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I started a similar thread about the 2008 Olypics and it seemed to be indifference all around then. Has anything changed in 4 years? I must admit to caring enough to watch the highlight reels, and the Opening Ceremony (on replay - I'm not going to stay up half the night) but as far as having 6 Foxtel Channels showing the games 24/7, I really don't care at all.

Have the Olympics lost their lustre? Are they outdated in this day and age? Will London win, break even on the games, or will it be a financial disaster?

Vote and discuss.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

The entire Olympic thing is just another way for politicians to transfer tax money to their buddies and look like heroes for doing it.

Our grandchildren will still be paying for the last one here.

Four years apart for the Olympics is too close I think. One's just over and before you know it there's another about to start.

I think every 6 years would be far better and would enable better forward planning.

I voted for just looking at a few highlight events I'm interested in. I certainly won't be looking at it 24/7.

In any case I saw the best Olympics ever, here in my home town of Sydney

I am just annoyed at how parochial we are at what we televise, if we don't compete in a particular sport there is a fair chance we won't get to see any of it. I love sword fencing but I won't hold my breath, I'm lucky if I see the last thrust on the news and it's over in a flash.

I'll still watch the things that interest me and the opening and closing ceremonies.

I don't know if having a longer gap between the Olympic is such a good idea as a sportspersons use by date would only allow 1 or 2 games in many of the sports. So what is the answer?

AFAIK Foxtel is showing every event live on it's six dedicated Channels, including, god forbid the synchronised swimming and the twirly things and hoops being thrown around in a Gym.

As a Platinum Member I get them all for nothing. And no, I am not shilling for Foxtel.

I enjoy the swimming, diving, even synchronised diving, Table Tennis and some Athletics, especially the 10,000 Metres, Marathons, and the Bike Riding.

That's about my limit. but I will watch other stuff that Australians are involved in, if I am up, and if there is not a good Movie on another Channel.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

GREAT! I've got all the sports channels to but forgot about them, thanks Norm I will enjoy the Olympics much more this time around. I forgot too that I will be able to record them if they come on in the middle of the night, don't use those functions often

I always enjoy the Olympics - but only the events that interest me

I cannot understand how anyone ( and some apparently do ) watch every event that's on

Most of you will have read about the much criticised ticket allocation system for 2012

Basically it's a lottery

I have somehow lucked into getting drawn 2 tickets for the Opening Ceremony.

As it approaches I am getting more and more excited although it will be a VERY tiring day

Over here we are all amazed at the achievements of Seb Coe and his Commitee in the delivery of the infrastructure and logistics - without doubt the best since 2000. Now we hope and pray that Unions and crazed scum leftie anarchists don't try to stuff it all up

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When a man comes to me for advice, I find out the kind of advice he wants, and I give it to him

Like any sporting event, awards ceremony, et al, politics and commercial/marketing angles have crept into the Olympics too much.

There's the whole "official sponsor" thing for companies--pay $10 or 20 million and you'll be "the X of the Games"...timekeeper, sportswear--fine. But Coca-Cola as "official softdrink"? How does one become an Olympic athlete guzzling soda? UPS as "official courier"? They find any old excuse to bring in the bucks.

Then there's the marketing of souvenir tat.

Of course, the horrendously expensive security tab has to be paid for somehow. And at least the Games run 16 days or so; Canada's PM has been lambasted endlessly for spending $1 billion for the G8/G20 summit in Toronto, which last all of 2 days.

In the sporting, there seems to be too many events. Take swimming for example. All the different strokes, multiplied by all the different distances. So A gets a gold medal for 200m butterfly, B gets a gold medal for 500m butterly...no wonder you have athletes winning 8 medals in one Games, and the dominant countries can blow everyone out of the water with their total medal counts.

Then there's the people who join the Games representing a small country, so that they can make it onto the team in the first place. The Jamaican bobsled team is the most famous there. There was also a downhill skier for the Philippines, who was actually American and lived in New York. The Summer Games are a little better for that...

I read an article online the other day that blasted former IOC president Samaranch for wasteful spending. One allegation was that he required the IOC to spend $500,000 a year to keep a luxury hotel room permanently reserved for him in Lausanne.

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

Ah yes the Olympics.

