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Olympics 2008 - Page 2

post #51 of 597
8/9/08 at 2:18am
What about that one with the goddamn CENTAUR?
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post #52 of 597
8/9/08 at 2:20am
It was funny during the ceremony when all the teams paraded out, and the Chinese backup dancers had to do the exact same moves for the entire 2 hours, getting more and more bored.
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post #53 of 597
8/9/08 at 2:30am
Another good opening cremony moment:

*the guy goes to light the flame*

Commentator (screaming with excitement at this momentous occasion in history): "NOW HE'S LIGHTING THE FIRE... KISSING THE FIRE!!!"

*the fire doesn't light for about 10 seconds*

*the commentator sits in awkward silence while his dumbass stream-of-consciousness comment hangs horribly in the air*
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post #54 of 597
8/9/08 at 2:33am
I wanted to slit my wrists on the commentary for the Tai Chi synchronized boredom. It's boring enough when you are doing it. But now I had to sit through ear rape commentary by America's finest.
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post #55 of 597
8/9/08 at 2:35am
They should have created an interpretive dance depicting China's horrific human rights violations!
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post #56 of 597
8/9/08 at 2:38am
Also, I was commenting to my sister in law. I said, for every misstep by one of the selected party out there would get ten lashes later.
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post #57 of 597
8/9/08 at 2:51am
Bag pipes, Mexican music, generic African music and maybe some Chinese/Asian song. I think they had like those 4 sets of music and kept playing them over and over for the whole parade of countries.

Either that or they think all Latin American countries are into Mariachis.
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post #58 of 597
8/9/08 at 3:49am
Who doesn't love a Mariachi?
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post #59 of 597
8/9/08 at 4:11am
It really was a gorgeous opening ceremony. I don't usually watch these, but I have to say I was pretty entertained by the opening bit...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snaieke View Post
Who doesn't love a Mariachi?
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post #60 of 597
8/9/08 at 10:36am
It's begun...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oly_china...pDj80In96s0NUE

Quote:
Relative of US Olympic coach killed in Beijing

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago

BEIJING - A knife-wielding Chinese man attacked two relatives of a coach for the U.S. Olympic men's volleyball team at a tourist site in Beijing, killing one and injuring the other on the first day of the Olympics on Saturday, team officials and state media said.

The man then committed suicide by throwing himself from the second story of the site, the 13th century Drum Tower just five miles from the main Olympics site.

The brutal attack shortly after midday was all the more shocking because of the rarity of violent crime against foreigners in tightly controlled China, which has ramped up security measures even more for the Olympics.

The stabbing came only hours after what by many accounts was the most spectacular opening ceremony in Olympic history and it has already dampened some of the enthusiasm.

"They are deeply saddened and shocked," Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said of the volleyball team.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said in a statement that two family members of a coach for the men's indoor volleyball team were stabbed at the Drum Tower "during an attack by what local law enforcement authorities have indicated was a lone assailant."

One of the family members was killed and the other was seriously injured, it said, without giving details.

The official Xinhua News Agency identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou. It said Tang attacked the two Americans and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured, at 12:20 p.m. on the second level of the ancient tower, then leapt to his death immediately afterward. The second level of the tower is about 130 feet high.

Seibel said the two Americans who were attacked were not wearing anything that would have identified them as Americans or part of the U.S. team. He could not name the coach.

"They were not wearing apparel or anything that would have specifically identified them as being members of our delegation" or as Americans, he told The Associated Press.

He said it is "too early to say" whether the U.S. delegation or athletes will require additional security.
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post #61 of 597
8/9/08 at 11:38am
In a better world, Team Handball would be huge in the US.
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post #62 of 597
8/9/08 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcjsavannah View Post
In a better world, Team Handball would be huge in the US.
I've been dying to see a match ever since I read about it in one of the SI previews years ago. Need to see if anything will be on at a decent hour.
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post #63 of 597
8/9/08 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Barg View Post
I've been dying to see a match ever since I read about it in one of the SI previews years ago. Need to see if anything will be on at a decent hour.
Women's Team Handball on MSNBC right now (11:30 am PST), Russia vs. Korea.

