The full might of
Glasgow City Council and The Scottish Executive swung behind the bid to bring the
Commonwealth Games To Scruff-Central this week and seldom was heard a discouraging word. Until
now, that is…
With a truly Hegelian effort of will, supporters of the bid managed to ignore some
rather inconvenient historical trends in the awarding of high-profile sporting events.
For example, Edinburgh held The Games in 1970, topped and tailed by Olympic Games in
Mexico City in 1968 and Munich in 1972.
And, for another example, Edinburgh held The Games again in 1986, preceded by Olympic
Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and followed by Seoul in 1988.
Is there a pattern emerging here? London will host the Olympics in 2012 followed by the
2014 Commonwealth Games being held in?
I’ve no idea, but if the form book is anything to go by the Commonwealth Games of
2014 won’t be held in a city beginning with "G".
Although only two other outsiders have put their hat into the ring so far, New Zealand,
where sport substitutes for culture has yet to decide on bidding.
We can only hope and pray that Kiwi Film Director, Peter "Bored of The Rings"
Jackson, can be persuaded to make the promotional video for the bid. At three and a half
hours running time, viewers will forget what happened at the beginning half way through
and begin to pray for death.
