And now we have all the clamour for awards for all the competitors who won gold medals. Surely winning the gold should be award itself.
I have always felt that any awards should only be made once sports people finish playing/competing. That would also avoid the ridiculous situation of somebody receiving for example, an MBE, then performing well in the future and the expectation that the award would be 'upgraded'.
The whole system was cheapened in my eyes when the England cricket team were all given MBE's for winning the Ashes for the first time in about 10 million years. They then promptly lost them again in a 5 - 0 whitewash!!
As has been suggested on radio and TV, the people who really deserve the awards are the ones who have worked behint the scenes to get the competitors to where they are now.
I was struck by the contrasting welcomes given to the GB team on their return today and of the girl (who won the Judo) from a Rio favela being taken round her area on a fire engine. . . .
What you say does not annoy me, but I think that there is a difference between our athletes, and others who do their job well.
No one would ever have paid to watch me do my job, and when I came home from a day at the coal face, it was watching events like the Olympics, that helped to relax, and re energise for the next day.
I love my football [ plus most other sport too ], but I do wish they had paid me as much as a footballer!
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
I don't get this. If it doesn't matter to you how or why the GB Olympic team is funded then what's your issue? I don't get the hypocracy thing either. It's not hypocritical to pay to watch sport but not fancy paying to watch a mechanic service a Ford Fiesta! Some might want to, that's up to them.
Firstly, I apologise to everyone for dragging this on but, Phillipa, yes your comment about funding did annoy me a little.
I have been fortunate to have two professions. A consulting engineer, for which I was paid for my services and before that, a professional sportsman, for which I was also paid for my services. The funding for my sport career was generated by people paying to watch and be entertained. No-one ever paid to watch me work as an engineer because it's not entertainment. Does that mean that the people paying through the turnstiles are hypocrites? Does that mean the same people are not entitled to their opinion regarding the use of public spending?
In 1996 our Olympic team managed only one gold medal. This was because the majority of our Olympic team were still operating on a more or less amateur basis but competing against professionals. This sparked the lottery funding of our young men and women and since then we have steadily improved our standing as a nation in the world of sport. We always had the talent but without the necessary facilities and the ability to train full time we would never have seen these young men and women reach their potential.
It's very difficult to quantify the benefit of a successful Olympic team, in monetary terms, but you only have to read all the posts on this thread to see how much pleasure and well being it brings.
As someone who had the great honour to represent his country I would never want to go back to the dark days and see the achievements of our young men and women diminish because of a lack of funding.
Absolutely agree! And no ones forcing anyone to buy a lottery ticket to pay for the support for our sportsmen and women, and no one forces anyone to watch either. If you don't approve don't buy a lottery ticket, but then you've got no reason to moan either.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm a huge supporter of the Olympics philippa, but I've never bought a lottery ticket either and don't intend doing so. Your opinion is as valid as everyone else's, so you shouldn't feel you have to justify it
I'd like to know just how much lottery money is wasted on bagatelles and junkets...
Not all sports benefit from lottery money either - so their success is down to hard graft and the kindness of the private individuals who back them.
Anyway - the US Open's on now and Kyle Edmund has just beaten the fancied French player. Get in!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
And now we have all the clamour for awards for all the competitors who won gold medals. Surely winning the gold should be award itself.
I have always felt that any awards should only be made once sports people finish playing/competing. That would also avoid the ridiculous situation of somebody receiving for example, an MBE, then performing well in the future and the expectation that the award would be 'upgraded'.
The whole system was cheapened in my eyes when the England cricket team were all given MBE's for winning the Ashes for the first time in about 10 million years. They then promptly lost them again in a 5 - 0 whitewash!!
As has been suggested on radio and TV, the people who really deserve the awards are the ones who have worked behint the scenes to get the competitors to where they are now.
Last edited: 23 August 2016 11:38:32
I was struck by the contrasting welcomes given to the GB team on their return today and of the girl (who won the Judo) from a Rio favela being taken round her area on a fire engine. . . .
Philippa
What you say does not annoy me, but I think that there is a difference between our athletes, and others who do their job well.
No one would ever have paid to watch me do my job, and when I came home from a day at the coal face, it was watching events like the Olympics, that helped to relax, and re energise for the next day.
I love my football [ plus most other sport too ], but I do wish they had paid me as much as a footballer!
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I don't get this. If it doesn't matter to you how or why the GB Olympic team is funded then what's your issue? I don't get the hypocracy thing either. It's not hypocritical to pay to watch sport but not fancy paying to watch a mechanic service a Ford Fiesta! Some might want to, that's up to them.
Firstly, I apologise to everyone for dragging this on but, Phillipa, yes your comment about funding did annoy me a little.
I have been fortunate to have two professions. A consulting engineer, for which I was paid for my services and before that, a professional sportsman, for which I was also paid for my services. The funding for my sport career was generated by people paying to watch and be entertained. No-one ever paid to watch me work as an engineer because it's not entertainment. Does that mean that the people paying through the turnstiles are hypocrites? Does that mean the same people are not entitled to their opinion regarding the use of public spending?
In 1996 our Olympic team managed only one gold medal. This was because the majority of our Olympic team were still operating on a more or less amateur basis but competing against professionals. This sparked the lottery funding of our young men and women and since then we have steadily improved our standing as a nation in the world of sport. We always had the talent but without the necessary facilities and the ability to train full time we would never have seen these young men and women reach their potential.
It's very difficult to quantify the benefit of a successful Olympic team, in monetary terms, but you only have to read all the posts on this thread to see how much pleasure and well being it brings.
As someone who had the great honour to represent his country I would never want to go back to the dark days and see the achievements of our young men and women diminish because of a lack of funding.
Absolutely agree! And no ones forcing anyone to buy a lottery ticket to pay for the support for our sportsmen and women, and no one forces anyone to watch either. If you don't approve don't buy a lottery ticket, but then you've got no reason to moan either.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm a huge supporter of the Olympics philippa, but I've never bought a lottery ticket either and don't intend doing so. Your opinion is as valid as everyone else's, so you shouldn't feel you have to justify it
I'd like to know just how much lottery money is wasted on bagatelles and junkets...
Not all sports benefit from lottery money either - so their success is down to hard graft and the kindness of the private individuals who back them.
Anyway - the US Open's on now and Kyle Edmund has just beaten the fancied French player. Get in!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Kyle played really well
Nadal and Djokovic both have matches later so I could be having a late night.