Thetownend.com

Fuck me, the BBC are at it again.

Why the fuck are we suffering prime coverage of Paddy womans boxing?

Pre fight comments from Dara O brien And Ed Byrne........Why?  Foreign country!

Made me want the Russian to kick her Arse.....as it was it was closer than predicted and an impressive storming third round won it for her.

Let's hope she doesn't fail a drug test in a years time like that Ginger swimmer that was the toast of the country for a while.

Do the paddys chip in for the liscence fee?

Do they fuck.

Tis a BIG thing over here.

Not quite as big as Kerry v Cork in the GAA football.

The fella painting my house disappeared to watch the fight.

Hope he comes back sometime in the next month

I'm sure RTL have reciprocated with coverage of Team GB...

Yes of course.....I crawl back under my rock.

RTE even.

There's loads of irish TV licence payers in the uk. I wanted to see it too and I'm sure the majority of viewers did

Well done to the Irish boxer. And who cares if the BBC focus a little attention on her.  The close ties we have with Eire make them anything but just another foreign country.

Build bridges, spread the love. Peace.

To be fair apart from the boxer they haven't really talked about Ireland or focussed on their athletes at all.

It'll be interesting to see how Scotland go as an independent country...prob 2020 Olympics. There have been some significant Scottish performers in the GB team, but will they be able to fund the coaching etc, at a level beyond say Ireland.

If they're proper Scottish then they won't qualify Reg!

I've been thinking that this Olympics has been a great thing for the Union....

There was some good focus on the show jumper that fucked it up.

Do honestly think so, Reg?

How many non-English medal winners have you seen sing along with the National Anthem when on the podium?

And isn't it about time England had its own anthem instead of God Save The Queen?

Andy Murray

Did Chris Hoy sing it for one of his medals?

Too busy blubbing

On another note, who gives a fuck about national anthems.

They are stupid, and pointless. And expecting sports people to sing them - either at the start of a sporting event when they should really be focussing their entire efforts on the task at hand, or at the end when they should be revelling in the moment they will rarely get again - is beyond comprehension.

i like national anthems, as long as it's that one about our queen n that

I agree - the vast majority of them are dirges (including GSTQ - which is at least short), but if you're representing your country to the world I do like to see the medal winners at least have a go at lip synching

Spain's national anthem is an instrumental, so they'll just be talking to themselves.

Not sure you can use singing the national anthem as any kind of yard stick. No one really gives a fuck about that.

I'd totally agree with Reg though as I've been thinking the same myself. For me the Olympics has really unified everyone under the GB banner. No one has been talking about the individual nations, it's all been about Great Britain. Even Murray has been joining in. Think it's due in part to the whole Team GB branding. I know some don't like it but it gives you a team to get behind which is a lot more natural for people to get in to.

Will be interesting to see the opinion polls on Scottish independence once the Olympics have finished.

Don't see a problem with the Irish thing. They were saying on the BBC text commentary that the crowd at the boxing was as much behind the Irish girl as they were the ours, which suggests a lot of people would agree. If GB aren't competing then I'll be behind Ireland, then Australia, then Holland and then anyone bar France and Germany. Doesn't everyone follow other countries with an order of preference list?

Yes, but you're seeing this as an Englishman (I presume) living in England - and the majority of them (us) do feel British.

I do not think that the Welsh or Scots think the same

No...

I quite like national anthems, but not ours... Italy have my favourite, and the Germans.

I've always hated the British label and the lack of an English identity.

I'm 100% British at present though.

You only got to look at two world wars to see how strong the union is.....the 400 odd soldiers who have sadly died in Afghanistan are from all the union also.

As for sport,it has shown in these games how all cultures and nationalities bring the world together for a while.

The US/Saudi girl yesterday taking part shows how important the games are....as for the anthems i would sing like fuck if it was me.

What is so noticeable is the comparison with the athletes from all the various sports and the vacuous morons (in the main) who represent the game of football week in week out.

Dedication to the cause is what I think PdC is aiming for for STFC - and he is, of course, right

Russia for me...

Really? I'm not sure a few gold medals at a sporting event will have that much to do with the vote outcome. 

