As the rain continues to lash across the garden (and unfortunately the cricket pitch) I find myself with some time on my hands and as it's been over a month since my last missive, there is a lot to cover, from more Olympic bullshit to hosepipe bans with some sport and technology in between, so lets go!
I am sick and tired of being told how much I want the Olympics, I don't! I never have and I was never asked in the first place, with less than 100 days to go until the 2012 Olympics and the country's finances in a terrible state the £9 billion folly seems even more criminal. I am told on a daily basis that the country is benefiting, but living up here in the Midlands, (which last time I looked was still part of England) we have no tangible benefit whatsoever.
One of the original promises of the 2012 bid was that 2 million people would take up new sports as a result of the Olympic games, this lofty and worthy ideal was one of the first to be scrapped.
However I will reap the benefits of transport delays during the games when I visit London on business. Working in the IT and Telecommunications industry as I do, it will also be pleasure to handle all the objections from my clients regarding the warnings of 'unacceptable loads' on the telecommunications infrastructure in London at that time. This is most likely scaremongering on the scale of the Y2K bug (remember that?) but is yet another unwelcome side effect of the cursed Olympic games.
On the subject of sports and money, a number of football clubs have appointed administrators recently and some may disappear altogether due to horrendous financial mismanagement (so that's what Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling did next did next!) There seems to be a groundswell of support for local, regional or central government to 'bail' out these 'beloved' institutions. What utter bollocks, they are mismanaged businesses that need to be dealt with like any other. No one wants any business to go under because of the associated employees and suppliers that are affected, but it is a fact of life and having recently been forced to put 2 businesses with the official receiver there were no cries for the government to bail me out. Get real and run your business properly or face the consequences.
My favourite sport of Strongman is enjoying an increase in publicity and quality of competition this year with more clearly defined competition schedules, qualification criteria for World's Strongest Man and an increasing field of world class British athletes.
We also have the good fortune to have many great strongmen competitions on British soil this year for all standards of the sport from novice to professional, the biggest being
This will be part of the Giants Live qualifying tour where the top 3 will go through to The World's Strongest Man finals later in the year, the field will be outstanding and it is another example of a minority sport growing due to the hard work and dedication of a few people. All these competitions are run on a shoestring budget but within sensible boundaries and not requiring government administrators or official receivers....football take note!
Only in this country can we have drought, hosepipe bans and flood warnings in the space of 7 days! I understand the science as to why we are still in drought with underground reservoirs not filling, excessive run-off and prolonged recent spells of reduced rainfall but you have to enjoy the irony.
That's all for now, time to train and feed.............................again
