Surprised there's no discussion on this. Am I the only Olympic obsessive on the board? I just love The Games, but especially the Winter Games. Hate to start this thread off with a beef, BUT:
The absolutely worst thing about the Olympic Games is the US television coverage and NBC is taking it to new lows of limitations and schmaltz. First, I believe we are possibly the ONLY country that CANNOT watch the events when they actually run, OR even see all of the events. Case in point was the Men's Dowhill. This is one of my favorite events and I struggled the whole day to avoid tweets, emails, posts and the like to avoid the results until "prime time" so I could enjoy the drama. But NO! NBC chose to show only four, yes FOUR competitors out of a field of over 60. There was no build up or drama, just four guys skied (out of order) and bang, it was over.
Oh, but NBC did make time out for a cute little segment on polar bears in Canada. WTF!
I HATE being limited to what NBC thinks we want to see, RE what will make them the most advertising dollars. And speaking of advertisements, there are just so many it totally disrupts the flow of the events. And that nonsense with the Viking cartoons to promote the dragon movie is just so annoying. Hey, I like Viking metal, but this is just to cheesy for the Olympics.
The hubby and I decided next Olympics we are going to plan an Olympic trip to Canada - regardless of where the games actually are. That way we can watch Canadian coverage of The Games, which is more timely and more intelligent.
Ok, enough of that rant. On to the games.
Wow, the women's hockey teams for Canada and the U.S. are ridiculously dominant. It wasn't that surprising that CA beat Slovakia, 18-0, but the U.S. totally dominated Russia 13-0, and they clearly held back in the third period, something the Canadians did not do. I know that the women's programs in North America are stronger and the girls get to play against higher caliber players, including guys, but it seems no contest in most of the games.
Can't wait to watch the men play. Norway seemed to put up a good fight at first, but Canada eventually overwhelmed them. Sweden seems to be the only other country that might knock off the top two. Maybe Finland can be a spoiler.
Was hard to watch the luge for both men and women since the fatality. Also knowing that the course has been dumbed down as a result, steals some of the excitement. Granted, it needed to be adjusted, but all the athletes say it's way too easy now.
As a skier, I had to put aside my resentment towards snowboarding years ago, and I'm glad I did. They have some of the most exciting events! I love the cross and watching them battle each other physically, but really, Shawn White is going to be the main event. Can't wait to see him tear it up.
How does ski high jump and cross country skiing mix to be a sport? Interesting even though, but it seems to mix too totally different strengths. Guess that's the beauty of it?
Have to say, poor Vancouver really seems to be struggling with conditions these games. I guess it's just the rain and warm weather, but there just seems to have been so many mishaps, and slow results due to crappy courses in many of the sports. Hope they get a cold spell soon.
So, is anyone else watching?
The absolutely worst thing about the Olympic Games is the US television coverage and NBC is taking it to new lows of limitations and schmaltz. First, I believe we are possibly the ONLY country that CANNOT watch the events when they actually run, OR even see all of the events. Case in point was the Men's Dowhill. This is one of my favorite events and I struggled the whole day to avoid tweets, emails, posts and the like to avoid the results until "prime time" so I could enjoy the drama. But NO! NBC chose to show only four, yes FOUR competitors out of a field of over 60. There was no build up or drama, just four guys skied (out of order) and bang, it was over.
Oh, but NBC did make time out for a cute little segment on polar bears in Canada. WTF! I HATE being limited to what NBC thinks we want to see, RE what will make them the most advertising dollars. And speaking of advertisements, there are just so many it totally disrupts the flow of the events. And that nonsense with the Viking cartoons to promote the dragon movie is just so annoying. Hey, I like Viking metal, but this is just to cheesy for the Olympics.
The hubby and I decided next Olympics we are going to plan an Olympic trip to Canada - regardless of where the games actually are. That way we can watch Canadian coverage of The Games, which is more timely and more intelligent.
Ok, enough of that rant. On to the games.
Wow, the women's hockey teams for Canada and the U.S. are ridiculously dominant. It wasn't that surprising that CA beat Slovakia, 18-0, but the U.S. totally dominated Russia 13-0, and they clearly held back in the third period, something the Canadians did not do. I know that the women's programs in North America are stronger and the girls get to play against higher caliber players, including guys, but it seems no contest in most of the games.
Can't wait to watch the men play. Norway seemed to put up a good fight at first, but Canada eventually overwhelmed them. Sweden seems to be the only other country that might knock off the top two. Maybe Finland can be a spoiler.
Was hard to watch the luge for both men and women since the fatality. Also knowing that the course has been dumbed down as a result, steals some of the excitement. Granted, it needed to be adjusted, but all the athletes say it's way too easy now.
As a skier, I had to put aside my resentment towards snowboarding years ago, and I'm glad I did. They have some of the most exciting events! I love the cross and watching them battle each other physically, but really, Shawn White is going to be the main event. Can't wait to see him tear it up.
How does ski high jump and cross country skiing mix to be a sport? Interesting even though, but it seems to mix too totally different strengths. Guess that's the beauty of it?
Have to say, poor Vancouver really seems to be struggling with conditions these games. I guess it's just the rain and warm weather, but there just seems to have been so many mishaps, and slow results due to crappy courses in many of the sports. Hope they get a cold spell soon.
So, is anyone else watching?
