Underwhelmed by Athens Olympics?
 

Is it just me or are others not as riveted to the current Olympic games?

I know in the past I have found several events that drew my attention.

I have several friends and co-workers that seem obsessed this year. Not to take anything away from the athletes, maybe it's NBC's coverage. It seems every morning starts with Katie Couric dangling her stumpy legs, giggling through one of her silly interviews.

Or maybe it's some of the events themselves. Is Beach Volleyball really an Olympic sport? What's next? Bikini Miniature Golf? Wet T-Shirt Frisbee?

Does anyone else find these Olympics not as interesting?

JoeG

I am just confused by the line up. On 4 different channels. I start watching something and then miss the finals. Tivo is doing the best it can, but I just can't get it together. I also agree. Badmiton? or however you spell that birdy game. I am waiting for juggling and stilt walking while throwing a discus.

Its table tennis that gets me...come on Olympic Ping Pong??????

The issue of "is it really a 'sport'? " comes up every four years. I notice, for some, it dies to a whisper if someone from the US wins the gold medal in the particular category.

I suspect a lot of people were riveted to it just as a lot of people are riveted to the Poker channel and to the WWF. All a matter of interests and don't let your non-interest become a matter of guilt.

Maybe I'm wierd, but I do feel table tennis and badminton are great sports. I enjoy watching them.

My 2 cents: Bob Costas does the best he can. As usual, NBC does crummy sports camera work, switching just as the action reaches its peak. Costas, a man who knows what he is talking about and talks well at the same time, just does what he can. He loves baseball and is a real expert on what does on off the field as well as on.

What irritates me most is the inane chatter by rusted ex-jocks in a voice-over mode. That guy Rowdy Gaines ought to be shown the door. But, then, this is an old complaint of mine. During ice skating shows, the supercilious nitpicking of ye olde Dick Button drives me up the wall. And that guy Collins who always comments on tennis should be put out to pasture. They are old, tired, and cranky rather than enthusiastic and knowledgeable about sports today. But then, out here in Arizona, we have to put up with Joe Garagiola Sr., on baseball -- who cares what the St. Louis Cardinals did in 1947???

Table Tennis (thanks to the Chinese love of the sport) is now the world's largest participant sport (fact courtesy of the BBC) - so its place in the olympics is un reasonable.

But what about Olympic Stick throwing (Javelin)? What's the point?

And don't get me started on synchronised diving! You don't get golf and cricket but tou get synchronised diving!

Table Tennis' place is not unreasonable - that's what I meant to say!

Aside from the odd event which is questionable as a sport, there have been a lot of great things to watch.

I think the Athens Olympics has been let down by the various prolonged controversial disputes and other mishaps along the way which all helps to portray the event as not that well run. At least some of the stadia look at least half-filled these days! It was very disappointing to see people competing with practically no one there.

I wasn't overly impressed by the opening ceremony but now we have got into some of the better events with good performances, it's getting better.

Considering the event as a whole, I did not expect this Olympics could come close to Sydney or even Barcelona. It's better than the Atlanta Games but that's not really saying much.

We enjoy watching it on BBC, and French and German channels. The focus is much more on the sports and a minimum of the drippy, schmaltzy "human interest" stories. We were most interested in the swimming, gymnastics, and equestrian events.
It's been interesting viewing, but we could have done with fewer squabbles over who really deserves which medal. Pick the winners right the *first* time and then stick with the decision!

I'm not saying its unreasonable to be at the olympics...I'm saying I dont consider it a sport.

What about golf and cricket?? I consider these to be sports more than table tennis and they arent included.

"Is Beach Volleyball really an Olympic sport?"

When the Brazilian women play, it's my FAVORITE sport.
((H))

And, BTilke, didn't Justine do well!
I have been pleasantly surprised, considering all the bad press the Greek got before the event. We're mostly watching hockey, equestrian and swimming events here.

Although it has no particular bearing on the Athens olympics per se, I have noticed several events this time that strike me as being much more of a "skill" than an "athletic competition". Table tennis - a skill, to be sure, but how athletic it is I am not sure.

The equestrian events also come to mind. For instance, the "dressage" events...I'm sorry, watching someone prance and walkabout on top of a beautiful horse has nothing to do with the olympics. Even Bob Costas said, in a quick comment that was genuine, "Why doesn't the horse get an olive wreath?.

