How on earth do they do it?

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Totally in awe of the performance of UK athletes, especially the cyclists.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

How do they do it?

Dedication and application – they could probably build a 5" loco in 3 months

Likewise loving the cycling.

Rod

[SteveMParticipant @stevem36008]

Yes amazing performances from the cyclists but matched I think by the rowers. GB is a tiny little piece of the earth but we certainly make our mark in the world of sport.
Some marvellous entertainment so far with hopefully a fair bit more to come.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Not much to do with model engineering, personally I'm sick to death of the Olympics, football, cricket, rugby, (non) brexit, the labour party etc.

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Posted by Brian Hutchings on 14/08/2016 07:22:42:

Not much to do with model engineering, personally I'm sick to death of the Olympics, football, cricket, rugby, (non) brexit, the labour party etc.

+1.

Although being a sailor. i hear we won silver in the sailboards so that is ok.. I always feel a good time to be off sailing is when Wimbledon is on otherwise the wife & i might have a divorce

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Why so negative? If it doesn't interest you, just move on!

Neil

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

It's likely not so much an improvement. Our athletes do the very best they can, often being disadvantaged in comparison to other nations (for more than one reason). They are clearly some of the best in the world and maybe got on so well because of the anti-drug system improving so much, recently, thereby removing some undeserving competitors from the Olympics.

A dedicated bunch, and they deserve every medal they win. And all the rest of the team can be proud to have even represented their small country at such a high level.

[Nigel McBurney 1Participant @nigelmcburney1]

Too much sport on tv,this summer,tennis,football,cricket,and now endless olympics,hated sport at school,The only sport I enjoyed ,motorcycling on a trials bike,never see that on tv. So called sports stars paid too much money.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Lottery funding for them has helped a lot "not done"

John

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[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 14/08/2016 09:32:13:

Why so negative? If it doesn't interest you, just move on!

Neil

I agree with you.

Most people I know seem to have more than one set and, there are now something like over a hundred channels available for a relatively small initial investment in Freesat, (not forgetting Freeview), or the paid for systems for those who want to use them.

I am always puzzled by people who complain about programme content as well, there are plenty of warnings now.

The ultimate get out is of course the off switch.

As the Wife, (who is an Olympics fan) says "it is only once every four years after all".

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

The problem comes when one is into a "minority " sport. Nigel mcburney has mentioned trials bikes. Great fun to participate in but not the sort of thing mainstream viewing public can latch into. Speedway os the same. Tv has captured some thrill of the event but will never get the atmosphere of actually being there

I live & breath sailing but to a non sailor i have to admit watching a race is like watching paint dry. But watching a well filmed match race on tv can have my wife & i on the edge of our seats if one of our favourites is being filmed. How sad can that be

In the end tv producers have to create revenue & to do that they need viewers. They will never get large audiences with a sport that does not provide entertainment to the casual viewer who just happens to click on a channel & then wants to stay there. There is just too much competition from mainstream easily followed sports

So  we get endless repetition of  drivel that drives some of us mad but delights the majority

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/08/2016 10:17:24

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/08/2016 10:19:07

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/08/2016 10:23:10

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by Nigel McBurney 1 on 14/08/2016 09:36:24:

,motorcycling on a trials bike,never see that on tv.

You want to get yourself Sky both indoor and outdoor trials are covered.

Having a dad who was a keen cyclist I have always enjoyed following it and the many other sports that get their rare bit of TV coverage at events like the Olympics.

Talking of Dedication I have also been following another cycle event as a friend is riding ( only lady finisher last year), just comming to an end now. The Trans Continental Race TCRNo4 started in Belgium two weeks ago and the first rider to finish at Galipoli, Turkey did it in 8 days! Although you choose your own route there are a few check points along teh way mostly in the Alps, Dolomites and Montenegro's mountains so riders have to cover over 40,000m of vertical climbing and cover just over 4,000km. It becomes rather adictive following their GPS trackers which update their position every 5mins.

