31st July - 2nd August 2026 - Post Comment Love

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

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Just when you thought you were safe from the football, it's almost time for the EFL to restart and I'm making my way up to Birmingham this afternoon to watch them play Barcelona tonight.

I'm not impressed with the new kit or sponsor, I'd look like I'd have just finished a shift at the bookies.

This is the shirt I'll be wearing, it was the 4th kit for the 25/26 season. The Penguin shirt from the 71/72 season, my era.

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Olympic Games - Barcelona 1992 #TimeTraveller

This is me aged 21 with my 2 month old first born child, who has never forgiven me for abandoning him at such a young age to leave him for a week and travel to Barcelona to watch the Games of the 25th Olympiad.

I won a trip for 2 to the Olympic Games, all travel, accommodation, tickets and luggage in The Daily Express newspaper. All I had to do was identify 5 athletes over the week and send my answer 'on the back of a postcard'

I am a huge athletics fan and this was a dream come true for me. I'd given up my dream of competing around the age of 12 and now with a new baby and only a few weeks before the games started I assumed that this was another dream that was over.....until I got the phone call.

Arriving at Heathrow there was a little bit of publicity, interview and photo's before boarding the flight and arriving at our hotel in Sitges.

Flowers and champagne awaited us and that evening we got to meet the other competition winners. Everyone else had won via various other methods, including one man who opened a mars bar to see on the wrapper 'you've won tickets for 2 to the Olympic games'

We travelled round the venues in a group, we had dinner together and transport laid on into Barcelona in the evenings so we could explore the city.

For me these Olympics were the greatest games ever and although the stadiums and ceremonies have got bigger and better, nothing will ever take away from me seeing Germany compete as one country after the Berlin Wall came down. Hearing all the new country names after the Iron Curtain and wondering how these names were pronounced. Recognising international athletes who I knew as coming from the USSR yet not existing as an entity anymore. Supporting South Africa compete in International sport for the first time during Apartheid, if a spectator didn't have a countryman in that event you can guarantee if South Africa were represented they supported them.

We took part in the then largest and longest Mexican wave at the swimming events, boo'd Ben Johnson on his return to the sport after his drug's ban. Screamed ourselves hoarse at Linford Christie in the 100m's and travelled to the hockey and the rowing events and stood in silence when medals were given and national anthems played.

I had the most amazing holiday of a lifetime, one I talk about often and I would love to revisit Barcelona one day. Some of the world's greatest athletes competed at those games and went on to be some of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen and i am proud to have been there.

Opening Ceremony Explained? I may be British but I still don't know

As a British Expat in South Africa is it my job to explain the Olympic Opening Ceremony and defend the homeland? Or do I just tell everyone who asks that actually I thought it was pants and no I haven’t a clue what was going on?
I have a short attention span and I find it difficult to sit for any length of time, same reason I rarely go to the movies.

Yes, I was upset I didn’t get the role of a Games Maker at the London 2012 games and I didn’t really want to watch the ceremony for that reason. But I do love the Olympics and will watch the athletes with enthusiasm and cheer on both Team GB and South Africa. I did the same at Barcelona in 1992, when GB weren’t competing it was SA all the way. The atmosphere in the stadium back then was electric and since that day the Olympics has never been able to top those games in my opinion.

I had a ticket for the technical rehearsals for the London games, which due to my current location, I gave to my son back in the UK to use. He said it was fantastic, amazing and refused to tell me what was going on as he knew I’d not watch it.
So hubby and youngest sat down last night at 10pm our time and I joined them and after half an hour I was bored. I didn’t ‘see’ where it was going, the twitter feed was more interesting, so off I went for a bath and fell asleep on the bed.
I went down stairs to wake up hubby and send youngest to bed and I rejoined the ceremony at the point where the teams came into the stadium.

Now that bit I like and I was looking forward to the lighting of the torch. My money was on Redgrave and I hoped for a simple lighting of the flame. I couldn’t have been more impressed if I’d tried.

I love the fact that DSTV had very little commentary and I could hear all the stadium announcements in real time, so really got a feel of what it must’ve been like to have been there.

But there are some things that puzzled me, make me cringe and this morning at the Golf Club I was the British representative for Danny Boyle, The Queen and fellow Brits.

I think the bit where The Queen welcomed James Bond to the Palace will become the greatest TV viewing moment ever, but really Mr Boyle, you should have left it there.

‘No I don’t find Mr Bean even slightly amusing; it is not representative of British humour’ Thanks BBC Entertainment for broadcasting to your expat audience that, ‘allo ‘allo, Keeping up Appearances and 8 year old episodes of Who wants to be a millionaire? giving the impression that we all love it.

Maypoles? I’ve not danced round one since I was in primary school and then I got kicked out the group because one of the boys kept curtseying at the end instead of bowing so my career as a pole dancer was short lived. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Maypole since that day in 1979.

Paul McCartney? ...

Arctic Monkeys? Someone forgot to do a sound check.
And what was with the house? The teenagers and mobile phones? Youth of today, well at least they weren’t looting.

I was a little concerned that Danny Boyle was in charge of it all and thought it would be a bit ‘dark’, but I think he did a good job especially with all that money he had to spend. I tired of the Andy Carroll reference on twitter, it didn’t even relate in the slightest to what was going on. The endless tweets about it being a party political broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party paid for by Cameron and Clegg. BTW where was Clegg? Have you all been asleep for the past 15 Blair years?

And I certainly don’t think the Boyle should be knighted for his part in all this in the same way none of the organisers should be. They will all make a fortune on the back of this for many years to come. Those titles should go to the Games Makers.
And today the Olympics start, well they began on Wednesday with the football. I’ve sorted out my TV viewing guide to watch the athletes and to ensure I don’t miss all my favourite events.

It’s a shame the opening and closing ceremonies have become such an important part of the games and I’ll probably watching the closing titles the same way I viewed the opening ones. In between I shall sit back and watch and enjoy all the medals, the triumphs and the tears. Now the hype is over I can move from my disappointment of not being a Games Maker (cross my fingers I may still get asked to do the Paralympics) and really enjoy the Olympics.

I hope you enjoy them too.

Oh and please don’t question me when they play the wrong anthem or run the wrong flag up the pole...I really can’t answer.