Interested to see how the various Russia vs. Georgia competitions pan out.
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post #64 of 597
8/9/08 at 3:55pm
I've tried setting sports events to record on my DVR, but the listings are wrong. WTF?

I guess I'll just have to play it by ear and use the NBC listings page I posted earlier. I was hoping to record all the events I wanted to watch and play them back later so I wouldn't have to deal with the commercials and dumb interviews.
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post #65 of 597
8/9/08 at 4:12pm
Kudos to the Women's Sabre team! Way to slash, babes!
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post #66 of 597
8/9/08 at 5:25pm
No lens glasses FTL.
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post #67 of 597
8/9/08 at 5:29pm
Watched a good portion of the opening ceremonies last night. Lesson learned? This planet is rife with hot, hot women.

Wow. Just - wow.
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post #68 of 597
8/9/08 at 5:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
Watched a good portion of the opening ceremonies last night. Lesson learned? This planet is rife with hot, hot women.
Arguably the best thing about being an Earthling. I spent most of the day so far watching women's volleyball and fencing. Beach volleyball tonight at 6 PST!

Edit: USA's Mariel Zagunis just won the gold for fencing! We also won silver and bronze!
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post #69 of 597
8/9/08 at 10:50pm
Women's Volleyball won their match vs. Japan, 2-0. That's really a shame about the Men's Volleyball coach and his family. Atlanta had it's bombing...hopefully this will be the only ugliness with these games (other than the air quality of course).
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post #70 of 597
8/10/08 at 12:29am
The American that was killed is from my home state. He owned Bachman's a famous flower shop franchise. This and my loathing for China's numerous human rights violations is not making me want to see any Olympics.
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post #71 of 597
8/10/08 at 1:03am
I wish the American coverage of rowing was a bit more comprehensive. They've only been showing the heats we're involved in (and not even all of those), so I couldn't see Olaf Tufte beat Mahe Drysdale in the first men's singles heat. This is a shame because these guys are a couple of the best athletes on the planet, and seeing them go head to head in Heat 1 would have been fun. There's always the final, though. It should be fun to see Tufte v. Drysdale v. Hacker. I was glad to see the men's 2x and the men's 4- heats that they aired. Those were great races (We need to see more women's races, though).

Some examples:

Men's 1x World Championship 2006 (This is the best race I've ever seen. Be sure to watch the whole thing)
Men's 1x World Championship 2007
Men's 8+ Final Athens 2004

There's tons of races tomorrow, but they'll probably only show the eights. Some quad action would be cool.
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post #72 of 597
8/10/08 at 1:09am
Enjoying Women's Beach Volleyball. But I really want to learn more about the cheerleaders on the sidelines. Their artistry and commitment to the sport is to be celebrated.
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post #73 of 597
8/10/08 at 2:27am
I caved and decided to watch the Olympics. It had something to do with HDTV, DVR and nothing on TV.

Overall, I liked it. Loved how the day started off with us taking all three medals in the Women Sabre.

Highlights --

New Olympic \ World records in swimming throughout the day! Phelps just dominated his two matches and got a gold, his first of these games. Looking forward to following that story.

Seeing the US Men's Beach Volleyball team getting upset by Latvia!!? was amazing. I'm almost positive Dr. Doom had something to do with this.

The Cyclist event (not sure what it was called...) was pretty cool. It was amazing to see the Chinese landscape in HDTV, it was also amazing to see Spain get their first gold metal ever and truth be told, it was in question if that would happen! It was a tight finish for such a long event!

lowlights --

They kept talking about the guy who was killed. Really drags the high spirits down to recap that. Something that could have been better left to mainstream news.

