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George Kerevan: The Olympics are all wrapped up in politics, and always have been



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Published Date: 21 August 2008
Ladbrokes has cut the odds on Gordon Brown calling a snap election to take advantage of the national feel-good factor

EVEN I, a noted agnostic on the subject of sport, have been touched by Olympic fever. I am happy for Team GB and their impressive medal tally, the best since the London Olympiad of 1908. It would be churlish not to be.

That does not mean I don'...



The full article contains 1015 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 21 August 2008 10:02 AM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: 2008 Olympics
 
1

Senga Jean,

21/08/2008 00:13:03
THE "SHADOW" of Peter O'Connor. I suggest "bright glow" in the circumstances. C'mon SCOTLAND!
2

The Spook in Leith,

21/08/2008 00:17:48
The Olympics are all wrapped up in politics, and always have been.

Yes and that's because news papers and the rest of the media spin sport and politics around as if it were a new Olympic sport.

Team GB has done well (along with team Scotland) but i have to admit, i hear more people talking about new Celtic and Rangers signings than i do about the Olympic feel good factor and the amount of golds the UK has won.

Im not being a spoil sport and sport is something i love and play every week but i just think the Olympics are a bit boring but that's just my opinion.

This feel good factor, hmm so Gordys odds for calling a snap election because of Olympic success?? Some how i don't think a couple of dozen gold medals will line the hard pressed public, pull the other one..
3

John PM,

Edinburgh 21/08/2008 01:53:51
I love this:

At the 1906 Athens Games, the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association sent a national Irish team, including Peter O'Connor, whose world record in the long jump stood for 20 years. But when they got to Athens, the British objected to having separate Irish representation and the party were allowed to compete only as part of the British team.

However, O'Connor, an Irish patriot, got his own back. At the medal ceremony for the long jump, he scaled the flag pole, pulled down the Union flag, and hoisted the green flag of Eire. Officials who tried to stop him were held off by Irish and Irish-American athletes and supporters.

--- No doubt if one of our Scots Olympians pulled a similar stunt Gordon would go back to his bunker! A snap election based on the union flag being waved where the Saltire is banned. Desperate stuff.
4

Edward,

21/08/2008 02:55:35
Look out for Brown hogging it, when he is in Beijing and back in London with the parade through London of the 'Team GB' It will be wall to wall union flags!
The Labour spin doctors are working overtime on this pushing for Brown to be superglued to the Team GB feel good. Its already noticable when a Labour minister is interviewd the amount of times the word 'Team GB' is stated forcefully. They will be working on how to link this with the 'being British' thing that Brown wants
Personally Brown can ram the union flag where the sun doesnt shine!
5

henrymanchester,

UK 21/08/2008 04:32:46
Gordon brown is so fat he needs to be taken into care.

Wonder if I can get odds on that?
6

Rulesbutnotrulers,

Federation, not separation 21/08/2008 07:36:49
It's time we didn't know which nation any athlete belonged to. The Olympics should be about the best sportsperson, not the best sports nation. Nationalism remains the poison that weakens us all. SNP take note.
7

Geoff,

sa 21/08/2008 07:41:53
It will,alas, take more than Olympic success to rescue Gordon Brown although I think that the great performance of team GB hasn't done the Unionist cause any harm!! Also the plight of another"wee" nation-Georgia might convey a subtle cryptic message to those that would breakup the Kingdom, that the world is a dangerous place fr small nations!

Have a lovely day everyone-beautiful late winter sun here in sa-22 degrees. Hope yous are getting some! :)
8

Boy Wonder,

21/08/2008 07:57:00
Since 786bce, when the Greeks originally held their city-state games and the Olympiads, they were often held for political reasons.
9

donald,

glasgow 21/08/2008 08:47:14
Fascinating stuff GM. If only we had the Scots with guts to do the same. I had a pal, a few years ago, who climbed a flagpole in Glasgow's Buchanan St, in a kilt, to lower Labour's Butchers Apron. It was about three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon and the crowds cheered him on.
10

MacGillicuddy,

21/08/2008 08:49:21
#3
Great stuff.
Two things we can be certain about.

1.The Olympic Games always mired in politics.

2.Olympic medallists hitting the financial jackpot
11

Number 6,

Germany 21/08/2008 09:16:24
Why do we have seperate countries at the Commenwealth Games. Is this to ensure ENGLISH victory ?.

Seems bizarre, especially when you see the unionistas frothing at the mouth, at the sight of a Scottish Flag.

