Beijing Olympics

[Belmondo]

Are we watching? I'll probably do what I usually do, which is to try to catch the events I'm interested in and end up watching about half of it. I thought the artistic part of the Opening Ceremony was quite something.
I don't watch that much network television anymore, and it appears that the purpose of the Games is to set a new worlds record for the number of commercials.
Do most Olympic athletes go on to have a fulfilling life? I remember hearing about a few of them getting busted for drugs or alcohol some years later. What happens to a person whose most important achievement is behind him at age twenty? Are we celebrating the wrong thing? World class strength and agility are always admirable, but there are still way too many kids who think they can make it in the sports world and not getting an education. How old are those female gymnasts? Ten? Do they even know how to surf the internets?

[Steve T Power]

I think it's all a crock. A dog and pony show to distract the world from the real problems facing us. Want to promote global unity? Lets have a gigantic sporting event where all nations face off against one another under FIERCE pressure and through intense competition. Great plan!

I'm a heathen and i don't care.

[Kevin]

I'm only watching women's volleyball.... and soccer... and weightlifting.

[Dan Mancini]

I never miss the Thunderdome. Two nations enter; one nation leaves. It's awesome.

[mattnyd]

I think it's wonderful. I will never know, as long as I have lived or will live, what it's like to be so free that I can even take one step in front of a crowd of that magnitude, let alone be able to lift my body, turn, fly, and land. That, in and of itself, is to be marveled.

I pay no attention to the commercials, except that I noticed one was already used in the last Superbowl and re-graphiced (?) to look like it was done for Beijing.

I pay no attention to the political niceties, except that I noticed the Australian diplomats stood for the Australian athletes, the Chinese people cheered for that wonderful little boy, and everybody clapped for the Iraquis. Whatever that means, I don't know, don't care.

What happens to athletes after the Olympics can be tragic or prosaic or wonderful or sad or conservatively hushed or elatedly shouted from mountain tops for the next millenium. What happens to anybody, at any time in their lives, after the fanfare is gone, or for that matter - whether the fanfare ever came to begin with.

And what did I do today? I went to the county fair, vaccumed my livingroom, and had leftover steak for supper.

And I watched them, in awe of what they can do. I think it's wonderful.

[J.M. Vargas]

I gave up long ago on watching American network TV coverage of the Olympics. Way too much focus on the American athletes, too many pre-taped puff pieces (instead of showing other sports or foreign teams) and too much Team USA ass-kissing. I love this country (I moved here for a reason!) and understand the need to root for the home team (the same way Russian and French TV are biased toward their own athletes) but damn it, there's a whole world out there that NBC could just reach out and show us! Back in 2004 for Athens the NBC-owned cable channels were very good at showing a wider variety of sports/countries than what was shown on the main network. I became hooked on target shooting at 3AM on MSNBC! This year though NBC has outdone itself with http://www.nbcolympics.com. All the Olympic sporting events are there, live or recorded, and I've had a blast picking and choosing what to watch. I love Badminton (played it in College a lifetime ago) and it was usually something the networks would dump overnight or early in the morning. Now I can watch any match whenever I want to. Hell, last night I watched the Men's Single Bike race across several Beijing landmarks (including the infamous Tianamen Square) in the dead of night without any commentary. Sure beat the edited-into-pieces sections with annoying announcers that NBC ended up showing Saturday afternoon on its main network.

On the website I've already watched three matches, commercial-free and without announcers, at my leisure. Guess its not the Olympics I hated those years back, but the way NBC monopolized some sports/athletes and constantly recycled them. Online and with me choosing the events the Olympics are awesome!

[BrettCullum]

I actually like the network coverage of the Olympics - the puff pieces and all. One year I was in Germany for the Summer Games, and their coverage was so dry and soulless. It was like "Here's the event..." with no commentary, no interviews, and no music. Dry, boring, stale. I get in to knowing the stories, seeing how they train, and getting insight in to the athletes even when they concentrate so heavily on the US athletes. But yeah, commercials are insane. Tons of them! It's all brought to you by somebody.

I like the Olympics. Not a rabid fan boy, but to me it is moving and kind of cool to see people at their high point. I just look at them on the podium and think "It's all downhill from here little athlete!". It's awesome!

[J.M. Vargas]

^^^ That is cold dude. It's also so true!

[Dan Mancini]

I gave up long ago on watching American network TV coverage of the Olympics. Way too much focus on the American athletes, too many pre-taped puff pieces (instead of showing other sports or foreign teams) and too much Team USA ass-kissing.

Couldn't agree less. I think our networks show plenty of interest in foreign athletes -- not as much as the Americans, but of course an American audience is more interested in the American team. Compared to other nations, we're pretty easy-going when it comes to the Olympics. We certainly aren't the kind of folks who stake our national identity on the athletic performance of a group of bulimic teenaged girls. Our national identity is too tied up in the garish, Vegas-like excesses of Super Bowl Sunday for the Olympics to be anything but good, clean fun as far as we're concerned.

[mattnyd]

Also, don't forget, a great deal of the puff pieces aren't really speaking to you necessarily anyway. They're speaking to future Olympians. Or even let's say just to future generations. Not that that's the intention, I don't think, but speaking as a (formerly) 12 year old girl, coming home from a family trip to the local Carvel ice cream parlor on a hot summer night in 1976, turning on the television and literally letting my ice cream drip to the floor as I watched Nadia Comanechi doing something on the floor with little white socks, dangly red hair, and some commentator telling a story about how she never smiles.. believe me, it spoke to me.

