Day 8 - All sold out. Or why half the venues are empty.

I know it sounds odd and I shouldn't really say it but I quite like Lawn Bowls. Maybe it's my age, maybe it's the dapper white clothing or maybe it's that like golf most clubs have a clubhouse which is also a bar. Earlier this year I was in Spain and had the pleasure of watching England bowl against Spain (otherwise know as England B). I was pleased to see that the average age was in the 20's, most would pass for athletes and that because it was the last day of the football season they all rushed to finish their games so that they could watch the footy and drink loads of beer.
It's because of this that I though it would be nice to go to the stadium early, pick up a ticket for the bowls and cheer on the team. After my previous metro trip I was pleased to find it much quieter and with 20 mins I was at the ticket office. The queue was only short but I was still ushered to the front, obviously they feared my pale skin may burn in the sun! "One for the bowling please" I said, only to be told that all the tickets had been sold. Unheard of, it can't be true 1500+ Indians had been so impressed by the CWG that they had decided to spend 50 rupees to watch 13 hours of bowl. No chance.
After informing the ticket office that bowls never sell out, even in England they're lucky to get a couple of hundred in, I was shown the computer screen that said no tickets available.  No the same as all sold out.
Plan B, I walked round to the venue and had a look over the fence. Deserted, maybe 30 spectators, no more.

More arguing got me no where. Ticketing said it was all sold out and everybody else said go and ask ticketing. I know for a fact that the same think happened at the Rugby 7's. I believe the head of ticketing has been sacked!

Further investigation leads me to believe that the idiot running ticketing though that two separate ticketing databases was the answer, one for box office sales and one for Internet. I could have ordered a ticket the day before and picked it up ... but not from the box office ... oh no ... from a bank in Connaught Place. Sacked! I'd have shot him.

So a wasted morning, the only solution was to seek out a kingfisher and drown my sorrows. The evening brought the last day of athletics. Double gold for England in the 4 x 100m and double bronze in the 4 x 400m (the women have since been promoted to silver after another Nigeria got done for doping).

All the races were exciting but the Indian women's victory really brought the roof down. The time wasn't much but they were first over the line and that's what matters. It was great to see the stadium almost full and the Indians cheering ... at the right time. Sorry, that's a bit petty, they're new to track and field and often don't know what's going on.

On the field the last medals were wrapped up a Nigerian and a couple of Aussies. So nice to hear that anthem just a couple more times!

The remainder of the track program was the women's 5000m ... you guessed Kenyan clean sweep and the men's 1500m ... you guessed ... wrong. Nick Willis of New Zealand snatched the bronze much to the pleasure of the Kiwi's sitting in front of us. As they were neither Aussies or Kenyans we applauded them heartily. Surprise surprise it was his parents and very proud they were too.

So there ends the athletics. Star English performance from me goes to Jo Jackson. A sport she was pushed into by her coach who said she'd never make it to the top as a runner. It's not the most glamorous of events but if she medals in London in 500 odd days she'll be known the whole country over.

I have in my possession a short video of Jo Jackson and Will Sharman dancing on stage with a traditional Indian dance company. Both gave respectable performances but Will's the one to watch out for. His sister told me that he's a keen dancer and has been taking lessons for his wedding. I'll bet you any money he does celebrity come dancing within two years of retiring. If you want to see the video ask me nicely when I'm back.