"In my day, I did judo, not athletics. I'm not planning to run away anywhere."
Listing Russia's achievements, Mr Putin also admitted its shortcomings.
"We still have a lot to do in the social sphere," he admitted in his opening remarks.
The "we" intriguingly suggested that if he no longer remained a member of the team, he would still be close to it - whether the game was athletics, judo, or running Russia.
This irritated me, largely because it was an inept, unsophisticated attempt to make the argument that Putin does not intend to leave Russian politics. I might not disagree with the conclusion, but presenting a half-ass reason like "Putin used 'we' instead of 'they'" is silly. If you want to say something like that, there's plenty of ammunition you can muster from Russia's history, Putin's history, whatever. Trying to end the article on an ominous/fortune-telling note just sounds clumsy. It's as if all readers are supposed to gasp collectively at Putin's tendency to use 'we' instead of 'they'. It's not like he promised the return of Communist Russia or anything. Please. There're many much more intelligent ways in which you can conclude.
The Discovery/National Geographic programmes that (always!) end in a similar 'and-dark-clouds-loom' fashion never fail to irritate me.
Oh the intoxicating pleasure I get from telling people what to think.
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