24 January 2006

World's most pointless piece of Melbourne ego stroking to come to Canberra.

| johnboy
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Our Brave Leader has put out a media release detailing the passage of the Commonwealth Games baton through Canberra on both 25-Feb-06 and 27-Feb-06.

Up until now the frantic and futile efforts of the Bracksitonians to convince us the Commonwealth Games is anything other than a mid level event (which most athletes don’t even bother tapering their training for so as not to interfere with world championship aspirations) of minimal importance has been nothing other than amusing.

Now to make the Melbournians feel better about the vast sums of money they’ve pissed against the wall it seems we all have to join in the massive act of self-delusion.

I particularly like Mr. Stanhope’s grim effort to find something commendable about all the forced hoopla.

Canberra will provide an integral link in the world’s longest, most inclusive relay when the city welcomes the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton…

Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width…

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As another ex-Canberran living in Melbourne I’d like to point out that a) Melbourne had the Olympics before Sydney did. And most people in Melbourne couldn’t give a toss about the Commonwealth Games either. It’s not like anyone other than the government and its PR machine is getting worked up about it.

Jeez, JB, that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? 😉

As an ex Canberran living in Melbourne, I can say that the Sydney V Melbourne thing seems to come mostly from the Sydney end. Whenever I pick up a NSW newspaper, it’s full of it, but I rarely if ever see (or hear) about it here. Seems to me as if Melbourne is happy here, doing it’s own thing whereas Sydney is a bit insecure about being an “international capital” and you lot are catching a lot of bias on the TV, a lot of it being rebroadcast out of Sydney.

That’s how I see it, anyway.

JB, if you think it’s all self delusional and minimally important, come down and check it out while it’s on – I’ll put you up and give ya a night out on the tiles……….!

I guess we’re all a little protective of our home cities. 🙂

(But I wouldn’t be entering my fifth year here if I didn’t like the place guys)

we’ll poke our fun where we can thank you.

Canberra pokes fun at Melbourne for having an inferiority complex? (Yes, I came here from Melbourne)

Since I left the place I’ve come to see the Sydney vs Melbourne issue as a bit of a non-event really, both have their strengths and the whole thing comes off as meaningless parochialism from both sides which serves neither. It’s like an argument about whether Tuggers is better than Gungahlin – who cares.

As for the games, meh, any big event like this is going to be overhyped, of course it is, no surprises there.

(And let’s not forget who had the Olympics first, if that’s so important 🙂

The few times I’ve seen one of the talking heads from Melbourne on the telly, waxing about the games, they always finish off along the lines of “why would you want to live in Sydney?” or thereabouts. I can agree with the sentiment, but I didn’t realise that it was turning into a Vic govt slogan.

except that melbourne already had most of the sporting infrastructure.

Except that boofhead Madden’s allowed all the contractors to gold plate all the refurbishments to be “athlete friendly”.

They’re insanely over-budget and frenzied over-blown marketing suggests things aren’t rosy on the revenue front either.

except that melbourne already had most of the sporting infrastructure.

the most controversial thing has been turning imbeciles out into the streets and converting an asylum into privately owned inner city housing which will be used for three weeks to accommodate athletes.

i would like to see a cost comparison of commonwealth games v olympics.

Ahh, the Commonwealth Games – Melbourne’s latest example of Sydney envy.

Sydney got the Olympics, so Melbourne got the Commonwealth Games.

Kind of like when your next door neighbour buys a new Ferrari, so you counter by buying a second-hand 1981 Ford Laser.

Neither, the commonwealth is a mostly harmless talking shop that occasionally does a bit of good.

The Games are a fine enough sporting carnival.

I’m just choosing to be amused watching melbourne’s inferiority complex to Sydney work itself out as they try to compensate by marketing “their” event as the new olympics.

so is it the commonwealth of nations as an institution you attack or the games themselves?

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