Olympic woe
A hop, skip and jump back to London tonight. This trip was originally planned for a couple of weeks with family to get ourselves fully absorbed into the Olympics. Not so.
Copious (more than three) attempts to purchase a range of tickets for a range of sports over a few week period ended up with zilch. No, I lie, I did get some Women’s Preliminary Round (non beach) Volleyball tickets for Earls Court. No disrespect to Earls Court but all of us slogging across London to watch Algeria v Japan just didn’t do it for me, so those tickets went back.
Thus I came incredibly frustrated with the whole Olympic ticket process and called it off as a bad job especially after a couple of very early mornings/late nights tapping away on the computer with millions of others. Don’t get me started on the 250,000 tickets unsold, including athletics, opening and closing ceremonies. LOCOG couldn’t have got the ticketing procedure more wrong.
I don’t want to dwell on it but I will a bit longer if you’ll excuse me. I have always been the sort of person that will sit endlessly in front of the telly watching all kinds of sports during the Olympics when either something dramatic is happening or a Brit, previously unknown, is about to snatch a bronze medal to become an instant hero.
I was excited about London 2012 from the day IOC President Jacques Rogge announced the decision 7 years ago and now I am just bitter, annoyed and resentful.
I used to joyfully debate the advantages of having the Olympics in London’s backyard with all kind of antagonists and opposers, who often had good arguments to be fair, but now and for a while I can’t be arsed.
On Friday 27th when London tries to match or better Beijing for the Opening Ceremony we will be in Chicago and actually I will be stood in church attending a friend’s wedding rehearsal. In fact we will only be in our own house for 3 of the 19 days of competition. A contrived effort but one I will probably regret when I systematically grab peeks of Twitter and read of records falling and Britains standing on podiums. Oh well. Puerile whinge over.
Tomorrow and Friday I will be in the City meeting various people about stuff and then on Friday evening I’ll get my son and we’ll drive down to my parents in East Sussex to help them celebrate their wedding anniversery. Back to Bermuda on Monday.
Chicago Addick 
The only tickets I could get were volleyball at Earls Court CA. We’ll go – although it starts at 9.30 am we’ve been “advised” to get there 2 hours before the start. Wonder if there will be any security guards to greet us?
Saw the Olympci torch relay through Tunbridge Wells yesterday – really lovely atmosphere and saw lots from Pembury. Only one of the nine runners were British – no details about any of them. Still, they must have done something good to deserve this honour I thought.
We watched the south east news later on – they mentioned that 35 runners in Kent/Sussex were German. They referred to the absence of data on official sources, but said that a German website said they were all connected to Olympic sponsors…
As Johhny said at the last 70s Pistols gig, ever had that feeling you’ve been cheated?
Johnny was right about a lot of things. And this isn’t right: http://www.thelocal.de/sport/20120717-43783.html
I saw what I believe was the last UK Pistols gig (in Cromer) before they went to the US and imploded. Dec 24th 1978 (I think). Bloody brilliant.
Thre are still tickets on sale for most events. Obviously not for the day of the 100m. Anyone who expected to get in to that is a bit mental.
Corporate being the only way, aside from the lottery.
You can go along with the media if you wish, but they said every event was sold out a year ago, and yet tickets are still being sold
CA – you echoed my own disappointing experience and disenchantment with the whole ticketing process. I am a reluctant advocate of the left wing view of these events but my increasing cynicism is being fuelled spectacularly by London 2012. The dictatorial approach over ticketing, parking, disruption to trains, athletes and “sponsors” lanes etc is really getting to me and the sponsorship diktat is hard to believe. I really hope these games go brilliantly well but the Heathrow and Security fiascos need to be the last. I remember the panning our press handed to the Indians for the late show on the Commonwealth games. It’ beginning to feel very similar.
sour grapes
you could still get to an olympic event in the olympic park if you’re really keen it was always unrealistic to expect to get a group of tickets together for a high profile event
Sour grapes indeed. I was only looking for Olympic Park tickets but unlike LOCOG I have to organise my life slightly more efficently.