Are unionistas happy or unhappy at the fact we have our own national football team. Would they be happy to see a UK side in the world cup ?. It would seem so.
12

Darien,

Panama 21/08/2008 09:31:21
There are 19 Scots in Team GB; Team Norway, a country with less of a population than Scotland, has over 90 participants. The message is clear for Scottish athletes and their officials, and that is it would be far better to have a separate Team Scotland at the next olympics. At the moment participation is constrained.
13

Auld Twa,

Edinburgh 21/08/2008 09:35:35
Can anybody give us a comparison between the status of the Netherlands Antilles and Scotland ?
As far as we know the Netherlands Antilles are part of the Netherlands.
14

Number 6,

Germany 21/08/2008 09:39:34
#13 And HongKong is part of China, as is, according to the Chinese, Tiwan. Both marched under their own flag at the Olympics.
15

Roy,

21/08/2008 09:40:06
These 'Team GB' soundbites are totally turning me off the Olympics! Next we'll be getting sold the idea that it stands for 'Team Gordon Brown'. I hear the Northern Irish are none too happy, Northern Ireland being part of the UK but not part of 'Great' Britain.
16

Venachar,

21/08/2008 09:43:37
We have very clever politicians! Just as it looks like GB is going to claim it's largest medal haul the Government said the other day there is no more money to prepare for the London Olympics - feel good factor, I think not.
17

vorlic,

edinburgh 21/08/2008 10:39:57
how many millions did these 37 medals cost the taxpayer sport is an individual choice and therefor should not be susidised by the good old taxpayer.i have no feel good factor about the number of medals one by the athletes but do congratulatethem on their individual success.no doubt GORDON BROWN feels good at the moment. may be an election is coming.
18

Tweedmouth,

Coldstream 21/08/2008 10:57:34
#12 Darien in Pnama "There are 19 Scots in Team GB; Team Norway, a country with less of a population than Scotland, has over 90 participants. . it would be far better to have a separate Team Scotland at the next olympics."

And how many medals did Norway win? How many medals do you think Scotland would win on its ownsome? Oh yes, Chris Hoy would still have won three golds - even without the support of the coaches, physios and engineers at the national cycling centre in Manchester?
He could have trained at that decaying velodrome in Edinburgh couldn't he?

If Scotland ever does vote to separate from the UK - and good luck to them if they do - the performance of its athletes will be similar to that of its football teams in successive world cups - occasional flashes of individual brilliance - but never in the finals. It's a matter of demographics and financial resources- 55 million people (and taxpayers) in England and Wales - 5 million in Scotland (the majority employed by the State.)





19

MacGillicuddy,

21/08/2008 11:20:37
#18

The number of medals an independent Scotland COULD win at a future Olympics will NOT be a factor when voting for Independence.
20

European Scot,

21/08/2008 11:35:50
18 Tweedmouth

" It's a matter of demographics and financial resources- 55 million people (and taxpayers) in England and Wales - 5 million in Scotland (the majority employed by the State.)"

In the field of Soccer, in all of the games that have been played between England and Scotland, England are just one game ahead.

'55 million taxpayers' ? ( Do children and babies pay tax ? ) against 5 million !

In future Olympics an Independent Scotland might only win one bronze for all I care, I would at least have a very real interest in identifying with, and giving support and encouragement to, those Scottish Sportsmen and Women who took part.
In this case it isn't all about winning, it is much more about participating, as a country, and as a nation, alongside the rest of the World.
21

Number 6,

Germany 21/08/2008 11:49:22
#18 tweedmouth, do you seriousley expect a london based goverment to invest in Scottish sport ?. They can't even bring themselves to ensure Scots can watch their own football team on terrestial tv. Get real. ONLY with independence will we have any possibility of real investment and improvement.

As it stands, in olympic terms, we already punch way above our weight. Who knows what we could achieve unhindered.

Why do you people just not get it ?
22

European Scot,

21/08/2008 11:59:48
18 Tweedmouth

Correction, in football England are four games ahead.
Correct tally, out of the 110 matches played, England have won 45, Scotland 41, and 24 draws.
Still not bad for such a 'small' country.
23

Ananurhing,

21/08/2008 12:09:43
The Olympics are all wrapped up in politics?

Isn't Chairman Gordo on his way to Beijing as we speak?
To wrap himself in the union flag and reflected golden glory.
Better cover his eyes and stuff it in his ears as well, because it's not going to help. The only snapping there's going to be at any election soon will be the noise coming from Gordo's sphyncter come Glenrothes.
24

Ananurhing,

21/08/2008 12:15:30
Good article though. Nice to see George Kerevan being let out of his box for a change. Nice one George!
25

Scottish 'N British,

21/08/2008 12:52:42
12

Norway's got 90 compettitors, to or 19. How many medals, especially Golds, have they got?

It is quality, not quantity, that counts.
26

Scottish 'N British,

21/08/2008 12:55:55
18

Exactly.

Chris's first one was won as a team with 2 non-Scots.

I know he's great an' all, but he's not Superman.

Besides, it would surely be against one rule or other if he attempted to line up on his lonesome against the world's best!!
27

LEAL,

21/08/2008 15:29:39
Peter O'Connor scaled the flag pole and replaced the union flag with the flag of his own country.
What a statement to make.
As for Brown and his attempt to grab a share of the glory....He fools no one but himself.
28

Scottish 'N British,

21/08/2008 15:53:40
As the man said

"All this was a long time ago".



29

cataibh,

Over the Struie 21/08/2008 17:15:26
#28 Long has the night of sorrow reigned, but the dawn shall bring us light
30

Darien,

Panama 21/08/2008 21:16:15
London 2012, and 100+ Scots participants led by the St. Andrews flag and the pipes. That'll do nicely.
31

Friseal,

Scotland 25/08/2008 14:05:04

#18 Tweedmouth "If Scotland ever does vote to separate from the UK - and good luck to them"

Erm last time I checked Coldstream was still part of Scotland...! thanks for the good luck, but it would be coming with us.

 

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