Sports Pick N Mix

This is the viewer appeal of the Olympics. Or to put it another way: if a football match is a big bar of Bourneville, which takes a while to munch through (but might still leave you feeling sick), the Olympics are the open box of Black Magic on the dinner table. Just one more? Oh, go on then. Ooh, what’s this one?

Almost all the events are pretty short and when they’re not you don’t generally see more than the highlights. No sooner have you picked sides than it’s on to something else – the revered and ancient Games are essentially a three-week episode of Banzai!. I don’t consider this a bad thing, by the way.

Meanwhile the great stories keep coming:

“No serious person, anywhere in the world, can support the idea that our prime minister, our health minister and the top doctors of this hospital are treating and protecting people who have nothing wrong with them”

US basketball shocker – I have nothing against the US basketball team, but this story is of interest to TMFD regulars because of its analysis of why things went so wrong. Though naturally the Guardian lacks the precise scientifical terminology we would apply.