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2016 Summer Olympics

Started by Desert Man, August 06, 2016, 06:23:40 AM

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Desert Man

I have my TV on the (replayed) opening ceremony of the XXX (30th for some of you not familiar with Roman numerals) summer olympiad or the 2016 Rio games in Rio (de Janeiro), Brazil. There may be many issues the host city deals with, but let's hope for the best and all things go well for the city, tourists and athletes attend the upcoming events and games. Brazil proved to been a good host for the 2014 FiFA world cup in football (or soccer for US Americans). American...and greatest olympian ever...Mike Phelps carries the US flag representing the United States of America summer olympic team: 363 first-timers and 293 women out of 557 total American athletes.
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roadman

Decided to watch some the Olympics coverage last night.  Frankly, I found it to be very painful to have to endure the repeating cycle of five minutes of choppy event coverage followed by six minutes of ads.  Then resuming coverage of an event in the middle of an athlete's performance.  Annoying for the audience, and very disrespectful to the athletes.  Plus, who decided it was necessary to plaster Rio 2016 on every piece of equipment and in every blank space in the arena - more idiocy.

And NBC has the temerity to wonder why their Olympic ratings are so low as compared to four years ago.
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english si

NBC is the worst Olympics coverage in the world, save maybe North Korea. ;)

At least this time the time zones work out. IIRC there was a huge amount of proxy servers to watch BBC coverage of 2012 as not having Live coverage on NBC was the last straw on top of a lack of comprehensiveness and competence. OK, the BBC doesn't always have that last one (the swimming coverage is awful - a really annoying presenter, and an unfortunately not very good pundit in Britain's most decorated Olympic Swimmer), but I can watch every event on their website (or via my TV as both cable and satellite have all 22 live streams as well as the two TV channels (1 or 2 depending on whether they want to air a regular programme on 1 or not, or 4) that hops about between them a bit

Plus Auntie Beeb doesn't add events to fake a higher medal score ;)


In the unlikely event that they showed it on NBC, the other night the US women's' Rugby Seven team pulled off an impressive result against favourites (and eventual silver medal winners) New Zealand holding them to 5-0. NZ's narrow win meant they progressed to the semis, where they flattened a GB side 25-7 that had only conceded 10 points in the 4 games before. The US ladies also drew against Gold medal winners Australia in the group stage (though I don't think it mattered much for Australia so they weren't trying hard) and beat decent Rugby nation France to come 5th (their two games against Fiji, who are never a walkover, being 7-12 and 12-7). A performance like that with competent coverage and women's Rugby Sevens' popularity in a country like the USA where it's not very popular would easily double (at least). I want to play Rugby Sevens based on that performance, despite hating playing Rugby at school, being entirely the wrong physical build for it and not being American. But with NBC, I highly doubt it's even been mentioned.

vdeane

Part of the problem is that NBC doesn't consider the Olympics to be a sporting event - to them, it's a reality TV show, where the events don't matter as much as their commentary and the athlete's "story".  They also engage in censoring in order to make things more "understandable" for Americans (which is code for keeping the US ignorant of the rest of the world).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

ZLoth

To me, the Olympics is a, to use a Twitter hashtag, a #5RingCircus. This is really sad considering the sacrifices that the athletes go through in order to participate in this one-every-four-year event. Look at the costs to put on the events, and then you look at the state of those constructed facilities a few years later, with some of them practically abandoned. We had the horror stories of the uncompleted (if not downright dangerous) facilities where the athletes have to stay in during the Olympics. Look at the price that NBC paid for the event, and I see your complaints about too many commercials to recover the costs paid for those rights. You can't convince me that there isn't enough Olympics to be shared among several networks.