So far the only good thing I have heard about the games and it's legacy is the clean up of the area in preparation, ie the removal of over head power cables and tonnes of contaminated soil. (They should have billed the previous owners/users for cleaning up their waste)

The local and national TV is gearing up to drown us in verbal diarrhea for months before it even begins. A good time for the government to bury bad stories about themselves.

Communities have lost green space and allotments for an architects "feature" in the grounds.

Traffic will be hideously backed up because designated lanes in the roads will only be usable by Olympians.

Then we get to what is left behind. A stadium overpaid thumb sucking footballer's (the news is on in the background and a goal scorer just celebrated by running along sucking his thumb ) will only take on if nobody else can use it. I hope the county cricket team get the place instead. They'll have no problem if some one wants to run in circles around the edge of the field.

And don't forget the cost, it was waived through with deliberate under estimation of the costs, how much is the interest on the money we have had to borrow to pay for this?

Ahh that feels better, rant over Normal silliness will be resumed.

We have got it, so we better make the best of it, good luck to those competing.

I will however be making no effort to watch until they start with some new sports. Here are a few examples I have heard over the years.

Heading the shot
Catching the javelin
Face jumping
100m backstroke for non-swimmers

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Weaponsmith for the DemiGods from the plane of Silliness

But you must admit the facts of the event turned into a really fun (fictional) Movie.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

As often he case, Monty Python summed it up well decades ago with The Upperclass Twit of the Year games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSqkdcT25ss

And for 'true' Olympics coverage,

Monty Python - Silly Olympics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzrI15uw92k

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, many events now have all the honesty of an ebay auction

The Olympics are awesome!

I would donate body parts to be able to take part! Some of my earliest memories are of watching the Olympics with my dad. I am very jealous, ivqii ,of being able to go to the ceremony wish I could!

Of course there will be the usual bunch of pessimistic, glass-half-empty, end-of-the-world-is-nigh, doomsday talking wasters(this is the politest word I could think of to put here), but I try to live in a positive way!!!

Comment: "It will cause traffic jams in London" ... really? Breaking News.... there was a traffic jam in London in the summer... well that will be a Pulitzer Prizewinning story

Comment: "There are too many events".... then don't watch them all

Comment: "It costs too much" ... there is a reason that cities now compete to hold the Games, whereas in the past only rich countries could afford them..... PROFIT!

From Wikipedia
Financials
[edit] Operations

In 2004, the operational cost of the 2010 Winter Olympics was estimated to be Canadian $1.354 billion (about £828,499,787, €975,033,598 or US$1,314,307,896). As of mid-2009 it was projected to be C$1.76 billion,[12] mostly raised from non-government sources,[12] primarily through sponsorships and the auction of national broadcasting rights. C$580 million was the taxpayer-supported budget to construct or renovate venues throughout Vancouver and Whistler. A final audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers released in December 2010 revealed total operation cost to have been $1.84 billion and came in on budget resulting in neither surplus nor deficit. Construction of venues also came on budget with a total cost of $603 million.[13]

PricewaterhouseCoopers' study estimated a total contribution to the BC economy of $2.5 billion of Gross Domestic Product, and as well created 45,000 jobs and contributed an additional $463 million to the tourism industry while venue construction by VANOC and 3rd parties added $1.22 billion to the economy.
[edit] Security Costs

C$200 million was expected to be spent for security, which was organized through a special body, the Integrated Security Unit, of which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was the lead agency; other government agencies such as the Vancouver Police Department, Canada Border Services Agency, Canadian Forces, and police agencies across Canada. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) also played a role. That number was later revealed to be in the region of C$1 billion, an amount in excess of five times what was originally estimated.[14]

So, apart from the RCMP padding their overtime, there wasn't much wrong with the last Olympics in Canada.

A large monetary gain, a lifetime of morale boosting memories, prestige, and HAPPINESS CREATED, not much wrong with that in my book!
You can sit at home with your curtains drawn and moan about life, or you can take part and enjoy it.....your choice!

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Please do not disparage people when they provide an insight into the negative local effects of this phenomenon. A glossy image was earlier presented in the thread which I felt needed balancing with a different point of view.

You are far from the site of this and will probably only get the polished image the IOC want put out, over here the coverage is already at saturation level and it will get worse. It is rammed down our throats in the media whether we want it or not and quite possibly a holiday on the moon would be the only way to escape it, although I suspect mission control would not be able to stop themselves telling you who won what.