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by SteveM on 13/08/2016 23:40:53:

GB is a tiny little piece of the earth

First nation to create a distinction between church and state, abolition of slavery, garauntee of rights all citizens born free or dentured, first to industrialize, first modern state.Biggest empire.English,the language of business. Size isn't everything! The influence is truly planetary.

Michael W

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

And they did not achieve all that by sitting around watching TV! (Or posting on the net for that matter.)

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

News only mentions medals and only a passing mention if not mainstream at that. Rather poor not to mention the others which is probably where the encouragement is more valuable. And minority sports as Sam said.

But for top quality sporting achievement I will be watching the village cricket match this afternoon and no chance of rain interrupting play.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by Hopper on 14/08/2016 11:04:06:

And they did not achieve all that by sitting around watching TV! (Or posting on the net for that matter.)

I have people in the house that are more addicted to watching sport than me. That might cause me to post more often. I do like watching some but not much of it.

Other channels on the TV – most have nothing but drivel on them. My son recently added Amazon prime. Some interesting things can be done with the gizmo that can be bought along with that to plug into the TV.

John

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[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

"

,motorcycling on a trials bike, never see that on tv.

You want to get yourself Sky both indoor and outdoor trials are covered."

Used to see it when Lampkin senior (Arthur) was a lad, Post Hill etc.,

"Get yourself Sky?" Yes, PAY EXTRA to support the other ******** ******,(F1).

Don't forget, most of the license fee WE HAVE TO PAY is at the moment contributing to the dawn to dawn transmission of Rio supported by 455 "staff" they've sent over there.

With all the repeats, I think we've won about 800 Golds.

Regards Ian.

[Roger Provins 2Participant @rogerprovins2]

Posted by Circlip on 14/08/2016 11:40:41:

Don't forget, most of the license fee WE HAVE TO PAY ……….

Regards Ian.

Unless you're over 74 then it's free!

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

A thread on the performance of our athletes has, regrettably, sunk to the level of pros and cons of watching the Google box. We don't have one, don't want to want endless drivel on a small (or large) screen.

That makes no difference to the performance of our olympic athletes. They have already done superbly well. That is whether you might watch it or not. Remember, topic is their achievement, nothing else. If you want to winge, make a thread and see how much interest you get.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

As someone who never reached his prime and a little over weight I enjoy watching athletics and seeing others achieve the ultimate and may it continue, cant stand football, sorry hate it with a passion

Martin P

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by martin perman on 14/08/2016 12:10:52:

As someone who never reached his prime and a little over weight I enjoy watching athletics and seeing others achieve the ultimate and may it continue, cant stand football, sorry hate it with a passion

Martin P

I can't get excited about football either. Boring. Lots of over paid wozzocks who the best of can't even play well for their country. Rugby is a touch better and the 7's in the Olympics was interesting – for me anyway.

Licence fee. Interesting statistic. When people were buying video recorders the highest uptake per house hold was the UK. Near one per house. The reason is simple – TV worth recording largely down to the fact that the BBC isn't commercial so the others have to try to compete with that.

Times do change though. Cost and cheap to produce television and the beeb do seem to have been dragged down a bit and also dumbed down some areas. Some of that will be down to the cost of actors. Dumbing down – fashion. Also all of the drivel on the other free to view channels. Many of them don't even deserve air space.

I know sky is wonderful. We had it – good riddance. It isn't that good.

John

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[hthParticipant @hth]

I think some of the Olympic Athletes do it for the love of it. , shooting and archery for example … they get little in terms of monetary income. The families often spend fortunes to get them there … endless driving to training .

I don't agree with concept of the Govt. sponsored Institutes of Sport …….. where spoilt brats live in and are pampered and given training by experts for years on end .

The big stars …… most of them are too dumb to do anything else . Footballers are the same the world over. The boring after match interviews " yeah we goona win next time " is the whole vocabulary

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Don't have time to watch the telly. life's too short

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

Posted by Ady1 on 14/08/2016 13:08:20:

Don't have time to watch the telly. life's too short

There is always time to enjoy others efforts and after yesterdays round trip from home to Lewes in Sussex and back to collect two Hopper cooled Lister L's, a root cutter and a large engine trolley the telly is a good way to wind down.

Martin P

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