Gambler Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 That reminds me of an "Australian" athlete who was born in Canada, raised in Canada, but for some reason got p'off with Canada, so he competed for Australia in the Vancouver Olympic games and won silver in moguls skiing. How many ski hills are there in Australia? No offense to Australians, but accepting a foreign athlete as one of yours because he might win is pure crap. You better get off that high horse of yours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaitlyn_Weaver http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/14/eugene-zhen-wang-canadian-citizenship/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gilmore The Lion Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Luge, Skeleton, Bobsled, Alpine skiing, all have great speed and the potential for disaster. Its absolutely great! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 The bobsled track events (Luge, Skeleton and 2 to 4 man bobsled) are what I try to tune in for, although it can be tough. I may have to just wait until it gets uploaded given how many hoops one has to jump through to try and watch live coverage of those events. With the events on the otherside of the world and NBC's notoriously crappy coverage and this "we are going to string you along for three hours to make an event that took place 12 hours ago seem live" bit does get tiresome. Other things I get irked at include: Playing the WAY overused theme from the 1984 Olympics in every tune in and tune out session gets VERY tiresome. Come on, it was a great theme, but it WAS done 30 freaking years ago for the Los Angeles summer games! They even did this crap back when Atlanta hosted the games, even though John Williams came up with a score for THAT event (I only ever heard it played once after the opening ceremonies). And maybe I wouldn't complain so much about the frequent commecial breaks if you cut the dang music out or cut it WAY down rather than using it as an excuse to show the visual of the flame cauldron or the mountains just ONE more time. When time is precious between commercials, I say try to pack in what you can. This all consuming quest for gold and making it seem as though if an athlete doesn't get it, they are losers. Heck, A LOT of people would be VERY satisfied to even get a bronze, let alone a gold. And if said athlete DOES get a gold, we her from him/her for the next four or five nights of coverage. Only showing maybe runs of American athletes and maybe a couple others, then cutting away, then coming back 45 minutes later, than cutting away again... I've heard of short attention span theater... but really?! That being said, I still like watching if I can. It beats the usual crap on television these days and assuming nothing bad happens at these games (i.e. Munich), it sort of works, even if it just might be background noise while I work on something. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vince14 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I'm not that bothered by the Olympics, even when they were over here in 2012. I quite enjoy the ski cross - I'm a racer at heart - and I'd love to see all the 'judged' events scrapped. The Bobsled might not be too bad I suppose. Vince Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sven Harjacek Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I don't know about Americans, but I'll sure be watching the hockey tournament! Kind regards, Sven. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobus Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 What is this "winter olympics"? But seriously, no attraction there for me. That might be due to the fact that in my 38 years I have seen snow once, and it was a light dusting that melted in minutes, so yeah... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breadneck Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I`m in Norway and i don`t care. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 It's a fairly big news event here in Oz. The annoying thing here is that if an Aussie isn't in the event, we get minimal telecast of it. I'm mildly interested. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevan Vogler Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) As a transplanted Canadian in Europe, I can tell you that at least the Czech coverage of the games has a good bit more continuity, event variety and fewer commercial breaks than any Canadian coverage I can recall. The commentators are also not too difficult to bear. I recall trying to watch American Olympic coverage when I was a kid, but it was ridiculous because they only ever showed American competitors so you had no context for what the competition was really like and they'd sooner interview an American who finished outside the top ten than any of the non Americans who ended up on the podium. Unless American games coverage has improved greatly since then, i.e. recognize that other countries are actually there, I can see how some Americans would have lost their taste for it all. I'm quite enjoying the slope style snowboarding they're showing. Today it was a bit educational as one of the Czech competitors wiped out hard enough to crack her helmet; that should sell a few more bone domes to those who saw it. We got some good coverage of some women's mogul freestyle skiing last night. We're also seeing a good bit of biathlon as both the Czech men's and women's teams have serious medal winning potential in them. Speed skating, particularly women's distance events, will also get a good bit of coverage here as well given that the gold medal favorite is Czech. I'm hoping to see some short track action as well, that's seriously nail biting stuff. I'm not sure what the hockey will look like as most people around here aren't expecting much from the Czech national team. A lot of people are saying it's a bit "weak" compared to previous years. Figure skating needs to be pulled out of the games for at least a few cycles until they can get it really cleaned up top to bottom; it needs more than just changes to the judging to make it something respectable. The problem is that it's one of the prime events at the games and a money maker that few other events can match so they wouldn't dare pull it for even a moment. As long as they treat it in the untouchable way they do, it won't get fixed the way it needs to. Edited February 9, 2014 by Kevan Vogler Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I'll be watching. Mostly the sports that I am interested in (downhill skiing, hockey, bobsledding) but will also check out a few others. I think more folks in the US would watch if they could get better programming. As has been noted multiple times in this thread, the quality of US coverage sucks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graves_09 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) If anything grinds my gears about the Olympics lately, it's the athletes competing for countries they're not really "from". Or, half the people train in the U.S. regardless of what country they're from because of the facilities and coaching available. I agree. I saw a speed skater from "Japan" yesterday who had a very American sounding name. I'm