Who's The Home Team?

     London may be the best city in the world to host the Olympics.  Team GB is well-backed of course, but so is every other team.  London can turn out pretty good team support for just about every country and the audience readily adopts athletes from the smallest countries so they, too, can feel at home.  Attending basketball matches on Sunday of Tunisia v. Nigeria and Australia v. Argentina, it seemed as if all the teams brought a home crowd.  The on-court announcer and lead cheerleader (a fixture at all events) had no difficulty getting a solid response for all teams.  This is a legacy of the British Empire that so many nationalities call London home.  Nigeria and Argentina won in very close games.  
     Now that Mitt Romney has departed after insulting the locals, everyone is in the best of humor and even Americans are being well-received.  Bad joke -- they love Americans and everyone knows about Florida and Disney World.  The organizers of the Games have had some hiccups --empty seats held for officials and families of athletes -- but everything is moving along well.  There was concern about the first full work day when Olympic visitors and natives would overwhelm the transportation system, but no problems this first Monday.  Security checks are thorough, but virtually identical with the now familiar airport searches.  Olympic Park is sealed off; therefore, once beyond the security check, one may enjoy all there is to see and do.  Furthermore, they have made it difficult to get lost in London with legions of volunteers in smart purple and red shirt and coat with light gray pants.  

Good News and Bad News

     The first full day of action brought lots of news, good and bad depending on your country and you choice of tickets.  Good news for Italy, which badly needed something other than the economy to talk about.  A Gold Medal women's Fencing and another in team Archery over the US with a bulls-eye on the last shot.  There was bad news for the host country which could not pull off a Gold in the road cycling event despite eager anticipation and thousands of cheering fans along the route.  Bad news also for ticket holders of the first session of archery in Lord's Cricket Ground.  Expecting to see all teams in action, US fans were dismayed that the number one ranked US team had earned a bye in the first round. Lost forever was a chance to chant "USA, USA" in the hallowed home of British cricket where anything more than mild applause is discouraged.
     Doing a double proved demanding with Archery in the a.m., then taking tube, train and two buses to get over to Richmond Park for a good vantage point on the cycling route heading back to central London for the finish line.  It was worth it to watch 140 cyclists barrel past at about 30 mph.  Careful British planning came to naught when a large group of top riders broke from the main group and established an insurmountable lead.

British team leads peleton attempting to catch the leaders one minute ahead with 15 kilometers to go.
     

Ou Est La Loo?

    As the Games get started, a pressing question presents itself, at least for men of a certain age, are there enough WCs scattered around London?  This is no small concern because London has a well-deserved reputation as a desert when it comes to restroom facilities.  There were so many tourist complaints that a major building campaign was initiated in the mid-'80s to create public facilities in some of the major transportation hubs.  An unintended consequence developed when petty thieves made these areas favorite locales to "pick a pocket or two."  One had to learn how to be street-wise, because there were few other options.  All pubs have loos of course, but one needs a strong constitution and weak sense of smell, or be absolutely desperate to enter.
     So with a trip to Lord's Cricket grounds set for tomorrow morning and the Men's Cycling road race for the afternoon, one hopes Port-a-Johns will be on prominent display.

     Great Britain has high hopes for the unofficial medal contest as the host nation.  Britain has the largest squad (partly because the host nation is exempt from qualifying for team events) and the team should get off to a quick start with cycling finals scheduled for five of the first six days.  Brits finished a dominant 1, 2 in the recent Tour de France and boasts the world's fastest sprinter.

 Bradley Wiggins, winner of Tour de France, leads the British Cycling Team

Outstanding in the Crowd

     If you want to be noticeable to friends and family watching the Olympics on TV, make a statement.  And what better statement to make than a Michigan Tee!  Not just any Michigan shirt, mind, but something a little unique from the many other Michigan fans in the crowd - the block M in red, white and blue.  For headwear, something less showy, but again unique - a Sarasota Habitat for Humanity cap, grimy from active service.

    Look for those signature items in the good seats at the Archery team qualifications on Saturday, 0400 EDT.  Sunday it will be the long-awaited Nigeria - Tunisia basketball game, also starting at 0400 EDT.
     The home country is counting on a basket of medals in the cycling events.  The road race for men is on Saturday and the women's on Sunday.  Well worth watching.

The Judged and the Un-Judged

  Word from the gymnastics world gives further support to those who believe sports decided by clock or score are preferred to those that are judged.  Gymnastics, particularly women's gymnastics, has gone through many iterations of what scores highest.  During the Cold War, Russia and East European judges favored balletic movements over acrobatics, leading to East European championships.  We then hired some East European coaches and snatched the gold medals back.  Then the judges began to favor contortionist moves (think foot placed on top of head) best accomplished by 10 year olds.  Girls were nearing retirement age at 18.   In recent years it has been the perfect landing.  Do five somersaults with three twists, but stumble half a step on the landing and no medal.  Now judges seem to be enthralled with the highest risk maneuvers and hang the landing.  One imagines that the judges are considering whether landing on your head is a one point or half point deduction.  
    Go for the foot race, rowing, canoeing, basketball, team handball, etc. every time.  A spectator has a better shot at understanding the outcome.

Bulletin -- Avoid Large Crowds

     Great!
    The State Department just issued another of those travel warnings for Americans -- "when traveling in Europe avoid large crowds and popular sporting events."  That certainly describes the London Olympics.  Warnings are certainly appropriate and should be heeded; but really, avoiding large crowds in London for the next two weeks will be like avoiding Ohio State fans in Columbus.
     Previous visitors to London will recall the exceptional crush on the tubes (subways) and buses in London.  Add one million more people to that crush and you have a picture of London during the Olympics.  The organizers have already suggested avoiding major hubs like Bond Street Station and Oxford Circus Station and the Bakerloo Line.  Also,  allow an extra hour travel time and plan for delays entering the venues.  Nothing like a little challenge to make the experience more memorable.

