Friday November 7th 2025 "Are the Olympics becoming a bit predictable? What do YOU think?"

Yes, Friends, do YOU think the Olympic Games are becoming far too predictable? 

And do YOU think the International Olympic Committee is maybe a bit too conservative when it comes to debuting popular new sports?

It's a no-brainer with most of us, if we're men, at least! But the problem is that the IOC's slowness in taking on new fields of sporting endeavour is leading to a lot of awkward conversations of the type many young women are beginning to feel increasingly awkward about. That's at least, according to the lead story in this morning's Onion News for East Hampshire. Turn to page 94, if you dare !!!!

Ewww!!! Table football and darts !!! Sickening isn't it!!!! 

Poor straight female students!!!

Reading the story this morning, however, encourages a bit of a one-sided grin onto the faces of me and my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois, as we take our daily walk "trudging" through the mud, the mud which is all that remains currently of the once "hallowed turf" of local soccer legends, Liphook United, here in our new home town in semi-leafy East Hampshire!

And we recall how at least soccer (of the non-table variety!) has by now more than earned its place in the pantheon of Olympic sports. After all, soccer has been an Olympic sport for, like, a billion years - more, probably!

footage (no pun intended!!!) from some early Olympic soccer finals

Sadly, our local team Liphook United is unlikely to "field" players (no pun intended!!!) for any UK Olympic 'squad', to judge from their lowly position in the prestigious East Hampshire Premier League. Currently they're in 14th position out of 16, and in mortal danger of being relegated next season. And certainly, as Lois and I tread the team's "hallowed turf" this morning, under leaden skies, it's all looking a bit "down-at-heel" to put it mildly!

my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois and me, treading the 'hallowed turf'

of local soccer legends Liphook United this morning

You may be thinking that you can't fall much further than the East Hampshire Premier League, but you'd be wrong - there's an East Hampshire Division One league, would you believe! Lois speculates that Division One is probably mainly made up of local shepherds' teams: top of the table currently is Overton United, representing a town famous for its sheep fairs, she recalls. 

What madness !!!!

flashback to 2024: the 800-year-old Overton Sheep Fair, first

authorised by Henry III: each year security men are employed to

"shepherd" the sheep down the authorised route to the market-place

- no pun intended! But what a madness it all is !!!! 

[That's enough unfunny puns! - Ed]

Certainly all teenage girls need to be warned, clearly, about the risks when young men start talking about their ideas for "jazzing up" the Olympics. 

But that's just one of many "red flags" about men that young women need to be trained to "spotify" (!), to use a puzzling new expression from today's English, the language that I hear young millennials using these days - most of which talk goes - shooooooooot!!!! - right over my head, I have to confess !!!

[Get on with it! - Ed]

21:30 There's even more evidence tonight, about what women have to put up with from men, in the final programme in Alan Partridge's exploratory new series about mental health issues. Did you see it?

This is reality TV with a vengeance, as Lois and I watch the often painful scenes where Partridge is told by BBC Head of Firings that his contract is being cancelled: his shows score poorly with millennials and diverse audiences, apparently, while remaining popular with white men over 40 - what Partridge playfully calls "Generation WD40" (!).

Fair enough - that's all well and good. But Partridge typically assumes that it isn't his fault. It's his staff that are to blame for his contract not being renewed, he claims. And typically (again) his reaction to all the "cancelling Partridge" mayhem is to re-interview Lynn, his PA, for her existing job - always an intimidating tactic, to put it mildly.

In this chilling sequence, after Lynn stumbles over his opening questions, Partridge warns Lynn that he's already interviewed two other candidates for her job: step forward, Ms Siri and Ms Alexa, no less !!!

At this point, Partridge tellingly pauses Lynn's interview, in order to ask Siri and Alexa questions of a comparable level of difficulty, and the results are thought-provoking, to put it mildly!

Enough said! Siri and Alexa really win hands down on answering Alan's questions, don't they, and with a minimum of "faffing about", into the bargain!

But Lynn has her fight-back ready, however, and the results are intriguing, to say the least!

Attagirl, Lynn and a hearty "Kudos!" to boot! Lois and I think you've got Alan on the ropes with those barbed push-backs!

The downside for Lois and me, however, is that now the current series is over, we'll have to wait for, like, a few months now, to see if the BBC relents on its plan to "cancel" Alan, and whether he'll somehow wheedle the BBC into commissioning another series, or what !!! Will he perhaps be reduced to bidding for a slot on repeats channel Rewind TV?

Certainly the threat to a lot of people's jobs coming from AI (Artificial Intelligence) and all that malarkey, couldn't be made more painfully clear in tonight's programme, to put it mildly! 

Could AI even do the work of retired people like Lois and me?

retired people like Lois and me - could even our

duties be made redundant by AI ???

I wonder....!!!!

[What work, what duties are you talking about exactly, Colin?! - Ed]

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!