OT The Olympic Games

[polygonum]

They also make excellent wedding cars... :-)

(CBA to check whether the picture your posted was an LDV or a Merc.)

[Moonraker]

Thank goodness I will never see the Olympics here again in my life time. It is just an ego trip for politicians, costing us poor taxpayers dearly. I think that there should be a permanent base for the games, with all nations contributing to the cost. Greece would be best as that is where it started supposedly.

[The Natural Philosopher]

well no. Arguably a nation of sports enthusiasts (shudder) would probably SAVE the NHS far more on happy pills and anti-obesity drugs than the games will cost.

That's the way I feel living in the south when I think of the North and all its social security and public sector employees.

[The Natural Philosopher]

So he won at tree climbing?

Shame there were no trees.

[The Medway Handyman]

It was a Discovery FRU.

[geoff]

Physical, mental, its still competition

take a bouncer, for example, someone shaped like two separate gorillas has a head start over a 6 stone weakling (... mr Apollo)

[geoff]

56 here, so you must have done

Then you were beaten academically

It still exists though

Who said it was

[geoff]

In message , Tim Streater writes

So you don't agree that people should strive to better themselves, to be the best at something

[geoff]

No, Much Wenlock is where the modern games started

[polygonum]

I don't know - we could always put in for the Winter Olympics. Probably wouldn't cost any more to build the necessary slopes, create the snow, etc. than the current ones...

[ARWadsworth]

If "talking shit" was an olympic sport who would win the gold medal:-)?

We already know dennis would win gold if "ignoring the laws of physics" was an olympic sport.

When Rebecca Adlington won gold 4 years ago they changed the swimming baths name in Worksop to the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre. Personally I would have just changed the name of Worksop to Rebecca Adlington.

[T i m]

I must have missed that memo then. ;-)

I was certainly beaten by a system not designed for me.

I'm sure it does, for a given interpretation of 'competition' ect. I believe you are taking it to mean 'everything you do has winners and losers ... somewhere'. I would suggest most people take it as 'competing for competitions sake'. There would be little point winning if you were the only entrant, if the purpose *was* to do better than others. If the goal was the only thing (like getting a job) then it matters not then maybe other than to massage your (ones) ego.

I thought you did when you suggested that pretty well everything was 'competitive', if when competition wasn't the goal? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

'Strive', no, not really. 'Do so along the way' is ok for most people, given all the other things we have to also do.

Not really. Given how many people there are out there who would probably have better opportunities, background, 'skills' (hand eye coordination, mental aptitude, memory, physique etc). The biggest and fastest will *always* be beaten someday so anything you are best at is likely only to be fleeting.

When I was racing RC cars I was approached by someone who wanted to sponsor me. Initially I (politely) turned them (and all their free kit) down because 'I was doing ok on my own thanks'. However, they kept upping the deal till it got to a point where I couldn't say no. I continued to 'do ok' with their kit so it mattered little either way to me. It was the entire point to them of course as I got them some good exposure / publicity.

With most of my exposure to RC cars and sailing boats so far I appear to be 'better than the average' but don't take any real pleasure from 'winning' as such. Those who beat me are better or had more luck (on the day) and those I beat are worse (on the day) and if I beat someone every time, so what? Because I don't take most of this competition lark seriously (even when maybe I should) it rarely has any real 'value' to me.

Of course, there are always those odd moments when you win against all the odds but I'm happy to take that as just a one_off, a bit of luck, rather than any sort of comparison. It's like we are what we are and if anyone spent lots of time doing / practicing then they would either get better or not? Either way, I couldn't care less. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Most of the RC stuff I have won is down to my consistency rather than being the outright 'best' etc.So, out of 60 drivers I might qualify for the 'A' Final because I finished all my heats in a reasonable position. So, I might well have beaten someone who was a better driver by being a better engineer. Does the winner of the race get the prize or the machine they did it with?

[Tim Streater]

I'd vote for this. It would certainly remove most of the b/s from the Olympics - wouldn't even need sponsors anymore.

[Owain]

But would then live longer and cost more in pensions ...

Owain

[Mr Pounder]

Still have.

[ARWadsworth]

But we are northerners? That is not possible:-)

[T i m]

+1

According to some of the torch video I watched it came within 100 yards of here and it was a nice sunny morning.I could so easily have gone up and watched but why would I need to when I can watch it on my PC?

The reason I watched it (well 'our' bit of it) at_all was because someone sent me the link and I'd previously read up on the technology used by the system (possibly from a mention here).

One role I might like to have played is one of the Police motorcycle outriders. That looked like a good way to be at work. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Tim Streater]

What does this have to do with anything and why would I want to know if they had?

[Tim Watts]

I was thinking he won at "not being eaten by a sabre toothed tiger"[1]

[1] Don't know if they can jump up trees - but if there is someone running away, I expect the tiger would find that easier prey.

?