One of the best things about watching the Olympics in Ireland is that the country is so small that everyone feels as if they're related to the Olympics competitors. And then there are the people in the studio. You'd swear they all had a stake in the competition themselves.
So when the Irish double skulls shocked us all by NOT qualifying for the men's lightweight double sculls final (they were Ireland's best medal hope) I thought Neville Maxwell in the studio was close to tears. I actually felt sorry for him. Obviously as a rower he knows these guys, but it was more than feeling sorry for a couple of men he knows. It was if someone had told him his dog had died.
And, of course, we the viewers can't help but be affected by that. We're all "gutted" by this.
