Dangerous things to say in Glasgow number 27... '' The Commonwealth Games... It's got a sort of Edinburgh Festival vibe about it !! ''

Five days into the big sporting get together and Central Scotland is now well on board with what was described before the event by some as ''a glorified egg and spoon race "," a third division Olympics'' and ''a waste of money pal !! ''

The merchants of doom - and if we are honest we will recognise there are more than one or two in these parts - also picked apart the Opening Ceremony in Glasgow's east end for its kitsch qualities and ' shortbread tin ' view of Scotland but I'm sorry, I just could not agree, and in the words of Strictly Come Dancing's Len Goodman '' for me it was a SEVEN !! ''.

Ok.. while main in stadium presenters John '' what accent will I use today ? '' Barrowman and Karen Dunbar - who I think is a genuinely funny lady - might have only been world famous between the time zones of Ayr and Anstruther they did their job well considering they were on considerably less money than headline act Rod Stewart, who would probably have done the gig for nothing as it was at his beloved Celtic Park.

The Red Arrows fly past; the unintentional hilarity of Hoy the Butler helping a Malaysian Royal get the top off the baton to reveal the Queen's message and of course those dancing tea cakes will be remembered fondly in years to come long after we have got over our '' Scotish cringe '' that the Opening Cremony might only have meant something to fans of the Sunday Post fun section !!

England won the first Gold of the 2014 games - Jodie Stimpson in the Woman's Triathlon - and then both the Auld Enemy and Australia took charge at the top of the medal table but suddenly, without warning, Team Scotland started to do well in Judo and Bowls and Swimming and more!! And we found ourselves winning more medals in the first TWO DAYS of Glasgow 2014 than we did at the whole of Edinburgh 1986, when Liz Lynch - now McColgan - won our only Gold on the last day of competition in the capital.

The Rugby Sevens was a well attended party, an oval ball if you like, at Ibrox with South Africa beating the All Blacks in the final to take the Gold while the streets of Glasgow embraced both the mens and womens Marathon on a partly rainy Sunday that didn't dampen the city's new found enthusiasm for the games it had waited so long to host.

Hampden, the traditional home of Scottish football, doubled as an Athletics track and showed its versatilty in a fitba' daft city and by Day 5 The Commonwealth Games 2014 were pitching to be remembered alongside Murray's Wimbledon triumph, Scotland Qualifying for World Cups and The Tartan Grand Slam Rugby success of 1984.

It seems after a slow start, and initial doubts about its validiity in some quarters, the Glasgow games has won the doubters over.

It seems Scotland likes winners after all !!

Let the action continue.... all the way until Sunday August 3rd.

  Alex Horsburgh

Fireworks, music, cute Scottie dogs and a sticky baton are the lasting memories of a superb Opening Ceremony last night to the XX Commonwealth Games at Celtic Park in Glasgow. Part kitsch, part high culture, with a beautiful rendition of Loch Lomond by violinist Nicola Benodotti, we saw the best of what Scotland and Glasgow can offer.

Quirky with inflatable Loch Ness monsters and Finneston Cranes to the sheer exuberance of the hundreds of dancers with flourescent primary colour clothing, the stage was set for the Party to begin. Rod Stewart was just Rod, Amy MacDonald was great and Susan Boyle needed to spend more time rehearsing. Fireworks and an overfly of the Red Arrows trailing Red, White and Blue smoke over Celtic Park, caused one Glaswegian to say: "That'll go down well in half of Glasgow!"

The team parade saw the Scottie Dogs stealing the show with their coats bearing the teams names, along with the team from Tonga endearing themselves to the East End of Glasgow by parading Celtic shirts. Of course the biggest roar of the night was the entrance of the Scotland team in their Brig a Doon style uniforms. Euan Burton, Scotland's Flag Bearer said: "When we were standing in the tunnel outside I turned round and shouted 'are you ready Scotland?' The reception I got was incredible.

When we went in the noise was indescribable and every time we hit a corner it just went up again. If the rest of the Games, is like this it's going to be something special"

The Queen's Baton relayed to Her Majesty nearly came unstuck when it was discovered it was screw top rather than a pull off top! All in all a typical Glaswegian night!

Now the sport starts!

  Steve Delahaye