I see that SFA have caved in on Team GB.

 

Begining of the end of  national team.

 

Wonder if Gordon Smith has been been promised a seat on FA board for selling us down the river. Mind you once a hun always a hun.

 

Micah fucking Richards?

 

Is that the best you can do you english wankstain?

 

FFS

I think he should have gone to the euros personally. What's your beef with him mbt?

I think he should have gone to the euros personally. What's your beef with him mbt?

 

He's black.

I just don't rate him that highly, that's all.

 

It's called an opinion.

Haha mbt I wasn't having a go. I rate him very highly and if it was a normal team it would have been strange why he hadn't been selected.

Happy there are no Scots involved. Now just need them to lose every game and jobs done.

He's black.

 

Happy there are no Scots involved. Now just need them to lose every game and jobs done.

 

This. Especially because if they do well it'll be rubbed in our faces and used as a political message. Whereas if they lose it'll just be hilarious.

This. Especially because if they do well it'll be rubbed in our faces and used as a political message. Whereas if they lose it'll just be hilarious.

 

Frankly I dinna give  fuck.

 

Team GB (boak) is all about sponsorship and merchandising, beckhan probably has his so tied up for himsel it wasn't worth adding him.

Micah Richards is a tremendous player.

 

I'm not sure what the fuss is all about that there are no Scots in the team. I thought that's what we wanted?

Couldn't give a fuck, Scotland are shite, and out of our current crop I doubt any of them would have deserved a place in the GB team anyway

Couldn't give a fuck, Scotland are shite, and out of our current crop I doubt any of them would have deserved a place in the GB team anyway

 

Very much this.

Squad: J Allen (Swansea), C Bellamy (Liverpool), R Bertrand (Chelsea), J Butland (Birmingham), S Caulker (Tottenham), T Cleverley (Manchester United), J Cork (Southampton), C Dawson (West Brom), R Giggs (Manchester United), A Ramsey (Arsenal), M Richards (Manchester City), D Rose (Tottenham), S Sinclair (Swansea), M Sordell (Bolton), J Steele (Middlesbrough), D Sturridge (Chelsea), N Taylor (Swansea), J Tomkins (West Ham)

Pannelists on BBC saying that Team GB should be a permanent fixture.

Pannelists on BBC saying that Team GB should be a permanent fixture.

 

For what reason though? Scotland and Wales would certainly be dead against and its not like the four countries together would make a difference compared to the current English team.

For what reason though?

 

Cause they're fucking cunts really.

can see an argument for the gb women's team to share resources and increase participation until the constituent nations are able to compete individually, but the gb men's team would only make sense if professional players weren't allowed to take part. the olympics are about people who want to get the best out of their own performance. Not many in men's professional gb football fit that bill.

 

i love football and i love the olympics but the men's football has been totally unwatchable. i don't know how i put up with lawro and the rest throughout the season (lack of alternative probably), but the analysts for the other olympic sports are so knowledgeable and interesting that football coverage looks even more utterly amateur.

 

And the point goes deeper than media coverage. Club management is a revolving door of jobs for the boys, compared to the cycling team for eg, who are all about the science and optimising the tiniest of details. The elite athletes are dedicated to getting the absolute best out of themselves, while footballers have shyster agents negotiating ridiculous wages for doing comparatively little work.

 

Football is so undeserving of the money and status it's got that it's actually a bit embarrassing.

Football is so undeserving of the money and status it's got that it's actually a bit embarrassing.

In this summer of administrations, liquidations and general financial nonsense in football, the Olympics has really brought home what sport really is all about.

In this summer of administrations, liquidations and general financial nonsense in football, the Olympics has really brought home what sport really is all about.

 

Pumping loads and loads of money into minority sports so we can feel superior?

Pumping loads and loads of money into minority sports so we can feel superior?

 

The jingoism has been an unfortunate distraction from a lot of positives, and the olympics have highlighted how inaccesible certain events are out with the elite. The government should be pressured to invest, rather than their plans to make sports even less accessable.

