Dan Andrews has done us a favour.
He’s put the Commonwealth Games out of their misery, not just the 2026 edition, but most likely forever. The concept of a group of countries, most of them once bound by the apron strings of Empire, coming together every four years for a second rate, mostly irrelevant and increasingly woke sports festival is an idea whose time has passed .
I like to think I know what I’m talking about with the Commonwealth Games. I’ve broadcast from seven of them, the first over forty years ago when they were almost relevant.
But that was before the advent of the world athletics championships, before team sports significantly increased athlete numbers and consequently upped the price of a Commonwealth Games, before para-sports gained full medal status and when the games were about sport and not pushing political causes.
Ironically, the proposed state-wide 2026 were set to become the ultimate political football for Dictator Dan.
He saw the installation of expensive new facilities in various Victorian towns as another way to entice the suckers, sorry voters, of the state to put him in power yet again. Hence the non-sensical decision to host cycling at a new velodrome in Bendigo, when there’s a world class cycling venue already in Melbourne.
There was a new swimming facility planned for Geelong when Melbourne already has the MSAC in Albert park. In fact there was virtually nothing planned for the state capital apart from the opening ceremony.
That’s why the cost had ballooned so much. Melbourne is arguably the greatest sports city in the world with some of the most wonderful facilities imaginable yet the Commonwealth Games were headed for the country.
It made no sense unless you understand the pork barreling political mind of Dictator Dan.
But at least he’s proved that taking the games out of one host city is not the panacea that so many had talked about after all.
A countrywide plan was or is being put together for New Zealand to host the games in 2034.
I think we should stop that right now. The games are finished. They were great for their era. That time is past.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack where this article was sourced.
Ironically, the proposed state-wide 2026 were set to become the ultimate political football for Dictator Dan.
He saw the installation of expensive new facilities in various Victorian towns as another way to entice the suckers, sorry voters, of the state to put him in power yet again. Hence the non-sensical decision to host cycling at a new velodrome in Bendigo, when there’s a world class cycling venue already in Melbourne.
There was a new swimming facility planned for Geelong when Melbourne already has the MSAC in Albert park. In fact there was virtually nothing planned for the state capital apart from the opening ceremony.
That’s why the cost had ballooned so much. Melbourne is arguably the greatest sports city in the world with some of the most wonderful facilities imaginable yet the Commonwealth Games were headed for the country.
It made no sense unless you understand the pork barreling political mind of Dictator Dan.
But at least he’s proved that taking the games out of one host city is not the panacea that so many had talked about after all.
A countrywide plan was or is being put together for New Zealand to host the games in 2034.
I think we should stop that right now. The games are finished. They were great for their era. That time is past.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
Well I really like the commonwealth games killjoy
To Peter Williams.
On the basis of what "dear Dan Andrews has (possibly) done to the Commonwealth games, do you think, on the statements you make, that (quote) -"coming together every four years for a second rate, mostly irrelevant and increasingly woke (as well as expensive for everyone) sports festival..."(end quote), that this same, relevant statement can be applied to the Olympic Committee, with their "insistence" on expensive buildings, sports arenas, accommodation (with Olympic Officials creaming the best in this domain), transport for Officials & Athlete's in/around complexes', that at the end of the "sporting festivities" become a continued total waste of time, underused, decaying eyesores, that cost the Host Country money, that could of/ should of been spent elsewhere in their Country.
ANON, of New Zealand.
Released: 1974
Join Together
Steve Allen
We've got to join together,
let our laughter fill the air
It's time for every race and creed
to throw away their every care
Let sport unite us all as one
in the spirit of the lord above
And let us all remember
The games are for the fostering of peace and love
Once in every four years, the commonwealth becomes
a unit to which everyone, from everywhere belongs
They gather in a place thats named,
This time it's in Christchurch
And getting it on together
Play sport with a feeling that should surround the earth
Chorus
We've got to join together,
let our laughter fill the air
It's time for every race and creed
to throw away their every care
Let sport unite us all as one
in the spirit of the lord above
And let us all remember
The games are for the fostering of peace and love
Here in our own country, the games will now be held
And people black and white will come
from all parts of the world
For the time that they are here
We'll get to know them well
And hope that in the future
Our relationships will tell
Chorus
And We've got to join together,
let our laughter fill the air
It's time for every race and creed
to throw away their every care
Let sport unite us all as one
in the spirit of the lord above
And let us all remember
The games are for the fostering of peace and love
Chorus
And We've got to join together,
let our laughter fill the air
It's time for every race and creed
to throw away their every care
Let sport unite us all as one .....
The simple conclusion from this debacle is that the Commonwealth Games is not worth $7b.
The real question is how much is it worth (how much financial benefit does it provide), and can a country, or countries, host it for less than that amount.
My guess is it's not worth anything even close to a billion dollars. Given it's a non-event, maybe $100m in additional infrastructure build.
The solution is the same as any other event - use the existing facilities. A country that can do that should host the games.
Private enterprise would find a solution - governments will just waste money as they always do.
Of no interest to me, unless the Games included (female) beach volley ball (traditional attire)
Hi Peter
A debate worth having.
Arguably your reasoning should also apply to the Olympics. They and the Commonwealth Games bring together a mix of codes that have little in common, yet all have "world" championships of their own. So it comes down to "What's in a name". I guess if I had ever been good enough to get !8 0r more below a 13 handicap in golf or 4 grades better than being a member of a D Grade NZ National championship squash team I might have liked Commonwealth Games champ on my CV.
While I think Desperate Dan's motivation has been political (he cynically supported a proposal to spread the joy around regional Victoria with a clearly underestimated cost budget to secure votes in the last State elections, he's now trying to say he want's to save all ordinary Victorians the outrageous cost of creating Statewide venues.
Since the modern "Games" are (almost) an anachronism sporting administrators and Governments i.e. taxpayers should get together and promote an agreed 4 or 8 centres as permanent "Games" venues (I'm thinking Summer, but why not Winter) which have World class facilities in Northern and Southern Hemispheres. e.g Greece and London being obvious Olympic / Commonwealth venues in the North and wherever for their southern counterparts.
Will never happen of course. While possible and practicable if agreement could be reached, with contributions of constructing operating and maintaining these world class facilities being spread over participating countries, how would we account for the deflated egos!
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