It seems my comments about disabled participants in the paralympics not being real athelets has pissed a lot of people off. This I expected, but without any disrespect to the disabled, I have read nothing here to change my mind. Since people have been courteous enough to respond to my posting, it is only fair that I should respond in kind.

"The winner of the 100 m run of the leg amputated did run quicker on his protheses than I ever did when I was young. "- Wolfgang. That may be true, but don't you think that if he could, he would much rather have his own leg, one that he didnt have to " screw" on everyday? Sport, and the Olympics in particular, is a celebration of the human body and its potential. A fit athelete who has won a gold medal is a man (or woman) who has honed his body until it is in the peak of perfection. He would never replace any part of his body. An entrant in the Paralympics, on the other hand, is still disabled. It seems ridiculous to watch people racing in wheel chairs and then comment on how much better they did than, say, the UK relay team in the proper olympics. Christalmighty, they can't even walk up the stairs without assistance. If they could cure their disablility, they would throw away their chairs and never give paralympics another thought. OK, archery may be different, but my main point still stands. Even a good archer would like to be able to stand on his own two legs without aid, surely.
   
I am not saying that "people with disabilities [sh]ould be hidden away upstairs, or in back bedrooms, or in nursing homes." I have nothing against the disabled living full lives. I do not believe that disabled people should be discriminated against or hidden away. They should, of course, be respected as individuals. However, to pretend that these people are something other than disabled just strikes me as an attempt to avoid an obvous truth. Don, you may win against me in an arm-wrestling competion, but I can get through each and every day without a crutch or wheelchair. I dont wear glasses, but if I did, I would not think that my short sightedness would be comparable to having to lean on a crutch. It just ain't comparing like with like.

To be blunt: You are disbled: I am not. You have to "overcome" your disablities. I do not.      

I would not enter Mastermind because, frankly, there are people cleverer than me (Oh God, have I just handed ammunition over to my enemies here!). I could, however, enter a comparable one at my local pub and invite all my friends to come down and watch. But I would not expect the BBC to come down and film it and then expect the public to treat it as if it was on the same level as Mastermind, and yet this is what people seem to do with the Parallympics. C'mon, lets have a bit of realism here.