Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

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weemadando
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by weemadando »

"So how long is our 100m track?"



Seriously, it's like someone predicted all of this.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by mr friendly guy »

UnderAGreySky wrote:
Also, From here:
[The CWG] will be better than Melbourne or Manchester. It will beat Beijing
:roll:
Well to be fair, he was referring to the opening ceremony. We haven't heard any bad news about that yet.
xt828 wrote:
There's some fairly stark tension showing up between the white Commonwealth and the rest at the moment - the recent ICC stoush over Howard ended up being a white vs nonwhite vote - and I get the impression that a fair chunk of the drive for that is coming from the subcontinent. It seems that India has a lot tied up in the games going well, and if they don't then the Indians will not take it well. Be interesting to see how it goes.
Ha ha ha. I found it hilarious when India pulled its weight and had Howard refused as president. Especially given Howards "Fuck you" attitude to the pacific islanders over climate change. I guess its not so good when someone else is holding all the cards and Howard is the one getting screwed. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. :lol:

Back on topic, India certainly pulls in most of the revenue for the ICC so it can throw its weight around. It will be interesting to see if it can do the same here for the commonwealth games. So far the only countries making threatening noises are the Anglosphere countries eg Scotland, Australia and Canada, although those countries are most likely pretty multicultural. I would laugh if we boycott it and India still managed to get the games running and wins more medals.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by thejester »

mr friendly guy wrote:Back on topic, India certainly pulls in most of the revenue for the ICC so it can throw its weight around.
Yeah because it's working out so well for world cricket...
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by Stuart Mackey »

thejester wrote:
mr friendly guy wrote:Back on topic, India certainly pulls in most of the revenue for the ICC so it can throw its weight around.
Yeah because it's working out so well for world cricket...
It is for the illicit bookies at any rate :D
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mr friendly guy
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by mr friendly guy »

thejester wrote:
mr friendly guy wrote:Back on topic, India certainly pulls in most of the revenue for the ICC so it can throw its weight around.
Yeah because it's working out so well for world cricket...
That is quite tangential to my point that India can "get away with this" because of the fact it provides most of the revenue, or as an Indian journalist put it, We (India) gives you the money, who the hell are you (Australia)? Although if I was half arsed I could argue that it would arguably be worse for world cricket if India was to split because it provided, how much percentage of its revenue? Can't remember the exact number, but IIRC it was easily more than 50%.

EDIT - my original point of course was in relation to that India can throw its weight around in cricket because of its situation in that sport, but it remains to be seen whether they can do it for the Commonwealth games.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by ray245 »

BBC has pictures about the condition of the athletes' village.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonw ... 025907.stm
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by starslayer »

Phantasee wrote:So you're saying it's a case of bread and circuses - and bread is more useful than circuses?
For a poor country, yes. In a rich country like Germany where basically everyone already has bread, may as well give the people circuses; it costs the country basically nothing as the events tend to break even or make a little money, brings some extra attention, and makes everyone happy.

xt828 already answered ray.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by Soontir C'boath »

ray245 wrote:BBC has pictures about the condition of the athletes' village.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonw ... 025907.stm
Recent monsoon aside, the building looks like it will collapse and given a bridge there had recently, I won't be surprised. The paw prints on the bed is a lovely touch.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by hongi »

Lalit Bhanot, the secretary general of the Delhi organizing committee, rejected the complaint that sanitation was poor by saying that, due to cultural differences, there are different standards about cleanliness in India and the western world.[16] Bhanot went on to say of the athletes' village that, "This is a world-class village, probably one of the best ever."[16]
GTFO you tool. Throwing your own country under the bus...nice.

This is a complete shambles.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by mr friendly guy »

Some random points

1. Some of those pictures from BBC looks like it could be fixed at short notice, such as cleaning it up with a hose and disinfectant. Since India has a large amount of man power, it looks doable, especially when you consider that not all the athlete's village is like that. Still embarrassing though.

