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Post by booklady on Jul 25, 2008 7:11:15 GMT -5
Here are [glow=red,2,300] two[/glow] questions for today. 1. Where IS everybody? It's definitely not chattery at prairieCHATTER lately.  2. Do you plan to watch the Olympics? |
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Post by booklady on Jul 25, 2008 7:27:04 GMT -5
1. I'm here, looking for conversation. ;D
2. I just remembered as I began to answer these questions, that I do not have cable. I wonder which network has the Olympic broadcasts this year, if they even do it that way anymore. If it's all on ESPN, I won't see them. I can pick up CBS and ABC a little bit, and Louisiana Public Broadcasting best, but I'm sure I won't find the Olympics on that channel!
There is a guy on ESPN radio, I think his name is Colin Cowherd (funny name!), who keeps predicting some kind of disaster, not necessarily like the one in Munich, but that the games will be a colossal failure. He has cited certain "social" decisions and directives that the Chinese government has made, something about certain groups of people being excluded in some way.
I really can't summon the same sense of excited expectation that I normally feel before the Olympics. It doesn't seem to have the same glow as it's had in the past. I'm not sure why that is, unless it's that the innocence is long gone, and I'm not sure what the point is anymore. Certainly the Olympic ideal has lost its "amateur" distinctive that made it so special before.
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Post by liriodendron on Jul 25, 2008 8:38:39 GMT -5
I am packing for a trip to visit my sister in Colorado. I leave tomorrow. I have far more "stuff I need to take" than I have "empty space in my suitcase" and it's too warm to simply wear all of my clothing in layers. Need I say more?
I'm with you on the lack of excitement about the Olympics. I'll probably still watch, but not like I once did. I really hate the unending commentary and human interest stories that put the bulk of the emphasis on the United States. I honestly don't care who wins, and the U.S. medal count statistics and rooting for the athletes from the other countries to falter so that the Americans can win just turns my stomach.
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Post by booklady on Jul 25, 2008 9:18:18 GMT -5
Enjoy your trip, lirio.  |
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Post by gailkate on Jul 25, 2008 9:37:06 GMT -5
I'm with you on the lack of excitement about the Olympics. I'll probably still watch, but not like I once did. I really hate the unending commentary and human interest stories that put the bulk of the emphasis on the United States. I honestly don't care who wins, and the U.S. medal count statistics and rooting for the athletes from the other countries to falter so that the Americans can win just turns my stomach. True - and not just Americans. In Minnesota, we get constant interruptions to talk about any athlete with the tiniest connection to MN. Is this true everywhere? I think this is the most provincial state I've ever lived in, but maybe it's like that everywhere now. News shows need to brand  the state and emphasize home loyalties. Cripes, the whole point is to celebrate universal values of achievement and perseverance. Competition is so easy to pervert into something ugly. All the doping and pressure from countries to win (which country was it whose athletes feared going home if they lost?) make it all seem tainted. And, of course, picking China was a really dumb move. |
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Post by slb2 on Jul 25, 2008 9:37:09 GMT -5
I agree with lirio about the streak of competitiveness to the point that the faltering of other countries is met with glee by the commentators.
Today I read that Iran (or was it Iraq) won't be welcomed at the Olympics.
Bookie, I would expect one of the major broadcasters to carry the event. We don't have cable and I'd be insulted if they only aired it on a cable-only channel.
Also, I'm here, but busy. I've an 800 word story to finish and then another to start.
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Post by gailkate on Jul 25, 2008 9:44:11 GMT -5
Go here to see the schedule. en.beijing2008.cn/schedule/Looking at it reminded me how much I enjoy it - or parts of it. Asiatic gymnastics? What's that all about? We only get basic cable, but I think it's mostly a good thing. Where would I be without 24 hr. news?  |
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Post by Jane on Jul 25, 2008 9:49:28 GMT -5
My brother-in-law contends that it's only a matter of time before the athletic competition fades away and it's all about who has the best, most heart-warming, victory-over-adversity story to tell. A gold medal for the plucky Tibetan who walked barefoot over the mountains carrying his elderly mother in order to be here!
