# Are you interested in the upcoming Olympics? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 27, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047 "2016-07-27T18:26:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/41 "2016-07-29T11:45:10Z")
I’m actually pretty excited, but both my DVR’s hard drive and my remote’s FFWD button are having panic attacks in anticipation. I envision “watching” 6-8 hours of coverage per night in a span of around 60 minutes per night. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/42 "2016-07-29T13:29:46Z")
The fact that I haven’t had enough interest to post a followup in the thread I started should be telling! 😉 I guess I find it curious that there is less of a buildup in the local sports pages. I generally flip through the sports section quite quickly, but would have noticed if there were articles about the Olympics. Seems there were articles about the infrastructure, Zika, and the Russians, and mention of bigname athletes (mostly golfers, as golf is the one sport I’m most interested in) foregoing. Just seems odd, as there is so much more pregame attention spent on - say - the Superbowl. Was also surprised there was no active anticipatory thread around here. I assume the media are spending tons covering this. Surprised they aren’t wasting more newsprint on it. News coverage may ramp up now that the conventions are over, and there has been so much attention directed towards violence. Guess the public can only handle so many “big stories” at a time. Like I said, we’ll probably have the DVR record whatever is readily available via cable, and then speed through it. Not sure if it will work best watching 1 day later, or whether it will be sufficient to give it a 1 hr headstart or so. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/43 "2016-07-29T13:54:54Z")
I’d like to watch, but probably won’t be able to. If I can find the particular events\* I want streamed online (without requiring a cable-company log-in or a quasi-legal VPN) then I’ll watch. Otherwise, since I don’t subscribe to cable and my house is in a broadcast-signal shadow, it’ll be no Olympics at all. \*My unordered favorites are equestrian, judo, taekwondo, archery, badminton, diving, kayaking. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/44 "2016-07-29T20:19:24Z")
I’m interested in a few events, like rhythmic gymnastics and equestrian sports. I’ll probably watch the opening ceremonies, too. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/45 "2016-07-29T20:38:15Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > And guess what, now the IOC has completely discredited medal counts, pretty much the only reason left to have this stupid thing. “Now” the IOC has discredited medal counts? When did the IOC ever sanction “official” medal counts in the first place? Medal counts are an invention of the media. Besides, as you probably just pointed out and I read it wrong, a particular Olympics’ medal counts are meaningless for the next 8-10 years or so, as medalists’ samples can be tested for up to that long, and at least one sample has tested positive 8 years after the fact. One of these days, somebody is going to publish a medal count “that matters” - not by country, but by shoe/clothing sponsor. (“And it’s another gold for Under Armour, with Nike taking silver and bronze.”) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/46 "2016-07-29T21:28:36Z")
I have about as much interest as I usually do, which is to say, practically none. Spectator sports in general don’t interest me much, and I don’t care who wins what. However, I will sometimes watch a few things, if it’s convenient. Gymnastics events, mostly. It’s a “Holy crap, the human body can \*do \*that?!” thing. I sometimes watch parkour or airdancing videos for the same reason. It’s about displays of agility–something I’m a bit lacking in, and find wondrous–rather than competition. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/47 "2016-07-29T21:46:46Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I certainly am. This will be the first time in 8 years I’ll be able to pay a lot of attention to the summer games, I was moving in 2008 and working overnight shift in 2012. Plus, I can’t wait for the first Doper to recycle a tired rant from 1996 about television coverage showing only up close and personals and not showing enough of the events I remember an NPR commentator who lived in the northern U.S., and he got so tired of sycophantic American coverage, he switched his satellite dish over to the CBC, only to get more of the same, from a north of the border perspective. He said that a Canadian had won a medal in an event that only its participants and their parents would be interested in, and they just kept showing that, over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/48 "2016-07-29T21:54:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I remember an NPR commentator who lived in the northern U.S., and he got so tired of sycophantic American coverage, he switched his satellite dish over to the CBC, only to get more of the same, from a north of the border perspective. He said that a Canadian had won a medal in an event that only its participants and their parents would be interested in, and they just kept showing that, over and over again. Yeah, my info on this is pretty old, but I watched most of the '84 Summer Olympics on Canadian TV and it was no less over-the-top nationalistic than the US coverage. I recall one track race where a Canadian woman won a medal–silver or bronze, don’t recall which–and the announcers were in such ecstatics about it that they almost didn’t bother to tell us who was the actual winner of the race. It was less annoying to me than the typical US coverage, probably because Canada doesn’t win nearly as many medals as the US, but it was no less jingoistic for all of that. Maybe things have changed in the last thirty years. Hope so, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/49 "2016-07-29T22:10:20Z")
I will watch track and field, but not much else. I will be following the men’s high jump in particular, since I’ve known one of the medal contenders since he was 14 years old. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/50 "2016-07-29T23:46:03Z")