When you compare the dressage events on one hand, and the marathon on the other, it seems to me that the real distinction is brought to light. A wealthy (no doubt) rider prancing on a horse versus runners covering over 26 miles on foot, in 90 degree weather. Watching the female British marathoner break down after about 21 miles, *physically* unable to continue, (not because of injury, but because of exertion) was sad to see. But at the same time, someone was prancing about on a horse winning a medal. I just don't get it.

I told my dh just the other night that I didn't understand why in the beach volleyball the women were in bikinis but the men were in shorts and tank tops. Definitely not fair! lol!

Re beach volleyball...my wife said," They look like boys in bras."

"my wife said," They look like boys in bras."

Did she happen to look at the cheerleaders?

And, to those who do not think ping pong is a sport, this is not your beer swizzling, back-yard game. But please, NO MORE Synchronized Diving.
((H))

I really enjoy the swimming, diving, and gymnastic events -- they're more fun to watch than some of the others, in my book. But it seems each time there is more and more controversy. And not to take anything away from a great performance, but when a male gymnast actually falls down on the vault, with the commentators all agreeing there was no way he could still win a medal, it seems funny that now everybody is raving how he shouldn't have to share the gold with another guy -- who may or may not have actually done something very minor which should have affected his score, but didn't.

"it seems funny that now everybody is raving how he shouldn't have to share the gold with another guy"

A couple of years ago, the Raiders didn't go to the Super Bowl (thank God) because a referee missed a call. These things happen in sports. To paraphrase Tom Hanks, "There's no crying in gymnastics (unfortunately, there is)."

That was only one part of the performance. Perhaps the judges screwed up earlier on one of Hamm's deals. If South Korea had protested at the correct time, it might be a different story. They did not. It's time to move on or the judicial system will decide the outcome of sporting events. Referees (like athletes) make mistakes.
((H))

Janus...Two Views. The spectators and the participants. Nothing in life may be more exciting or challenging than being at a starting gate waiting for the gun. Nothing in life may be more boring than watching a repetitive event. A book, an opera even a movie may be a better use of time than watching another Olympic long jump. But know that the jumper is not bored.

I'll take table-tennis, badminton, and even synchronized diving over rhythmic gymnastics any day. But I fear we're only a couple days away from being force-fed that too. And as to sport vs. skill, what's with archery, shot-guns, pistols, rifles, and fencing; looks more like old war games to me.

Overall though, I think Athens coverage is better than Sydney, from which I remember never ending athlete and location profiles, commercials ad-nauseum, with the actual games almost an after-thought.

ohmigod
Cricket? They're playing cricket?
And I missed it!

I've been riveted to the Olympics, at least the part of them that NBC lets us see. I hate the way they keep the event I really want to see until 11:15pm or so.

Table tennis, volleyball (beach or otherwise), baseball, softball, etc,etc, are not sports. They're all games. The only true sports are track and field, swimming, equestrian, cycling.

Paul Hamm absolutely earned his gold medal and, as was explained in detail last night, the South Korean's score should have been even lower. If they alter anything, they need to review the tape of the South Korean's routine first. Overall, the men's gymnastics judges were appalling. Did you see the Russian guy on the high bar last night? Terrific routine, very badly scored.

All the gymnasts were amazing. I couldn't even get on to the balance beam, never mind jump around on it.

Track and field has been really exciting.

"rhythmic gymnastics"

but beachbum, you never know when one of those clubs or balls will hit them on the head. I do think somebody was drunk when they invented this event.
((H))

I too don't understand how table tennis and beach volleyball can be considered olympic sports. What's next, shuffleboard?

My biggest issue is the jumping around without a time schedule. I enjoy watching gymnastics. I really don't want to watch the entire 6 hour coverage of the Olympics to see all the gymnastic sections. They will do about 20 minutes and they cut to another sport. An hour later gynastics will be on again, then 30 minutes after that. I usually end up missing part of it because I flip to it from another show and realize its on. It would be nice if they actually had some sort of schedule.

I know what you mean, tcreath, and I wish there was too. There is some "sort" of schedule, which you can find at www.nbcolympics.com. It's not very accurate, though. For instance, last night the schedule showed that the men's 400m final would be shown between 10 and 10:30pm. It finally came on at about 11:10. It was worth the wait, though!

