Poll: are you looking forward to the olympics?

[BrightonBelle]

If it's on tv I won't turn it off but I'm not actively excited about it.

I'd be royally ****** if I still lived and had to commute in London though.

Me ^^^.

Will probably watch Rhythmic Gymnastics, Opening/Closing ceremonies and possibly the diving but that's it.

The whole thing has been a bit of a joke from the outset: branding/ticketing/and the rest and why on earth is Will.i.am a torchbearer?! He doesn't even live in the host country

Mind you even if none of the above had happened as it had done, people would still moan about something

(Yes bitter that I live in London and didn't get tickets to anything )

BB x

 

[estebanrey]

The very 1st thing that popped into my head was "Golf". I would watch people firing arrows at round boards all day over golf.

Which would you rather do though? Most holiday resorts will have a miniature golf course, you don't see people chucking pointy sticks around for leisure.

Golf is horrifically boring to watch I'll grant you that but that isn't why it's popular.

 

[Freefaller]

I voted not fussed - because although I'm more towards the "no" end, I'm sure there are some positives to it, but I'm just indifferent to them. Trying not to be too negative though! The thing that makes me say no is the fact I live pretty much next door to where it's all happening and that my commuting and neighbourhood will grind to a halt for a few weeks - that's not going to be fun.

 

[Murf]

What a bunch of miserable, pessimistic sods. :/

I can't wait. We're going to do a really good job of hosting, the track cycling is going to be absolutely immense. And hopefully Cav will win the road race.

On top of that I'll be interested in the rowing, 100/200m and seeing what Usain can do. The triathlon will be excellent to watch with the Brownlee's competing, and I've got a general interest in most of the athletics.

Should be absolutely fantastic. And with all sports being broadcast live in HD you can watch ANYTHING you want.

On top of that we finally have a world class athletics venue in the capital, an amazing velodrome, an entire area has been regenerated and we've demonstrated to the world we can build a huge project, on budget, on time.

Isn't there extra infrastructure for regular Londons being built as well because of the Olympics? Or was that being constructed anyway?

 

[Lima]

Massive amount of tax payers money spent, white elephants, it's London 2012 not GB 2012, who ever agreed to this in government should be arrested.

Please explain the white elephants you are referring to? You’re making a confident statement as if its fact, yet whether any of the development becomes a ‘white elephant’ will only become apparent several years after the games. I guess you can predict the future.

Velodrome is a state of the art cycling track that was much needed in the south of the country and before we won the bid, a facility was in demand anyway seeing as the only similar one is up north. The Media Centre has had over 30 corporations interested and putting in bids for taking it over (I think its future has actually been decided now but not sure). Basketball is a temporary building and will be removed. Handball is going to become a gig venue/ events building. The Aquatics centre will provide an Olympic size pool and diving facilities that will be open to the public once the park is redeveloped. Athletes village is going to become permanent new housing for hundreds of families and also has a local primary and secondary school included within the development. The one and only building on the park that’s future is a bit questionable is the stadium, but its almost guaranteed to not be a white elephant….

Complete waste of money - We should never have won them.

All those people living on the streets & we are squandering money on this bile.

No I'm not looking forward to them. Sooner they are over the better.

Couldn't give a toss if we don't win a medal.

Seriously? People are always going to remain living on the streets whether we win the games or not…Did you ever go to Stratford/ Hackney before we won the bid? It was a horrible place and the area in which the Olympic Park now lies was a HUGE dilapidated cess pit filled with destroyed buildings, fly tipping and pollutants.

Huge efforts have been made by the ODA to assure that X% of people employed to construct the park were from the local area/ community and X% had to be young apprentices. All of these targets were achieved and they were not easy for contractors to meet…

On top of this, in a time of economic downturn that had a massive negative effect on the construction industry….the Olympic park development kept thousands and thousands of people off the dole line and contributing money back into the system through paying income tax on their salaries….god knows what project I would I have been working on for the last 3.5 years if I wasn’t on it…

Exactly why we should make it as good as possible. Sure we pay some money towards it but a lot money is generated through business means, and to say it's a complete waste is stupid as it will be drawing in revenue to this country directly and indirectly.

This^

I live in London and couldn't get a ticket for the one event I wanted. Now I'll be paying for the whole mess in council tax for the next n number of years, and didn't even get to watch that event.

Olympics? Go **** yourself.

Yes because that’s rational thinking isn’t it….Do you propose that every Londoner should be awarded a ticket because they contributed some tax…I guess we should have built SUPER SIZE stadiums and Arenas to seat the millions of Londoners? Or perhaps lets give Londoners priority and limit the tourism and corporation/ sponsor money that will help contribute to making it a success.

The grumpy naïve pessimism in this thread by some people is amazing. Obviously there are going to be some negatives associated with holding the games, but **** me lighten up a bit.

