Darren Not Versus The Olympics

Soooooooo, The Olympics is on...

For anyone following 'the games' you may have noticed some of the odder events that make up the proceedings.  Of course 'odder' is subjective but come on; Handball?

Don't we have that already but with...you know...feet?

I don't actually know if this is a new sport or why I haven't spotted any curling yet.  Could curling have been part of them there winter Olympics?

It strikes me that the events are generally in two camps.  The ones where you either do something or you don't and the winner is clear to all and sundry; or the games where the entrants do stuff and some people at a nearby table tell them whether they did it right/better than the others/made a right tit of themselves.

The former camp would include givin' it legs (running), putting a heavy thing somewhere put returning it whence it came (weight lifting) and barely disguised specialist material for onanists without Internet access (beach volley ball).

The latter camp contains prodding folk a bit (fencing), grabbing someone else's jymjams (judo) and fallin' (diving).

It seems to be the first set of activities that garner the most following (beach volley ball excepted) because it's just easier isn't it?  Not for the athletes per-se (diving excepted here) but for the viewer.  Sit next to your average pub drunk and aside from having to listen to the list of unlikely reasons he's not 'on there, doing that'* and it becomes obvious that if there are simple numbers and targets involved people are fine.  However ask Average Joe or Johnny Six-Pack to declare whether or not a back-flip passed muster and there's absolutely no reason for him to be able to give a sound, cohesive opinion.

Anyways, I'm not actually here to 'diss' the event.  Tto be honest the opening went much better than any armchair cynic expected it to and whilst I feel the same creeping lack of interest as many others with mild, self-diagnosed A.D.D. (or whatever the radicalised term for 'can't be botheredness' is these days) because this thing runs for about three weeks or summat, that's not to say that the Olympics does go on a bit

In fairness, that's fine.  The run-time is completely off-set by other factors such as A) The Olympics comes around only every four years whereas football is FOREVER AND BLOODY WELL ALWAYS! B) There are a variety of sports (Handball yet anyone?  Anyone?!) so there may be something to catch the eye of most people and C) Don't worry if it got in the way of your actual life - as in the case of most Londoners it seems - because we won't host it again for the best part of a century at least!

The truth is whilst I can generally take it or leave it, the Olympics is actually quite well suited to today's telly watching public.  The events are short, simple and if you don't like one, there'll be something else along soon enough.

And if you REALLY don't like the Olympics well let's face it.  Here in good old Greenwich Meantime, unless something is on slap-bang in the middle of good old Blighty, we'll all be asleep when the next one is one anyways!

*The reason it turns out is not because he was a fifty-odd year old soak who's only running experience comes from getting to the dole office on time; nor was it because he isn't and never was a small Chinese girl with years of training behind him;  It was simply that he 'just wouldn't fancy doing that'.