2. In other news you're allowed to pay kick backs to countries to vote for you

Or rather you were.
Delhi sealed the right to host the Games when their delegates emerged at the final presentation in Jamaica and offered all 72 nations $US100,000 (then about $140,000) each for athlete training schemes if they were the successful bidders.

The money, subsequently paid to all nations, was not significant to Australia because it had already decided to vote for India and the payment was not an exceptionally large one.

But for small nations who have minimal interest in the Games, it clinched their vote and India went on to beat Canadian city Hamilton 46-22 in the final poll. Hamilton had offered the nations about $70,000 each.
So India's nearest rival only offered around $70,000 (AUD) which was half of what India offered (when converted to AUD).

3. I will say that even if significant countries boycott, it might not be as bad as the 1986 Edinburgh games (in terms of attendence), where more than half the countries chose to boycott it. So India could still pull it off (in the sense that the games don't get cancelled).

4. The comparisons between India's handling of the 2010 commonwealth games and China's hosting of the 2008 olympics come to the fore.

With China hosting the larger Asian games 1 month after the commonwealth games and the facilities are already ready are drawing further comparisons.

Frankly while China copped a lot of flak, some of which was utter bullshit *, I would say it emerged stronger. The insurrection in Tibet was suppressed, the complaints stroked patriotism and they topped the tally table with the most golds. They also demonstrated they could organise large international events.

India on the other hand looks shaky. There hasn't been a rally of support from Indians, and in fact some are openly critical. From an organisation point of view, those leaked pictures are embarrassing. The worse that China got pre opening ceremony (in the same criteria) was when a South Korean news team smuggled footage out of the opening ceremony rehearsal run. The Chinese deploying ? a missile launcher to protect against terrorists may have looked like overkill then, but after the shooting of foreigner's in India which may or may not be games related who would complain about Chinese security now.

I think the Indian government needs to have a good look at who they have organising large international sporting events, especially since they are considering bidding for an olympic game.


* ie fake beach for beach volleyball (it was artificially constructed), fake singer (the lip synching of the head girl singing, and their attempts to "hide it" even though they FREELY admitted the girl on stage was not the same as the one actually doing the singing), fake ethnic minorities (how dare they use actors, quick sue Paramount since Patrick Stewart wasn't French, how dare he plays a French starship captain) etc etc
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by UnderAGreySky »

I'll be out for the next two days, but till then here's a particularly emotive article that sums up a lot of feelings back home (and among those like me).

Old India has failed New India again - Hindustan Times
These days we hear a lot about the clash of the two Indias — the India of the villages vs the India of the cities; deprived India vs shining India, etc. This conflict is undeniable but we are neglecting another clash between two other Indias which is subtler but no less significant. The unprecedented level of public anger over the screw-ups in the preparations of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) can be best understood if we see it as a clash between two Indias.

The people in charge of the Games typify old India: corrupt, slothful, incompetent, chaotic, unconcerned with the pursuit of excellence, unwilling to benchmark against global standards and convinced that in India, sab chalta hai.

The people who are most angered and horrified by the CWG mess are those who believe that we are creating a new India: one that can do things to global standards, whose competence and intelligence are highly regarded all over the world, an India where people work hard, where there are high levels of accountability and where commitments are treated as sacred.

When Indians talk about ourselves these days, it is this new India we allude to. It is the new India that is an emerging superpower. It is the new India that is the rival of a resurgent China. It is the new India that the world is rushing to befriend and to invest in.

But just as we begin to believe the hype about the new India, the old India comes back and bites us in the arse.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by ray245 »

Looks like there's still a number of problems in the games.
50 swimmers ill in Commonwealth Games

NEW DELHI - Delhi's besieged Commonwealth Games confronted a new enemy on Thursday when over 50 swimmers fell ill just as eyes turned to the 100m, the traditional blue riband track and field showdown.

Around 40 English and 12 Australian swimmers had complained of feeling unwell after competing at the SP Mukherjee Aquatics Complex, with team officials insisting that the problem area was the warm-up pool.