Not enough coverage, not enough time Missed some events and medals apparently from the daily wrap up.
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post #74 of 597
8/10/08 at 10:07am
I don't get the decision not to start Josy Altidore, but so far it seems like it's worked for the US. That Klejstein goal was brilliant, evening things up with the Netherlands.

EDIT: And Altidore scores, although it was just one of those "right place at right time" goals. US leads, 2-1.
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post #75 of 597
8/10/08 at 12:16pm
To outplay the Dutch for 85 minutes and to come away with the tie on a last second mistake.

Why is it the U.S. always gets punished on the world stage for trying to play aggressive, attacking soccer? I did love how we weren't trying to sit on the lead though, still trying to attack and not be content to kick it around the midfield. But now no F. Adu and no Bradley for Nigeria due to yellow's.
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post #76 of 597
8/10/08 at 12:28pm
For all the shit I give NBC every four years, they got back on my good side today. All it took was the reappearance of John Tesh to do it.
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post #77 of 597
8/10/08 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bancroft Agee View Post
To outplay the Dutch for 85 minutes and to come away with the tie on a last second mistake.

Why is it the U.S. always gets punished on the world stage for trying to play aggressive, attacking soccer? I did love how we weren't trying to sit on the lead though, still trying to attack and not be content to kick it around the midfield. But now no F. Adu and no Bradley for Nigeria due to yellow's.
At least Nigeria is in the same boat, missing two of its starters. Play for the tie? I know Nigeria won't, so the US may be forced to continue to attack to advance.

Reading some of the post-match wrap, Altidore isn't 100% either. It's going to be tough Wednesday. Very tough.
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post #78 of 597
8/10/08 at 11:52pm
If the half the girls on the Chinese gymnastics team are over the age of 14, I'll eat my hat. I've seen fetuses that look older.
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post #79 of 597
8/10/08 at 11:59pm
Damn, the US gymnastics team really screwed the pooch. I don't know HOW they still qualified past the semi's but I liked the slow motion shots of everyone going "fuuuuuuuck" but moving their hands up to cover the "ck" part.

One girl missed her grip and slipped to the matt mid-routine. One girl landed and fell backwards and ... well OK something happened before that but it wasn't NEARLY as shocking.
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post #80 of 597
8/11/08 at 12:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gravedigger View Post
If the half the girls on the Chinese gymnastics team are over the age of 14, I'll eat my hat. I've seen fetuses that look older.
So have I. They were lying in the gutters during the woman's long distance cycle road race.
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post #81 of 597
8/11/08 at 12:42am
Holy shit! What a finish for the 4 x 100 relay. USA beats out France!
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post #82 of 597
8/11/08 at 1:02am
A good portion of the girls on the Chinese team couldn't pass for 16. No joke.
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post #83 of 597
8/11/08 at 1:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diva View Post
Holy shit! What a finish for the 4 x 100 relay. USA beats out France!
That was an amazing finish.
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post #84 of 597
8/11/08 at 1:33am
Somehow my post telling France to "Suck It" seems to have disappeared.
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post #85 of 597
8/11/08 at 2:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcjsavannah View Post
At least Nigeria is in the same boat, missing two of its starters. Play for the tie? I know Nigeria won't, so the US may be forced to continue to attack to advance.

Reading some of the post-match wrap, Altidore isn't 100% either. It's going to be tough Wednesday. Very tough.
If this was the World Cup and we had all hands on deck..maybe. We got a bunch of "kids" and McBride minus Adu and Bradley. It's going to be interesting that's for sure.
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post #86 of 597
8/11/08 at 11:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcjsavannah View Post
In a better world, Team Handball would be huge in the US.
supposedly this South Korean movie Forever the Moment about the Olympic Handball match in the previous olympics was quite a great movie.
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post #87 of 597
8/11/08 at 12:21pm
Clearly without a tv hookup and a lack of will to watch online I've been missing this stuff. But C'est La Vie.