I place the blame on the IOC, and the restrictions that they place on hosting the event and advertising the event. It's IOC first, and the athletes second.
I'm an Engineer. That means I solve problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?", because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. I solve practical problems and call them "paychecks".

english si

Quote from: ZLoth on August 11, 2016, 12:36:09 AMthen you look at the state of those constructed facilities a few years later, with some of them practically abandoned.
That probably won't happen in Rio. The IOC are very very keen to avoid another Atlanta. And Brazil aren't going to want the issues that the World Cup caused - the stadium in the middle of the Amazon that could hold more than the population of the city it was built in really didn't go down well with the population.

Also accommodation is one of the things graded in the bidding process and weighted heavily - but seems to be an issue whenever you hold games outside of the most developed countries (as such places score low but the IOC votes for it anyway). New Delhi's Commonwealth Games had similar issues, Sochi's Winter Olympics, etc.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: english si on August 11, 2016, 05:56:47 AM
Quote from: ZLoth on August 11, 2016, 12:36:09 AMthen you look at the state of those constructed facilities a few years later, with some of them practically abandoned.
That probably won't happen in Rio. The IOC are very very keen to avoid another Atlanta.

Comparably speaking, Atlanta did well.  It was a pretty good city going in, and continues to be a thriving city.  If the venue wasn't to be used after the Olympics, it was removed.  I don't know of anything that was completely abandoned there.   Most of the other cities around the world that hosted the Olympics haven't done as well and most of the infrastructure built remains there, crumbling.

vdeane

I think the IOC would rather the infrastructure be abandoned and crumbling rather than outright removed, which was the issue with Atlanta - they didn't "capture the Olympic spirit" or something like that.  The IOC probably prefers places like Lake Placid, which kept the infrastructure as tourist attractions.

It seems like the accommodations are always unfinished lately, as if they had no clue how long it takes to build a building and get it ready.  Are they hiring contractors who have never built luxury hotels before or something?
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

7/8

I'm not sure about other networks, but I wish on CBC they could put a small label like "quarter-final", "semi-final", "final", etc. so I know what race or game it is. It's definitely important to know that when you're watching it!

LOL, I was just watching the rowing (women's double sculls) where Canada got silver, and the CBC reporter just cut the lady off while she was saying her speech. The reporter says she's "getting the signal", yet it simply goes to commercial break. Wow :no:

wanderer2575

Quote from: vdeane on August 10, 2016, 05:36:11 PM
Part of the problem is that NBC doesn't consider the Olympics to be a sporting event - to them, it's a reality TV show, where the events don't matter as much as their commentary and the athlete's "story".  They also engage in censoring in order to make things more "understandable" for Americans (which is code for keeping the US ignorant of the rest of the world).

Reality show -- yes, this exactly.  Slate.com is maintaining a website (http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/fivering_circus/2016/08/measuring_the_sappiness_of_nbc_s_olympics_coverage.html) measuring the "reality show"ness of NBC's coverage by counting the number of times reality show-type terms (e.g. dad, mom, death, dedication, passion, dream, determination, journey, sacrifice, tragedy, triumph) are worked into the announcers' scripts.

bing101

#10
http://www.tsn.ca/canadian-boxer-convinced-olympics-are-rigged-1.549704

Boxing in the Olympics are facing allegations of a rigged system.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/16/gary-antuanne-russell-boxing-fixing-allegations-rio-olympics

If you saw the Gary Russell fight in the Olympics he fought great except the refs and judges sided with the other guy.  Lets just hope Gary Russell becomes the next Pound for Pound Champion in Pro Boxing and good Karma go on his side.

bing101


Rothman

Heh.  Boxing is the Summer Olympic's figure skating. :D
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

bing101

#13
Lochte Scandal is now getting bigger attention at the Olympics than the games itself.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/18/wake-scandal-us-swimmer-ryan-lochte-has-just-fallen-off-shelf/88962158/

According to this. Now Ryan Lochte and this scandals has really turned the Olympics into a trashy reality show.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: bing101 on August 19, 2016, 03:33:18 PM
Lochte Scandal is now getting bigger attention at the Olympics than the games itself.