"We must investigate this immediately. If the water is unsafe then clearly you can't swim in it," said Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell.

"We are concerned if athletes can't perform to their best."

Stomach problems being experienced by swimmers have already forced two Australian medal prospects to pull out.

Olympic bronze medallists Andrew Lauterstein and Hayden Stoeckel failed to start in the 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke heats because of "gastro" problems, a team spokesman told AFP.

The problems in the pool are the latest to plague these ill-starred Games after the build-up was marred by allegations of corruption, terrorism fears, shoddy workmanship and big-name withdrawals.

Since the Games got underway, venues have been scarred by acres of empty seats despite assurances from organisers that ticket sales have boomed.

Under-fire organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi insisted on Thursday that 125,000 tickets had been sold the previous day.

"There has been a real surge," he said, before claiming that tickets for the rugby sevens, swimming as the semi-finals and final of the badminton are sold out.

Kalmadi said that 90 per cent of boxing tickets have already been sold.

The all-conquering Australian swimming squad were out for more gold to add to the 14 they had already garnered.

Former world record-holder Eamon Sullivan was fastest into the final of the men's 100m freestyle while compatriot Emily Seebohm went for the one-two in the 50m backstroke following her gold in the 100m.

Olympic champion and Commonwealth record holder Leisel Jones is looking to defend her 100m breaststroke crown for a third consecutive Games after her success in the 200m on Wednesday.

England's world record holder and Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington is favourite for the 800m final while, in the men's 50m breaststroke, world record holder and world champion Cameron Van Der Burgh of South Africa is seeking a double after winning the 100m event.

Inside a virtually deserted Jawaharlal Nehru athletics stadium, Kenya's Viola Kibiwot was the fastest into the women's 1,500m final with compatriot and Olympic champion Nancy Langat also easing through.

Other gold medals at stake on Thursday are in the men's and women's 100m. In the absence of Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, England's Mark Lewis-Francis, who won silver in the European Championships, Jamaica's Oshane Bailey and Canada's Sam Effah look to be the best bets for gold.

The women's 100m final is also held, with Natasha Mayers of St Vincent and the Grenadines the fastest into the semi-finals but well off Debbie Ferguson's Commonwealth record time of 10.91.

Other medals will be decided in the women's hammer, where Wales' Carys Parry (63.53m) was the best qualifier, and men's shot put, with Amand Scott of Jamaica among the favourites.

In early medal action on Thursday, Australia continued to dominate track cycling with teenager Megan Dunn picking up her second gold medal in as many days in the 10km scratch race.

Australia now have seven from a possible eight track titles and look unstoppable with three more golds up for grabs on Thursday.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BN ... 41142.html
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by Hillary »

To be fair, the England camp has actually stated that the number of athletes taken ill so far has been fewer than they forecast before the games.

I do wonder how overblown this is. 40 English athletes have been affected, apparently. But we have no idea what "affected" actually means. It definitely includes Becky Addlington who was so ill she managed to comfortably win the 800 freestyle gold yesterday.

It's clear that the games have not been organised as well as previous ones, but I worry that things are being exagerated a touch. Maybe the organisers have simply failed the basic test of making sure that the journalists are treated as royalty.
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Re: Meanwhile for the commonwealth games

Post by xt828 »

I actually saw an interview on the 7:30 report the other night with a managerial type of a media company who was thoroughly unimpressed with the facilities provided.

I've seen some hilarious discrepancies in reporting so far, too. The best would probably be the Australian gymnastics team, the one that does the parallel bars and whatnot, who won a gold. ABC news described it as a flawless performance, narrowly beating strong performances from other nations, while the MX newspaper said it was a terrible and sloppy performance that the team and coach were very disappointed in - I think the coach said it was one of the worst performances the team had done - but that we won because the other major nations kept their first-rate teams at home to be ready for an upcoming proper gymnastics competition.
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