The 2008 Summer Olympics
 

The Games of the XXIX Olympiad will start on August 8, 2008. Describe your reaction.

um, go USA! ;)

First Olympics for me in high-def FTW!!!

I tried boycotting. But I have too much cool stuff made in China. And, I like McDonalds fries a bit too much.

never been too interested in the olympics. my wife likes em so i'll probably have to see some

212 hours of programming PER DAY by all the NBC stations.

According to SI, when all is said and done, NBC will have broadcast more programming for this Summer Games than all the other Summer Games COMBINED.

I think even if you try, you won't be able to get out of hearing SOMETHING about the results, heh.

Frankly, I don't care that much.

I tend to get sucked into the Olympics. There are some events I like more than others, but I'll probably alternate between watching and being glued to the set most evenings.

I'll watch some of the events. It'll be nice if you have a lot of options on what you can watch. I'll probably catch basketball, soccer, softball, baseball any finals event with Phelps, a few of the track events, a couple of gymnastics events

"What the hell? The Olympics aren't starting for another eight years! :confused:"

Passacaglia and the rest of Chicago

I'll watch some every day, though I'm going to hate the "rah, rah, USA" coverage. I want to see the best athletes, not just the best Americans (yes, I realize that once in a blue moon, they'll highlight another country's athlete, but its rare).

I'm wondering how much of the Olympics I'll actually watch in HD. I'm assuming that the primary NBC channel will show only the major events which have a good chance of being spoiled before the prime time replay. The more interesting fringe events will probably be relegated to the MSNBC type channels.

I don't have very much interest in the Summer Olympics events. The short track events (100m, 200m, 400m) are entertaining to me, and I like the volleyball, but I don't care much for Olympic baseball, basketball, or soccer.

Since the coverage seems to be expanding a whole bunch this time around, maybe they'll show more badminton or handball or shooting. I'd like to see sports that I don't ever get to see on television. That's part of my enjoyment of the Olympics. I want to see something that I don't get to see every day or every week.

I think that's why I like the Winter Olympics more than the Summer Olympics: curling, luge, bobsled, ski jumping, speed skating, etc. In the US, these sports aren't on television all the time, but they get tons of airtime during the Winter Games.

So, anyway, I'll watch some track and volleyball this year. I'll probably watch a little swimming, and my wife might watch gymnastics. Right now, I think that's about it.

Team handball is so fun to play, and a lot of fun to watch!

There's not really an option that fits me very well. I plan on watching most of the mid-distance and long-distance events (800m, 1500m, steeple chase, 5,000m, 10,000m, and part of the marathon) but not much else.

Man, has it already been four years since my women's sand volleyball thread got locked?!?

These are the events that have the most chance of me watching, since I was a long distance runner back in high school. If I remember right, I was undefeated in the steeplechase (maybe I was just undefeated within our team). But then, we only ran it once or twice. One of our guys (who was a really good runner) fell and got completely submerged in the water pit. People loved to hang out near the water and watch disaster befall the poor runners. :popcorn:

I always tell myself I'll try to watch more of the Olympics in a given year, but it never happens. Now that I finally have TIVO, I'm sure I'll catch much more of it than I ever have.

Whoa whoa, pixplskthx.

It was an epic thread.

Link please.

No idea what it was called.

Dammit!

No interest at all in the olympics for me.

YOU CLICKED ON THE THREAD!

Well the thread is actually a poll asking about interest in the olympics.

I just have some interest about how interested other people are in the olympics

good point

I find it interesting that you have some interest about how interested other people are in the Olympics. I wonder how interested other people are in how interested you are in how interested they are in the Olympics? Perhaps a poll ...

Ack, looks like SD deleted it, not locked it. I can still see it, however... :p

Although I don't follow women's gymnastics hardcore like I used to in the Mag 7 and the Vanessa Atler days, I might still try and catch it.

Swimming I'll probably watch and I intend to watch every last second of fencing I can find, even if it's shitty, shitty foil.

Mabuhay Ang Pilipinas!

what did you call me

I've always liked the Olympics. This year will be better since they'll be covering just about everything and I'll be able to pick and choose what events I want to see. Basketball is probably my most anticipated event but I'll watch a bunch of others.

USA! USA! USA! [/obligatory nationalism]

Undelete!!

The Dark Knight.

I am looking forward to the Olympics. My daughter is very interested as well, as this is her first 'real' Olympics to her at age 8. That has helped raise my level of interest a good amount.

I just hope the coverage concentrates more on the actual sports and less on the "human interest" storyline crap.

Does Allison Stokke complete in these?

