Inevitable Ticket Focus
Only a few days into the London 2012 Olympics and the one thing that frustrated fans and organisers dreaded was markedly visible for all to see.
Allocated ticket spaces empty at venues across all sports.
Even the tennis, being held at Wimbledon and which had been one of the first sports to sell out completely, had banks of seats lying empty on the first day of play.
What hasn't helped is the mixed messages and speculation as to why. Initially we were told it was corporate sponsor seats. Then it transpires they were seats that belong to the Olympic family - accredited members of countries' delegations.
Lord Coe and Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt assured us that the venues were stuffed to the gills, and that in later rounds this would not be a problem.
But for the many people who have tried and failed to get tickets over the shambolic ticketing process before the Games, and those who have now been bitten by the Olympic bug, this is cold comfort.
Even on the morning of Day 4, listening to the morning television coverage, we are told: "Tickets will be available online today, for tomorrow."
When?
Take The Championships at Wimbledon, for example. Tickets are available at two key times through Ticketmaster for either returns or tickets up in the covered area of Centre Court. There is a definite time that people can log on and try their luck.
There is nothing to tell you when you can log on and try.
I took a look on Monday night, and while there are plenty of tickets available for weightlifting and out-of-city football, the events that have been grabbing the headlines have no seats available, yet visible empty seats.
This was always going to be a headache for any Games organisers - London 2012 looks to be no exception.
Trial by Twitter
With a second athlete being expelled from the Games for making racist comments via Twitter, you have to wonder whether the increased use of social media allows politics to inevitably creep in to the world's biggest sporting event?
On the eve of the Games, Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou was expelled from the Games for tweeting racist comments, combined with previous retweets of support for a far-right group (despite claiming she was not political).
This was followed by a Swiss footballer being expelled from the Games after posting a racist comment after being beaten by South Korea 2:1.
Both athletes have apologised and the with comments and accounts being deleted respectively.
US broadcaster NBC moved to have a US-based British correspondent's Twitter account suspended after encouraging people to email the NBC Olympic President to complain about the broadcaster's quality of coverage.
NBC state that tweeting email details contravened Twitter's privacy policy of tweeting personal information (despite the fact the corporate address can be found on the web!).
NBC has come in for criticism for its use of tape delay coverage.
These three examples underline how "permanent" the web is - once it's out there, it's there for all time.
In the case of Guy Adams, the Los-Angeles based journalist, his comments were pretty scathing, but one can't help wondering what will then happen to the NBC Parody Account that rapidly gained followers, playing on the tape-delay issues? I presume nothing, as they haven't contravened any policies, yet it ridicules the US broadcaster nonetheless.
On the flip side of the coin, police have now arrested a 17-year-old for making malicious tweets after Tom Daley and Pete Waterfield finished outside the medals.
There can be no doubt that BOTH Tom and Pete felt the disappointment of their fourth placing acutely. Both made errors in that pivotal fourth dive, and as Tom himself said: "We are a team."
So for someone to throw comments around telling Tom he had let his late father down will have been hurtful in the extreme.
Fans and fellow team mates, such as Rebecca Adlington, rallied round with supporting messages.
I would imagine it is unlikely that anything will happen to the "tweet-troll" in question other than a good talking to. Because HOW can Twitter (or any other forms of social media) be policed effectively during the Social Media Olympics?
The heavy use of social media via smart devices was even blamed for the lack of road-race cycling coverage, with the cyclists GPS transmitters being apparently swamped by spectators tweeting.
You can understand a reluctance to have results tweeted out ahead of broadcasters who have paid to have exclusive coverage to the Games, but how can you stop it? Quite aside from athletes venting, and journalists criticising, most people are just so ecstatic to be there, they want to share. How can you police that?
Tackling Transport
I will be off to the Basketball later in the day, and having gone through the travel rigmarole last Friday for the opening ceremony I thought I had it all figured out.
Then came the complication of meeting a friend there. He will be coming into possibly the station before Stratford whereas I am relying on the rolling road closures for the Cycle Time Trials to be well over so I can give the Overground service a try. But then finding my way back through Stratford to West Ham doesn't really appeal! Nor does trying to meet someone (as I have the tickets) in the mêleé at Stratford.
Yesterday people leaving Wimbledon got to experience the sometime-bobbins-ness of the District Line. Those of us familiar with its issues at the end of branches normally roll our eyes and try to find alternatives, but I did feel for people leaving Southfields and doing that long walk into Wimbledon to try and find alternatives.
But largely transport seems to have held up so far. Most reports seem to focus on commuters/people based in London working at home, leaving earlier, or looking at alternatives. But the reality is people working in London ARE used to looking at alternatives. It is not uncommon for underground lines to suffer delays/suspension in normal times.
But I would say so far, so good. Then again, ask me tomorrow, after I have to face a 45 minute walk to Kingston in order to make it to Wimbledon tomorrow thanks to road closures in Surrey for the Women's Cycling Time Trials!