He gave an interview for the ages on my local Philly Fox morning news show in 2013 for a TV show he was starring in (what, you don't remember it?).  Google something like "fox 29 lochte interview", or if you have 6 minutes of your life you don't necessarily want back, watch this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnceMoPtVfE .

You know those people that aren't great public speakers?  Yeah...

Here's a news story written yesterday about that interview: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/celebrities_gossip/Remember-when-Good-Day-Philadelphia-mocked-Ryan-Lochte.html




english si

I've just found out that, 4 days ago, the county of my birth would be 13th on the medal table. I think we'd be 17th now with 5 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes.

Of course, the countr of my birth is 2nd, and only kept off the top by the fact that the pool exists and the USA got 16x the gold medals there than us.

oscar

Quote from: bing101 on August 19, 2016, 03:33:18 PM
Lochte Scandal is now getting bigger attention at the Olympics than the games itself.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/18/wake-scandal-us-swimmer-ryan-lochte-has-just-fallen-off-shelf/88962158/

According to this. Now Ryan Lochte and this scandals has really turned the Olympics into a trashy reality show.

Sounded to me like the original incident at the gas station in Rio, before Lochte started blabbing about it, was "Mr. Nogottabathroom" (something many of us encounter at smaller gas stations) striking again, with a vengance.
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bing101

Quote from: oscar on August 19, 2016, 04:05:42 PM
Quote from: bing101 on August 19, 2016, 03:33:18 PM
Lochte Scandal is now getting bigger attention at the Olympics than the games itself.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/18/wake-scandal-us-swimmer-ryan-lochte-has-just-fallen-off-shelf/88962158/

According to this. Now Ryan Lochte and this scandals has really turned the Olympics into a trashy reality show.

Sounded to me like the original incident at the gas station in Rio, before Lochte started blabbing about it, was "Mr. Nogottabathroom" (something many of us encounter at smaller gas stations) striking again, with a vengance.


http://sports.yahoo.com/news/rio-2016-official-on-lochte-scandal-lets-give-these-kids-a-break-154711650.html.  Come on here I have a feeling if Lochte did the same stuff in some parts of America then the Police and in some cases the Gas station employees would kill them and it won't be this international scandal.

CNGL-Leudimin

Quote from: english si on August 19, 2016, 03:48:17 PM
I've just found out that, 4 days ago, the county of my birth would be 13th on the medal table. I think we'd be 17th now with 5 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes.

Of course, the country of my birth is 2nd, and only kept off the top by the fact that the pool exists and the USA got 16x the gold medals there than us.

Your county of birth would be now 15th on the medal table, ahead of Croatia.

I like the fact my country has less medals than Canada, yet we are higher on the medal table because our anthem has been played more times than O Canada :sombrero:.

Also, I'm trying to find 'Independent Olympic Athletes' on Google Maps. What is that, a team made of stateless athletes? The name suggests so.
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english si

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on August 19, 2016, 05:30:17 PMI like the fact my country has less medals than Canada, yet we are higher on the medal table because our anthem has been played more times than O Canada :sombrero:.
And you are now beating the Trott-Kenny household - Spain having been the 'their house has more golds here than <country>' target of mockery. With 5 London, 5 Rio and probably 3 more Games they might manage to have more Gold medals than the Phelps house. ;)

nexus73

#20
Watched the Spain vs USA basketball semis game today.  That was the first Olympic event for me to view during this Olympiad.  Crowd?  Not into it.  USA team?  Not into it.  Despite that, the USA is wiping everyone else out completely in medal count and that is with some of our best staying home over conditions in Rio.

China is such a distant 2nd that they might as well stayed home to save themselves the embarrassment and the UK is right on their heels to boot.  On the other hand I wish the drunk American swimmer would have remained here.  His poor behavior overshadowed a lot of great performances.

If the Rio Olympics close down without a major terrorist attack, we can all let out a Big Whew.  Munich 1972 was not much fun. 