As for Andy Murray, I don't think you could call him mouthing a couple of words to gstq as singing along to it. Think that was just clever PR.

Don't get why the non-english get slated for not singing with the anthem, yet nothing's mentioned when an english person decides not to sing it, Ennis for example.

Think the criticism of the football team has been a bit unfair, the tournament has been run at an arms length from the rest of the Olympics and they haven't really had the same chance to get involved as everyone else has had.

Bosnia's anthem is instrumental and very controversial. They changed the old one because it was too "pro Bosniak" so most people just sing the old one over the current one.

I've read a lot of stuff on line from people comparing the olympic squad with footballers. It's a rubbish argument. One of my mates posted words to the effect of 'remember Euro'12 when a bunch of over paid footballers failed to deliver, perhaps they should watch the olympics....' blah blah blah. The truth is if england had won another one or two games the country would have gone mental about Euro 12. So all these people really are saying is, if you're successful we'll be proud of you.

If Great Britain had only won a couple of golds people wouldn't be banging on about how proud they are. Success means support.

Exactly, 1996...

'if england had won another one or two games the country would have gone mental about Euro 12'

Success isn't always about finishing first.

I was referring to footballers in general not particularly the GB team at the Olympics

I think you have missed the point. The athletes, whether winners or not, have shown a level of dedication that is completely alien to the majority of self-centred footballers - and not just the PL players.

They are, in the main, a load of Billy Big Bollocks and it is this attitude I think (and hope) PdC is trying to change at Swindon.

Funny. I'm the same, they're also the only 2 I know (not the words) other than ours. (I spent years watching Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in case anyone was wondering how I know them.)

My point is no one would give a **** about whether players are 'billy big bollocks' or not if they achieve a perceived success, semi's or better,m play offs or better. If people cared that much they wouldn't watch football.

In mid September the majority of sports viewers will be glued to their tv's watching premier league matches and world cup qualifiers.

Haha, that is probably how they have become ingrained in my head since childhood now i think about it!

You don't know the tune of La Marseillaise?

96 was a fantastic tournament.

Psycho's penalty
That goal by Gazza.

When people go babbling on about how too much is expected from the England national team I always think back to 96 because, we didn't succeed, yet most people were dead happy with the effort and pride shown.

Agree to a certain extent FH, but there is a bit of bollocks there. Okay England didn't win, but they did succeed, they did what was acceptable and did it in an positive fashion (okay ignoring the fact the Spaniards had a perfectly good golden goal in the quarters wrongly ruled out for offside). Euro 96 may not have been won, but it was still a success.

Conceeding to the Dutch to make sure Scotland's proud record didn't get a blemish ;)

Perhaps people dont sing it because the words are fucking rubbish!I also agree with jan aage-come September most people wont be able to name at least 69% of our medal winners.Shame,but true I think

No idea. Don't even have the slightest clue. I'll Google it post post. :)

Edit: Yes. :doh: As if it wasn't obvious. I'm quite special don't you know.

Baz, they knicked the 'Oooh aaah, oooh ahh, oooo ah, Cantona" song from Man U,  HTH.

But so many say the only acceptable thing (for the fans) is to win the whole tournament and therefore, we put too much pressure on the national team for trophies. 96 showed that what we want is to really give a shit and do the best they can, which is why it was a 'success', because they gave what the fans really want.

You've pretty much just re-iterated the point I was (trying) to make. That may be my fault for not explaining myself well.

And how many names of the athletes/competitors that didn't win medals will be remembered?  The medal success of Great Britain is the thing that's increased the pride in the squad. Which is the Olympic version of getting to the semi's I reckon.

If Great Britain had a Gold 2 Silver 4 Bronze 8 record no one would be banging on about look at how much better this poor athletes are compared to footballers?

Not being negative at all, and not taking anything away from the Olympics, because they've been great, but comparing them to footballers isn't being that fair on the people who play the beautiful game.

Ha ha! I thought you might know it if you heard it.  How about the American one?

Shut up. :D

Football fans might not remember the athletes but there are plenty of kids that have got new heroes and will be trying to follow in their footsteps, some will be drawn away from football. There are a few athletes I'll keep an eye out for in future, same for the women's handball team - who I'd prefer to watch over England. I missed a number of England games prior to the Euro's as I wasn't even aware they were playing and even when I realised I didn't give a toss.

