Olympic Highlights
OK, so the dust has well and truly settled on the first half of the Olympic tag team. It is now time to re-live some of my favourite moments of the famous fortnight. Apologies if you are not British most of these will be Team GB exploits - The problem with having a succesful team for a change is that our TV missed some of the interesting bits as we had an athlete in the hunt for a medal somewhere else
First up is a new double act has been created by the BBC. It is the Michael Johnson, John McEnroe partnership. They turned up together on BBC sofa for a late night presentation that just went over the major events of the day and as it would happen, had that days Team GB Gold medal winners. In years gone by that would have been a very rare occasion. However the two gents gave good account of themselves. Michael Johnson is a very succinct, insightful and brutally honest TV pundit. So is John McEnroe, however he is a good counterpoint to Michael Johnson as he would wade in with a question so un P.C. (and yet the one we wanted asked!) that the producers were probably on the phone to their lawyers . Michael Johnson would then smooth the waters after. All good cop bad cop like. Great TV. Those two and Olga Korbett was worth the £120 licence fee all by itself!
Hats off to Ben Ainslie. Again. I don't think Sir Steve Redgrave ever enjoyed a nations confidence that he would win another Gold medal. However by this stage the UK is used to regular winners and his Gold medal has never been in any doubt since 2000, in our minds at least. So we were little put off our stride to find dear old Ben lying in sixth place. A quizzical nation had just come to expect his success.
All was not well in the Ainslie camp almost up to the last race. A sailing incident during a race that led Ainslie to do a penalty turn left him fuming at his competitiors and led him to use those famous words of the Incredible Hulk "You wouldn't like me when I am angry!" well it was similar to that and he then went on to win the gold medal and leave his Danish counterpart to wonder just where had had it all gone wrong.
I have to admire fighting talk like that. When ever I have been in a sporting situation getting angry has never done me any good at all. I have nearly always lost the plot and thrown my chance of victory away with it. Still that is why Ben Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time and I write cheesy blogs of no significance at all.
Stop the Press!!
Whilst compiling this little tome It has become apparent I am just hoiking pictures off other blogs that have already said this stuff. So, in the interests of not being seen as a plagiarist (because I have - been a plagiarist but not accused) I will have to change tack.
OK so well done to all the gold medal winning members of Team GB blah blah blah. Spare a thought for all the others. It is not apparent just how good these people are and I don't just mean the winners. It IS all about the taking part. I feel for Jess Varnish whose Olympics was ended by her team mate overtaking too soon. Although the gold medal winners - Germany - won by losing the final! Their opponents were also disqualified and thus won the race but got a silver medal. Brave officials. The crowd had come tosee their Viccy win gold not see some blazered buffoons disqualify all and sundry.
On Super Saturday I had travelled down for my annual visit to my Mum. She was dead keen on the swimming. So when we switched over after a rather low key final race for the great Michael Phelps. The announcer (whom I believe was Steve Cram) annointed that "we would all remember where we were this night". Wondering what the hell he was talking about it transpired that Jesse Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford had all won gold in thier respective events. And I had been watching the swimming.
To finish tonight I would like to point out that Yorkshire finished 12th in the final medal table. Tickled me no end. With as many gold medals as Australia, a fact for which I am going to make sure my Australian counterparts are painfully aware
Whilst compiling this little tome It has become apparent I am just hoiking pictures off other blogs that have already said this stuff. So, in the interests of not being seen as a plagiarist (because I have - been a plagiarist but not accused) I will have to change tack.
OK so well done to all the gold medal winning members of Team GB blah blah blah. Spare a thought for all the others. It is not apparent just how good these people are and I don't just mean the winners. It IS all about the taking part. I feel for Jess Varnish whose Olympics was ended by her team mate overtaking too soon. Although the gold medal winners - Germany - won by losing the final! Their opponents were also disqualified and thus won the race but got a silver medal. Brave officials. The crowd had come tosee their Viccy win gold not see some blazered buffoons disqualify all and sundry.
On Super Saturday I had travelled down for my annual visit to my Mum. She was dead keen on the swimming. So when we switched over after a rather low key final race for the great Michael Phelps. The announcer (whom I believe was Steve Cram) annointed that "we would all remember where we were this night". Wondering what the hell he was talking about it transpired that Jesse Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford had all won gold in thier respective events. And I had been watching the swimming.
To finish tonight I would like to point out that Yorkshire finished 12th in the final medal table. Tickled me no end. With as many gold medals as Australia, a fact for which I am going to make sure my Australian counterparts are painfully aware
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