Most of the people I know would say "Go ahead and enjoy yourselves with this if you want, just do not force me to endure it and send me the bill for it afterwards."

Good luck to all those who compete and hopefully the spectators will enjoy themselves.

Regards

Feebletodix

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Weaponsmith for the DemiGods from the plane of Silliness

I travel a lot and have been overseas for many Games.

You cannot BELIEVE the parochial coverage you can get.

I was in Mexico for one, and they do remarkably poorly for a populous country. (i.e. think around the GB incredibly hopeless success level until a few Games back! Mongolia use to out-medal them most times. )

HOWEVER when I was there, Mexico won a Gold medal in weightlifting.

The ONLY coverage for 3 days on TV was that lift. I saw 100 replays of it. Maybe 300.

NO swimming, no nothing else. It was as if the games was one event.

I like the Games, and watch stupid amounts of coverage. Bring it on.

Glen

Roy and H.G. make the whole thing bearable.

That was the only Olympic coverage I watched. If they aren't on this year, I won't be watching.

Who can forget the Battered Sav.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKFWE1xt_x0

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We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

1. Looking Forward to the Games 34% [ 13 ]
2. I will watch a Few Highlighted Events 37% [ 14 ]
3. Yawn 24% [ 9 ]
4. On Planet X, the Olympics watch You. 5% [ 2 ]

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

ivqii, if I remember correctly we had the same ticket allocation system and when I got the forms I put it in the too hard basket

Feebletodix, we had all the same negative news coverage but you know what? When the time comes everyone is over the moon and little if any negative coverage comes out of it all, we even made a profit.

Glen I was in Italy for the 1972 Olympics (held in Munich) and as the Italians are not known for their Olympic medal count, they gave a great all round coverage. I don't know what they do now but then it was great.

Now with the networks we have we may be able to view what we want, when we want unless they only purchase certain sports to broadcast, that's a downer.

This came with a bar of chocolate




It got my attention quicker than a bunch of fit men with bulging muscles in tight lycra suits, although I can understand the appeal that would have for some

Feebletodix

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Weaponsmith for the DemiGods from the plane of Silliness

KEEP GB TEAM PUMPED

Kinky!~

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Can I choose Victoria Pendleton please?

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When a man comes to me for advice, I find out the kind of advice he wants, and I give it to him

I have been looking forward to the London Olympics since it was announced that, against the odds, we had beaten Paris back in 2005 -what an adrenalin rush that was. Thank you, Tony Blair

Unfortunately, such is the interest here in the UK that it has been virtually impossible to get tickets for the major events unless you were prepared to spend a few thousand in the lottery for the tickets.

However I have got tickets for the football (in Manchester) and as a second best, my family have tickets for the Paralympics in September where we hope to see the 'Blade Runner, Oscar Pistorius

I wonder if there were such questions amongst Aussies when the Olympics were in Sydney in 2000

Tony

I for one still like the Olympics as you can't ignore the history of the games. I think it's fun to see how your Athletes stack up against the rest of the World. Some of the greatest sporting moments in History have come from the Olympic games.

Unfortunately we here in the US have to endure the non-stop barrage of advertisements that come along with the Games, but the advertisers are the ones that flip the bill for our Athletes so it is a necessary evil.

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"Life is a tough Teacher, it gives you the test first and the lesson later"
Anonymous

I live in Scotland I have no interest at all. Sport has now become a means of selling expensive sports wear.What a pity the money could not be spent on good sports facilities and training for young people.
The stadiums from past Olympic events on which vast sums were squandered are now lying rotting. Having it in London is a total mistake the city is too overcrowded now. It should have been put at the centre of the country. The North South divide is very bad and this only adds to the resentment.
I seem to remember the whole idea of renewing the sports was the poor health of the French Army.

All Concerned

I am very opinionated about Sports.

I have never met a single person in the world who agrees with me.

I believe everyone who does it as an occupation is overpaid. (I refuse to call it a profession - so there is no such thing as a professional athlete - as far as I am concerned!)

I do like to watch the men's 100m final in real time - the whole 10 - 12 seconds worth. I do not need to see the two days worth of interviews with the competitors' former babysitters, girlfriends, dog-walkers and step-parents.

I also like to watch the silly events - synchronized swimming in the Summer Games and the two-man luge in the Winter Games.

