The 2012 Olympics - Whether You Want Them or Not

Well, whether we like it or not, it is finally here: the 2012 London Olympics. I really do have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand, I've always thought that, in principal, London getting the Olympics was a positive thing - this country always seems to miss out on these things whilst other, often highly dubious regimes like China, regularly stage global events. (As a child I always felt frustrated by the fact all this great events seemed to be happening elsewhere, so that I had no chance of participating in them). On the other hand, the reality of the Olympics has been highly irritating, to put it mildly. I've watched with dismay as something that should have been inclusive for everyone interested, turn into what seems to be publicly funded corporate jamboree, from which the majority are excluded. Sure, you can watch it on TV, but, despite it all happening in our own country, actually seeing it live is made as difficult as possible for most people. Then there's the commercialisation of the whole thing, which I find more than a little vulgar. I understand the role of sponsorship, but need it be done with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer? And couldn't they have found more suitable sponsors for a sporting event than Coca Cola and MacDonalds?

One of the things I resent most is the way in which the whole thing is now being rammed down my throat - as of 7:00pm today, BBC1 effectively ceased to exist as a proper TV channel for the duration of the Games, instead becoming little more than a live feed from the Olympics. Which wouldn't be so bad if the BBC (or any one else, for that matter) was providing any kind of alternative to the Olympics. Sure, the BBC have thrown non-sports fans a few crumbs by graciously allowing Eastenders and Holby City to be shown on BBC2 for the duration, but that hardly constitutes an alternative. I'm sure I'm like a lot of people in that whilst I support the idea of the Games being held in London, I actually have little interest in sport as such. I certainly don't want this kind of wall-to-wall coverage. If previous Olympic experience is anything to go by, I'll probably only watch a handful of finals live. But what the heck, we might get lucky and we could have a repeat of last August's riots to enliven things for us non-sports fans. I'd like to be able to say in the years to come that whilst I didn't see the Olympic torch, I did see the Olympics torched. I would add the usual rider there that I'm obviously not advocating the burning down of the Olympic village, but I know that, by now, nobody is reading this - all attention is now on the opening ceremony. Indeed, as of about seven o'clock this evening, traffic to The Sleaze effectively halted.

Anyway, I'm bracing myself for pretty much non-existent web traffic for the next couple of weeks and, even though I know that nobody is reading this, I intend trying to make this blog an Olympic-free zone for the next couple of weeks. On that note, I'll leave you to go and watch some sleazy Italian movies on DVD - even the possibility that the opening ceremony might culminate with David Beckham sacrificing Boris Johnson on an altar in order to gain the favour of the gods for these Games and ensure good weather for the duration, can't make me watch that overblown farrago.