The Friday Question - Olympic Fever!

By Mike

August 8, 2008 in Sports, Television

The Olympics begin today with the opening ceremonies and I don’t know about you guys, but we just love the summer games in our house. And heck, the winter ones too.

I just get into all the stories about these athletes who have overcome so many odds to be where they are and I just can’t help but cheer them on.

The question today:

What’s your favorite Summer Olympics game?

I really love swimming competitions in the Olympics, but this summer I’m looking forward to the USA Men’s Basketball run. They haven’t won gold in a long time and this year’s team looks pretty awesome and very dedicated. With Jerry Colangelo and a solid coaching staff, the team seems ready to contend.

But what about you guys? Do you like the Olympics? If so, what sport are you looking forward to?

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Sports, Television
Olympics, summer olympics

Viewing 9 Comments

Jason A Clark 2 months ago 1 point
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I gotta be honest - I barely even keep up with it anymore. I'll watch a few events if they're on and it's convenient, but I don't really get excited about any of it. Although, the basketball games should be pretty good this year so I might check that out.

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Cap'n Schwartz 2 months ago 1 point
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" just get into all the stories about these athletes who have ......" actually I have seemingly grown to despise these marathon segments about brody miller and his favorite drinking pub and what type of juice he drinks in the morning and all of his friends and their blah blah blah... they are so annoying and detrct from showing us the actual events. Main coverage is all about the human story, who cares... I dont care about Alvin Iverson and his group of thugs and their mentality... I would prefer they show the games in their entirety...please NBC stop with the over melodramitc stories and just show the events....but I'm with you i like the basketball the most, track and field events.... and some abstract events (Tennis, ping pong, tai-kwondo - though they dont that anymore...but thank god they kept synchronized swimming, which actually makes me wonder, if one synchronized swimmer drowns, do they all drown?!?!)

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Mike Olbinski 2 months ago 2 points
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Alvin Iverson, is he one of the chipmunks?

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jina 2 months ago 1 point
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I like the Olympics, and I like the stories. In a culture where we all but worship professional athletes and shower them with gobs of money, it is intriguing and deeply satisfying to see stories about people who would give anything just to compete and competitions where athletes value representing their countries. Bring it on... all of it!

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R.A. Porter 2 months ago 1 point
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My problem, and I just finished writing a long rant on this subject on another blog, is that with the way NBC pre-packages and filters the coverage, we don't even *see* the athletes who compete just for love of sport anymore. We mostly get the big four sports - track & field, swimming, gymnastics, basketball - and a few others when an American is expected to medal. Then, with all the "personal stories", NBC does the job of building these people up so much that they get gobbled up by advertisers after the games, if they aren't already making millions in marketing dollars.

I hear with jealousy how other countries televise the Olympics and wish we could get some of that.

I'd *like* to watch some 46-year-old woman from Minsk take the bronze in target shooting or some kid from Tonga come out of nowhere to win the gold in kayaking. But I'll just see long elegies about Dara Torres and her "work ethic" (nothing about her steroid abuse) and how Michael Phelps is a role model for kids (if you want them to grow up to get multiple DUIs) and how Coach K got the team to come together.

I want Zombie Jim McKay!!!

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jina 2 months ago 1 point
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At least if you get cable of some kind... you have more coverage. I think it's on like a million channels - UHD, USA, Oxygen, etc. So, if you want to watch more, you have the ability to.

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R.A. Porter 2 months ago 1 point
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I know, but it's still pretty focused coverage. They will cover some of the other sports, but still burn more time with highlights and long biographical pieces than with just showing the athletes competing in all their weird, wild sports.

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adrianvender 2 months ago 1 point
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Not sure how comprehensive it will be, but I hear that NBC will be broadcasting all the events online in HD.

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Cap'n Schwartz 2 months ago 1 point
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its like we just saw the first one right there!! :P

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