I refuse to call boxing a sport. There is nothing character-building or noble about it. I call it a brutalistic anachronism which should be banned worldwide and, of course, removed from the Olympic Games.

Fully expecting nobody to agree.

Kindest regards

Richard Debney

I bought petrol in Scotland yesterday morning and the cashier asked if I wanted to support their Paralympians.
I couldn't work out if I was being asked for money - probably
or asked if I wanted to collect tokens for the tacky souvenirs illustrated by the cash register - definitely not wanted there's enough clutter in a stamp collector's home.

Either way he didn't seem pleased when I said 'no'

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Hatter

Athletes in the Olympics are supposed to be "amateurs", at least not members of professional teams. Some companies run TV and print adverts showing how so-and-so swimmer or skier works as a package sorter at UPS, or is a cashier in a department store. Of course the Americans couldn't play fair, and somehow found a way around the rule against pro atheltes, and so they always stack their Olympic team with a handpicked selection from the NBA, the "Dream Team".

The Men's 100m is touted as "the most important event", but its 10 (or 9.8 or whatever) seconds long! So much hoopla for so little. Yes, the event crowns "the fastest man in the world", but is the fastest runner the "best" athlete? I would give that credit to the decathlete winner--a sprinter runs fast, but to have ability in multiple sports is much more wide-ranging.

The endless commentary and interviews and talking heads can be annoying. Just show the athletes "doing their thing" and let people enjoy that. That's what people are watching the TV for. For the lucky few who could score tickets to the event, there's no talking head on the jumbo screen analysing every move.

Fortunate for Canada that these are the Summer Games, so TV viewers are spared Don Cherry's "expert" "analysis" of hockey, and throwing around of erudite statements like whining about "pinkos".

The Winter Games limits by its nature the number of events, and number of countries that can participate. The Summer Games seems overloaded. I was reading one day about "deleted events"--they used to have pigeon-shooting, with live birds.

Do we really need sprinting for 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 5000m (did I miss some?). Swimming has various lengths, multiplied by all the different strokes. No wonder the record for "most medals won in a single Games" is usually held by a swimmer.

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

I honestly thought that went out a number of years ago.

The Williams sisters were in the tennis - so not just team sports?

Kindest regards

Richard Debney

When the US started putting professional (Paid) Athletes in the Olympic games for Basketball, Tennis, etc. I can no longer watch those events. It started when Michael Jordan and the first "Dream Team" hit the floor and played Angola.....a very close game

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"Life is a tough Teacher, it gives you the test first and the lesson later"
Anonymous

Agree in part - read on... and you HAVE met me


AGREE - professional sport is a contradiction in terms. As soon as significant money is involved, I don't know what it is, but it ain't "sport".


AGREE - 9-point-something seconds is enough athletics for anyone to watch; anything longer than that has all the interest of the World Paint-Drying Championships.


DISAGREE - Boxing is virtually the ONLY pure sport there is. Man against man, with minimal equipment and no place to hide. And, in the olympics, this IS a true amateur sport (excepting the state-sponsored amateurs of Cuba). Now the circus that is professional boxing, with its corrupt agents and hangers-on is another matter. But I'm always happy to see two grown men beating seven shades of cr*p out of one another.


Surely, Richard, you mean the Williams BROTHERS

gavin-h

Well, two out of four points is amazing! - especially for me.

And yes, I well remember meeting you, The Pom and Londonbus1, in 2010, at The Chandos and the Asian restaurant afterwards.

My problem with boxing are the pin-point brain hemorrhages as a result of every blow. I grew up in the Sixties and Seventies with my mother, a former nurse, constantly drilling that opinion home.

I still refer to the Williams sisters, identifying them by the terms - the pretty one and the muscular one.

Kindest regards, Richard

As the government is about to cut the disability payments to many in England, will this mean that those who take part in the paraolympics games loose their payments as they are now fit to work????

London bid for the games, London won. London will get the credit and any good thats left when they are over. BUT the British Tax payer has paid for them. Its time they stopped all this city bidding fot them why not let countries bid that who pays. I will watch for I'm proud to be british not proud to be a londoner

The Olympics have got me totally underwhelmed.

So far as I can see, the bringing of the games to London was a good ploy to get a horrible part of London "regenerated" using National Lottery cash.

Won't be watching, won't be interested...I'll find something to do which doesn't involve watching "The Games".