It's not just about winning. I dislike the England football team as they are a bunch of overpaid obnoxious wankers and that wouldn't change if they won a major tournament. Compare that to the athletes in tears as they only finished 4th in an Olympic final.

The other thing is the buzz of the Olympics. I've been to a few events and it's been amazing, far different and better than a football match and something that I and many others won't forgot. Plenty are going on about how everyone is being a lot nicer to each other, especially in London, as well. Not sure about that myself and even less sure it will last but who knows?

On the subject of team GB, I've spent the last few days with one half of my wife's family. All discussions about the Olympics have revolved around Norway, Germany (where my wife's uncle lives) and England. No mention of team GB or Storbritannia and I gave up trying to correct them.

I don't really understand why this is as Norwegians in general are quite aware of the nuances of the UK as they're sick of being alternately ruled by Swedes or Danes and of 'mericans calling them Scandinavia. I can only conclude that the rest of the world views team GB as England et cetera.

So if England hosted the 2018 world cup they'd be no buzz?  That'd get the country going?

Not in the same way, it is totally different than say Euro 96.

TEF classic off thread tangent.

Why do the BBC continue to bang on about Ireland.....great country (been many many times), nice people....but....it's a fucking foreign country.

They have their own TV network, so.....why do we do it?

Please don't tell me that its because we have loads of paddys living here......I doubt American TV do the same...we dont seem to the same for Indian, Bangledesh or Pakistan do we and we have a lot of them in the UK melting pot?

It's getting worse and it fucks me off.

They dont. you're obsessed

Flash, it's worth pointing out that the Olympic flame went to Dublin....at the time I thought it was a bit strange, but maybe the Paddys still see themselves as being a little bit connected to UK.

Further, the BBC does provide the Asian Network for the sub-continental diaspora. OK this is radio based and probably undermined by the commercial Zee TV, which may be the reason the Tories want to axe it.

But for all its faults on the domestic front, the BBC in its provision of things like the World Service, is something worth commending

Ireland is a special case.  Despite the disgraceful way the people were treated when a part of the Empire, the links that we have with the Irish are permanent.  There must be many millions of people here who are part-Irish...probably more than the population of Ireland itself.  The popular cultures of the two countries are also a lot closer than most.

The same situation would exist if Scotland gets independence in 2014 (which I doubt it will).

If Scotland don't vote for independence, do we then get to vote them out of the Union anyway?

Valid point Reg.

Ireland is in the British Isles after all.

I am obsessed......

Guinness is ace.
Guinness is from Ireland.
So Ireland is ace.

The end.

Never a truer statement made.

From Dara O Briain on twitter...

A final note: loved the way the (80% Irish) crowd today roared for Team GB's Nicola Adams. She probably gave the best performance of the day too

Winner.

A few months back they said on Radio 5 that according to the most recent opinion polls if there was a vote for Scottish independence across the whole of the UK, the vote in Scotland would be in favour of staying in and outside Scotland for them to leave. I'd vote them out as I'm sick of them moaning all the time.

This is the problem though.  As the polls in Scotland demonstrate, the moaners are in a minority.  There is currently no majority in Scotland for independence.  Most people up there want to remain in the UK.

But you only get to hear the moaners.  The folk who aren't moaning and want things to stay roughly as they are don't make anything like as much noise...so it gives a false impression about what most Scots are really wanting.  If you want some balance, you have to take the views of the moaners along side those of people like Chris Hoy and Andy Murray (for example) over the last few weeks.  Clearly as proud to be British as anyone else.

Come on Cuban, knock this Paddy OUT!

Paddy just danced around the ring, landed a few then hid and ran. Hate the way the BBC are blowing the Irish.

If there was ever a referendum then the Scots would stay in, largely because above all else referendums nearly always favour the status quo. Not only that referendums are easily manipulated to get the result the establishment wants - in this case Scotland to remain a member of the Union - this is precisely the reason they are banned in Germany for very obvious historical reasons.

The Paddy won. :D

Unfortunately all too common that the loud minority skew the view of those on the outside of a situation