# Anyone else sick of the Olympics? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 17, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330 "2010-02-17T15:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/1 "2010-02-17T15:01:57Z")
I’m not a huge sports fan, but my wife is quite interested in the games, so for the past few days I’ve been happy to veg in the same room with her as she sped through the hours of coverage she had DVRed. And I was enjoying some speedskating, a little alpine and x-country skiing, some snowboarding, and even some biathalon. Didn’t mind the couples figure skating short-programs. While working out yesterday afternoon I even watched 40 minutes of curling (and people question whether _golf_ is a sport!) But somewhere in the middle of watching figure skating yesterday evening I realized I had hit a wall. I simply had ZERO interest in seeing another person/couple dance around the rink, hoping that at least I’d see someone wipe out. Not to mention the crushing pace of ad breaks - after every performance, then again after the scores are given before the next performance… Christ, what is that fossil Dick Button blatting on about now? So despite giving it a valiant effort, I’m done for another 4 years. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/2 "2010-02-17T15:20:07Z")
Well, I _love_ the Winter Games, even more than the Summer Games, so I’m not in your camp…except about the commercials. Because, you’re right, it seems like you get one skate (or race), and then another ad break. But, man, if you’re burned out on the Olympics after 4 days, I’m sorry… ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/3 "2010-02-17T16:50:32Z")
What **kenobi** said. . . The Olympics last about two weeks in the winter, about three weeks in the summer. If you’re tired of them after four days, well you’re not an Olympics fan, that’s all I can say. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/4 "2010-02-17T16:58:53Z")
I love watching the Olympics, but I’m also rather spoiled this year with the half dozen or so channels showing coverage in Canada, so if I don’t want to watch a commercial, I can just flip to another channel and watch another sport. I’ve got a couple more midterm exams this week, but come Thursday night, I’ll be able to devote an inordinate amount of time to watching TV, because next week is my reading week! ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/5 "2010-02-17T17:00:39Z")
Sick from the first 30 seconds. I’m not a Summer Olympic fan, and even less a winter one. I don’t begrudge others the TV coverage, though I do wish they’d put the NBA or college hoops or anything else on the small TV in the Bar. Still, its only a couple of weeks, and it is almost time for pitchers and catchers to report… ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/6 "2010-02-17T17:31:54Z")
I’ve been sick of them for the past… 14 years, ever since I had to make up a poster for school about a sports event I didn’t know or care about. At the time, I actually had to go and _find out_ if the United States was involved, that’s how little I cared about the Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/7 "2010-02-17T17:37:50Z")
Wow, the Olympic’s didn’t even get going until yesturday when Men’s Hockey started. I guess if you don’t like hockey and many other sports than Olympics might not be your cup of tea. My biggest beef is that there is not enough Olympic coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/8 "2010-02-17T18:00:15Z")
Maybe if I take a couple of days off, I’ll be able to rejoin my wife in the TV room for another day or 2 before needing another break. I probably could have handled it longer if it weren’t for all the figure skating! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/9 "2010-02-17T18:11:03Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I probably could have handled it longer if it weren’t for all the figure skating! Yeah, you took that one in the teeth a little bit, since we’ve already had the pairs skating, and the men’s short program last night. Figure skating tends to get a lot of coverage, as the networks have seen that it always gets strong ratings, esp. among women. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/10 "2010-02-17T18:16:24Z")
I used to get tired of the Olympics, back in the day of three networks. Now? My wife watches in the other room, and I watch whatever I feel like on cable. Or surf the Web. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/11 "2010-02-17T18:43:48Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > Wow, the Olympic’s didn’t even get going until yesturday when Men’s Hockey started. I guess if you don’t like hockey and many other sports than Olympics might not be your cup of tea. My biggest beef is that there is not enough Olympic coverage. I like hockey. I just prefer the NHL, and the Olympics means no NHL. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/12 "2010-02-17T19:07:02Z")
I wouldn’t say I’m sick of it, exactly, but I wouldn’t be terribly put out if I didn’t see any more. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/13 "2010-02-17T20:01:32Z")
Joe Rogan once said, “The Olympics are just nations competing in freaky shit you’d never pay to watch.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/14 "2010-02-17T20:07:07Z")
A friend turned me on to [this](http://www.salon.com/life/winter_olympics_2010/index.html?story=/ent/tv/heather_havrilesky/2010/02/17/olympics_havrilesky) - which I find FAR more entertaining than sitting in front of the tube! LOVE the descriptions of the outfits! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/15 "2010-02-17T20:15:28Z")
I can’t say I’m sick of the Olympics, because I haven’t watched them. I haven’t watched anything on television in years, actually. (I do watch a few shows on Hulu and DVD but that’s about it) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/16 "2010-02-17T20:18:11Z")
To answer seriously, I actually never watch sports EXCEPT for the Olympics. And then I watch as much as possible. For these two weeks I’m glued to the TV. Bobsled, slalom, figure skating, short track – I love it all. ETA: I’m probably one of the very few people who was actually living in two different cities when they each hosted the Olympics. (That is, not visiting, not a tourist – actually a resident.) I was living in Montreal in 1976, and in Los Angeles in 1984. Quite an experience both times. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/17 "2010-02-17T20:49:54Z")
I’m not sure. I’ve never been a huge Olympics fan, but I generally give a watch and try to pay attention to the big stories. This time out … I’m just not hooked. I’ve watched a little skiing and snowboarding, but try as I might, I can’t stomach the figure skating. It just bores me to tears. And it’s all over prime time. And the worst is when they’ve wrapped up their routine and they’re sitting there panting, waiting for their scores and they all do the same thing, plaster on the big phony smile (even when the scores come in tanked), wave their little hands and thank everyone from Aunt Mable to the milkman. I just can’t take it. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/18 "2010-02-17T21:03:46Z")
You’re all intellectuals here, or so you say. How about a sport that’s been described as chess on ice? Yup, curling. “Curling’s not a sport”, you say. Think about the skill it takes to slide a 44 pound lump of granite gown a 144 foot long sheet of ice, and getting it to maneuver around other rocks land within inches of the spot where the skip asks you to place it. Think of the strategy where you have to guess your opponent’s move, your responses, their possible responses, and so on, all on a playing field that is infinitely more granular than a chessboard? Also, consider that it’s a sport that is accessible to you, too, if you’re lucky enough to live near a curling club. Oh, you’re just sliding rocks down a sheet of ice or sweeping, you might say. Playing a casual eight-end club-level game will burn off 600 to 800 calories, if you’re lead or second. In the Olympics, curlers are burning more energy than downhill skiiers, lugers, bobsledders, and those participating in many other sports. It’s a lot of work, and it takes a lot of brains, too. Really, check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/19 "2010-02-17T21:13:51Z")
You’re a writer for _The Simpsons_, aren’t you? **suranyi** , any good stories from living in two cities while they hosted Olympics? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330/20 "2010-02-17T23:07:55Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Sick from the first 30 seconds. I’m not a Summer Olympic fan, and even less a winter one. I don’t begrudge others the TV coverage, though I do wish they’d put the NBA or college hoops or anything else on the small TV in the Bar. Still, its only a couple of weeks, and it is almost time for pitchers and catchers to report… Ditto, except that I do enjoy hockey, but I consider it more just like an exhibition tournament more than a decider of which country has the best team. You need a long season to determine that. A short 2 week tournament like the Olympics is very much hit or miss. If your goalie has a bad day your team is SOL. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-sick-of-the-olympics/529330.md?page=2)