I’m interested in the marathons, because I’m interested in endurance sports in general, and Meb Keflizghi (sp?) is projected to be one of the winners, if not THE winner, of a road race in my town this weekend. He lives not far from my sister in San Diego; she’s seen him running in a park where she walks her dogs. 🆒 And he’s 41 years old! There’s a local tennis player who has played at Wimbledon, etc. and is still planning to travel to Rio and compete. IDK if she’s a contender for a medal. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/51 "2016-07-29T23:52:47Z")
I have virtually no interest at all. I had about the same level of interest 4 years ago, maybe a little more. When I was young the closing ceremony of an Olympic Games almost had me in tears because this awesome sporting spectacle was over. I remember thinking about taking two weeks off work to watch everything one games. I don’t know that I’ll watch anything other than by chance this time. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/52 "2016-07-30T00:20:14Z")
Not interested at all. For a start, most of the coverage here is going to be swimming (look, I know the Australian swimming team is generally pretty good, but it’s really not especially interesting or exciting for me to watch) and secondly I think the Olympics stopped being about Being The Absolute Pinnacle Of Sporting Achievement a few years ago, especially with all the weird sports they put in. Synchronised Swimming? I didn’t realise I was watching a 1930s musical. Beach Volleyball? Beach fucking Volleyball??? Yes, I know, it’s full of hot athletic people not wearing very much, but beach volleyball is, at its heart, in the same league as beach cricket - a fun, informal game to play with your mates at the beach. It shouldn’t be in the Olympics. I mean seriously, are we going to see _Counterstrike: Global Offensive_ or _Defence of the Ancients_ or _StarCraft_ at the Olympics? Also, all the sponsorship and corruption allegations and so on around the Olympics is really offputting too - they whole Olympics thing is just a bloated unpleasant mess in my mind now. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/53 "2016-07-30T00:25:04Z")
The last time I can remember going out of my way to watch any part of the summer Olympics was 1996. I was part of the early security effort and was home before the opening ceremony. I even went out my way to see beach volleyball. Mostly that was to see the finished venue. It was still pretty early in construction less than a week before the games started when I had seen it. I pay a bit more attention to the Winter. I’ll go out of my way to watch some hockey. I sort of enjoy curling and biathalon coverage when it pops in too. Neither exactly get much airtime and I’m no longer in OTA range of the CBC. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/54 "2016-07-30T00:34:00Z")
They still do the Olympics? :dubious: Why? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/55 "2016-07-30T07:29:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I pay almost no attention to the winter Olympics, but I like the summer version, to some degree. I’m pretty much the exact opposite. Winter games, I watch a lot, especially the curling. Summer games, very little. The only thing I remember watching from 2012 was the opening ceremony: Daniel Craig picking up HM, who sky-dived in; Mr Bean playing the piano; you know, memorable stuff. I’d actually forgotten that this was an Olympics year until a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/56 "2016-07-30T10:30:47Z")
No. The London Olympics was when I somehow lost interest. I don’t know why, I used to love it. Maybe the politics behind it just put me off. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/57 "2016-07-31T03:53:42Z")
Yes; thought I only ever watch the Opening & Closing Ceremonies and Men’s Swimming & Diving. Occasionally I’ll tune into Men’s Wrestling. > [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > …And now there’s a story going around that NBC… NBC can go to Hell. Rio de Janeiro is _one_ measly hour ahead of NYC and NBC is still insisting on tape delay vs a live broadcast. > [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I’m a lot less interested than I was in 2012. All the complaining about Russian dopers and Brazil’s dirty water, while perhaps all legit, is a turn off for me. I’m sure I’ll watch periodically when it’s on, so I’m at least mildly interested. But certainly not excited about it. I’ll admit part of wants to watch just to see how big a disaster these games turn out to be in the end. I’m really hoping Brazil doesn’t’ suffer a major terror attack. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/58 "2016-07-31T20:24:32Z")
That Don Guy - Oh, shoot. It would’ve been nice to know this during Beijing and especially Sochi. Wouldn’t have gotten so into it otherwise (let alone given any credence to that “_Every_ nation except the United States counts only golds!” crap). Well, I guess this means the issue of how many of the USSR’s medals can be claimed by Russia is moot. And that’s a good thing. 🙂 alphaboi867 - Needless to say, I don’t wish suffering on any people, but given the absolute laundry list of headaches the organizers are dealing with, it’s going to be a damn miracle if there aren’t some major hiccups along the way. All I want is that we _hear_ about it. That the media dutifully reports these problems, or, in the unlikely chance that the organizers pull things off, that we hear about their truly heroic efforts. After all the shameless whitewashing in Beijing, I hardly think that’s too much to ask. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/59 "2016-07-31T21:15:21Z")
I used to be interested in the Olympics in some abstract sense. But years ago, I realized that I’m not particularly interested in any sports, so why should the Olympics be any different? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047/60 "2016-08-01T05:59:31Z")
I love the Olympics, and have ever since I was a child. So I’m sure I’ll watch a good portion of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-interested-in-the-upcoming-olympics/761047.md?page=4)