Flags, 3G Hubs and Kirpans

     The news today is guaranteed to upset wives of those traveling to the Olympics.  A company contracted to provide security apparently was unable to find enough qualified Brits for the job.  The problem was solved by abusing an easily abused group - the military.  Uniformed personnel returning from duty in the Middle East had their leaves ("vacations" to you civilians) canceled to stand around London and put up with ill-tempered foreigners struggling with the overloaded London transit system.  For the soldiers, this will rank right up there with duty in Northern Ireland.  Be calm wives, your spouses will protected by angry military personnel with weapons.
     Security naturally is a major concern these days.  So here are some tips to avoid running afoul of the authorities.  First, discard the backpack you intended to fill with food, drink and telephoto lens for the events.  The backpack alone will place you in a separate, slower, queue (British for "line") to have the bag searched.  The lens, food and drink will be confiscated to mollify the soldiers.  An empty plastic bottle is permitted which can be filled with tepid water at the one or two water fountains to be found inside.  Second, Confederate flags are verboten.  The rules clearly state that flags of countries not participating in the Games are prohibited.  Also rules out any Free Syria flags.  Exceptions are made for England, Scotland and Wales, which are of course separate countries competing as Great Britain.  Third - and this is troubling - no "personal/private wireless access points and 3G hubs."  Could use some help here. How do you know if you have a 3G hub and how do you get rid of it?  What if you have a 4G hub?
     The presence of so much security definitely will deaden the conversation.  How do joke with a Sikh why he left home without his article of faith kirpan?
     Brits probably will not be disturbed by all these rules.  It is SOP for football (you know, soccer) fans.

Tickets Arrive - Good News and Bad News

      Tickets arrived today!  No mistakes in the order which is a big relief, considering purchases were made months ago.  As a side note, the official U.S. agent was still offering tickets for sale, including closing ceremony as of last week.  There are always some disappointments when one has to purchase tickets to events without knowing the participants.  You can only hope for good games, but Nigeria vs. Tunisia is not one of the better draws.  Second game between Brazil and Australia is a little more promising.  U.S. team plays in the second grouping - luck of the draw.  Archery is the team qualifications, a good choice.  Missed the U.S. team in water polo and men's volleyball, but a decent shot to see Americans in rowing and kayaking where we have strong entries.

     It was always going to be hit and miss, but it will be a thrill to see the world's top athletes in action.
Note the travel card tickets.  The ticket price includes transportation for the day of the event on all London transit.

So Many Events, So Little Time

    So, you are going to the Olympics.  Now you just need tickets to some events, but not just any events.  There are 36 different sports in the modern games, over 60 if you consider men's and women's as different sports (thankfully, no women's Greco Roman wrestling or men's synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics).  And of course, there are multiple events in many of the sports.  And everything occurs within 14 days.  Choosing the events to see proved a daunting task given the window of opportunity allotted to the U.S. market, the demand for the popular sports and the distances involved between venues (more on that in another post).
    Track and field (athletics) was the first priority.  Several days inside the new stadium watching the best athletics would make a great Olympics.  That was the plan until discovering that a 4-hour seat in the stadium cost $894, even for prelims (don't tell my wife).  So that was one ticket.  That will be on the evening of August 8 with some good events, men's 200 semis, women's 200 final, men's hurdles final, final events of thee decathalon and more.  Next up were swimming, gymnastics, equestrian, cycling and boxing.  Surprise, surprise, no tickets were available, probably scarfed up while figuring out which track and field event to select.  So it was on to other choices.  Fortunately, more tickets became available on subsequent dates, including as late as last week.
     In the end it's a pretty good selection of events, with track and field and a semi-final football (aka soccer) match in Wembley Stadium -- archery, men's basketball (prelim), volleyball, slalom canoe (white water), badminton, rowing, water polo, field hockey, beach volleyball, handball, football, wrestling, dressage and track and field.

     America's love affair with the Olympics may have started with a Wheaties box in 1958.  Faced with declining sales, General Mills hired Bob Richards, three-time Olympian with two golds and a bronze in the pole vault, to be spokesman for the "Breakfast of Champions."  Wheaties thus began its long association with Olympic champions on the box.  Richards was the quintessential Olympic athlete -- a pure amateur who constantly worked on his fitness and turned up every four years to win a medal.
     Olympic champs have graced the Wheaties box ever since for every generation of sports nuts and the prospective athletes.  Wheaties certainly realizes its role as it recently started a new campaign to feature great former Olympians.

     It was Richards' amateur status that made him especially notable during the Cold War as the Olympics was drawn into the battleground.  Amateurism became the symbol for American participation in the Olympics.  We sent college kids while Russia (aka Soviet Union) "paid" its athletes by giving them token jobs in the military while they trained year 'round for the Olympics.  From then until the famous "Dream Team" of NBA stars was a long road of debate and national soul searching over subsidizing American athletes.  The Olympics of 2012 is a gathering of year-round professional athletes supported by donations, prize money and tax dollars.
     This of course is a far cry from the scenes depicted in "Chariots of Fire" when a British athlete was threatened with dismissal because he used a professional coach.  So much unnecessary anguish over the years has not dimmed the Olympic dream for athletes or spectators.
     Thankfully, the debate is long over.  Virtually all athletes have access to financial support.  For a sports nut headed for London, it doesn't get any better than the opportunity to watch the world's best athletes.
 

Watch Bob Richards winning the pole vault in the 1952 Olympics in this vintage newsreel footage.  Richards won a bronze medal in 1948, gold in 1952 and 1956 and also competed in the decathlon in 1956. 1952 Olympics