Getting the TV schedule cleared of the Olympics means we in the US can get back to our #1 sport: FOOTBALL!!!

Rick   
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7/8

I have important Olympics news to share:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/japanese-pole-vaulter-fails-olympics-8642474

QuoteJapanese pole vaulter fails at the Olympics - but earns global fame for his penis

As his Olympic dream died, Hiroki Ogita must have been the only man in history wishing his manhood was smaller.

The relationship between a man and his manhood is often a complicated one.

Most of the time, they both want the same thing - and all is well. Sometimes, they have different priorities - and life becomes a bit tricky.

But we're pretty sure no man has ever fallen out with his crown jewels to such an extent... that it has knocked him out of the Olympics Games.

Incredibly, that is exactly what you can see happening to Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita in the clip above. Trying to clear 5.30m in qualifying for the Rio 2016 final, Ogita goes up...

He comes very, VERY close to clearing the bar...

But at the last second, the vault fails - leaving Ogita in 21st place and out of the competition.

So, what caused Ogita's demise? When so close to clearing the bar, what caused it to fall off?

Yep, his penis. HIS ACTUAL PENIS:

No doubt the Japanese athlete was gutted by the turn of events that saw his Olympic dream crushed.

But we have some news that might cheer him up.

News and footage of Ogita's unfortunate moment has gone around the globe. People everywhere are now aware that his (now world-famous) package is sizeable enough to knock that big bar off its ledge.

So, while he must have wished it had been a bit smaller at the time, Ogita must be feeling at least a little bit proud of his manhood right now...

LM117

Quote from: 7/8 on August 19, 2016, 09:19:15 PM
I have important Olympics news to share:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/japanese-pole-vaulter-fails-olympics-8642474

QuoteJapanese pole vaulter fails at the Olympics - but earns global fame for his penis

As his Olympic dream died, Hiroki Ogita must have been the only man in history wishing his manhood was smaller.

The relationship between a man and his manhood is often a complicated one.

Most of the time, they both want the same thing - and all is well. Sometimes, they have different priorities - and life becomes a bit tricky.

But we're pretty sure no man has ever fallen out with his crown jewels to such an extent... that it has knocked him out of the Olympics Games.

Incredibly, that is exactly what you can see happening to Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita in the clip above. Trying to clear 5.30m in qualifying for the Rio 2016 final, Ogita goes up...

He comes very, VERY close to clearing the bar...

But at the last second, the vault fails - leaving Ogita in 21st place and out of the competition.

So, what caused Ogita's demise? When so close to clearing the bar, what caused it to fall off?

Yep, his penis. HIS ACTUAL PENIS:

No doubt the Japanese athlete was gutted by the turn of events that saw his Olympic dream crushed.

But we have some news that might cheer him up.

News and footage of Ogita's unfortunate moment has gone around the globe. People everywhere are now aware that his (now world-famous) package is sizeable enough to knock that big bar off its ledge.

So, while he must have wished it had been a bit smaller at the time, Ogita must be feeling at least a little bit proud of his manhood right now...

Welp, so much for the Asian stereotype. :-D
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7/8

Quote from: LM117 on August 19, 2016, 09:27:32 PM
Welp, so much for the Asian stereotype. :-D

The line at the beginning about being "the only man in history wishing his manhood was smaller" is hilarious :)

--------

Usain Bolt just successfully completed his "triple-triple", winning the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m sprints in three consecutive Olympics. What a beast!

CNGL-Leudimin

Quote from: nexus73 on August 19, 2016, 08:14:59 PMGetting the TV schedule cleared of the Olympics means we in the US can get back to our #1 sport: FOOTBALL!!!

In the Olympics (and in most of the rest of the world), 'football' means association football, what you call soccer.
Supporter of the construction of several running gags, including I-366 with a speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h) and the Hypotenuse.

Please note that I may mention "invalid" FM channels, i.e. ending in an even number or down to 87.5. These are valid in Europe.



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