I did come across this picture over at the LA Times website:



Make of it what you will.

Also I heard Dara Torres got her 10th medal over the weekend.
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post #88 of 597
8/11/08 at 12:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
Clearly without a tv hookup and a lack of will to watch online I've been missing this stuff. But C'est La Vie.

I did come across this picture over at the LA Times website:
It really was a crazy finish. Lezak was a half body length behind Bernard coming into the final sprint and Lezak just rode his wake until about a few feet from the wall and powered in for the win.

This was huge for a number of reasons:

- The French team boasted they would smash the USA in this event and for all intents and purposes they should have (they were the leaders coming into this event)

- Lezak was a member of the US Olympic swim team in 200 and 2004 and had disappointing results; He smashed the world record for fastest time for a relay leg

- Phelps needed this team win in order to be in the running for the most individual medals (8) and this event was his toughest event (because the French are that good)

Just read this amazing recap.

Quote:
Label it inconceivable, unimaginable or impossible. Just don’t expect the description to stick for long. The swimming world will be swapping out superlatives for ages on this one. Five – five – of the teams that took part in Monday’s 4x100 relay final beat the word record set by the United States in the preliminary round. And the new world record established by Lezak, Weber-Gale, Jones and Michael Phelps cut 3.99 seconds off the former mark.

That alone might have made it the greatest race in relay history. But this one had the feel of a Hollywood script – the kind that would never make it to the movie screen simply because it bent reality too far. From Phelps’ second gold hanging in the balance, to Bernard’s pre-race boast, to the United States struggling to regain supremacy in an event it once owned, this one had the makings of greatness before the swimmers took to the starting blocks.

And just when it seemed it couldn’t get any better, the Americans and French dueled in an epic final 100 meters. A final leg that pitted Lezak – who was the anchor on America’s disappointing 2000 and 2004 4x100-meter freestyle relay teams – against Bernard, who was the world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle going into the event. Bernard lost that record in the first 100 of the race when Australia’s Eamon Sullivan opened with a 47.24 leg, grabbing Bernard’s record.

But it was Lezak who would deliver the deepest cut to the French. With Phelps and Weber-Gale coming out fast, the United States fell behind in the third 100 meters, with Cullen Jones touching the wall over six-tenths of a second behind the French. By the time Lezak made his final turn, that gap had grown to .82 seconds, a virtual eternity in a 50-meter sprint. But just when the race appeared to be over – NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines actually called the race for the French with about 60 meters left – Lezak pulled off the fastest 100-meter split in the history of the games: 46.06 seconds.
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post #89 of 597
8/11/08 at 1:46pm
NBC Olympic coverage=failure. Took over an hour for them to finally replay perhaps the last ten seconds of the 4x100 race. I jumped through half a dozen on-line hoops, downloading DRM laden clunky proprietary software all the while, and couldn't find a video of it on nbc.com. No other sites (including youtube) had the race. Why didn't I watch it live on television? Because the West Coast isn't getting any live swimming events, which means I know the outcomes hours before they finally air.

What the fuck is NBC's problem? At this point, couldn't they have the events available live on the web? Or, at least the major ones? Gawd.

**Jim Rome's "Hey France, tell me how my ass tastes" monologue was pretty damn funny this morning.
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post #90 of 597
8/11/08 at 2:03pm
I have no doubt that a dvd package will come out of this.
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post #91 of 597
8/11/08 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 
I think NBC's coverage is pretty great.

I have HD, so their Universal HD channel shows the Olympics all day long... USA channels shows live stuff late night and NBC shows a mix of taped and live stuff.

This way there is something to watch at any point in the day.
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post #92 of 597
8/11/08 at 3:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by neaux View Post
I think NBC's coverage is pretty great.

I have HD, so their Universal HD channel shows the Olympics all day long... USA channels shows live stuff late night and NBC shows a mix of taped and live stuff.