 

[realBabelfish]

What a bunch of miserable, pessimistic sods. :/

I can't wait. We're going to do a really good job of hosting, the track cycling is going to be absolutely immense. And hopefully Cav will win the road race.

On top of that I'll be interested in the rowing, 100/200m and seeing what Usain can do. The triathlon will be excellent to watch with the Brownlee's competing, and I've got a general interest in most of the athletics.

Should be absolutely fantastic. And with all sports being broadcast live in HD you can watch ANYTHING you want.

On top of that we finally have a world class athletics venue in the capital, an amazing velodrome, an entire area has been regenerated and we've demonstrated to the world we can build a huge project, on budget, on time.

Isn't there extra infrastructure for regular Londons being built as well because of the Olympics? Or was that being constructed anyway?

on budget? i thought they went way over.

as you say, lots of stuff for the capital. what do people north of watford gain?

 

[arc@css]

No, can't say I even think about it.

I will, though, be entering the naked midnight gardening relay.

 

[Tyron]

No.

 

[LordSplodge]

No. Waste of money and the over-zealous security annoys me.

 

[Radiation]

The whole thing has been a bit of a joke from the outset: branding/ticketing/and the rest and why on earth is Will.i.am a torchbearer?! He doesn't even live in the host country

Yeah i don't get it either, look how he starts off playing with his mobile tweeting his fans, what a muppet, i can't stand the obsession with social networking, texting and twitter, if you're there doing something or with people then that should come first!

Anyway i'll only be interested if something fun happens, like some sort of 2012 event where the doctor shows up.

 

[malfunkshun]

I am looking forward to the Olympics. Not because it is in London, but because I always look forward to the Olympics and there is no time difference for these games

 

[stealthgeek]

Hell no.

1 - Had to pay for it through increased council taxes
2 - Was not able to get tickets for it, whole ticketing process was a farce
3 - Have been told to avoid public transport for the duration, despite me needing to use said transport in order to fund #1

Seriously, why not tell the visitors to avoid public transport? What they wont know, they wont miss (overcrowding, high temperatures, inexplicable black stuff you find on your hands/clothes after using the tube etc etc)

/grump

 

[TurnipHead]

I enjoy watching it, so I chose yes. Not fussed that it's in London though.

 

[Matteysan]

on budget? i thought they went way over.

as you say, lots of stuff for the capital. what do people north of watford gain?

sweet naff all & for that reason nope the Olympics can go to hell

 

[Freefaller]

I don't really care about paying for it as there's nothing I can do about that. It's about the inconvenience and the shower that was the ticketing and branding of it. Also some of the ridiculous ideas that us Londoners have to put up with.

 

[Gangster]

Hell no, complete waste of money and waste of everyones time. Can't wait to stop hearing about it - all these radio adverts about prepare yourself for other way to travel in the olympics, re-arrange delivery schedules for businesses... STFU - look at the poll no one cares.

The only time i'd buy a ticket for the olympics would be to make a profit out of it. Wouldn't go there free. (I'd just sell the ticket ).

 

[estebanrey]

I am looking forward to the Olympics. Not because it is in London, but because I always look forward to the Olympics and there is no time difference for these games

That's the probem, it's normal for a grown man to be up at 2 in the morning watching the beach volleyball but it doesn't look quite right at 3 in the afternoon.

 

[semi-pro waster]

'Looking forward to' is synonymous with 'excited about'. If you are not not looking forward to (or not excited about) the Olympics then you are not fussed. Likewise if you're not fussed, then by definition you aren't looking forward to the games.

I read this poll as 15.7% are looking forward to the Olympics, 84.3% aren't.

I'd read it as effectively yes, no, don't care. The options being that you're definitely looking forward to the Olympics, you're definitely not looking forward to the Olympics (it offends you on some personal level or whatever) or finally you've got no opinion either way. There's a positive expressed, a negative opinion and ambivalence towards the whole thing - using the phrase "looking forward to" possibly confuses the issue slightly but for the poll to make sense I think it has to be interpreted in that way. Given that many people have expressed the opinion that their opinion on the Olympics going on is neither positive or negative implies that is also how they've interpreted the question.

I'm looking forward to the Olympics, I've promised myself that I'd go for years and now I've got the chance. It's mildly disappointing that I haven't managed to get more tickets and since I'll be stuck in an exam tomorrow when the resale is going on I doubt I'll get any more but the fact that I've got anything at all means compared to many I've got no complaints.

 

[gigeorge]

Massive waste of money !

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Yes for the sport.. and the occasion that it is.

Not for commuting though. I have to pass Stratford each day. Remains to be seen if the trains will cope. They can't on normal days let alone these few weeks. I was held up for an hour outside Liverpool St. this morning and one day last week... How dare they eat into forum time