How on earth do they do it?

I can't get excited about football either. Boring. Lots of over paid wozzocks who the best of can't even play well for their country. Rugby is a touch better and the 7's in the Olympics was interesting - for me anyway.

Licence fee. Interesting statistic. When people were buying video recorders the highest uptake per house hold was the UK. Near one per house. The reason is simple - TV worth recording largely down to the fact that the BBC isn't commercial so the others have to try to compete with that.

Times do change though. Cost and cheap to produce television and the beeb do seem to have been dragged down a bit and also dumbed down some areas. Some of that will be down to the cost of actors. Dumbing down - fashion. Also all of the drivel on the other free to view channels. Many of them don't even deserve air space.

I know sky is wonderful. We had it - good riddance. It isn't that good.

John

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I think some of the Olympic Athletes do it for the love of it. , shooting and archery for example ... they get little in terms of monetary income. The families often spend fortunes to get them there ... endless driving to training .

I don't agree with concept of the Govt. sponsored Institutes of Sport ........ where spoilt brats live in and are pampered and given training by experts for years on end .

The big stars ...... most of them are too dumb to do anything else . Footballers are the same the world over. The boring after match interviews " yeah we goona win next time " is the whole vocabulary

Don't have time to watch the telly. life's too short

I mostly listen to the radio. The commentary is generally better and you can do something else and pause to listen properly in the exciting bits.

I think it's very sad to dismiss such fantastic achievements on the basis that you don't like the tv coverage. That's like deciding whether to be a republican or a monarchist on the basis of the newspapers.

N.

I think one of the well know tennis players summed up Olympus athletes, most of them anyway. They train as often and as hard as top tennis players do and what they get for it is a moment of glory if they win and of course being the best that their country can produce even if they don't. Some what different to a professional at the top of their field.

It would be wrong to under estimate the difference lottery funding has made in the UK. It puts things more on a par with USA universities etc. When we do have a success it tends to encourage others to try as well and the various facilities they need are increasingly about.

I don't really have any complaints about extensive TV coverage other than that they don't cover a number of events at all and could. If some one doesn't want to watch the answer is simple - don't.

John

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I like watching most olympic sports. Whatever the sport they all have one thing in common you need application and commitment. Hard work will always beat talent, IF talent doesn't work hard enough. I especially like the winter olympics and watching the Canadian womens Ice hockey team, a tough, hardy bunch of lassies thats for sure.. The only sport I ever did was Mountaineering, even tried the Eiger twice [although me shrink says im better now ] and failed both times

Or treat it like a tv & turn it off or leave it for those who want to watch to enjoy it

Some like the drift that inevitably occurs as do most conversations when face to face

& if you think about it you have contributed by suggesting that you do not have a tv because you do not like the content. That is your contribution to the drift & no one is ( as far as i can see) objecting to that part of your contribution. So why object others putting in their two pennyworth if it is not causing any apparent offence to the forum you can still make comments about the original subject if you wish. Or are you worried no one will care what you think?

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/08/2016 16:18:38

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/08/2016 16:20:55

Oh my, the NHS has certainly made strides since I lived there

I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympics so far and am proud of the dedicated athletes who have been so successful. Team Great Britain has already delivered performances that we should recognise and celebrate, and I'm sure that there is more to come.

Like Sam, I sail and have enjoyed the coverage on the dedicated channel. With the onboard cameras and the computer graphics, sailing on TV has come a long way.

The lottery money has helped, but commercial sponsorship, money injected by government into centres of excellence such as Bath University have also helped to improve our performance on the international stage.

I am an Olympic level machinist. (At least in My mind, don't ask to see parts or the recycle bin.)

Back in my day everyone was an amateur. The track and field had some sponsorship and often help from employers giving time off but our crew were fulltime students living on grant money that had to stretch to digs. books and food and fares to get to gym or river. We did a 5mile run daily, a lunchtime gym session and 2-3 hours on the river every evening. Coaches were amateur too with fulltime jobs. To save on fares i used to run from college to the gym and river - camden town to chiswick for the evening session then bum a ride back.

If the nation wants results then the nation pays. The contemporary medal hauls are good purely because of resources and coaching and selection of athletes by size/shape/metabolism for the right sport.

In the members private bar at the royal norfolk & sufolk yacht club at lowestoft there is a fantastic letter from a member who won gold in the sailing before the war.

He won on the basis of staying out of trouble & avoiding protests etc & getting good average results in every race.

But. The real thing that demonstrates how the " amateur " shows up is that the series took longer than expected and as soon as the last race finished he had to pack up and head home so he would not be late for work in case he got the sack.

Therefore, he could not stop to get his gold medal and it was sent on to him

Can you imagine that happening today?

There would be an outcry

Had a peek on the BBC website and they're in second, ahead of China... amazing stuff

I'm still not going to watch anything though 'cos I'd just put a hex on it.

lol, I got burned! can't believe i got that wrong.

Just been watching Mr bolt win the 100m. When he was young he was told he would never be a sprinter - he was too tall and heavy.