Having
the Olympics in London is having an odd effect.
I've
been sceptical about the Games, sharing the irritation at the
prospect of traffic jams, clogged public transport, the fact that
hardly anyone I know obtained tickets, the bullying on behalf of
sponsors and over-the-top security. A couple of things yesterday
added to it: seeing all those empty seats in the auditorium for
sessions that were supposedly sold out; and having to go through
airport style security at the National Gallery because someone
assumed that the Olympics is going to make terrorist want to blow up
a lot of paintings.
But
I've tried to ditch it. I was genuinely interested in the opening
ceremony, and my only complaint was that it went on so late that I
fell asleep during Seb Coe's speech and missed the climax. And
yesterday I watched a lot of sport - hours of cycling, some of the
gymnastics, women's basketball, a bit of swimming and a couple of
bouts of boxing. It's all stuff in which I would never usually have
any interest, but because it's such a big event for London I've got a
mild compulsion to sit in front of the TV and watch the exertions.
I
suspect it is having a similar effect on a lot of people. The
Olympics always draws a lot of attention, but it's even more so this
time because it's in the UK, so we're watching sport that we've never
watched before and will probably never watch again.
It
provides a holiday for our minds, a break from our usual interests
that will have us engrossed for a couple of weeks; and when it's over
we'll go back to taking no interest in all 90% of the sports on show.
But we should feel a bit better for it … as long as Team GB picks
up a few medals.
Mark
Say's collection of fiction, Perversities of Faith, is available on
amazon.co.uk
and amazon.com.
Also check out marksaywriter.com.
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