Outstanding Olympics

True to form, the appallingly cynical British press forecast a washout of a Games on every level - the weather would be wet, the transport system would fail, the security would be, well, insecure and the British athletes wouldn't win anything worth writing home about.

Well how wrong can you be? Yes there have been a few problems - most notably the ticketing situation. So many people failed to obtain tickets but what the hell?  We had the best seats in the house at home in front of the TV, able to flick between multiple channels of thrilling sporting action at the touch of a button and all of it shown on local time for a change.  The atmosphere has been palpably wonderful with even our usually humourless police force breaking out in unaccustomed smiles as they filled in as security guards.

And there have been so any performances that have warmed our cool, British hearts... 

Jessica Ennis, the mixed race kid from the wrong side of the Sheffield tracks who turned out to be the best all-round athlete in the world; 

Mo Farrah who arrived in this country as a refugee and was often in trouble before he discovered and nurtured his talent was asked (rather crassly) by a reporter whether he wouldn't have been more proud to run for Africa? "Nah mate," came the reply "this is my country".  Andy Murray pounding the machine that is Roger Federer off Centre Court in sweet revenge for his defeat in the Wimbledon final; Bradley Wiggins pissing the French off hugely (shame!) by winning not just the Tour de France but also Olympic Gold; 

Tom Daley honouring the memory of his father and touchingly thrilled with his Bronze medal, not to mention the cycling, the rowing, the Gymnasts, the sailing and, and, and...

And I've been astonished by how much I've loved the Games  - the TV has been on all day and we've all grown to enjoy sports that we would never previously have dreamt of watching - Handball anyone? Not to mention the eccentric but very British opening ceremony and, as I write, the equally barmy closing ceremony.  And who can forget the Queen..the Queen for God's sake, "parachuting" into the Games with James Bond by her side - hilarious and one of the best-kept secrets of the century.

But for me, one of the best things about this Games has been the transformation in the normally sardonic and inclined-to-be-negative Brits.  All of a sudden, we have re-discovered the famous Blitz spirit and once again are being feted for our innate friendliness and helpful demeanour, which is just as it should be.  And the sound of the crowd joining in with the singing of the national anthem every time we won a gold medal made me come over all emotional more than once.  

And so, to close the show we had a medley (or should that be a mêlée) of British music.  From the surly Liam Gallagher, to the nervous looking Ed Sheeran to Freddie Mercury brilliantly cut in on video to start off his old band.  I would love to know who Annie Lennox's agent is because HOW in God's name did she get that gig?  We could all be forgiven for thinking she'd been put out to grass years ago.  The Spice Girls re-formed for probably what will be the last time and zig a zig ah'd their way around atop black cabs...by the way, has Geri gone through a late puberty?  Or is there some other explanation for the sudden massive increase in her boob size?  And the Shah, watching Roger Daltrey's strenuous performance remarked "I'm worried he might give himself a hernia in a minute." 

But for me, the most cheering thing of the whole Olympics is that it seems to have restored a sense of national pride and patriotism that has been hugely lacking of late.  Now let's see if we can keep it up, although it might involve never reading a British newspaper again...