That's one thing I love about the coverage we receive here is you can see events where there are no Canadians participating, they also are pretty good at giving bio's on the best athletes in the world. Of course there is a slant towards favouring Canadian athletes but it's nothing like watching the US stations. Their coverage would lead you to believe you're watching the US championships.

We'll it's being covered by US STATIONS, right? What do you want, 15 minute bios on the east germany women's weightlifting team?

Most people don't care about the fast running goat herder from eastbumlick.

I'll be watching as much as my wife allows me to.

I have a second cousin once removed from east bumlick

watch your cornhole, man

Actualy I made a mistake, I just called my mom and she told me it is West bumlick. sorry for the confusion.

Yes, more sports. I really don't care who A. lost their (insert loved one) and how they had to cope B. Over came (insert disability or bias) and have made it to the Olympics or C. This is their (insert number of previous Olympics + this one) and they really hope to go home with the gold before retiring.

With all the networks NBC has access too, hopefully they've targeted specific networks for different kinds of audiences. (though I do also remember stories of the fluff conciously toned down in '04).

Networks always brag about having the Olympics even though people care far less about them than most other sports - but this is really some production NBC has to put together. The logistics are mind-boggling. And I guess they even put together the different coverage packages for all of the other countries, targetting each individual country's audience.

If the East German Women's Weightlifting Team was any good, yeah... and especially since East Germany doesn't exist anymore, that'd be a Hell of a plot line ;).

I want to see the best athletes. I don't care if they are American or not.

i don't know. the chinese guy that's always good on the rings just isn't that exciting.

actually nor is the american guy good on the pommel horse.

Yes they love bragging about them for sure. Actually, where I work, we (not me specifically, but in my department) have some people who have been doing technical support for CCTV for a few months now in preperation for the Olympics and some of the stats that I've seen (for equipment and how many hours of video, etc) are just crazy. I'm actually glad I have nothing to do with it, haha.

And why is Mike Phelps? (I actually though Ian Thorpe was more interesting in the last Olympics)

because he's american obviously

Volleyball and water polo are cool events to watch.

Sorry, that alone doesn't do make them interestingly. More likely than not the American is some stuck up wanna be prince or princess. Like Phelps was last time... I'll admit I rooted against that arrogant ass.

That's why he need the 10 minute bios on them!

I wish Amanda Beard was back.

I don't think Michael Phelps is a very good example of American coverage bias. The dude had 6 gold medals and 2 bronze in his first Olympics. That's more Golds than Ian Thorpe did in two Olympics and only one less medal than Thorpe's combined total. He owns the World Record in 4 separate individual events.

Please, someone tell me if Allison Stokke is in the Olympics??

commie!!

commie commie commie commie commie commieleon.

I'll have it on 24/7 while my TiVo records 2 of the other channels nonstop.

Yes, I'm totally serious. But I figure once the 80 hours of my TiVo is filled, I can go through and watch everything in 30 minutes after I skip through all of the commericals, all of the interviews, all of the human interest stories, all of the medal ceremonies, all of the pre-event warm up and stretching by the athletes, all of the more commericals and all of the even more human interest stories.

FWIW, Phelps is going for 8 golds again this year, and Thorpe is only competing in the 100m free (I think - it's just one event).

I'll watch as much as I can, which won't be a ton - but usually am very interested in the various short races as well. Olympic soccer, baseball, and basketball are usually fun to watch as well.

I think this is why I don't enjoy the Olympics when I do watch, and why my interest is almost zero by now. Every time one of these things come on, I turn the channel, and often never turn it back to try to see the events.

I do kinda like watching some of the sports that you rarely see any other time, water polo being my favorite.

I am looking forward to hearing things like "this team only arrived in town yesterday because they refused to stay in such a polluted city"

and "missing from this event is because he has asthma and will not try to compete in a city with this much smog"

I think Phelps has an excellent shot for the sweep this year:

200m Free - WR holder
100m Fly - 2nd fastest time, 4 of top 10 times
200m Fly - WR, 5 fastest times, 8 of top 10
200m IM - WR, 4 fastest times, 7 of top 10
400m IM - WR, 5 of top 10

Then he's in three relays, and I think the US team is too strong this year for any upsets to happen.

I actually like the human interest stories. Sporting achievement is nice by itself, but it seems better when you know a bit about the struggles the athletes face.

Jeez, I think I need glasses. I thought you said you wished Amanda Beard was black.

Anyway, now that Amanda Beard has posed nude, there's nothing more to see. Time to pick someone else. I'm already cranking up the Misty May Lust Machine at my house, personally.