Carl Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 What are your thoughts on the London Olympics? Here's what I have so far: 1) Loved the opening ceremony, but I'm also a big Slumdog Millionaire guy. The agrarian society to digital age theme sounds like a disaster, but it was wildly entertaining and even made some sense. 2) NBC screwed American viewers hard by omitting this gorgeous segment in place of an insipid Michael Phelps interview. Instead of a moving tribute to the London bombing victims with stunning visuals and a song by Emeli Sandé, we saw Michael Phelps (one of the worst interview subjects at the games) answer dumb Seacrest questions like "If you break the record for most medals, will you be the best ever?" 3) Fencing is horrible. Do NOT watch it. It's 7 seconds of action followed by equipment adjustments, annoying beeps, ambiguity, and more preparation for that next 7 seconds of action. It makes soccer look like football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farin Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 the opening ceremony was great, I agree... even though the German commentators could have been better as well. I'm one of these people that could watch almost *any* sports in the Olympics - most of them you only get to see once every 4 years after all fencing is funny because it's MUCH too fast for me (btw, how much action it is greatly depends on whether you're watching foil, épée or sabre... I heard the comparison today that sabre is like a 100m sprint, while foil is like a 10000m run) Also, from what I've seen until now, the audience in London seems to be very enthusiastic and very fair, cheering for the best AND for the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I missed the opening ceremony. I so wanted to see the thing with the queen, and now I can't find it anywhere... youtube isn't allowed to have it. The Olympics Committee keeps deleting everything posted there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ombre Vivante Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Most of it is boring as hell, so I hadn't seen any of it until I woke up this morning to women's archery and saw this cutie <3 Now I'm paying attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkstones Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 It's not the Olympics Committee, it's NBC. They own the rights to the footage. The Daily Mail had an article about the James Bond/Queen segment that contained video of it, but I'm assuming that was from the BBC feed. I watched the Opening Ceremonies and I thought it was very, very well done. That's really the only aspect of the games I care about. I'd like our athletes to do well, but I'm not watching any of the events; they really don't interest me. I got suckered into watching the swimming races in Beijing because I wanted to see if Michael Phelps could break Spitz's record, but once the swimming was over, I didn't turn them back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesboy Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I love the Badminton competition and can't wait for the trash talking to begin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ombre Vivante Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I don't know what mint rmoney was whining about: apt. buildings outfitted with rockets, surveillance cameras out the waz00, Marines checking your event tickets, and a driving lane for rich people (Anglo-Saxon, rich people!). http://www.cracked.com/article_19932_5-creepy-things-london-did-to-prepare-olympics.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayzor Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 (edited) Carl said: "Fencing is horrible. Do NOT watch it. It's 7 seconds of action followed by equipment adjustments, annoying beeps, ambiguity, and more preparation for that next 7 seconds of action." You mean fencing is almost as intolerable to watch as baseball? Glad I don't care about summer olympics. Canada never does well anyway. We'll probably walk away with 4 bronze and a silver and call it a success. I didn't even know the games were on yet till I saw this thread. Edited July 29, 2012 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edna Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I saw a video where the Queen was walking with james Bond and suddenly something happens and he has to run some stairs up... maybe that was a joke... but I saw the Queen and the new Bond together... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel2Velvet Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Love it. Love the real life drama of witnessing winning and losing, after so much time for preparation put in by each participant. Also seeing all the nationalities represented and people from each nation striving for a single positive purpose is extremely heartwarming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Shawna & edna - here is the video - the corgi's steal the show, and they are the Queen's dogs, no body doubles. The Queen and Bond I give her props for doing it - I saw a clip of a conversation between her and London's mayor (that guy is hilarious) .... she said that she missed seeing "her bit" and that "she hoped it made everyone laugh" in her high toned British accent. That was the best part, her off the cuff remarks. I enjoy watching swimming and diving, women's gymnastics, beach volleryball, and dressage (just for the horses). I'll be off work for most of the games so I'm going to make a real effort to watch as much as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 I like watching, but I haven't been glued to the set. And I am sick of Michael Phelps..there are other swimmers in the world, and some are outswimming him, so focus on them. Even if they