Euro2008 vs The Olympics
Of the two big summer sporting tournaments this year, it's hard to decide which one I hate the most.
In one corner, the Olympics: visa hassles, human flesh search-engines and Liu Xiang's massive horse-face on every billboard
In the other , Euro2008: daily reminders of England's failure to qualify, waking up on the bar of The Beaver with a face full of peanuts sometime after the final whistle and Cristiano Ronaldo's simpering horse-face in every newspaper.
I'm just kidding of course, the OIympics wins with a hop, skip and a jump.
You could count the number of Olympic events I care about watching on one hand, and you wouldn't need to use any fingers. A typical day from Beijing will feature some people you've never heard of rowing a boat, some people whose face you can't see Fencing, and a Chinese crowd going into ecstasies of joy as they scoop the Mixed Doubles Ping-Pong gold (and silver, bronze).
Euro2008 on the other hand brings the rare opportunity to see how ridiculous other countries look whilst watching football. There's nothing at all odd about screaming
"Left! Pass it to the left!"
at the image of David Beckham on a TV screen, but bellowing:
"Schiessen!!"
at some bloke in a German shirt 5,000 miles away who can't even hear you? Get a grip Fritz.
Similarly the majestic lyrics of the great anthem
"En-ger-land En-ger-land En-ger-land!"
make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up just typing them, but
"We will, we will, Czech you!"
well you've got to laugh haven't you?
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The best location is the adidas tent at Attica. 5 big screens, on the terrace with a cool breeze and when the game doesn't kick-off until 2.45, you can party away until then in the same place. And, they have a summer special with free entry until 11.00 and after it is only 100RMB with a drink included.
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You already made the main point - if you take away the hype, nationalism and pomp - the olympics is mostly boring.
The world and continental football tournaments however, are genuinely exciting (equally stripped of surrounding elements).
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http://shanghaiist.com/2008/06/10/where_to_watch.php
I'll be looking out for those lads in Orange, reminds me of Euro2000 in Holland and Belgium, those Dutch know how to put on a party. And err the Belgians have nice chips.
adidas tent at Attica eh? That's a new one on me, sounds pretty good actually.
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andy- I think the key difference for me is that when it's the Olympics, it's some people you've never heard of and only care about for the few minutes it takes for their event to finish.
If they swapped all the clothes round, people would still just cheer for whoever was wearing the Great Britain shirt, or the China swimming trunks or whatever.
With football there's an emotional investment in the team, and you get to watch the same 16 guys go through the whole tournament. Well, some countries do anyway.
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haha...Have you guys spotted the dutch wear their orange jumpsuits yet?
some of my dutch friends went to the fabric market just to have Orange suits made especially for the event!
Speaking of which...
does anyone know any cool venues in Shanghai to watch the games? O'Malleys tends to get too crowded if you don't show up early enought...