The Five-ring Circus: Keep flame alight
Twit arrested for Daley insult
Great uproar in these parts about Games organizers extinguishing the roaring flame Sunday to move it to a better place in the stadium. Sacrilege, many charged, something that’s never been done since they were rasslin’ naked.
Maybe not on purpose, but in Montreal in 1976), a cloudburst doused the flame in Olympic Stadium. Famously, a construction worker relit it with a newspaper he’d rolled up and set ablaze with his disposable lighter. Horrified IOC officials extinguished it again and rekindled it using the sacred flame from Olympia in Greece. A flick from a Bic was viewed as somewhat less than sacred. LOOKED BETTER ON THE
TUBULAR: Musician Mike Oldfield, he of Tubular Bells fame, left Friday’s Opening Ceremony after his act to beat the traffic and because he thought the event would look better on TV than from his tucked-away vantage point.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE THREE THAT GOT AWAY?:
Including their victory in Tuesday’s women’s 10-metre synchro event, China has now won 22 of the last 25 Olympic diving events.
(And I typed this item seven hours before Tuesday’s contest.) TWITS ON TWITTER: British tower-diving hope Tom Daley finished fourth Monday with Pete Waterfield in the 10-metre synchro event, which didn’t sit well with the bonehead on Twitter who referenced Daley with: “You let your dad down I hope you know that.” This in regard to Daley’s inspirational father, Rob, who died last year of brain cancer.
A 17-year-old — now there’s a surprise — was arrested Tuesday in connection with the offensive remark. Very excessive in our view, be- cause there’s far worse being tweeted, but social media should carry a hint of social responsibility.
The Daley tweet was right up there with this dandy tweeted to me after I wrote Sunday of the three-metre synchro diving bronze of Canadians Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel: “They should have won silver!!! Come on, don’t celebrate failure.” THERE’S A TWEET THAT
KEEPS ON CALLIN’ ME: Circus is hopelessly addicted to the Twitter feed of @Badhobo, the innermost thoughts Tv’s the Littlest Hobo.
@Badhobo of course follows no one, just as he did during his TV prime. Two of his fine Olympic-related tweets Tuesday:
“Switched an athlete’s urine sample with one of my own. I always wanted to know what was in the pills the TV people made me take;” and, “I tried to save her from a failed dope test but she just swam too darn fast.”