Olympic Games

[Robert****]

I love watching the Games. Too bad I have to work during it! Who else is watching?

What events are you most interested in? For me, it's the running events of course, anything from 100m to the marathon.

I enjoy watching the swimming too. Man, Phelps is something else.

Basketball could be interesting... will USA do better than last time?

[Tone2TheBone]

I missed the opening ceremonies! We were at a friend's house having a BBQ. Then we went camping this weekend. I watched the beginning of the gymnasties last night. Kinda boring...it doesn't heat up until later in the week. I like the gymnastics and the swimming relays. I wish they aired archery and shooting events!

[warren0728]

I missed the opening ceremonies! We were at a friend's house having a BBQ. Then we went camping this weekend. I watched the beginning of the gymnasties last night. Kinda boring...it doesn't heat up until later in the week. I like the gymnastics and the swimming relays. I wish they aired archery and shooting events!

archery was on MSNBC a little earlier....

i like the swimming and gymnastics....it was great seeing the us win the mens relay last night when they were the underdogs....i think the french saying they were going to smash the us in the relay helped motivate!

ww

[sunvalleylaw]

I had just started a thread to discuss olympics before I saw yours. I will delete mine. Re: the Olympics, I love them! Last night really got me into it with the swimming events, esp. the come from behind US 4x100 relay victory. The gymnastics was fun to watch too, but the competition part is hard for me as the commentators were already discussing the cheating and politics that infect the judging so in my mind hurt the credibility of the results. Give me a race or something physically measurable I say. Anyhow, the games are on and it is fun to watch!

I used to run track and track an field is one of my favorites for sure, though I get discouraged by the doping scandals and things like Marion Jones's usage, etc. I still love to set that aside and watch the competition though. One of my favorites was the Australian woman runner in the Sydney Olympics who was aboriginal and one her event in the middle distances (my favorites, 400, 800 1600 etc.). It seemed poetic justice.

Anyone else see anything interesting?

[sunvalleylaw]

I also wish they showed more cycling and especially the mountain biking, as I do a lot of that.

[R_of_G]

I have some interest in the swimming as I used to do that. As for the basketball, it's a joke. Say what you will about the Olympics having a history of being a "professional" competition, but sending the top NBA players is way way over the top. Why not just send the Harlem Globetrotters at this point?

[Robert****]

Still the U.S. lost the basketball semi-final last time in Greece...

I have some interest in the swimming as I used to do that. As for the basketball, it's a joke. Say what you will about the Olympics having a history of being a "professional" competition, but sending the top NBA players is way way over the top. Why not just send the Harlem Globetrotters at this point?

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, I am not that big a basketball fan, and I guess I wish it was the equivalent of college athletes, or at least non-professional athletes. I am more for the individual-team events, like swimming, track, cycling, etc., when I am watching the Olympics.

[warren0728]

i thought the story last night about the 31 or 33 year old gymnast competing in the vault for germany was pretty cool....it hurts though to watch the guys and gals that have worked so hard to get there make a mistakes and loose their grip on the uneven parallel bars and such....you feel so bad for them....

ww

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah Warren. I agree on both those points. And the gymnasts seem so young! Especially on the "womens" side. I worry about youth getting exploited. I am glad they at least have to be 16 now. It was nice to see that thirty something Mom hit her vaults like that and to know about her motivation due to her kid who got sick. Those are the things that bring the world closer together I think.

[R_of_G]

Still the U.S. lost the basketball semi-final last time in Greece...

Yes, but clearly not because they were the less-talented team, but because you had a bunch of pros who simply didn't take the tournament seriously (perhaps bc they were all multi-millionaires to whom international competition meant nothing). This team "cares" to the extent that they feel they have to make up for what happened in Greece. I sincerely doubt being in the Olympics means all that much to them, but they don't want to be humiliated. To go back to the analogy, it'd be like the Washington Generals beating the Globetrotters, which, by the way, did happen a couple of times. It's obviously not impossible for the US team to lose, but it's exceptionally unlikely. Other countries have some NBA players on their teams but not a top-to-bottom team of NBA superstars like the US team. To me, blow-out games are the single most boring thing in all of sports (even when it's my team that's winning). I prefer it when the game is actually a contest right down to the last play. It's significantly more exciting that way.

[aeolian]

Yes, but clearly not because they were the less-talented team, but because you had a bunch of pros who simply didn't take the tournament seriously (perhaps bc they were all multi-millionaires to whom international competition meant nothing).

