Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:09 pm  

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

Absolutely. I mean, it's not like every taxpayer in the country on average has stumped up something like £400 a medal, why should they have any interest whatsoever in prospering as a result of the Olympics we have 100% funded?

Yes, 100%. Not a penny from Coca Cola, Heineken, McDonalds etc since the whole thing results in a net and vast PROFIT for each of those companies - a profit in which neither Mr Cafe nor you nor I will share.

The whole country, and especially the taxpayer, should be able to try to make a few extra bob on the back of the Olympics, if they can find a way to do so without actually ripping off the trademarked logos on substandard merchandise being passed off as genuine, and reasonable exceptions like that.

Calling your cafe the Olympic Cafe presupposes that someone owns the universal rights to the word "Olympic". They don't. The chap is in no way implying that he is an official Olympic cafe nor would anyone be so stupid as to think he was even for a second. I understand he changed the name to the "Lympic" cafe. Do you not agree that the fact that seems to be fair enough just brings these sort of trivial powerplays, and the law, into disrepute?

What next? A confectioners near us has some gingerbread men wearing kit, with Olympic rings on. that to me is just getting into the spirit of things, and is perfectly fair, and perfectly reasonable. I am not arguing that there should be no line - just that it has been drawn in an absolutely ludicrous way.

They could always do what Otorohanga (NZ) did when Al Fayed threatened them after a guy called Harrod used his surname over the shop.
Every business in the town changed their name to Harrods and the council even temporarily changed the name of the town.
The phoney pharoah soon backed down.

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:13 pm  

JerryChicken wrote:

It'll be interesting in the next twelve months to see what happens to athletes funding, I can't remember where I saw it but there was a list somewhere on t'interweb of the amount of funding to GB Olympic Sports over the past four Olympics, this time around it was higher than the Bejing funding but probably only by inflation (about £250 mill from memory).

Given that most of that is lottery funding and when the lottery was set up one of its three aims was to fund sports in GB then its going to be interesting to see how this current government could ever claw back that situation.

It seems to be quite well administered too, I noticed the high jumper Robbie Grabarz talking last night of how his lottery funding had been removed last year after his coach had told him to go away and only come back if he was serious about competing rather than messing about, he had to apply to the Ron Pickering Foundation for funding to get through last year.

I'm not an expert but from talking to Alicia Blagg's grandad a few times, from how he explained it I'd agree that it seems to be very well administered. Like you say there's no messing about and the athletes are very strictly controlled, if they deviate from their training or nutrition etc they get a rollocking followed by threats of funding going to someone else if they don't take it seriously. It seems to engender a more professional atmosphere among the athletes.
I just worry that having done so well, with some facilities having already been built, that there will be a shift in priorities from government and the lottery and that funding will decline slowly but steadily. I may be, and hope that I am, wrong but that's the fear that I have.

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:47 pm  

Strawman arguments removed...

Ferocious Aardvark wrote:

Calling your cafe the Olympic Cafe presupposes that someone owns the universal rights to the word "Olympic". They don't. The chap is in no way implying that he is an official Olympic cafe nor would anyone be so stupid as to think he was even for a second. I understand he changed the name to the "Lympic" cafe. Do you not agree that the fact that seems to be fair enough just brings these sort of trivial powerplays, and the law, into disrepute?

That is a totally different argument, one I may agree with you on more than one point but once a trademark is awarded it is down to the rights holder to protect or lose it.

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:50 pm  

Him wrote:

I just worry that having done so well, with some facilities having already been built, that there will be a shift in priorities from government and the lottery and that funding will decline slowly but steadily. I may be, and hope that I am, wrong but that's the fear that I have.

HM Gov can do what they want but isn't sport funding part of the lottery's charter? Same as arts and good causes?

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 6:12 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

HM Gov can do what they want but isn't sport funding part of the lottery's charter? Same as arts and good causes?

Unfortunately not, from the National Lottery Comission website (can't link to article as it's a weird URL)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has responsibility within Government for National Lottery policy. It also sets the policy and financial framework that the distributing bodies for National Lottery grants operate within.

Camelot's licence is until 2019, so maybe the funding conditions are safeguarded until then?

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:00 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

HM Gov can do what they want but isn't sport funding part of the lottery's charter? Same as arts and good causes?

I didn't mean that sports funding would disappear, just that lottery funding priorities might shift slowly away from sport.

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:27 pm  

Him wrote:

I didn't mean that sports funding would disappear, just that lottery funding priorities might shift slowly away from sport.

no, what I was meaning was I don't think they can move away from sport, wouldn't it need a change to the Lotteries act to allow it?

As Standee has said, the lottery is under CM&S and a move away from sport would be suicide for any government for the foreseeable future.

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:27 pm  

More lies from that lying bastad of a prime minister on schools sports funding

More lies from that lying bastad of a prime minister on schools sports funding

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:36 pm  

cod'ead wrote: More lies from that lying bastad of a prime minister on schools sports funding Remind me, which government encouraged the sale of School land for development?

cod'ead wrote: More lies from that lying bastad of a prime minister on schools sports funding Remind me, which government encouraged the sale of School land for development?

Re: That unmentionable sporting event - the madness continue : Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:39 pm  

Standee wrote:

Remind me, which government encouraged the sale of School land for development?

The last three.