July

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

The Olympics are in London. Get over it...

Perhaps MLCMan can enlighten us - did the Aussies whine and cry about Sydney getting the games? I suppose they did; but come on, it's the bloody Olympic Games you miserable bastards.

Well OK, firstly you have to remember that Aussies are sport-aholics and will set up an organisation to administer the sport of arse-lice-racing if there's a bet to be had in it (and there is, by the way)...

Secondly, indeed yes there was a bit of nancy nay-saying from those weak-livered cretins who recoiled at the thought of having their fair city invaded by a few thousand loud-mouthed Americans for two weeks (well, who can blame them, really?), but by and large, once it was pointed out that they could rent their house out for roughly US$1,000 per day if they lived anywhere near the fabled sporting venues, they largely shut up and dealt with it*.

No, I really don't recall hearing complaints from anyone outside of Sydney itself. And those Sydney-siders who complained about it quickly shut up when the Games commenced because life in Sydney became bliss. I know because I was there. The main concern was that public transport wouldn't cope (veterans might recall the horror stories that emanated from Atlanta in '96), but in fact it was superb - not only did it run fantastically well, but it was free! Ticket holders to any Olympic event had free access to public transport, but in reality, everyone had free public transport for two weeks because it was too hard to police. So in the end everyone was very happy indeed.

No, seriously, hosting the Olympics is the very best thing that can happen to a nation. It may not be cheap to attend (it took us months to pay off the debt we racked up for tickets) but it is one of the best things you will ever go to and you will never forget it. We couldn't afford great tickets - we only went to minor sports or heats at the main stadium, but it was totally memorable - DO IT! GO! DON'T LIVE IN ENGLAND AND SHOW YOUR FACE HERE SAYING YOU DIDN'T BOTHER OR COULDN'T OR WOULDN'T GO OR I WILL HOUND YOU FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER.

BLOODY GO!

BLOODY WELL GO!

Book holidays now! Put your name down for tickets now! Do it! Do it NOW!




*The nancy nay-sayers were all shot by the way. Amazing what an act of parliament can achieve.