The Olympics

EDITED: Drugging might be an issue. China (and the whole free Tibet thing) annoys me.

Michael Phelps is a prick in real life, but then again with all of his hardware it's easy to ask who wouldn't be? No it was not some one off-day he had, I've had several run-ins with him.

A logistical question: just exactly how are they planning to show the opening ceremony tonight at 8pm eastern and have it be live (I think that's been the plan)? It'll be 8AM Aug 9th in Beijing... If anything, I'm guessing that they're doing the opening right now (so it's still 8/8/08 & 8pm) and we'll just see it 12 hrs later.

I think the Olympics is pretty cool. Looking forward to lots of events, including wrestling, boxing, judo, beach volleyball, water polo, weight lifting, probably some others I'm forgetting. That BMX thing looks like it might be cool too.

I'm sort of afraid the marathoners will keel over.

I want to watch the bikers suffer in the pollution.

I'm a fan of the Olympics however with so many drug problems nowadays it's hard to tell who is doping and who isn't or if whoever you are watching will be caught in a couple years from now, making whatever you watched a farce. The events I will probably pay the most attention to are swimming, short distance track and field, basketball, rowing, some cycling, volleyball, boxing, and I may be forced to watch the gymnastics with the woman.

Just saw the opening ceremony... cool show, with probably the most awesome display, make that displays of fireworks. The lighting of the Olympic torch was also awesome, with the guy looking like he's running sideways around the wraparound video wall, and the way the torch was lit.... good show.

Am I the only person who really thinks the Olympics are only about bringing in a bunch of money and not really about the sports anymore?

JB

I think your statement doesn't make any sense. How, exactly, are they only about bringing in money and not really about sports?

It seems to me that this is some kind of cliche that you've picked up somewhere that you are just repeating now without having thought about it much.

Everyone relies on cliches. The Olympics is increasingly about money and marketing - in China more than ever before because the market is so huge.

I just saw the Opening Ceremony and it was the most amazing spectacle I have ever witnessed. Let them butcher the minorities and restrict free speech.

I'm a big fan. A key is to watch beyond the overhyped American superstars. Michael Phelps was on the Today show two days straight while I ate breakfast. What the hell?

I got a new HDTV and digital cable in part because I wanted to be able to watch them clearly, and not have be forced to endure NBC's overly edited prime time coverage.

I'm really looking forward to track and field. The women's pole vault in Athens was one of the most amazing competitions I've seen.

[Insert dirty pole vault joke here]

Really? This is sad. I follow the swimming pretty closely, as I swam in high school and I can identify (to some tiny fraction of a degree) with the discipline it demands. Beyond the drunk driving thing, Phelps has seemed to really have his act together and puts a good image forward in the press... which has to be hard to do at his young age.

I have been rooting very hard for him, but this will make it tougher to do so. Damn.