A couple of polls about "The Games!"

Tickets, Attendance and Success of the games.

  • Tried to get tickets but couldn’t.

    Votes: 15 9.6%
  • Tried to get tickets and did!

    Votes: 11 7.0%
  • Not bothered about tickets

    Votes: 62 39.5%
  • Will NOT be going

    Votes: 99 63.1%
  • WILL be going

    Votes: 14 8.9%
  • I think it will be a great success

    Votes: 30 19.1%
  • I think it will be somewhat of a success

    Votes: 61 38.9%
  • I think it will not be at all successful

    Votes: 10 6.4%
  • I think it will be a shambles

    Votes: 22 14.0%
  • I hope Deadringers doesn’t kill any more pigeons.

    Votes: 30 19.1%

  • Total voters
    157
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So doing my usual browsing through news sites and reading this site along with hearing stories from friends etc...

To me it seems on one hand we have pretty much all of the infrastructure in place for the games...Heathrow aside as who knows what the queues will be like there!

But at the same time the ticket sales have been shambolic. Some friends bid for 30-40ks worth of tickets and got around 3ks worth and others got the 1st ones they bid for. Plus with all the sales in the foreign websites which was just first come first serve it has made getting tickets for the hosting country very difficult.

And now we are seeing that the security firm behind the Games will need to now use the army and as many as 3.5k extra troops are to be bought in. :smashin::facepalm: - Plus the training they have been providing was apparently inadequate and they were drafting in teenagers from Collages :)

So with all that in mind I just wanted to get a few opinions from you all as to whether you believe that the games will or will not be successful, will you be attending and did you manage to get tickets. :) I'll add some poll options.

Personally for me I will not be attending (watching from home) and I think London Transport will not be able to cope with it all.
 
I also applied for thousands of pounds worth of tickets. I however got exactly nothing, I tired at every possible resale and was also unlucky. In the end I managed to get some tickets to the final of the mens weightlifting but I am annoyed I will not get into the stadium. Will probably hit a tout up.

I agree that the transport is not going to cope.
 
Didn't try for tickets - couldn't be bothered with the weird sale - and objected to getting a VISA :)

Might take the kids to one the BT Live parks to watch something on the big screen, so they have some 'in the mix' memories.

Would liek to go up the Orbit during the games - can't exactly work it out though - it says you need an 'olympic park ticket' are these available? Or does it just mean if you have a ticket to an actual event?
 
Not bothered about tickets, because I will not be going. But, I think it will be somewhat of a success. (My three votes).


I prefer to watch things like this on TV as you are able to catch all the best bits of the main events and all from the comfort of your own home without any of the stress or expense of travel and such.
There are only a few events I'd be interested in watching and I don't imagine getting tickets for them would be easy, so didn't even bother trying.

I don't understand why a lot of people are so bothered about going even though they have no interest in the events etc, I know people who are going just because it's something they'll never get the chance to do again in their lifetime (attend the olympics in their own country). It seems a bit odd to me that you'd go to an event just because it's hosted here and you have little to no interest other than it being a "monumental moment".
 
Sorry, posted two contradictory options, but with reason.

I think the games will be successful. I don't think they will be hugely successful especially if the weather doesn't improve. I think we will make use of the facilities afterwards rather than abandoning them and letting them rot (e.g. Beijing and Barcelona).

But I also ticked shambles. That is not the games itself but the infrastructure (travel, communications, security). I think it will be stretched beyond it's limit.

Again, if the weather doesn't pick up that could be a downer. Drove over one of the cycle routes yesterday - noticed that whilst they've given I nice fresh coat of tarmac, they haven't addressed the drainage problems that have been there since I've been using that stretch on a daily basis (18 years).

I might watch that on TV just to see how those fancy cycles deal with one foot deep puddles.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
I will be leaving the country before it starts and returning once its finished :D

Planned our holiday well this year.
 
I think many people are going to the events just to say they've been. Nothing wrong with that as it's the olympics after all. Potential once in a lifetime opportunity for most people.

I didn't apply for tickets as I'm not particularly interested in the Olympics and the vast majority of the events. I'd rather buy tickets for something I'm really interested in such as motorsport or football than go to the Olympics just to say "I was there".

Each to his own, etc.
 
People spend thousands of pounds for this thing?:confused:
I'd rather spend a few hundred and follow Naaktgeboren's example.
 
It's probably most likely that parasitical websites such as ViaGoGo played their part in the whole ticket fiasco for the games. Scum of the ticket community these people and Ch4 exposed them as such... :thumbsdow
 
Didn't apply for any tickets,but will be going there just for a day out.I go on the Clacton-London Liverpool st train often.It stops at Stratford and unless they've done alot of work at the station it's going to be a nightmare as it's more like a little country station and not something you would expect at an Olympic site.Also Stratford is a right dive! Think Olympic stadium in the middle of a run down council estate :(
 
Tentatively tried for tickets but wasn't overly concerned if I got any or not. I didn't get any as it happens but I think the ticketing has been a bit of a shambles....my bro-in-law's father ended up with 30 but at least he's generous enough to share them around the family.

As for the event itself, it will be a fairly decent success story but I think a lot of things will be covered up my mainstream media and we'll just get a few stories seeping through to kick someone in the balls in a few years.
 
Thank you for that poll option :).