guessing a parent was in the military stationed in japan at one point. The hard part is determining who is legit and who was just looking for a spot in the Olympics. Dual citizenship and globalization make it difficult to determine someones home country. I still don't get what sports make the Olympics. If curling is a sport, why not bocce ball or darts. Both take skill and about the same level of athleticism as curling. Same goes for badminton and table tennis... thing that irks me is they are adding all these new events just to get ratings. Was Team figure skating really necessary? What about figure skating is a "team" event? It was just an excuse to expand figure skating to get more ratings. Same goes for ice dancing, or slope style or half pipe. Not saying we shouldn't add new sports, but the only reason to add an event seems to be ratings. They would probably add beer pong if someone shows it would generate high ratings (read money). Edited February 9, 2014 by graves_09 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevan Vogler Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I still don't get what sports make the Olympics. If curling is a sport, why not bocce ball or darts. Both take skill and about the same level of athleticism as curling. Same goes for badminton and table tennis... thing that irks me is they are adding all these new events just to get ratings. Was Team figure skating really necessary? What about figure skating is a "team" event? It was just an excuse to expand figure skating to get more ratings. Same goes for ice dancing, or slope style or half pipe. Not saying we shouldn't add new sports, but the only reason to add an event seems to be ratings. They would probably add beer pong if someone shows it would generate high ratings (read money). I agree with you to a point, some of it is just a pure ratings grab. Figure skating is a prime example; it needs nothing new added to it. It already has a ratings and marketing lion's share among events and desperately needs to have the fat trimmed off of it, not more dead weight piled on. The snowboarding and freestyle skiing, on the other hand, have actually been interesting and timely additions as events go. The ski events did need something to freshen them up and both snowboarding and freestyle skiing have done that job nicely. Thankfully, they kept the mogul and aerial disciplines of freestyle and, as far as I'm aware, discarded the unwatchable "ballet" aspect of it. Curling was also a good addition as getting it into the games actually smashed a lot of the stereotypes about the game and showed the level of skill actually required to play it. While I suspect mushing wouldn't be a ratings draw; I never could understand why the summer games could have horse events but the winter games were devoid of dog sledding. Talk about a seriously appropriate and historically significant winter sport! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Does the US do live coverage during the day or do they only show the events during primetime? I watch as much live as I can here in Canada. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nerdling Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I've just been watching it mostly for background noise. I will say that the opening ceremonies were just dull to watch. According to the part of the show about Russia's achievements they invented television as well as the helicopter. Oh and basically ignoring the whole Soviet era on the history segment was a bit strange. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 You better get off that high horse of yours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaitlyn_Weaver http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/14/eugene-zhen-wang-canadian-citizenship/ Hey, I agree! That's why transferring your citizenship just prior to the Olympics is a joke. BTW, You forgot our Canadian sprinters, most of whom were born and raised in Jamaica. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaiidanTomcat Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I actually caught the biathlon which I love, wish they showed it more often and in its entirety, i really like that it isn't judged either. Enjoyed watching the slope style snowboarding (which is judged but was a thrill) probably all I am going to see besides SWMBO watching the figure skating in the background while I build a model (Gasp!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Does the US do live coverage during the day or do they only show the events during primetime? I watch as much live as I can here in Canada. Yes, they do live coverage, but seems to be not on the main NBC channel. NBCSN (Sports Network) carries the events live. They had Luge on at 0800 here this morning as well as more "team" figure skating. The prime time coverage will show some of the same events tonight as well as other events sprinkled in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 While watching some ski jumping yesterday, I noticed this guys pretty cool helmet: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Does the US do live coverage during the day or do they only show the events during primetime? Most local NBC stations run highlights during the day and primetime, and some live coverage overnight. NBC Sports have most of the overnight events live, but most of the other NBC-run channels have highlights during prime-time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WymanV Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 It's not that I don't "care". I just have zero interest in the olympics. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 ... According to the part of the show about Russia's achievements they invented television as well as the helicopter. ... What I learned after seeing that too... Lomonosov, Yuriev, Cheremukhin, Sikorsky, and Florine were involved in the invention and development of the helicopter. Rosing and Zworykin, televsion. While we all know of Sikorsky's US helicopter efforts, he did start this work in Russia, where he also designed and built fixed-wing aircraft before emigrating in 1919. Florine did his tandem rotor work in Belgium. Zworykin worked as a student under Rosing in St Petersburg but did his major work on television after emigrating to the US in 1919. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mynameismatt Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I've been watching it, but frankly I've been pretty turned off my NBC creating political "stories" - I just want to watch athletes compete. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 While watching some ski jumping yesterday, I noticed this guys pretty cool helmet: This dude just won Gold. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Litvyak Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Polish Air Force! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 While watching some ski jumping yesterday, I noticed this guys pretty cool helmet: Love these photos! Where did you find the 2nd one? It looks a like an RWD-8 in the background, but I'm not aware that any survive today... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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