 

A somalian assylum seeker, mixed race girl from Sheffield, lots of Scots winning medals and people from around the world getting rewards from hard work - if there's going to be investment in sport then that's where it should be to benefit society and get kids active. It shouldn't be in an industry like football that only encourages people to buy sky, go to the pub and basically be a scumbag.

Pumping loads and loads of money into minority sports so we can feel superior?

 

 

Fuck me that's a glass-half-empty way of thinking about it. The more money that's in any "minority" sport is a good thing IMO my opinion. Surely that encourages participation or even enables participation.

 

Fuck me that's a glass-half-empty way of thinking about it. The more money that's in any "minority" sport is a good thing IMO my opinion. Surely that encourages participation or even enables participation.

 

Don't get me wrong I think it's amazing what British Cycling and others have done, I just feel that from a government point of view alot of this was aimed at making us look good rather than any real desire to improve the nations health and wellbeing.  If they were they would put real money into grass roots and more importantly facilities which everyone and anyone could access.

There are promising signs that many have taken inspiration from these games but there is little evidence to suggest these boosts are anything other than short term following Olympics.

Time will tell.

Pumping loads and loads of money into minority sports so we can feel superior?

I'm not necessarily talking about Team GB or any particular nation.  People who devote themselves to sporting excellence as opposed to undereducated but talented people who spend equal time in the bookies as they do on the training pitch, spending money paid to them from clubs in debt which in turn comes from Sky TV subscription and advertising money, which comes from us anyway.  Regardless of whether it comes from the govt or the private sector, it invariably comes from us.

 

And anyway, the bit in bold just kind of confirms the type of attitude that pervades in this country (UK).  What sports aren't considered "minority"?  Football, Rugby (Union & League), Golf, Swimming?  I would argue that Tennis is a minority sport, in terms of participation at least, especially in Scotland.  More people play badminton.

 

If we're using cycling as the example here - is cycling really a minority sport?  I would expect everybody here can ride a bike.  I imagine most of us own a bike and I suspect that a great number of kids and young adults will be inspired by the performances of the cyclists.  I personally love cycling and along with swimming (and arguably running), it is the most accessible sport imaginable to people of all ages.

I'm not necessarily talking about Team GB or any particular nation.  People who devote themselves to sporting excellence as opposed to undereducated but talented people who spend equal time in the bookies as they do on the training pitch, spending money paid to them from clubs in debt which in turn comes from Sky TV subscription and advertising money, which comes from us anyway.  Regardless of whether it comes from the govt or the private sector, it invariably comes from us.

 

And anyway, the bit in bold just kind of confirms the type of attitude that pervades in this country (UK).  What sports aren't considered "minority"?  Football, Rugby (Union & League), Golf, Swimming?  I would argue that Tennis is a minority sport, in terms of participation at least, especially in Scotland.  More people play badminton.

 

If we're using cycling as the example here - is cycling really a minority sport?  I would expect everybody here can ride a bike.  I imagine most of us own a bike and I suspect that a great number of kids and young adults will be inspired by the performances of the cyclists.  I personally love cycling and along with swimming (and arguably running), it is the most accessible sport imaginable to people of all ages.

 

I quite agree, my use of minority sports was in the widely used form to describe pretty much everything except football, perhaps I should have put it in italics or add (sic).

I'm not knocking any of the sportsman or the massive achievements this last wk or so, it's been bloody brilliant. I'm just cynical about the way the govt have been pushing cash towards certain sports, sports that will get very little from the punter on a regular basis and their motives behind it

 

Fuck me that's a glass-half-empty way of thinking about it. The more money that's in any "minority" sport is a good thing IMO my opinion. Surely that encourages participation or even enables participation.

 

A lot of the money goes to pay for full time athletes though not really the sport.

 

I'd much prefer the government to come out with a statement saying they were going to stop funding the elite athletes and have no state sponsored full time athletes. Instead the money would go to getting the people more active and doing sports and team GB would be full of deserving amateurs like it used to be.