[Atomic Rooster]

I have no plans or desire to watch these olympics. Too bad because I realize everyone of the athletes worked hard for this chance. But I just don't seem to have any interest this time around.

Am I alone?

[zro]

All Olympics = indifference.

[Kenneth]

That's strange.

I will watch the open ceremony on NBC and see how it goes. Personally, I don't really care which city to host the event.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Isn't indifference the go to reaction to all Olympics since the wall fell?

[Chuckit]

Just to head off any derails, there's a PL thread for discussing political reasons why you might not watch the games. This thread is more about how darn boring it seems like a lot of Olympic sports are these days.

(Not planning to watch either.)

[dcmacdaddy]

NO. My feeling for the last several Olympics has been "meh". They have become ridiculously commercialized and none of the political goodwill that is supposed to come out of them has ever materialized. As far as I am concerned, they are an anachronism and should be canceled forthwith. There are plenty of other national and international sports venues in which these athletes can compete. While I had no interest to watch them in the first place, if I did have an interest I would have boycotted them just because of how heavily politicized and commercialized the games have become. So, my apathy wins out over my antipathy.


If you want to talk about the politicization of them, look no further then the US cyclists caught on camera wearing face masks and how they had to apologize for "offending the sensibilities" of the Chinese. F*** that. Just because the Chinese are all about saving face doesn't mean athletes from other countries have to be as well. Every article I have ever read indicate the air in Beijing on a *good* day is worse than the air in major American cities on a bad day. Heck, I think it was the BBC website that was giving daily reports of particulate tests done by their staffers over there and the measurements were quite higher than those reported by the Chinese government.

[Atomic Rooster]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Just to head off any derails, there's a PL thread for discussing political reasons why you might not watch the games. This thread is more about how darn boring it seems like a lot of Olympic sports are these days.

(Not planning to watch either.)

Yup, nothing to do with China at all. Could be New Jersey and I'd still feel the same.

[Cipher13]

Originally Posted by zro 

All Olympics = indifference.

Indeed.

[dcmacdaddy]

I think the last Olympics where I cared what was going on and watched a lot of the sports was the 1998 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

[besson3c]

I like watching the unusual, less popular sports such as darts.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy 

I think the last Olympics where I cared what was going on and watched a lot of the sports was the 1998 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

Longer than you think then. That was 1994

[Kerrigan]

The only sport in the Olympics that I care about is rowing, but even then, I would rather watch an I Dream of Jeannie re-run than watch a regatta on TV. So I guess you could say that I'm not a big Olympics fan. Nor do I think it's right the way the Chinese are cracking down even harder on dissidents in advance of the games.

[Atomic Rooster]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

I like watching the unusual, less popular sports such as darts.

Which goes with beer.

[Atomic Rooster]

I'd rather watch competitive circuits for these kinds of sports along the lines of golf, tennis or scrabble, where you compete against everyone. Not the total of medals your country collects.

[PB2K]

I'm sure the Chinese will do anything to make the opening ceremony really spectacular !

[Yose]

I won't be watching it despite the daughter of a gentleman in my sailing fleet competing there (Yngling class). I spent time living in a Tibetan colony earlier this year and I just can't get past the politics, nor do I want to.

[residentEvil]

like australia, what makes these games hard is the time difference for the US. we will know via sportscenter and the like, as well as the internet, what happened long before any of the 13 US channels will show it. takes all the drama out. so why watch? that in turn makes the events seem pointless. if we can't see it when it happens, why watch? now granted, some things won't be on tape delay but not many. some things i will get up in the middle of the night to watch, specially on the weekend when it is easier.

i prefer the winter olympics to the summer ones though. i tend to care/watch those games more often. summer ones seem to go on WAY too long. it seems to me there are more team sports that are over 5, 6 or even 8 days to get to the final 2 teams. ugh.

[Maflynn]

I'm indifferent to all of the Olympics. I don't care that they're in China or anywhere else. They're all boring. Synchronized swimming is a sport?

The last time I had watched the Olympics, all I saw were the touchy feely type stories about the hardships some athlete had to over come, rather then spending time on the sport itself.

[Don Pickett]

I was an Olympics fan util I went to the 1996 games and realized they're just a polite, really well attended Yankees game. No interest after that.

[Dakar the Fourth]

In retrospect, this would've made a good poll. Right now I think the amount of people indifferent to the Olympics in general outweigh those indifferent to just these Chinese ones.

[Atheist]

I sometimes wonder if people just expect too much out of the Olympics. I like watching them just as much as I might enjoy watching a football or baseball game on weekend. I definitely will watch the swimming and track & field events this year. Ignore all the hype, fast forward through the commercials, and enjoy the competition.

[Andy8]

Well you all missed a wonderful opening ceremony!

[besson3c]

Was there music and fireworks?

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by Andy8 

Well you all missed a wonderful opening ceremony!

Assuming it's not time-delayed for primetime tv.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Was there music and fireworks?

Plenty, especially the fireworks, quite amazing.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Well, if there's two things the Chinese know, one of them is fireworks.