This way there is something to watch at any point in the day.
You think it's great because you live on the East Coast. You're not seeing pivotal events on a three hour delay (yeah, there's no way I'm going to avoid the radio/internet to try and stay "spoiler-free" for NBC's benefit).

And, even if you find the television coverage good, NBC has utterly failed to exploit the internet possibilities. No live on-line telecasts if the event is going to be shown on tape delay later in the day? For shame.
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post #93 of 597
8/11/08 at 3:59pm
Can't cut into those prime time ratings!
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post #94 of 597
8/11/08 at 4:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
Can't cut into those prime time ratings!
Sorry to hear about your friend.

As for the prime time ratings issue, it demonstrates that NBC has fundamentally (I hope) misinterpreted how viewers want their content delivered in the 21st century. I thought that these Olympics, billed as the "on-line games", or some other such nonsense by NBC, would do away with the endless banal human interest stories interspersed with day-old footage in favor of on-line streaming and more live events. Why'd NBC lobby so hard to have the swimming events moved to the morning only so they could tape delay them for a third of the nation?

Why don't networks try this garbage with major U.S. sports? Because the consumer wouldn't stand for it; they want the results now. I think we're at that point with the Olympics, as well.
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post #95 of 597
8/11/08 at 4:03pm
And I still have not been able to see an archive of the opening ceremonies anywhere.
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post #96 of 597
8/11/08 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcjsavannah View Post
And I still have not been able to see an archive of the opening ceremonies anywhere.
Yeah, I missed this and would love to see it as well.
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post #97 of 597
8/11/08 at 4:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overlord View Post
A good portion of the girls on the Chinese team couldn't pass for 16. No joke.
Yeah, even the oldest one who was said to be 20 looked like she could barely pass for 16. And I really hate the commentating during the Womens gymnastics. It's freakin aweful.

And am I the only one bothered by the fact that Baseball is done after this until 2016 at the earliest, yet Water Polo and Ping Pong get to continue? No offense to any Water Polo or Ping Pong fans...but c'mon...
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post #98 of 597
8/11/08 at 4:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diva View Post
Yeah, I missed this and would love to see it as well.
Technically impressive, but overly long. It's amazing what you can achieve in terms of pageantry with an unlimited budget.
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post #99 of 597
8/11/08 at 4:14pm
But isn't the argument that interest in the Olympics is slipping? Of course, you could say that interest is slipping because the immediacy is gone -- we're going on the third Summer Olympics in a row taking place well outside American time zones, which plays all kinds of hell with a network schedule. It's not as much fun to watch an event that's already happened. And that plays out in the ratings -- of the last five Olympics before Beijing, Atlanta in '96 had the highest ratings, due in no small part to being on the East Coast of the US and incredibly prime time friendly.

But I still think there's no reason not to have one of NBC's networks or a website running live coverage 24/7. Devote a channel to the non-glamor events, or run raw feed with no commentary. Then, if you want more info or to hear expert opinion, you can tune into the rebroadcast.
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post #100 of 597
8/11/08 at 4:30pm
Quote:
But isn't the argument that interest in the Olympics is slipping? Of course, you could say that interest is slipping because the immediacy is gone -- we're going on the third Summer Olympics in a row taking place well outside American time zones, which plays all kinds of hell with a network schedule.
You answered your own question. People are (rightfully) not interested in watching sporting events that took place hours ago.

Quote:
But I still think there's no reason not to have one of NBC's networks or a website running live coverage 24/7. Devote a channel to the non-glamor events, or run raw feed with no commentary. Then, if you want more info or to hear expert opinion, you can tune into the rebroadcast.
I would love a raw feed with no commentary for most sporting events, frankly.

The reason that there's no dedicated channel or web service offering live coverage is that NBC believes (again, rightfully) that it would steal interest from their prime-time broadcasts. Which, of course, entirely misses the point as to what the public expects from them in terms of coverage.
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