For the Cynics: were you won over?

[mattc]

I was definitely cynical, and there were many things I didn't like; but overall I have a very warm afterglow which I really didn't expect.

What say the YACF cynics?

[Kim]

I'm a sucker for technical theatre.  They had me with the opening ceremony.

I'm remain largely uninterested in sport, but couldn't help but smile at the sudden outbreak of Wiggo-related comments from shouty pedestrians.

McDonald's can go stuff themselves, though.

[Polar Bear]

Cynic.   Didn't watch, not interested.   Not 'won over' at all.   Utter waste of money IMO.

[hulver]

Yes.

There are still huge parts of the surrounding stuff (mostly involvement and the power given to sponsors) but the actual events and everything around them were fantastic. Far, far better than I expected.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I hate the global megacorporations. I loved the Olympics. But the closing ceremony was a bit pish.

[CAMRAMan]

From the overwhelmingly over-commercialised torch procession through to the overblown ceremonies it has been corporate hogwash interspersed with some genuinely epic human achievements. I shall fondly remember the latter rather than the BigCo propaganda.

[plum]

Bunch of public schoolboys spending my tax dollar doing their hobbies on telly. Apart from the Pros desperate to build up their image so they can earn more next year.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

I was a cynic who was won over.
I drove into London the day after the wonderful closing ceremony, and there was just such an atmosphere about the place.
I sat in Potters Fields at Tower Bridge, where there was a big screen and beer and food stalls.
I sat twith a beer in the piddling rain, the sole figure there apart from the bar staff and the food chefs. "Oh oh" I thought.
Then the sun came otu the next day and things lifted off!

I think I've heard the Olympics described as a substitute for warfare, and I certainly think this Olympics helped bring together people from all over the world. I simply enjoyed askign anyone I saw with a map or at a Tube station looking lost if they needed directions.
Similarly sat down at the tables at Tower Bridge several times and chattd away with whoever was there.

Britian at its Best.

[LEE]

I wasn't cynical as such, more worried I'd be embarrassed by a 2nd rate event, in front of 2 billion people.
I even worried, initially, that we may not win any golds and that we'd paid a few billion quid just to show the world how crap we were at everything.

In the end I felt very proud that we put on a great show and did it with a bit of British character, not just a generic sporting event.

That it was one of the best Olympics ever and we finished 3rd in the medal table is so far ahead of my expectations that it feels rather like a "did I dream that?" situation.

Investment in elite sports is money well spent (I really do see it as an investment rather than a subsidy).  We don't have to build an Olympic park again so we are talking about small change, in the grand scheme of Bankers' losses, to promote sport for kids and to give the country some pride back.  It really seems like politicians are getting serious about "legacy", I hope so.  I feel rather inspired myself.

[red marley]

I wasn't cynical about the games as such, but was suspicious of the sponsorship restrictions imposed by the global money lenders and purveyors of branded shoes, sugar and fat.

In the end though, their presence wasn't nearly so dominant as I feared. Plenty of non-burger related food in the park and the corporates generally tucked away from the main action. I could have done with fewer BA adverts and "fun" BA promotional antics on the big screens in the park though.

[Tigerrr]

I was a total cynic. The games have cost me a summers worth of lost business, so in addition to paying for it via my tax I have paid again in lost earnings. I didnt get a single ticket in the ballots so missed out until I lucked into a corporate jolly to the cycling.  Thats when the tables began to turn and by the end I am as mad for it all as anyone. I bought t shirts and hats for the whole familiy.
I suspect there may be a big hangover though - Londons economy has dived as well as our cute speedo model.
Walking around the site one could possibly imagine it as the most soulless wasteland in 18 months as teh weeds and feral locals repossess the picnic zones and raised walkways. It will be a great film set for a reshoot of Trainspotting with Larnden instead of the scotch. innit.

[fuzzy]

I had a ral downer on the Olympic thing due to what I still consider to be a bit of a fiasco around the tickets (an argument that has been done to death elsewhere and not for this thread but mentioend as the reason for my downer) which turned out to be immaterial as I was working stoopid hours for all but three days of the festivities. Being a curmudgeon I really wanted to hate the wholething with a Gold Medal winning passion.

I utterly and miserably failed.

I loved the whole thing from a TV watching distance.

My cycling heroes did us proud, even Cav who, along with the rest of the road race squad tried their heart out to win but were ganged up on. The rowing, athletics and equestrian teams came up trumps. The combat sports gave us medals galore. The youg lad who found his sporting abilities screwed up by a snow boarding injury picked up a shotgun and beat the world. Michal Phleps had us on the edge of our seats wondering if he was going to win another gold before he retired. The South African swimmer won Gold and his Dad won our hearts. Usain Bolt mugged it up to the crowds and proved he could walk the walk as well as he could talk the talk. Rudesia blitzed the 800 meters, Christine Ohuruagu was sooooooooooo close to a second gold. Saturday shou be renamed Farahday, Jessica Ennis overcame what I seriously thought was going to be far too much pressure and expectation and just blew the competition away- what a fabulous 800 meter run she produced as the last event. Jade Johnson throwing her headgaurd into the air and screamingwith joy in the Taekwondo. Being able to lip read the moments like "We've won the Olympics" (Kath Copeland in the rowing) and Gemma Gibbons looking to the heavens and mouthing "I love you Mum" after getting into the final at her weight in Judo. Too many to mention.

