Am I the only person who is already sick of hearing about London Olympics? There is still half a year to go. Don't get me wrong I am as English as roast beef and Yorkshire pud, but why does it always have to be London? They have Wembly, Lords, Wimbledon and even Silverston is just down the road. Why could they not share it around a bit, or do they think that the rest of the country is not capable of putting on an international event?
Pete

Well, I'm no sports enthusiast, so for all I care it could be the all England farting contest there.

Actually, that's not fair.

That I'd watch.

Not sure if it would be a great spectator sport,though the success of the various efforts could no doubt be judged by the expressions on the faces of those in close proximity to the proceedings.

I don't much care for the Olympics myself for quite a number of reasons, though I agree with the OP it would have been nice if they'd been shared around the country much better.

I agree, I would have liked to see the colossal amount of money we are spending going to one of our great Northern cities that have been seriously affected by the decline in our manufacturing base.

Manchester failed on more than one occasions to be awarded the Olympics, they gave up.

True, it just doesn't have the kudos to attract visitors from around the world.

Don´t hear anything about it.

Graham

No, I don't care for it at all either, and it wouldn't worry me where they held it, but it's my understanding there are various events scattered all around the UK. I know they are already moaning in Portsmouth/Portland area where all the sailing events are, certain areas will be closed to locals etc. Football is all over, north east, Wales, Scotland etc. Personally I think for the people of London it's a bit of a poisoned chalice, many don't want it, hundreds of roads will be closed off causing traffic mayhem, but they've got it and they'll be paying for it through increased local rates. They had a trial run recently of a cycling event, and it was absolute chaos with so many roads closed to traffic, frankly they are welcome to it! It's a fact millions of tourists flock to London every year anyway, and given they won't be watching sport all the time, there's a lot more for them to see and do in London than Manchester.

Come on, folks. You can't hold the world's greatest sporting even in the less civilised parts of the UK. Christ, all those foreigners have learned to speak English, can you imagine them landing at Newcastle? They would need interpreters.

In Liverpool they would need bodyguards to protect their luggage.

If the Pakistanis and Indians came to Birmingham they might as well have stayed at home.

And all those tourists coming to Manchester? There's nothing to see up there apart from the Coronation Street set - and Salford if you're brave enough.

And Sheffield? They couldn't even find a proper eating place there. Words fail me for Leeds and Bradford.

No, we're holding the Olympics in the right place, the jewel in the crown, which is why the crown jewels are kept there.

That's a nice, succinct assessment there.

A bit like Rupert Brooke's 'Grantchester' where he slanders all the areas around there.

So the East End is a safe crime free area these days ?
It must have changed a fair bit since I was last around that way.

Anyway not to worry the Yanks are apparently bringing somewhere between 500 and a 1000 security personnel with them.
I wonder if they'll be allowed to be armed ?
If so I will be staying well out the way,...... friendly fire and all that, eh what.

I shuddered when it was announced we had "won" or was it "awarded" the Olympics.
whoever greased palms, slept with etc has done us a disservice. This will be costing the UK £billions for generations to come. And all for 6 weeks max.

I am sure we could have found a way of sorting out the contaminated land, built loads of houses, even built a stadium that would be of real use in the future that someone would want to keep rather than knock down.
We wouldnt have to put thousands of gallons of paint onto the roads making up VIP lanes some numpty would want to keep after the event.
We wouldn't have to find 10,000 security guards who aren't trained or certified, but there are enough out there who are illegals to fill the posts.

And I am sure we could find a better use for a Type 45 destroyer complete with surface to air missiles. Fancy being in London when a sam takes out a 747 over the city?

waste of time, waste of money, and yes Bah Humbug. But its cheaper to fly our athletes to the otherside of the world.
Nothing but a poisoned chalice from the Bliar\Blown circus act.

its been around a long time, but the Yanks are the best at it - well they have so much practice doing it.

I wasn't greatly overjoyed myself on hearing they were coming to London and I haven't the faintest clue how the figures stack up financially.

I do recall when they were held in Barcelona and how well being the Olympic City put the place on the map bigtime, not only bringing in a fair bit of money during the event itself, but also for a long time afterwards, possibly even to the present day, though maybe it could be argued that London doesn't need putting on the map and already has it's fair share of business.
If it shows the city up in a decent light, I don't suppose it will do any harm and as an added bonus, the more ppl. that are crowded into Londons already overcrowded metropolis,the more space on the remainder of the planet for the rest of us.

Actually, that bit did suddenly leap out at me. If they ever had to fire one off at a hijacked plane, would there be a whole lot of difference between it hitting the target, and the equivalent of that area of London being hit by a high speed scrapyard?