I said 'somewhat of a success' and 'not going'. Looking at similar events that have happened here, it will be a success, but i can't see us beating China that much, architecture for one, and their opening ceremony was hard to beat. But it will just whoosh past, for those who aren't looking forward.

I do question the fact that all this time and money was spent on such a short time, couldn;'t they make it longer by a week? Also, couldn't they have just used the Wembley stadium- or is it not big enough?

In terms of 'areas' that won't benefit.. Manchester isn't one of them, some of the football events are going to be held here in Old Trafford. :)
 
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Jamezinho said:
I think many people are going to the events just to say they've been. Nothing wrong with that as it's the olympics after all. Potential once in a lifetime opportunity for most people.

I applied for loads of tickets & in the end ended up with men's artistic gymnastics... My wife was delighted... I less do. I had hoped to see Chris Hoy win a medal or watch Jess Ennis in Heptathlon or Bolt running.

However with that said I am glad I am going as it is a once in a lifetime thing & I want to be part of it.

There are those that complain how the tickets were sold via ballots but the organisers would have been slated for whatever they chose & people were always going to be disappointed.

I just really wish people would get on the band wagon & be happy about the games...

One last thing about queues at immigration. In America immigration queues are a joke but nobody says anything in case you are cavity searched & thrown on a plane home. And that is a plus for Brits... It won't affect you!!!

COME ON GB!!!
 
Voted: Tried to get tickets and failed and Will think will be a great success

Come on GB & NI !!!!!! :uk: :uk: :uk: :uk: :uk: :uk: :uk: :uk:

(not sure if I have enough Union flags there :p ;) )
 
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I know it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and all that but still, it does seem a colossal amount of money for something that is so short in timespan and with seemingly little legacy in terms of participation.

I suppose we won't really know until it's over as to whether it was a success or not, and how exactly do we judge success anyway? Kids being inspired in the future? Stadiums being used rather than mothballed? More of us being less sedentary, participating instead of spectating? Breaking even financially?

Security seems completely over the top and paranoid, transport is a disaster waiting to happen, too many "VIP's" with freebies. Will anyone really care once it's finished?

If it matters to you then of course it is important, I just keep thinking about all the money it cost and the cutbacks to essential services, that's all....

Derek
 
Didn't buy tickets and won't be going, but that's down to work commitments. I still hope to catch as much as I can on tv/iplayer.
I work for said security company but in another sector of their business, and while I wouldn't usually rush to defend them, I feel that this has been more a case of the Government shifting the blame.

No individual can work in the security without being properly vetted and they must be in possession of an operators license.
G4S could have supplied the staff if the government had kept their promise to fast track the vetting and licensing applications (both carried out by government bodies!).
Of course none of them would be in this mess if this had been organised much farther in advance..
 
Didn't bother with tickets, I think it will be somewhat of a success and I am dreading it as it will effect the running of the company for 2 months. Government should have realised that there are thousands of small businesses that have workers to pay!
 
Thank you for that poll option :).
;)


I know it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and all that but still, it does seem a colossal amount of money for something that is so short in timespan and with seemingly little legacy in terms of participation.

I suppose we won't really know until it's over as to whether it was a success or not, and how exactly do we judge success anyway? Kids being inspired in the future? Stadiums being used rather than mothballed? More of us being less sedentary, participating instead of spectating? Breaking even financially?

Security seems completely over the top and paranoid, transport is a disaster waiting to happen, too many "VIP's" with freebies. Will anyone really care once it's finished?

If it matters to you then of course it is important, I just keep thinking about all the money it cost and the cutbacks to essential services, that's all....

Derek

Something which made me almost choke on my food the other day was the cost of the Olympics vs the cost of the new high speed rail system...
The whole Olympics is costing us around 9-11 billion yet the high speed rail system is going to cost 30-40 odd billion! :eek:

I know it is off topic but I can't get my head around that.
 
Applied for a lot, got nothing, not even a park ticket (you need these to get into the area surrounding the stadium). Think I heard they are going to have a super high def screen in there as well.

Think the infrastructure will be a mare but not for the Olympics themselves, just the rest of London. The amount of restrictions, Olympic lanes and messing around it is going to cause really will take a lot of the enjoyment out of it for a lot of Londoners.

Still glad about it all though, and looking forward to it. I love getting disproportionately excited about new sports (BMX from china anyone?) and I think it will give a great legacy..... Not necessarily in the way people might expect though. The stadium will be a white elephant but sport being highlighted will be a great catalyst. Think the main reason British cycling is doing so well now is because of the commonwealth games in Manchester.... The velodrome became the national centre and it really gave a focus to the sport
 
Interesting that most people think it will be a success however most are not going?

Isn't that because most people who think it will be a success may have wanted to go but couldn't get tickets?
 
I'm not interested in it but that doesn't mean i don't think (and hope) that it's going to be a success.
 
Applied for a lot, got nothing, not even a park ticket (you need these to get into the area surrounding the stadium).


I didn't know that:(

Was going to take the misses there for a day out.Oh well i'll take her anyway and pretend i didn't know.Good excuse to spend the day in the pub :D
 
I applied for tickets and didn't get them. Not really bothered though.

I go to the Crystal Palace event fairly often and have seen Powell, Bolt and Gay run. Not sure it would be much different in a different stadium.

Also the regular athletics are a fraction of the cost of this and the same people taking part :smashin:
 
Really not that interested, is it over yet? and just how much are the BBC spending/wasting?
 

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