 I lost count of how many times I found myself on the verge of blubbing like a good un at medal ceremonies or post race interviews.

Rio has a lot to live up to.

Well done London and the rest of GB.

[Domestique]

To early to say, give it another couple of weeks

[tiermat]

When the ticket lottery started Mrs T asked if we were going to try and get tickets, I said not.

Up until the start I was still thinking it a waste of time, especially with all the horror stories regarding G4S, the army and police etc.

Then I saw the opening ceremony and sort of knew this was going to be different, you know like when you saw the opening ceremony for Sydney (sorry but Athens and Beijing just came nowhere close, despite trying hard).

I tried my hardest to keep away from the coverage.  This lasted all of 2 days (it would have been less but I was a bit peeved at the men's road race results).

Then I was hooked.

I have to admit to being on the edge of my seat for a lot of the Atheltics, the cycling track events were a mixed bag, but enjoyable all the same.  Swimming (and diving) just left me cold, but I did enjoy the 'Merkins getting pipped at the post by the French.

So yes, I would say I was won over, sometime between now and 2016 my cynicism will creep back in though, I am sure!

[Manotea]

I cannot believe we pulled it off. The closing ceremony was a bit naff but the torch runners and opening ceremony was a real eye-opener. It was Danny Boyle wot won it.

I really hope the Olympic park lives on and develops a local sports culture / buzz. If I was young, free and single (and resigned to living in London), I would be seriously tempted to relocate and be part of it.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The UK put on a bloody good Olympics and performed outstandingly well, both much better than feared.

Nonetheless, the cynicism will remain at least until Bolt gets done for doping (plus quite a few other competitors). For the naive, just check the link between BALCO and Bolt. In comparison, the men's long jump and women's pentathlon look as clean as a whistle.

[tiermat]

LWaB you have put into words what is niggling at the back of my mind.

This Olympics has seen very few records broken, certainly a lot less than, say, Atlanta or prior.

To my mind though the events that appear clean have been more exciting because of this.  More a true athletic competition than who can afford the best and newest doping techniques.

Vino winning the men's race worries me too, it's only 5 years since he was caught.  I am not saying that others in the race are clean, but I don't believe that win was 100% on the level (no pun intended)

[Basil]

Fairly cynical to start with, but won over from the opening ceremony onwards.  All in all I feel that the organisers should be congratulated.

Mrs. B, WHO DOES NOT DO SPORT AT ALL, shrieking at Mo Wossosname during the 5000 was a sight to behold. 

I didn't enjoy the closing ceremony.

[rogerzilla]

I voted for the first option, but we'll be paying for this for a long time, I suspect, and I'm not convinced by a legacy beyond some new sports facilities (and London really needed that velodrome).

[Hilldodger]

Nope. Glad it's all over. Roll on the Isle of Man TT 2013 

[citoyen]

My attention was grabbed by the actual sport much more than I expected it to be, but I'm still very uneasy about the way the whole affair was run - ie as a massive moneyspinner for the head honchos of the IOC and assorted international megacorporations, which is particularly distasteful when you consider how much of the actual work was done by free labour (call it "volunteering" if you like, but we're talking about a massive commercial enterprise here, not a charity).

I also hate the way the success of Team GB has been used as a smokescreen to hide all the
nation's ills. The Olympics is in many ways Cameron's Falklands.

Legacy schmegacy.

d.

[rogerzilla]

Fortunately the Olympics are far too early to benefit the Tories in the next election, unless Clegg jumps ship before 2015.  OTOH, maybe Cameron is clever enough to engineer a split right now and call a snap election ; he needs to get a vote of no confidence though, because he's stiffed himself with his own fixed-term rule.

Of course...the Olympics were won, and the first 5 years of preparation carried out, by a Labour government.

Interesting factoid; Seb Coe is descended from Jamaican slave-owners.  That must have gone down well with Bolt and crew 

[Butterfly]

I wouldn't say I was a cynic - that would suggest interest and thinking it would all go wrong. I wasn't interested, I think it is a stupid waste of time and money. I don't like sport. I don't like competition. I would say that the positive things that will come of it are few - mainly the chance to push for more sport and that once the paralympics are out of the way, we should be shot of the whole ridiculous performance for another 66 years or so (yay!). What is the point?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Bread and circuses?

[Gandalf]

I remain to be convinced that any meaningful legacy will come out of it, if any.

Despite enjoying the events that I managed to watch on the telly,  it still sticks in my craw that companies I actively boycott have benefited from my taxes.