[besson3c]

Isn't that a little racist?

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth 

Assuming it's not time-delayed for primetime tv.

All of our local free-to-air channels carried it live, non-stop and commercial free for the first two hours.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Isn't that a little racist?

How so?

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by Andy8 

All of our local free-to-air channels carried it live, non-stop and commercial free for the first two hours.

That doesn't mean we missed it, though.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Isn't that a little racist?

Not any more than saying the French are renowned for their wine and cheese.

[::maroma::]

I will watch the men's basketball games, only because I'm a basketball fan. I hope to see the "redeem team" live up to that nickname, but I'm also hoping some teams give them a good fight.

But overall I'm indifferent to the Olympics. The last time I got excited watching an Olympic event was when gymnast Kerri Strug won the gold medal with a sprained ankle. That was an amazing thing to watch.

[Maflynn]

Originally Posted by Andy8 

Well you all missed a wonderful opening ceremony!

No we didn't, it will be on prime time tv, with the added benefit of having inane drivel from the announcers

[Dakar the Fourth]

Echo. Echo. Echo.

[Chuckit]

I actually do watch the Winter Olympics. I like the skiing, snowboarding and skating. But the Summer Olympics don't hold all that much interest for me these days.

I think they should have kept it every four years with both Olympic seasons in the same year rather than this every two years thing. It dilutes the Olympics and makes people less excited about it.

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I actually do watch the Winter Olympics. I like the skiing, snowboarding and skating. But the Summer Olympics don't hold all that much interest for me these days.

My dirty secret is I enjoy the curling, including the women's team (which are actually pretty cute)

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I think they should have kept it every four years with both Olympic seasons in the same year rather than this every two years thing. It dilutes the Olympics and makes people less excited about it.

I figure it's been split for commercial reasons, but sometimes I don't wonder if after going through the summer olympics, people were more lethargic about getting excited for the winter games just a few months later. This split does give each season it's own spotlight (not that I agree with the split).

[KeriVit]

I like to watch them. I don't know, it just seems more entertaining to me than the mindless drivel that's usually on.

[-Q-]

Never had any interest in watching them, previously, but I may have to tune into the fencing competitions this year. Just found out today that one of my colleagues up in NY is competing on the fencing team for the U.S.

[besson3c]

I suppose next thing you'll be saying that Canadians are known for lumberjacks and hockey, right?

[::maroma::]

And here we go...

<pops some popcorn and grabs a soda>

[olePigeon]

I've been watching numerous videos regarding China's air quality, there's a general consensus that you can taste the air; it leaves a "disgusting" film in your mouth when you're running.

Eeew.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

I suppose next thing you'll be saying that Canadians are known for lumberjacks and hockey, right?

I'm sure lots of Chinese are lumberjacks, and they're OK.

[Timo]

Well, I've been watching the opening ceremony, and it is a terrific spectacle. And the stadium is spectacular.

Y'all are missing out.

[Shaddim]

The Olympics are this year?

[Face Ache]

Originally Posted by Timo 

Well, I've been watching the opening ceremony, and it is a terrific spectacle. And the stadium is spectacular.

Y'all are missing out.

Yes, very impressive opening (especially when compared to Athens). Great display of big screen TV technology and... uh... military precision. Can't wait for Korea's turn so we get to see the Starcraft opening. Zerg rush!

One thing that always bugs me about the opening ceremonies when the teams come out: These people are athletes - can't they hurry it up a little and at least frikkin' jog?

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I think they should have kept it every four years with both Olympic seasons in the same year rather than this every two years thing. It dilutes the Olympics and makes people less excited about it.

I thought they split it because they intended to give the Summer Olympics to a Southern Hemisphere city at some point (and they did give it to Sydney in 2000), and they didn't want the Winter Olympics in a Northern city and the Summer Olympics in a Southern city to be that close together.

I'm going to pay attention to the Olympics, but I'll likely not watch much of NBC's coverage. It's way too commercial and boring. Whenever the Olympics are on, I miss living in Buffalo, because I can't get any Canadian TV here in Rochester.

I did watch the Opening Ceremonies tonight (once the Mets game was over) just to keep track of what new countries we have now. I should have muted the TV, though, because I think the commentary during the Opening Ceremonies actually made me dumber. And I knew what was going to happen anyway, because the Internet told me, since it all happened 12 hours ago.

[PB2K]

this is insane

absolutely wonderful !!!!!

[Eriamjh]

I got to see the opening ceremony live at 8AM in Detroit because the Canadian station, Ch.9 CBC, showed it live instead of doing a tape-delay. The Canadians have a little more balanced coverage than the US and a lot less of the BS human-interest stories about the competitors.

Sure, they talk about the Canadians when they come out, but what do you expect?

By the way, it was pretty impressive, but overall I'm indifferent to the Olympics. I like the competition, but it's hard not to root for one's own country and against another for one reason or another.

[Andhee]

I'll probably watch them when they're in London, 2012, but at the mo, I'm not interested.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by PB2K 

this is insane

absolutely wonderful !!!!!

Err... that's not the opening ceremony