Shawn Johnson has said that as a little girl, she dreamed of being Carly Patterson. Carly Patterson has dreamt of being Kim Zmeskal. Kim Zmeskal dreamt of being Mary Lou Retton. And Mary Lou would never dare to dream of being Nadia, but she dreamt of being able to walk the same path Nadia walked. It's all a little girl's dream. Or a little boy. I don't know.

Anyway, the puff pieces have their appropriate place. It's kind of the same concept as the continuous news reports every Halloween about how children's sleepwear should be fire-retardant. Don't we all already know that and isn't that annoying? Yes, but there is always a new audience. There is always somebody who's 22 and having their first step into the grand world of adulthood and possibly parenthood, who need to be reminded of this common sense information. Same thing with the puff pieces. There's always someone who's interested.

[J.M. Vargas]

^^^ I'll stick to the streaming over the net without announcers or puff pieces. Thanks to NBC this year at least this is an option I'm willing, able and ready to use.

[Dave Ryan]

I never miss the Thunderdome. Two nations enter; one nation leaves. It's awesome.

Who run Bartertown?

[Dan Mancini]

I never miss the Thunderdome. Two nations enter; one nation leaves. It's awesome.

Who run Bartertown?

Well, ain't we a pair, Raggedy Man.

[Steve T Power]

bust a deal and face the wheel!

[Dan Mancini]

bust a deal and face the wheel!

I got two men -- two men with a gut full of fear. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...dyin' time's here!

[Bryan Pope]

^^^ I'll stick to the streaming over the net without announcers or puff pieces. Thanks to NBC this year at least this is an option I'm willing, able and ready to use.

While I personally wouldn't get much enjoyment out of watching the Olympics online, I think it's great that the option is available.

My wife, oldest son and I have had many enjoyable evenings the past week watching the games, talking about the athletes and playing armchair judge. We couldn't do that in front of a tiny monitor.

[IChiWawa]

As someone old enough to remember the coverage of the Mexico City and Munich games, the coverage these days is a joke. I can't compare the coverage then or now to any other country's version, but back in the day it was just around-the-clock coverage of the athletes competing. I recall that in many of the events you would see what seemed like every participant in the finals. Some may call this method 'dry' but there was more than enough drama provided by the games themselves (even without Smith/Carlos or the PLO) it was good enough to keep entire neighborhoods' worth of kids gathered around TV sets.

One thing that wasnt a problem back then was the staggering amount of events that you have now. Synchronized swimming (and diving)? Give me a break. They are now trying to get golf included. I can't wait till you can acheive gold in UFC, skateboarding, ballroom dancing or the quarter car wash.

[Jon Mercer]

bust a deal and face the wheel!

I got two men -- two men with a gut full of fear. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...dyin' time's here!

Thunderdome's simple. Get to the weapons, use them any way you can. I know you won't break the rules, because there aren't any.

[Dan Mancini]

bust a deal and face the wheel!

I got two men -- two men with a gut full of fear. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...dyin' time's here!

Thunderdome's simple. Get to the weapons, use them any way you can. I know you won't break the rules, because there aren't any.

Dammit, I want a Blu-ray of Thunderdome...NOW! I don't care what anyone says, that flick is mostly awesome.

[J.M. Vargas]

^^^ Got high-def cable or satellite? HDNet Movies has been showing "Beyond Thunderdome" regularly. It's not Blu-ray but it comes pretty close. Next showing is at 4:20PM this Wednesday.

[Dan Mancini]

^^^ Got high-def cable or satellite? HDNet Movies has been showing "Beyond Thunderdome" regularly. It's not Blu-ray but it comes pretty close. Next showing is at 4:20PM this Wednesday.

I do and I hadn't noticed. I'll have to watch for it (4:20 PM ain't exactly ideal).

[Future Man]

^^^ Got high-def cable or satellite? HDNet Movies has been showing "Beyond Thunderdome" regularly. It's not Blu-ray but it comes pretty close. Next showing is at 4:20PM this Wednesday.

I do and I hadn't noticed. I'll have to watch for it (4:20 PM ain't exactly ideal).

Oprah?

[Neal Masri]

^^^ Got high-def cable or satellite? HDNet Movies has been showing "Beyond Thunderdome" regularly. It's not Blu-ray but it comes pretty close. Next showing is at 4:20PM this Wednesday.

I do and I hadn't noticed. I'll have to watch for it (4:20 PM ain't exactly ideal).

Check out your free HD On Demand movies. In my neck of the woods, Comcast offers that one in hi def with the free HD stuff.

[Dan Mancini]

^^^ Got high-def cable or satellite? HDNet Movies has been showing "Beyond Thunderdome" regularly. It's not Blu-ray but it comes pretty close. Next showing is at 4:20PM this Wednesday.

I do and I hadn't noticed. I'll have to watch for it (4:20 PM ain't exactly ideal).

Oprah?

Well, I do need to know what book I should read next.

Check out your free HD On Demand movies. In my neck of the woods, Comcast offers that one in hi def with the free HD stuff.

I don't do business with Comcast. They're lying pigs. Also, they don't carry WGN (or didn't at the time I dumped them), which would mean fewer Cubs games for me.

[Neal Masri]

I'm actually looking at a switch to FIOS. Comcast hasn't lied to me yet (as a matter of fact, I'm pretty happy with the triple play), but the FIOS appears to have much better image quality for their HD offerings.