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As someone who loves sport and writes about it professionally, people are under the assumption that I must enjoy watching the Olympics. Guess again. I’m not sure if I’m overawed by the enormity of the beast but, quite simply, it just doesn’t do it for me.
I grew up on a diet of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett having a broiges with Steve Cram coming in as the new kid on the block. That's not forgetting my childhood hero Daley Thompson, the original superman.
Most people seemed impressed by the colourful opening ceremony but not me, I didn’t even watch it, and that had nothing to do with the fact that it was on a Friday night. As it transpires, some of the fireworks were pre-recorded, pre-Shabbat me thinks, or edited via computer graphics.
Equestrian, diving, synchronized swimming, shooting and water sports just don’t do it for me. They should get in Twenty20 for starters to separate the men from the boys. Speaking of which, the latest boy wonder, Tom Daley, has suffered from the legacy of perennial lack of perspective. Gazza, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Tim Henman and Andy Murray have all been bigged up by the British press who thrive on knocking them down.
How can they have the audacity to knock a 14-year-old who is there first and foremost is in Beijing for the experience? It is a sad state of affairs and enough to put anyone into an early retirement, that is unless they are ready to prove the critics wrong and stick two fingers up simultaneously.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been much maligned for his petty disagreement with the BBC who labelled his son, Jason, a ‘dodgy’ agent. Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp mirrored Fergie’s actions and declined interviews with a station whose football coverage at its lowest ebb for many a year. It appears that actions speak louder than words …