Last nights scoring of the mens High Bar gymnastics was such a mess that I don't think I want to watch anymore.
There have been judges in the past thrown out for taking bribes, recently three were suspended and last night they had to do it again..to watch those athletes try so hard then have a bunch of people with their own agendas foul up the scores makes me feel it is all useless.
And , in the Olympics, the audience should not have to scream and carry on to get the judges to change a score. This is not some hometown highschool ball game!

Thank you, I feel better now~

About that Russian on the high beam, the audience booing the low scores, and the judges changing their mind. What was that all about? While they may have been off on their original scores, what kind of signal was that to the fans? Is it telling us that from now on if the audience makes a big enough fuss, the judges will change the score? Frightening possibility, that! Let's face it, most of these events have a lot of subjectivity in their scoring and when judges represent different nations, it all gets very controversial as we've been shown a hundred times. I like events that come down to a photo finish, that can't be disputed for this reason, although they tend not to be as interesting to watch.

"like events that come down to a photo finish, that can't be disputed for this reason, although they tend not to be as interesting to watch."

Unfortunately Patrick, even those have controversy, like the American backstroker who made a supposedly illegal turn. That's why I still love baseball. When the ump makes a bad call, it's argue fruitlessly and then on to the next pitch.
((H))

Patrick, I had the same thought on the judges reacting to the crowd; however, this morning I read that as soon as the score was flashed the Malaysian judge raised his hand to indicate there was a scoring problem and the Canadian judge followed suit. You would never have known this from watching NBC last night.The scoring did seem completely screwy on a couple of events. Oh, and this article also said that a Russian coach was inciting the crowd. I did not see that on NBC either.

One more thing: I heard a local sports guy on the radio talking about the synchronized diving in the same sort "oh, give me a break, this is a sport?" kind of way. He said that when the two of them dive into the pool together, try to knock each other out, and whoever emerges is declared the victor, that's when he will consider synchronized diving a sport. I thought it was kind of funny.

We need to get rid of all those sissy, prissy sports and add some practical ones:

gator wrestling

beer bottle throwing

hot dog eating

gas passing

knife throwing

watermelon hurling

subway car packing

Hey, degas come to Florida. They already do all that. It's called "Saturday afternoon at Hooters".

Patrick, I just might - owl watching is a favorite pastime of mine!

Didn't the Korean guy who got 'beat' out of the gold medal to Paul Hamm, fall in an event as well? I could have sworn he lost momentum on the high bar and came down off the routine and had to go back up and finish. That means they each made a major mistake.

I'm with you, Degas!


BORing!

Exactly Patrick!
In the "old days" things were not scored down to the last one millionth of a second also..
IMHO- The Russian was the best.
He went beyond what was required and did it with skill, perfectly and it was the most exciting to watch.
Hamm was good and so was the Italian, but where did those scores come from?
The Korean hit his foot on the bar, which at least, let Hamm off the hook with that controversy..sort of.
And it is the athletes who suffer.

degas, my darlin, there is a Hooters not far from my house. On a river where one can fish, pass gas AND gator wrestle.. Are you thinking of trying out?

JoeG..."every morning starts with Katie Couric dangling her stumpy legs, giggling "

So funny & so true~

*Underwhelmed*? NOT! These are one of the best Olympics ever and on-par with Sydney.
It is great that there are so many different sports because there is something interesting for all of us. everything is very well organised, there have been no or few traffic problems, and all athletes rave about the facilities in the Olympic Village. The Greeks have done a perfect job and most (all?) visitors are having a great time.
What I hear from my friends in the US is that TV coverage in the US has been very bad and focused on the US athletes only. Please remember that 95% of the people in the world are *not* Americans and there are many, many great sportsmen and sportswomen from these countries, too.

I think that it's high time that the olympic committee made some kind of distinction between what constitutes a 'sport' and a 'game'. And then, those sports and games where winners are 'judged', and those where winners are declared objectively (hitting the target, or reaching the finish line, etc.) How that distinction is made will not be easy, but hopefully result in the ousting of some of the more dubious events currently on display. (Once enjoyed as a childhood plaything, how did Trampoline end up as an Olympic sport ?)

What gets me - particularly when watching some of the gymnastic events, is the speed of the competetitors performance. How the hXll can a judge see all of that and make a fair judgement on the performance ? Surely while they are making notes they'd be missing something ? Do they have replay before posting their scores ? Can they really see everything from where they sit ? Feet together, knees together etc. ?