CWG - Week 1 - some things that caught my attention

Much has been said about the flawless opening ceremony, except for the protocol violation asking the PM to change seat. But it was gratifying to see the spontaneous applause of the crowd when the Pak team came out for the march past. Alas I doubt anyone in Pak will see it. It goes to show how much this country wants Pak to be at peace with itself. For a change politicians stuck to their written speeches and exited the podium in a short period of time.

Noted some interesting camera positions: one under the floor board in weightlifting gave an amazing perspective from under the weights and accentuating the muscles of the lifters. The underwater camera in the swimming pools is really cool. Pistol shooting was a bit unnerving with a camera placed at the target position with the gun pointing right at you.

Those of us who generally moan about lives, including me, should have seen the para swimmers - some of them with only one leg or no legs or only one arm!

The relatively fewer ads interrupting the games telecasts was much appreciated but since Thursday the ads are increasing in frequency. The lack of sponsorship from big name corporate s, that swoon over themselves to sponsor cricket, is disgusting. Union bank of India ad showing the cute kid carrying his piggy bank to the bank and Indian Railway ad with a bunch of adults forming a train and chugging along are really cool but now being irritatingly repeated.

DD Sports tried to move across game venues trying to bring interesting events happening across all locations. Instead they could have used their multiple channels to telecast events in parallel.

Pleasingly varied accents of the English commentators from England, Wales, India, Australia ... but Hindi commentary was unnecessary.

Truly impressed with the spirited fighting of the wrestlers and boxers, and amazing gymnastics floor show by Ashish Kumar winning the first ever medal for India in gymnastics.

Archery has a speed meter – this is really cool, arrows travel at over 270 kmph! The recurved bows are so powerful, that at such speeds the arrow could pass straight through a body.

Was it worth 71k crore? Could the 71k crore been distributed across the country to build, maintain sports infrastructure and promote all types of sports? Of course I am not grudging the money spent but the potty jokes, crashing bridges, and dirty stuff could have been avoided. Also such a mammoth event with a huge budget should have had an ombudsman watching over to prevent corruption - no point in crying foul later. What will happen to all this refurbished infrastructure after the CWG is over?

…more to follow