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Brekkie Boy

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Everything posted by Brekkie Boy

  1. Brekkie Boy
    Can't really blame them for saying no.
  2. Brekkie Boy
    No surprise - politicians love to understate the cost and overstate the savings of their decisions.
  3. Brekkie Boy
    Maybe Cathy Freeman, Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Steve Hooker could all run towards the cauldron with a torch each, trip over and then get overtaken by Stephen Bradbury who gets to light the flame.
  4. Brekkie Boy
    Well this all seems to be a shitstorm of the IOC's own making, though always wobbles along the way. Ridiculous though we're looking at stadiums half the size of the Sydney Olympic Stadium - this currently feels like it's going to be another Atlanta rather than a repeat of the success of Atlanta.
  5. Brekkie Boy
    Kuala Lumper should be an ideal host - the venues from the 2017 SEA Games should largely still be around, and if they're hosting those in 2027 the Commonwealth Games is a perfect test event. The games of 1998 are quite fondly remembered (well, by me at least!), especially in comparison to the only other games outside the UK/Australia since then in India in 2030. Not really a fan of London entering the equation for 2026 as that just feels like kicking the problem down the road really. I think regardless of whether 2026 goes ahead assuming Hamilton don't want it London is the obvious choice for the centenial games in 2030, and that feels like it would put them on a good footing to then enter into discussions with the IOC to look at hosting the Olympics again at some point in the 2040s.
  6. Brekkie Boy
    I think the Queen and Royal Family are somewhat irrelevant to it all - it's more about it just being a mini Olympics for a collection of countries which happen to be linked by that. If the European Games had taken off in a more significant manner from a British point of view I think we'd be happy to see an end to the Commonwealth Games, but actually from a sporting point of view there is perhaps more value in some sports at least of the Commonwealth competition than continental based games. What doesn't seem to be on the table and perhaps should be is awarding them to a country rather than a city and spreading events out World Cup style. Indeed given the nature of many countries in the Commonwealth that probably opens up the possible hosts somewhat more, and it doesn't mean in the future cities or regions can't host rather than an entire country. Politically though I think governments are always quite nervous about being seen to invest in one city at the expense of the rest of the country, although practically it can be cheaper to build that extra Velodrome in a host city rather than invest in transport links to a city that has an existing velodrome - but of course the latter generally would have more benefits for the public beyond the games. Where it goes from here remains to be seen - at the moment I don't see 2026 happening and at best the games might return in 2030 for the centenial and then probably face similar problems after that. In a way it's Australian politics that screwed over 2026 - if Victoria had just based the games around Melbourne in the first place we probably wouldn't be where we are now as Melbourne couldn't afford to be attached to such a failure.
  7. Brekkie Boy
    Glad to see the 2032 farce being called out. This new era process needs to be called out for what it is - completely untransparent and open to corruption. The Olympics shouldn't be a gift given to people upon retirement. Whilst there is no doubt the bidding process needed to be streamlined and costs eliminated it does feel like this process hasn't done the games any favours at all - there seems far less certainty about the future of the games as a result and it's ridiculous that 6 years from 2030 we still don't have a Winter Olympics host locked in. I do certainly think there is merit in awarding back to back games, or at least offering the runners up of one bid the option to host the subsequent games if criteria are met, but the games need a more transparent open and fixed process back in place for awarding them.
  8. Brekkie Boy
    Didn't even realise they were interested. God, I hate this backroom bidding process - feels like their response to past corruption in the bidding process is just to have an openly corrupt process now instead. That said I'm very much in favour of a French Winter Olympics. Surely though they need to rebrand it as Nice 2030 - if for no other reason than for Nice to fully capitalise on it. Everybody knows the French Alps are there - so not using it to advertise Nice as widely as possible would be a missed opportunity.
  9. Brekkie Boy
    Really is a joke to even consider a kids training game as an Olympic Sport. Thought they were supposed to be making the games more affordable. Squash is long overdue too, and whilst I think cricket benefits more than the Olympics from their inclusion I get the logic behind that. Lacrosse for me falls into the same category as Flag Football. The worse thing is the athlete cap which removes events from other sports. I think rather than removing events you begin by removing competitors - so like swimming and most other sports athletics would be cut down to 2 per country per event (with perhaps a third if defending champion) and you end the practice of completely seperate heats/finals teams for the relays in athletics and swimming, with just 6 permitted across the event.
