainment was acknowledged to have been the most innovative of recent Olympiads. One particular segment, the salute to Pheidippides - known as the father of modern communication - has led to an increased clamour for him to be permanently enshrined in the Games. Centuries have elapsed since the messenger's iconic run along the path from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of the victory of the Athenians over the Persians. Yet still, ratification of the distance as an Olympic Sport has been held up by wrangles over which town to name the race after. It looks like "The Athens" is the current favourite, but many see Marathon as being more satisfying. Controversy over the provision of security for the Olympics appears to have abated. Buklis of Giforos had claimed that he would bring 3,000 men to guard the sacred games against any attack but was forced to admit that the men had not turned up. The matter has since been resolved and the entire games are now guarded by just 300 Spartans (and their slaves). While officials are said to be privately concerned that "the world will never cease hearing about the heroism of the Spartans" (but not their slaves), there is relief that the concerns over security are no longer centre stage. Unfortunately the dark side of sport has once again come to the fore as the Olympic village is rife with allegations of betting syndicates influencing the outcomes of some events. Evidence is emerging of a number of competitors having visited the Oracle in Delphi to predict the result of their competitions. Meanwhile another scandal is unfolding as competitors in several events are accused of deliberately not trying in order to gain more favourable draws in subsequent rounds. Perhaps the most egregious has been the case of the Greek athlete, Achilles. A Marathon? Or an Athens? The Myrmidon warrior - who is said to have got his name from the common heel injury - was observed to run so slowly that he failed to even overtake a tortoise that was coincidentally moving parallel to the track. Achilles has angrily refuted the allegations. He released a statement saying that by the time he had reached the point where the tortoise had left, the tortoise had moved on to another point, and by the time he reached that point, the tortoise had moved on another distance and so on in ever smaller increments. This has been rejected by Olympic officials saying that everyone else seemed to have no problem overtaking the tortoise. Achilles has in turn accused them of Zenophobia. The adventures of the buffoonish local mayor continued. In his latest escapade, he ascended a large stylos to promote the Games and was unable to get down. He has since claimed he was setting a new trend in ascetism and is said to be revelling in his new nickname of "Pillar of the Community". Even the media has not been untouched by controversy. A number of pundits have been sent home in disgrace following their apparent widespread use of cliches. The official broadcast partner B.C.BC has confirmed that the there were numerous instances of "At the end of the day" and "He'll be looking for a win in this one" and the culprits have been stripped of their accreditation. "It is unconscionable that in the home of Logic, Rhetoric and Epistemology, that adults should resort to such nonsense" said a spokesman. One or two of the disgraced commentators have called for dialogue on the matter but this has been rejected by B.C.BC chairman, Plato. After all of this, events on the playing field and running track seem almost a footnote but there were a number of events down for decision today. On the racing track, there was an expected victory for Bellerophon who has once again taken advantage of a loophole in the rules and ridden his winged mythological horse Pegasus to take the win. The no-hold barred boxing and wrestling event or Pankration reached an exciting denoument with a walk-over (literally) for Dioxippus. After these last couple of days, the first controversy-free event in a while will be a welcome olive branch for fans of the Games. Well I thought it was quite funny.
Just being realistic folks, in a week and a taxpayers £9 billion what about all the other issues? I've watched the Olympics every day all day so far being laid up recovering and its great, proud to be British because of the Olympics yes, but I'm being realistic about the rest of the country
Well don't be, this is a thread about the olympics, not the news. The question was simple: Are you proud yet..?
I always was proud to be British and more so English anyway. Ok there's massive monitory issues with the country right now and the games are taking a whole lump of money that could be used elsewhere. Etc etc. We have the forces fighting for control of opium in Afghanistan and waged someone else's war in Iraq etc. And a whole host of immigration issues to name but a few........ But whatever is going on I'm a Proud English Brit and nothing can or will remove that!
Being of mixed parentage I'm just proud to be British! I don't need a sub division of that to be 'special'.
Yesterday NZ won 3 Gold medals at the Olympics, today we lost 2 soldiers in Afganistan, 6 more wounded :frown: :frown:
I struggle to be proud about what is an accident of birth but recognise I that I was pretty lucky. I am enjoying the plucky Brits taking home the gold. Mo Farrar was pretty impressive.
Number painted on my wheely bin, union jack flags fying from my ford Capri ghia. You bet I'm proud to be british :smile:
