Summer Games Tag

After a four year wait we have finally reached the 2012 Summer Games in London.  This year's edition of the Olympics will mark the third time that the city of London will host the games.  The previous 2 times were in 1908 and 1948.  The games in 1944 were originally scheduled to be held in London, but World War II prevented the Olympics from taking place and the city of London was awarded the games in 1948.

The anticipation for the 2012 games has reached its pinnacle as we approach the Opening Ceremonies.  The Opening Ceremony is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Friday - July 27th,  at the new Olympic Stadium in London.  Ceremonies are expected to start around 9 pm local time and 4 pm ET, however the NBC family of networks will not be airing this event live.  Instead, the network giant will hold off until prime time and the Opening Ceremony coverage can be viewed on your local NBC station starting at 7:30 pm ET.

This year marks a special and very rare occasion for the sport of tennis and all of its patrons.  Not only will the All England Club host the Championships, but the most historic tennis and croquet club in the world will also play host for all Olympic tennis matches this summer.  That's right folks,  order a double shot of Wimbledon for the second time in All England Club history.

The only previous time was in 1908 when the All England Club hosted tennis matches at the fourth running of the modern Olympics.  The Summer Games did return to London in 1948 but the sport of tennis had separated itself from the Olympic movement.

Whoa!  This was my first reaction when I first saw this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljb6Mne8Mfc&feature=player

The sport being played in the above video is called Sepak Takraw.  Since the mid-late 19th century, it's been one of the most popular games in Asia.  At first glance, you see a combination of soccer and volleyball.  Players are only allowed to use their feet, knees, chest, and head.  You can NOT use your hands.

There are only three players on each side of the court at one time.  They kick a rattan ball over the net that is generally shorter than the actual player. Each side is awarded a point when either team commits a fault. The first team to 21 points wins.

Can this be a sport we will one day see in the Summer Olympics?  If curling can become a Winter sport, I can't see why Sepak Takraw couldn't be considered as a Summer event.

This past Tuesday police officials in London began conducting security tests for the 2012 Summer Olympics.  In order to prepare for every situation the London police have teamed up with the Met, UK Border Agency, and other surrounding police forces.  At this point there has been 600 million pounds set aside for the operations of all security during the 2012 Olympics.  The 600 million is just a piece of the reported 9.3 billion pounds that is required to host the 2012 Summer Games.  It has also been reported that the Olympic Security committee will use up to 12,000 officers at the peak of Olympic traffic.

Due to the unique popularity of the 2012 London Games, we have already determined that space on the Sports Traveler Tour Programs will be limited. Already we have received thousands of requests from both our existing and new clients seeking to make their reservations for all aspects of the 2012 Games. With so many potential reservations we are now taking Fully Refundable Deposits as part of our 2012 Priority Reservation Program.

The Details:
+ $250 fully refundable reservation deposit secures your space on our travel program
+ Get to confirm your trip a full 30 days ahead of the release of our programs to the general public
+ PLUS, get $150 per person off your final tour package price when you confirm your London 2012 trip!

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