Lenny Boyle
London 2012 - With So Much Choice - Embrace The Weird
This is the greatest Olympics ever forthe lover of the weird. For the person who embraces the odd and off the wall.Not just because of Danny Boyle’s delightfully weird ceremony - though thatcertainly was delightfully weird. No it is the greatest Olympics in terms ofembracing the stranger corners of the sporting landscape.
British sports fans of course love - forthe most part - Tennis, football, boxing and the other traditional cornerstones of our year-round sporting diet. But this Olympics gives us theopportunity to appreciate, like never before, the weird stuff.
Across multiple platforms; TV channels -BBC One, Two, Three and the HD channels - and the internet through BBC.com,everything is available for us to watch. It is unprecedented choice. Do notsettle for the mainstream choices on offer on BBC One. Look around a bit.
Use this simple rule when enjoying allthat London 2012 has to offer: If it’s a choice between something you wouldnormally watch - football, tennis etc. - and something you’d normally neverwatch; pick the weird.
And there are plenty of options in theweird category: Handball, fencing, table tennis, canoe slalom, archery. The listgoes on. You never know you may discover that handball speaks to your soul.You’ll give up supporting Man United and become a handball fanatic. Read the Wikipediapage. Bore your friends at the pub.
And if you embrace the weird, you maydiscover some Olympic moments that will stay with you a lifetime.
On day one of London 2012 in JudoBrazil's Sarah Menezes, in the under 48kg category, won gold at the ageof 22. Menezes had to sneak away from parents as a child to train in the sportshe loved because they disapproved of Judo. No doubt her emotional reactionwhen she won gold was due in part to the many sacrifices she had to make to getto that podium.
Her reaction was incredibly emotional andcompelling. To observers who knew none of the rules of her sport it was still atranscendent sporting moment.
So take a detour from the well-travelledpath and embrace the stranger side of London 2012.
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