Olympic flop?

[Dr Mordrid]

Beginning to look like it....

Dr. Mordrid

[Paddy]

Could it have actually been anything else?

[Brian Ellis]

Ah, well, you see it wasn't organised by the USA.

I see Puerto Rico knocked the bejabers out of the US basketball "Dream Team" last night.

[Jammrock]

The Dream Team died when the good basketball players stopped playing on it...

They were explaining the ticket sales thing during gymnastics (wife's fav summer games event). The beginning of August is a big vacation time for many Greeks. So a lot of people aren't even in the country. On top of all the other stuff.

I'm sure it will pick up in the next few days when track and field starts.

Jammrock

[schmosef]

The IOC has their heads in the clouds.

I saw what looked like a hastily put together piece on CNN about politics at the Olympics and some douche (they implied he was affiliated with the IOC) said that the Olympics did more to end Apartheid than all the political rangling combined.

He also made references to how great it was that the "two Chinas" were competing together. What an ass.

The IOC is more corrupt than the UN and it's the athletes who suffer.

edit: I'm trying to link an article about the China/Taiwan issue but not having success--must be too tired. Do a google search if you want to know more.

[Dr Mordrid]

Couldn't agree more....except for their heads being in the clouds. IMO it's more likely their collective heads are up heir arses.

Dr. Mordrid

[Chrono_Wanderer]

IOC says sports should be not political. What contradictions... lol..

Anyways, I sit by the TV all day long watching the games. And a lot of stadiums are virtually empty, especially not in the finals...

I bet the Greeks are loosing lots of money

Personally, let say if the olympics are in Toronto, I'd go to a few games ONLY if the tickets are not so expensive... (I'd love to go, but i heard tickets are quite expensive)

[Marshmallowman]

I have been hearing some things about athens,

eg..turn up at the event you want to see wait until it starts...then go to a scalper and get a bargain ticket...

Wuld have been a good games to be at...cheap tickets and no crowds.

I guess if they were abit more reasonable about the ticket prices in the first place they would no thave screwed themselves

[KvHagedorn]

Since it's in Europe, you would think more people would make it an event and go. Just because the Greeks are apathetic, you would think the Germans and Romanians and Ukranians etc. would go.. unless they just screwed up promoting it and priced the tickets too high, or perhaps the local hotels were price gouging and no one came.

[KvHagedorn]

There are really some positives in this Olympics that I've never seen before. The many different channels carrying coverage of the events means there are lots of events that we get to see now that we never did before. I'm watching yachting on the Bravo network now. Usually in the U.S. we only get to see events that the U.S. is strong in, and other stuff gets slighted. I like being able to see competitors from other countries and not have the one big network make things some prime time pep rally featuring only Basketball and the 100m dash.

Besides yachting, so far I've seen badminton, rowing, sharpshooting, and beach volleyball. They showed a very good match between a German and Cuban team in beach volleyball, all the way through. Such a thing would have been unheard of a few years ago.

[Fat Tone]

Are people afraid of saying Al-Q here? I would imagine a lot of people feel this is a major terrorist target and are staying away, (both of) which is a shame.

Things will pick up though...and they have said they are very pleased with ticket sales for later stages.

[UtwigMU]

Greece has one of lowest GNPs in old EU-15, they're about on par on us.

If GNP is indicative of anything, their average monthly wages should be at abou 700-800 Euros, that's one reason for lower ticket sales.

[Brian Ellis]

IMHO, one of the problems is that Athens has the European reputation of being a rip-off city, constantly paralysed by strikes. Last week, even the hotel staff went on strike; who wants to go to a hotel without service? I know only two persons from here who have gone, yet the affinity between the local population and the Greeks is extraordinary (Cyprus must be the only country in the world where you see more foreign flags - Greek - than national - Cypriot - ones!) . Anyway, I bet that, before the games are over, there will be more strikes and I even forecast that Athens airport will be shut down around the end of the games, because baggage handlers or air-traffic controllers will be out.

Then there is the question of security: the Greeks have taken this so seriously that everyone has visions of simply getting around the city being a nightmare (that is, an even bigger one than it usually is!).

The local TV showed a reportage a few nights ago showing thousands of Athenians fleeing the city before the Games started. In fact aircraft were fuller from Athens than to Athens!

I don't know about the cost of tickets, but are they more than other recent Games?

On a different tack, a gentleman by the name of Ted Moult defined 'sport' on a BBC radio programme ("Any Questions?") about 45 years ago. He said that a sport implied taking something useful back home if you were successful, all the rest were games. He went on to say there were only five sports:
huntin', shootin', fishin', coursin' and courtin'

Actually, the OED has one definition specifically of the first three of Ted Moult's examples, so he was perhaps not far wrong, and that the notion of applying the word to other pastimes, such as football and athletics, came a century later.

[TransformX]

Originally posted by Fat Tone
Are people afraid of saying Al-Q here? I would imagine a lot of people feel this is a major terrorist target and are staying away, (both of) which is a shame.

http://www6.dw-world.de/en/1640.php

http://news.lycos.co.uk/uk/040815100203.pmsb9zkx.xml.html

http://en1.chinabroadcast.cn/2006/2004-8-16/65@142502.htm

[Greebe]

Sounds to me like a single chicken little reporter is rocking the boat