  10. Brekkie Boy
    Although an ex adviser to the council is saying it was a mistake. Not the cause of the bankruptcy but a risk too far for a council under financial pressure. Regardless of opinion on the 2022 games being a factor it confirms that they won't be the saviour for 2026. Indeed there may be questions over the European Championships if they're reliant on council funding. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66724469
  11. Brekkie Boy
    Really is looking tricky. Two potential options I see. Awarding one city 2026 and 2030 - effectively halving the infrastructure cost across two games, though it's not quite as simple as this. On the one hand that's a safer option, on the other if they pull out you're still losing two hosts. Another could be guest hosts - inviting cities outside the Commonwealth to host, with that country then getting to compete at least for the games they host, if not as guest competitors in future events too. Whether anyone would want to is another matter.
  12. Brekkie Boy
    Full ceremony here: At least they had a proper cauldron for this rather than sticking a torch in a holder. A nice cauldron too, though it being outside the stadium limits the lighting options - thought they were going to do something clever with the mirror reflecting the flame from in the stadium to the torch but no, they just used a lot of fireworks instead.
  13. Brekkie Boy
    Seems to be Asia that keeps this going. Baffling really how this seems to continue and be well funded where as things like the Commonwealth Games and European Games struggle. Thought the Youth Olympics might kill this off but guess this is the step in between them. Agree it's a shame they've ditched the Universiade brand, even if nobody knows what it means.
  14. Brekkie Boy
    Drop the team sports and cycling and you might as well drop the entire games. Whilst there should be more flexibility I think going from around 10 core sports to 2 was a step too far. For me you protect the classics of athletics, cycling, swimming/diving and gymnastics - and then probably Rugby Sevens, Netball and Hockey. The latter three may mean housing a significant number of athletes but are critical in reaching areas of the commonwealth where individual sports may not. I'd then say a minimum of three further sports, but ideally five - with an absolute maximum of 15 events in total. I think if anything giving hosts too much control over the programme is actually where costs begin to spiral. Things become an unknown quantity rather than a known quantity. Legacy is also important - as important as it is to use existing venues to keep costs down cities should also have some long term benefit from it too.
  15. Brekkie Boy
    London being talked about but as much as politicians love to go on about how politics should be kept out of sport I just can't see the Tory government agreeing to fund a London games under a Labour mayor. There is also no political capital with it coming after the Mayoral and General Elections.
  16. Brekkie Boy
    So back to back in Birmingham then? That looks like the most hopeful option for their to be a 2026 event, although Birmingham does have the 2026 European Athletics Championships.
  17. Brekkie Boy
    Well that's a load of rubbish - Melbourne is one of the highest regarded hosts of sporting events in the world, regularly topping an annual poll, and this isn't going to change that. Indeed Melbourne has been kept at arms length from the Victoria 2026 plans and that arguably is why we are where we are today - not just facility wise but suspect city budgets can handle these things easier than the regional equivalents.
  18. Brekkie Boy
    A low bar for "successful hosting" then. Yes, the games went without a hitch - but they also went largely unwatched, both in person and across the continent. The latter not really their fault but poor ticket sales is a real red flag.
  19. Brekkie Boy
    It's been pretty much the same on the continent - largely unbroadcast on the main PSBs. Even in Poland only the Opening Ceremony was on the main channel with the rest on a spin-off sports channel. Not providing commentary on most sports on the world feed has been it's downfall - even the EBU produced "highlights" just cuts from highlights of one commentary free sport to another with no production around it. No doubt to it misses having a full athletics and swimming programme especially, along with the likes of track cycling and rowing from a British point of view. That basically provides the spine of the event to build coverage around. Even if a station is providing coverage they'd only really need to do so in the afternoons - not much continues into the evening. Having them in a year most sports have their World Championships doesn't help too with the scheduling - I think had they been a month or two later the BBC at least may have looked at them a bit more seriously.
  20. Brekkie Boy
    How well attended were the 2015/19 games. Pretty sure Baku would have made sure the stadia weren't empty, but that's clearly not been the case in Poland.
  21. Brekkie Boy
    Well maybe Glasgow 2014 (Commonwealth Games) isn't the worst opening ceremony ever now.
  22. Brekkie Boy
    Clearly too much politics amongst the European Federations to get something off the ground which should have started years earlier - and have a Winter edition too. Indeed not sure if it's officially linked to either the Games or the Championships but the inaugural European Para Championships, with 10 sports, take place in Rotterdam later this summer. https://europeanparachampionships.com/
  23. Brekkie Boy
    Turned it off - so dull, watching the europeangames.tv stream via a Firestick wasn't stable enough and not enough people watching online to enjoy taking the piss out of it.
  24. Brekkie Boy
    I think regardless of how well attended or how much money is spent on them an Opening Ceremony in a rectangular football stadium just never feels quite right compared to in the oval of an athletics stadium.
  25. Brekkie Boy
    No worries - both were TLDR anyway.
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