Basketball is not the only sport that fields professionals. Tennis, cycling, and I'm other sports are all being competed by professionals. If most countries are subsidizing their athletes so they can train for the Olympics they are just amateurs in name only.

I think the only 'amateurs' are in the sports where there is no professional money to be made.

[warren0728]

even though the pros are millionaires....a gold medal is one thing their money can't buy....i think getting a gold medal probably is somewhat important to the players or they wouldn't agree to participate...

ww

[Tone2TheBone]

So is Yao not American anymore?

[R_of_G]

Basketball is not the only sport that fields professionals. Tennis, cycling, and I'm other sports are all being competed by professionals. If most countries are subsidizing their athletes so they can train for the Olympics they are just amateurs in name only.

I think the only 'amateurs' are in the sports where there is no professional money to be made.

I agree with you that this is the case. However, there is a HUGE difference between state-subsidized athletes and those who play in the world's premier professional league. I agree that having the pros play in tennis is equivalent. I just don't care about tennis so it doesn't bother me as much as with basketball as I wouldn't be watching the tennis anyway. I just believe that the talent pool for American basketball players is deep enough that we could send college kids and still be reasonably expected to win. Sending the NBA superstars is overkill.

[just strum]

Yes, but clearly not because they were the less-talented team, but because you had a bunch of pros who simply didn't take the tournament seriously (perhaps bc they were all multi-millionaires to whom international competition meant nothing). This team "cares" to the extent that they feel they have to make up for what happened in Greece. I sincerely doubt being in the Olympics means all that much to them, but they don't want to be humiliated. To go back to the analogy, it'd be like the Washington Generals beating the Globetrotters, which, by the way, did happen a couple of times. It's obviously not impossible for the US team to lose, but it's exceptionally unlikely. Other countries have some NBA players on their teams but not a top-to-bottom team of NBA superstars like the US team. To me, blow-out games are the single most boring thing in all of sports (even when it's my team that's winning). I prefer it when the game is actually a contest right down to the last play. It's significantly more exciting that way.

What the other teams have on their teams is the professional level of the European league and don't underestimate the talent. I agree about the Olympics shouldn't be about professional athletes, but other countries have been doing it for years.

Sorry, I just don't find the enjoyment in the Olympics that you people seem to be finding - to each their own.

[sunvalleylaw]

I guess part of it, Strum, is that sports that typically get less mainstream coverage, such as track, swimming, cycling, fencing, crew, (in the winter, skiing, xc/skiing, bobsled, luge,) etc. get some coverage, and the idea of athletes getting together from different countries that gets me. And there the stories that can happen. Big event athletics, such as basketball and hockey, or tennis, golf, etc., are not the reason I watch the Olympics. Those guys get paid anyway. I know runners and swimmers get endorsements and some pay too, but not on a NBA/NHL level. And you have the stories about moms and dads, kids, etc. who pursue their dream and make it happen. Guys like Al Oerter who won at four Olympics in discus. Ms. Torres giving it a go at 41. Stuff like that. Oh, and four guys who everyone says are going to lose find a way to touch the wall first last night in the 4x100 and beat the favorites. (I love relays, track, swimming, whatever) I have a Disney streak in me I guess, but I do think the spirit of it still exists in some events and with some athletes stories. Anyhoo, I wonder what is on tonight? Kids and wife are away, and I am going to learn some bluegrass lead, working on alternate picking, while watching!! Maybe the rhythm too.

[warren0728]

Anyhoo, I wonder what is on tonight? Kids and wife are away, and I am going to learn some bluegrass lead, working on alternate picking, while watching!! Maybe the rhythm too.

from the online tv guide....

From Beijing. Gymnastics, men's team final; swimming finals: men's 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke, women's 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke; beach volleyball, USA vs. Cuba; diving, platform synchronized final.

ww

[tot_Ou_tard]

I guess part of it, Strum, is that sports that typically get less mainstream coverage, such as track, swimming, cycling, fencing, crew, (in the winter, skiing, xc/skiing, bobsled, luge,) etc. get some coverage, and the idea of athletes getting together from different countries that gets me.

Bingo! Obscure sports & athletes from all over the world.

The athletes, for the most part, ignore the politics. They're in it because they are obsessed with their sport & they want to WIN. Simple as that for the athletes.

It is what it is. Watch it or not. I see no point in whining about what it should be.