Andy

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If it ain't broke.....fix it 'til it is!!

http://www.lanarkshireps.co.uk

I'd like this year's games a whole lot more if Paris or somewhere else had got them. London council tax payers have been paying an extra £35 a month Olympic levy since 2005, yet we weren't rewarded with so much as a ticket.

Like most sports now it's all about fat cat businessmen and their Tory leeches milking the people for more of our cash.

And, once again, the Great Socialist Working Class Hero proves that he is, indeed a man with a knife and fork looking for someone else's dinner to share.

Which makes no sense whatsoever (nothing new from this particular Ragged Trousered Philanthropist then) - seeing as I have paid £2520 more than you towards this Olympics, having lived in London between 2005 and 2011.

Venus and Serena Williams, the tennis champions. African-American, frequently indulge in the new practice among female tennis players to excessively grunt with every swing...

They use to have their hair in braids, with tonnes of beads...I remember a match where one of the sisters' braids came loose, and there were beads all over the court; play had to be suspended so the court could be swept.

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

[quote="aethelwulfDo we really need sprinting for 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 5000m (did I miss some?). [/quote]

1500m, 10000m, marathon, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, Steeplechase,

The most bizzare are the walking races!! (20km I think)

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Collector of: GB Mint, Commonwealth Used, Dragonflies and Charles Darwin, anything else that looks interesting.

My tickets for the Opening Ceremony arrived yesterday - let he Games begin

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When a man comes to me for advice, I find out the kind of advice he wants, and I give it to him

At the momnent every news bulletin is swamped with the Olympic torch going round the country. I wonder how many realize it was Hitler who started the Olympic Torch relay????

What a grumpy bunch of misery - guts

My Olympic football tickets arrived this week with my Athletics and paralympics tickets due shortly.

I am going to watch the final of the men's 1500 metres on my birthday - what a present. Having been a sports supporter all my life, I cannot wait for the Olympics to begin.

Regards

Tony

Any Welsh or Scottish footballer who plays for 'Team GB' should be mercilessly hounded by the fans and never play for his nation again. BRADWYR!!!!

More Celtic neuroticism.

FIFA have stated categorically that taking part in the Olympics will not affect the 'special status' of the little nations (Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland)

The local associations have chosen to ignore this and continue to fret about being banned from FIFA if any Celt or Pict plays for Team GB. The 'blazerati' are scared stiff of losing their privileges, free jollies to FIFA championships etc.

Don't see any other sports saying that sportsmen from Scotland,Wales & NI should not play in the Olympics.

Rant over

Tony

Would a Frenchman play for Grossdeutschesreich in 1941?

Being into sports in general, I enjoy both Olympics, although I must say I have a definite preference for the Winter Olympics.

I am in total agreement with those who have posted their displeasure with professional athletes who participate... I agree... they've made their choice: either you get paid (way too much in most cases) to do what you do, or you remain an amateur and get to go for glory at the Olympics. That's how it should be, but nobody listens to me anyway.

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Carmen - Collecting: Canada, Cats, Religion, Royalty, Stamps on Stamps... and worldwide, quite frankly!

I am not defending the pay levela of Professional atheletes, but the issue is that in this day and age, to become an elite athelete in nearly any sport has become a 24/7 job (well, maybe Lawn Bowls and shooting are exceptions) and an amateur, no matter how gifted or freaky simply cannot compete at this level without subsidies.

If somebody gets a full scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sports, and spends a couple of years there full time, at no cost to themselves, is sponsered by Nike, and advertises Superman Bread, or Power Water on Television, does a paid interview on TV or a paid Photoshoot for a Magazine etc...how is this not professional?

So, the Olympics ARE professional, either overtly or covertly, and probably still, in some cases at least drug infested, as the people providing the drugs always appear to be one step ahead of those testing for them.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

From my point of view I see the games as rewarding the very best athletes according to the Citius, Altius, Fortius principle

How can they NOT include professional athletes? - to get to this level they must have shown outstanding promise at an early age and most have devoted their whole life to their very short lived profession, often from early childhood."Amateurs" simply don't stand a chance and probably were never good enough in the first place

Anyone remember Damon Runyon? - he wrote

" The race may not always be to the swift , nor the contest to the strong - but that's the way to bet ":D

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When a man comes to me for advice, I find out the kind of advice he wants, and I give it to him