Apparently some people are still all about going down somewhere to throw things in. Weird, I know.
Well fuck y’all, I’m still loving the Olympics. Over-commercialized and steroidized and professionalized and all the rest of it.
There is still incredible beauty in the finest athletes in the world competing.
Simone Biles dueling with Aly Raismain on the floor. 41 year old gymnast Oksana Chusovitina still plugging away, even though she hasn’t won a gold since 1992, or any medal at all since 2008. The sheer strength and poise of the competitors on the men’s rings. Great stuff.
I’ve just scratched the surface. The sublime Usain Bolt. The precision of the springboard divers. The teenagers competing for the first time. Pole vaulters. High jumpers. Soccer, basketball and rugby.
It’s not that y’all don’t like the Olympics. It’s that you don’t appreciate world class athletic competition. And that’s fine, but it doesn’t make the Olympics any less great.
If you’re a sports fan, that’s great. Enjoy. I mean that.
Some of us just don’t give a damn, and that’s not some moral or intellectual failing, just having different interests.
It’s actually both. Because someone said that. On fucking Mars or in fucking Estonia or in outer fucking space maybe.
Moving the Winter Games to off-years was the final proof to me that they were more about self-promotion and enrichment of the movers and shakers than pure amateur athleticism.
If only there were a thread for people who WERE enjoying the Olympics to post in Then **Blank Slate ** would not have to come in this thread and take a dump.
I appreciate world class athleticism. I do. But I refuse to support the most corrupt international sporting organization.
I think the last time I watched any Summer Olympic coverage Mary Lou Retton was in the gymnastics competition. I think the fall of the Soviet Union largely killed the Olympics. Before that they were this grand playing out of the cold war every four years. Now the competition has been overshadowed by the economics and the corruption, and, of course this time, the muggings and the raw sewage.
I will admit to watching Olympic Curling whenever it’s on. There is so little Curling broadcast in the states. Even Canada has taken it off the broadcast channels and you can only see it if you have Canadian cable. 
Apparently it’s not enough for Blank Slate to enjoy the Olympics. Others must as well.
mmm
Yes. I lost interest in the Olympics over 30 years ago for that reason. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with that level of competition. It’s just that athletes with that level of support already had other outlets, and now the real amateurs are left with nothing but an occasional local charity event with nearly zero publicity. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Olympics as it exists now discourages more amateurs than it encourages, because a true amateur has zero chance of even being allowed to compete.
And not just the Olympics. Kickstarter has been pretty much ruined by professionals as well, only quicker. Kickstarter began as a way to help people who had abilities/ideas but little or no access to funding have a chance at getting their ideas/work off the ground. Now it’s mostly established professionals allowed to maximize their profits by getting others to donate all startup costs, but giving little of value in return. Seriously, a guy who’s been in the software business for over 30 years, who was able to pay in the neighborhood of $30 million out of pocket for a trip to the space shuttle needs to beg for donations to launch a new game? And after 3 years and over $3 million donated it’s still an upcoming game?
Why would you watch other people doing a play?
Not true. If they’re good enough, they can get in. Of course, an athlete good enough to get into the Olympics is almost by definition good enough to beat professionals, and therefore good enough to be a professional, if they’re interested. They may be unlikely to stay amateur. But a number of for-now amateurs in this class are in Rio, like Tiffany Chan.
That’s why I didn’t watch. I DVR everything I watch on ad-supported TV, but to DVR the entire Olympics just seemed too daunting. I still read up on the results after the fact, but no way I could sort through all that stuff to watch things that might actually interest me.
I sort of don’t care. I am not much for watching sport at any time. It especially annoys me that things like football, golf and tennis are included, as these sports already seem to get a lot of exposure, and already have their own very high profile championship events.
This is still taking a crap in this thread, though…if the idea behind the topic doesn’t apply to you, just don’t post. Also, do NOT say “fuck you” to any other poster here, even as a mass, in-general statement.
I used to really enjoy the Olympics (and still like some of the winter stuff) but this year I haven’t watched anything. I’m following the corruption and the sexist headlines and the green pool news with far more interest than the actual sports.
They pissed me off when they shot the jaguar.
So what’s her day job? How long did it take her to save up enough money to be able to take unpaid time off to compete? Did she practice on her own after work or on weekends?
Um, Doug, she is a college student on scholarship at Southern Cal…
And somehow manages to spend a lot of time playing golf in Asia. Including two professional wins. There’s nothing wrong with that in and of itself. But amateur it ain’t.
I tried watching the opening ceremonies a couple of days later but could only find a single video on Youtube. The video had a lady on the right side of the screen, frozen, and silent. The soundtrack was in, probably, Portuguese, and I am guessing that the lady was a translator. However, because of the soundtrack and this lady taking up a large part of the screen, I was really unable to determine what was actually going on, and I have not tried looking more videos up since.
Mostly my only interest in the Olympics are the opening and closing ceremonies and I was disappointed that they weren’t really available (didn’t watch them on NBC).
Bob
NBC should have the right to broadcast NBC coverage, and if someone copies and uploads their NBC video they should be able to file a copyright grievance. What NBC SHOULD NOT be able to do is limit all video coverage of the olympics. The olympics is supposed to be this cool global world peace Earth shit. No one should OWN the olympics. If Joe Schmoe wants to film the olympics he should be able to. Upload that shit. Let us all enjoy it.
Nope. NBC uber alles!
Fuck NBC.