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Post by Thomas Scheuzger on Jul 25, 2008 9:51:44 GMT -5
I'm with you on the lack of excitement about the Olympics. I'll probably still watch, but not like I once did. I really hate the unending commentary and human interest stories that put the bulk of the emphasis on the United States. I honestly don't care who wins, and the U.S. medal count statistics and rooting for the athletes from the other countries to falter so that the Americans can win just turns my stomach. True - and not just Americans. In Minnesota, we get constant interruptions to talk about any athlete with the tiniest connection to MN. Is this true everywhere? I think this is the most provincial state I've ever lived in, but maybe it's like that everywhere now. News shows need to brand the state and emphasize home loyalties. Cripes, the whole point is to celebrate universal values of achievement and perseverance. Competition is so easy to pervert into something ugly. All the doping and pressure from countries to win (which country was it whose athletes feared going home if they lost?) make it all seem tainted. And, of course, picking China was a really dumb move. Well said. I feel exactly the same way. About 20-30 years ago, I believe it was NBC that did such a nice job on the coverage. After that, it got more and more stomach turning, what with the damn medal counts and everything else. The video/music montages back then were a sight to behold, not some chest beating commercial for the US. I'll be on tour during most of the games, with shows around the country most nights in August, so I don't think I'll get to see very much. My wife will be all alone in our new home, amidst a sea of boxes. Theoretically, if I've done my duty, the DirecTV and internet will be up and running so she can have some "company" while sorting through the boxes. At least I'll have the bulk of September free to go rescue her... |
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Post by booklady on Jul 25, 2008 9:52:58 GMT -5
Competition is so easy to pervert into something ugly. All the doping and pressure from countries to win (which country was it whose athletes feared going home if they lost?) make it all seem tainted. And, of course, picking China was a really dumb move. gk, I recxall that when Saddam was in power in Iraq, if his athletes came home "not" winners they were tortured by one of Saddam's sons. |
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Post by joew on Jul 25, 2008 17:27:03 GMT -5
I'm not sure why, but my interest in the Olympics has waned over the years. It may well have to do with the displacement of straight coverage of events by "human interest" feature stories. I'm not actually planning to watch any of ti, but I'm not promising that I'll see none of it.
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Post by doctork on Jul 26, 2008 0:55:03 GMT -5
I'm in Beaver Creek, Colorado (in the mountains near Vail) for a health policy meeting. And I'm meeting lirio for dinner in Denver tomorrow night! I'm less interested in the Olympics than I used to be, but being near Vancouver, BC we have an advantage in watching them on TV. We can watch them on Canadian television which is far less ethnocentric in its coverage than "all-America all the time" on NBC, this year's broadcaster. Canada covers the events live instead of condensing the highlights for a homogenized prime time broadcast, larded with all those excess human interest stories. And CBC focuses on great athletic achievement, not medal counts. Winter 2010 will be REALLY BIG around the Pacific Northwest, because they are in Vancouver, British Columbia, about 45 minutes from my house. Many events are actually held in the mountains (Whistler/Blackcomb) an hour or two away. Our county is expecting greatly increased tourism around that time, and they are really enhancing the border crossings in preparation. OK Beijing was an unwise choice, at least it is a big city, but what about Sochi, Russia, which I think is the site for the 2014 winter Olympics. Or is it the 2016 summer Olympics? And had anyone actually heard of Sochi prior to the announcement? Even within the former Soviet Union, Sochi is a relatively unknown small town which sorely lacks the necessary infrastructure and amenities. I don't get it. Oddly though, no one on the IOC asked my opinion  |
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Post by joew on Jul 26, 2008 8:12:34 GMT -5
I think Khrushchev used to go to Sochi. It will probably be summer Olympics, as it is a popular summer resort on the Black Sea.
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Dopey Member
the state and emphasize home loyalties. Cripes, the whole point is to celebrate universal values of achievement and perseverance. 
