Reece's Pieces: Nick in Knightland - The View From Across the Pond

Here is the latest eyewitness report on the Olympics from Jefferson City resident Nick Rackers:

August 7, 2012 - 3:52 PM

It's been hard to keep up with things. No matter what time our events get finished for the day it always seems somehow that we don't get back to the hotel until late. So . . . I'm combining three days into one!

Monday

Monday we had only one event, semi-final basketball. We got to see two games of men's basketball.. The first was France vs Nigeria. I really didn't care about the outcome of that game but we joined the Brits in the crowd and cheered for Nigeria. The second game was easy to pick a favorite...Team GB played China. Team GB only got an entry into the tournament because they are the host country. China was favored, but ended up losing by 30 points or more. GB shot three pointer after three pointer.

The basketball venue is quite unique. It is a 14,000 seat TEMPORARY structure. You can't tell from the inside, but the outside skin is reminiscent of Beijing's Water Cube swimming venue. It's translucent white skin lights up at night with its own colorful light show.

The funnest part of the day occurred before the basketball. The Today show's set is adjacent to the basketball arena so we queued up to see some of the show before going inside. We saw all the hosts - Matt, Savannah, Al and Natalie. If you ever watch the show, you know that people hang out with home-made signs trying to get on TV.   I asked the front desk for some paper and cello tape and made a banner for us to hold.   We were never quite sure whether or not we made it on camera and it was difficult to tell when things were live or just taping.

A handful of US swimmers were there all with medals around their necks.  After a chat with Matt, they made their way to the perimeter to pose for photos with fans.   It's really easy to name the athletes when on they are on TV because the commentators use their names and there's always a graphic. In person I misidentified Allison Schmidt as Missy Franklin, but got Rebecca Soni, Nathan Adrian, and Dana Vollmer.   Vollmer had three gold medals around her neck. We started about five people back from the rail when these athletes made their rounds so no autographs were received.   We did eventually fill in vacant spots and secured a space on the railing. I kept monitoring Facebook for feedback to confirm our TV debut.

Irish band The Script performed live on the plaza and during the performance the camera guy swept right in front of us.   Satisfied that we SURELY had made tv, we left our spot and headed for the basketball game. With my loyal FB fans on the lookout, a couple of screencaps appeared on my wall as we had our confirmation.

After basketball we had a meat pie in Olympic park, meandered through the gardens in the park, and visited the BMW booth. We got a free deck of cards for our willingness to visit the BMW shack. I also traded my first pin with one of the lovely ladies who checked us in. I also spotted diver Greg Louganis on his way to the men's 3m diving in the aquatic center. I was prepared to ask for a photo but someone beat me to it and he looked a little perturbed so I just said "hi".   He said "hi" back and continued on to the aquatic center.

I reported yesterday that the West Ham exit was "faster" according to LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games). We knew better and headed back toward the Stratford entrance. A digital sign flashed "Javelin Trains 6 min to central London". We've figured out this Tube system and decided to go for it. The Javelin is a bullet train that connects London to Europe. The seats felt like an airline, complete with tray tables. Six minutes later, after a couple tube changes, we were back at the hotel in only 30 minutes. That beat the prior night's journey by an hour!

Tuesday
Our soccer event wasn't until the evening, so we decided to visit the British Museum, or as I like to call it " the museum of British plunder". So many of these Egyptian, Grecian, and other world locales have had their treasures stolen and housed in this museum. I suppose it all occurred long ago, but I can't help but think that an Egyptian visitor would just cringe at all the mummy sarcophaguses that are now British possessions. They also have the Rosetta Stone which allowed for the translation of so many ancient writings. Pretty cool to see. They also displayed many ancient Olympic artifacts, including a statue of discus thrower and genuine Olympic medals.

As I said, Tuesday was our last event of six. It was a semifinal game at Wembley Stadium, a 90,000 seat soccer fan heaven. Wembley plays host to soccer and most other large national events. Mexico was taking on Japan. The winner goes to the gold medal match, loser plays for bronze. Japan scored first. but Mexico tied it up shortly after. It wasn't until late in the second half that Mexico scored again and advanced to the final with a score of 2-1.

The crowd was on Mexico's side and we decided to cheer for our neighbors. I was surprised at how many GB fans were wearing sombreros and fake black mustaches. That would be considered very un-PC had it occurred in the USA but it wasn't frowned upon in London. Stereotype? Yes. Offensive? I guess not.

Getting out of Wembley in a light rain, we experienced the first time on our visit where the line stopped moving. We stood still for about 5 minutes waiting for the station ahead to clear out. We were held back on purpose by the crowd control volunteers. That makes a total of 5 minutes out of six events that we ever stood still. I said it before, and I'll say it again: London has performed impeccably. Granted, I don't have anything to compare it to because London is my first summer games, but I don't know how they could improve. I think London should be placed on a permanent rotation as host!   And you don't know how much I want the US to host! I wonder if we could do better?