Olympics 2008 - Beijing

[cookie]

Is anyone here going to watch the Olympics? If so, what events will you be watching?

Swimming and cycling are the ones I'll be watching most, but I'll watch most other events, especially if an Aussie is involved...

Less than 2 days until the opening ceremony, bring it on!!!

Anyway, here is something for all us Aussies out there, my greatest Olympic moment, next to Kieren's 1500m final in 1996...

[youtube:3w0xp6as]dQQt0eTknxY[/youtube:3w0xp6as]

[matt404]

I probably will a bit, but I've always been much more of a Winter Olympics person for some reason. I remember during the Nagano Winter Olympics I would stay up until past midnight watching. I was probably barely in high school then; I'm surprised my parents allowed it .

I've always loved cold and snow. I guess my preference for the winter games just goes along with that.

I really ended up living in the wrong place. . .

[brimontz]

I've never liked the Olympics. Not the Summer Olympics, not the Winter Olympics, not the Steroid Olympics. I've always found it boring, and more of an attempt of different countries to pound their chest rather than an actual sporting event.

Brian

[Slothrop]

I don't care about the sports, I just want international incidents and scandals. I despise China.

[holtby43]

I'll probably be watching the track and field events mostly.

[seanybhoy]

Yeah Ditto ^
The Sprint events and 4 by 400m events are ok.

[PGVan]

I have a vested interest in the mens soccer tournament because the Oranje qualified. Other than that, the Olympics in China are a ****ing disgrace. I wish the outdoor athletes luck in breathing normally.

Oh yeah, gotta love that Free Tibet banner that got put up on that lamp post near Tiananmen Square.

[kikachuck]

I'm tempted to not even watch the Olympics at all. I agree with PG that the Olympics being in China is a travisty on many different levels.

[Tungsten]

I like the swimming and track events and I'll probably watch some of the other events here and there. I've always liked the Olympics. Maybe because I can remember watching the '88 Olympics as a kid and rooting for the US to beat those "evil" Soviets. It really seemed important back then. I'm sure it's lost it's luster a bit since then but I still get a kick out of some of the events and storylines that occur.

[Gerard]

I'm looking forward to tennis. Hope Federer can show the world "gold" despite him losing the world number one spot to Nadal soon.

This is going to be exciting.

Have fun everyone enjoying the Olympics even though the holder this year China itself has to do some accountability over some human rights abuses.

Sincerely,
Gerard

[theturtle]

I will likely be watching judo but not on TV. NBC will show all of 5 minutes of each finals and that's it. I will try to watch them from a site (poor blurry quality but still better than what NBC offers).

I will likely not watch the basketball games. Of course they will get much undeserved air time. It's an profitable opportunity for basketball exposure for a league (NBA) that's other wise a joke.

[seanybhoy]

Wtf is with them not showing the football on tv ?
That's a worse crime than gangrape . Nuff said.

[Halcyon]

i like watching sports but not when they start ridiculing athletes for losing or not getting medals

here in Canada they are upset that we have no medals yet...

who cares!!!!!!!!

so ridiculous this need for medals to signify some importance

I'm not sure what this need is to have medals, not to take away anything from this Michael Felps he's a great swimmer but I think this need for being the best actually hurts us as people/humans... i don't know

[theturtle]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

i like watching sports but not when they start ridiculing athletes for losing or not getting medals

here in Canada they are upset that we have no medals yet...

who cares!!!!!!!!

so ridiculous this need for medals to signify some importance

I'm not sure what this need is to have medals, not to take away anything from this Michael Felps he's a great swimmer but I think this need for being the best actually hurts us as people/humans... i don't know

Agreed. I think Phelps is getting too much attention. All I see is his celebration scream every 3 minutes on NBC. Blech. Phelps is great but there's more to the Olympics than him and the US basketball team's redemption.

[brimontz]

And the belief that Phelps will be considered "the greatest Olympian of all time" due to the number of medals he has won. Part of that has to do with the fact that he's in swimming as opposed to events where there are fewer opportunities to earn medals. And talk to Carl Lewis who medaled in 3 different Olympics, and it would have been four if not for the US boycotting the Moscow Games. Phelps is amazing, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's "the greatest olympian ever."

The Olympics are beyond silly when you have the hosting government deciding that a seven-year-old girl isn't cute enough to be allowed before the cameras to sing...

Brian

[Beamonk]

Originally Posted by brimontz

The Olympics are beyond silly when you have the hosting government deciding that a seven-year-old girl isn't cute enough to be allowed before the cameras to sing...

...and believing that 10 year old girls can pass off as 16 year old gymnasts.

[theturtle]

Originally Posted by brimontz

...Phelps is amazing, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's "the greatest olympian ever." ...
Brian

True dat. He kicks butt taking names and that's an awesome accomplishment (winning medals).

But the over-exposure is an another opportunity for the US to thump their chest and gloat to other countries. Oh yeah ALL countries gloat about their own athletes.

My favorite part of the Olympics is the opening ceremony and seeing all athletes from countries many (probably most) have never even heard of.

USA and China are hardly underdogs in many sports and with the sheer size of their respective populations, it won't too hard to find great athletes.

I will most likely to be happy for an athlete from an obscure country who defeats a huge powerful nation (USA, CHina, Russia). That's the ultimate Rocky/underdog victory.

[Micronian]

Originally Posted by seanybhoy

Wtf is with them not showing the football on tv ?
That's a worse crime than gangrape . Nuff said.

What for? to see some U-23s play an insignificant tournament? The olympics are an opportunity to watch the other sports that never get any TV time. Soccer can be seen every weekend of the year, plus the FIFA and continental tournaments and world cup qualifiers. Soccer doesn't need the olympics, and the olympics don't really need soccer. It's just there because it's a popular sport.

[Micronian]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

i like watching sports but not when they start ridiculing athletes for losing or not getting medals

here in Canada they are upset that we have no medals yet...

who cares!!!!!!!!

so ridiculous this need for medals to signify some importance

I'm not sure what this need is to have medals, not to take away anything from this Michael Felps he's a great swimmer but I think this need for being the best actually hurts us as people/humans... i don't know

people just want to see their countries do well. Sadly, we Canadians live in the shadow of the US and their usual 100+ medals at every olympics. It makes Canada's efforts, as good as they are, pale in comparison.

and about Canada's lack of medals at the olympics: my opinion is that Canada's amateur sports administrators have been more concerned prepping for the Vancouver winter olympics than they have for the summer olympics.

[Halcyon]

Originally Posted by Micronian

people just want to see their countries do well. Sadly, we Canadians live in the shadow of the US and their usual 100+ medals at every olympics. It makes Canada's efforts, as good as they are, pale in comparison.

and about Canada's lack of medals at the olympics: my opinion is that Canada's amateur sports administrators have been more concerned prepping for the Vancouver winter olympics than they have for the summer olympics.

I'd be okay with our country not doing well at all and being able to just participate with other countries, to be there for the sake of having fun with the rest of the world

competition is alright when it's played for fun but it can get very ugly when there's a great NEED to have to win

I guess it wouldn't be as much fun to watch if people just played without some stakes so they have to ramp it up and make it dramatic like everything is on the line