focus more on the other US swimmers, it would be better. I like when the underdogs win. It's better than watching a "gold medal favorite" pout when they "only" get a silver. Oh, please! I can understand being disappointed, especially if they felt they didn't do their best, but show some sportsmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyRaccoon Posted July 30, 2012 Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 I thought the Rowan Atkinson bit was hilarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkstones Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 I like watching, but I haven't been glued to the set. And I am sick of Michael Phelps..there are other swimmers in the world, and some are outswimming him, so focus on them. Even if they focus more on the other US swimmers, it would be better. I like when the underdogs win. It's better than watching a "gold medal favorite" pout when they "only" get a silver. Oh, please! I can understand being disappointed, especially if they felt they didn't do their best, but show some sportsmanship. Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer in US history, if not also in Olympic history. They're going to focus on him, and rightfully so. Even if he doesn't win any golds, he has the chance to become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history this year. That's a massive, massive accomplishment. He's already got 17 medals, he needs 18 to tie, 19 to hold the record. That's entirely doable. What he has accomplished already is absurd to think about, considering most Olympic sports don't have several different disciplines that allow you to medal that many times in either one games, or one career. I'm not saying they should ignore other athletes, but it's silly to expect them to completely ignore him. They can't - every race he's in is potentially historic. I also don't think he was pouting after taking the silver in the 4x100 freestyle relay. If anything, I heard more talk on Twitter about how Ryan Lochte blew it for the US on his anchor leg than anything about Phelps. Of course, that's just what I've read on Twitter from people who have been talking about the games. I think a silver is an incredible accomplishment in and of itself, and nothing to pooh-pooh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLizard Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Badminton scandal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesboy Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 I mean Adam Sandler could do a better acting job than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 watching the women's gymnastics and seeing what incredibly complex things they do on the apparatuses... it's jaw-dropping. So I had to Youtube and watch the performances of the 1976 history making Perfect Score Nadia Comaneci, and back then the routines were so simple. I mean, she was really good, but the things they did then don't even belong in the same room with what they can accomplish today. Particularly on the beam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLizard Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 I wouldn't mind letting Nastia Liukin do some incredibly complex things to my apparatus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 ^^Olymic Lech ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted August 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 We watched the gymnastics last night with the sound down, and it was much better. Found out the NBC records the commentary after the fact, which might explain the predictability. Also, I'm all for the USofA, but it would be nice to see some events where other countries win. If we're seeing something like the 200M Women's Backstroke, and there's an American in the race, we already know who won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamisammy29 Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 I don't think the other countries win anything, do they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindCrime Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 I'm getting fed up with the commercials by corrupt companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayzor Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 I don't think the other countries win anything, do they? I had no idea other countries participated. I thought it was just a great big competition involving about 150,000 Americans trying to out-do each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 I get a kick out of watching the people behind the people that everybody's watching. Example: The night of the Women's All Around Gymnastics competition, when Jordyn Weiber was focusing on her next exercise. Close-up of her face in rapt concentration. Just over her left shoulder, a little blurry from being unfocused in the shot, a guy standing by the wall with his finger up his nose. Two nights ago when Ali Raisman was in the midst of her gold medal floor routine, camera focuses in her parents in the stand, white-knuckling through the performance. She nails one of her big tumbling runs, her dad jumps up and yells. Guy behind him yells, "SIT DOWN!!" while gesturing angrily with his hands. I'd like to be a fly on the wall when he sees himself on TV doing that to the father of the girl in the middle of winning the gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayzor Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 If I were that guy I wouldn't give a monkey's bottom if it were the Queen herself jumping up and down in front of me. I paid a ticket and have a right to watch the event, besides it's gymnastics, not Mardi Gras... show some class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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