I must say that I agree with Jackie over on
Au Currant who writes of the proposed London Olympic bid:
I really don't want London to bid for the Olympics. I'm open to having my mind changed, but this whole situation just screams "Money pit!"
No doubt it wouldn't just be London's taxpayers who would be "asked" to contribute. But surely, you may think, we need the State to finance sporting developments. Not so. I was heartened to read
this news from Brazil:
a grant of £50,000 from the Royal and Ancient (R&A) at St Andrews - taken from profits generated by the Open Championship - together with support from a US insurance company and the generosity of locals, has made the dream of transforming a cow pasture into a championship-standard golf course a reality.
I note that the local mayor "gifted" the land for the new golf course - how he obtained the land is not made clear - but the impetus for the new course has come from the private sector. The golfing authorities are willing to use their own money to invest in the game's future:
The R&A’s golf development secretary, Duncan Weir, said: "It’s good to see a new public course taking shape in South America and to know that R&A funding is helping in this way to encourage more and more people into golf."
I look forward to watching a young Brazilian winning the British Open at St Andrews. As long as Scotland can beat Brazil at football of course.