Beijing 2008 Olympics!

Anonymous

Thanks for the b'ground info, Ann! Was just about to post similar...

Smith and Carlos actually got their medals stripped for saluting. They were only given back less than 10 years ago. Guess the US was not really wanting to let the world know about the turmoil going on in the south over separate lunch counters/movies/restrooms, voting rights, etc.

FEB

Thanks for clairifying the year. I was just in grade school then, so I do not remember it as making America look bad. I thought of it as just another example of radicals who were creating havoc all over the country and making my childhood so depressing. It really upset me. I wanted to cheer for these guys, but I hated threir total lack of respect for our country. My immigrant grandparents were telling me to be proud to be American, and people were burning and shooting. I do not want to turn this into a politcal thread but these guys were following the example of the radical muslim brotherhood, not the peaceful movement of MLK. Thankfully, we have come a long way since then. I truly hope that we will have a black president someday. I just hope it is someone who is qualified in this dangerous world.

saluki

What do you think about the age controversy with the Chinese team in gymnastics?  Do you think they were all at least age sixteen?  I thought no way- but then, one theory is since they train vigorously from three years of age, it may affect their hormone production delaying puberty.  I guess that is a possibility.   They were marvelous on those floor exercises.

Anonymous

Gymnastics is one sport that I've been involved with and keep abreast of, so I have a definite opinion about the entire age issue for the sport in general. It is pretty well accepted within gymnastics that a girl typically peaks at about 14 years of age, after which she can continue to be competitive, but becomes more prone to injury and loses some agility and flexibility. Based upon that, it is my opinion that the lower limit for female gymnasts for Worlds and the Olympics should be 14. But the fact is that it is 16 and, so, all competitors should be compliant. I agree that it is possible that most of the Chinese girls are 16 or will be within the cut-off, but I very much doubt that ALL of them are. I'm betting that the truth will come out after the Games. It would be hard to imagine that everyone (especially Bela!) will just let it go.

 ~Marin

saluki

It looked like the size of the girls on the Chinese team had to be an advantage on the floor exercises in staying in bounds.  The Americans girls looked so much taller.

Anonymous

I love the gymnasics!  ... NbN ... yes, I saw the color commentary on the Russian turned German gymnast, very awesome outcome and wonderful attitude.

Anonymous

Fumi, thanks for that cool explanation of how the US is named.

Did anyone see what happened to the Hungarian weightlifter?  All I can say is 'ouch ouch ouch".

Anonymous

Funny, Linda, I was only about 2 when Smith and Carlos got their medals stripped, but I remember reading about it in grade school and really "feeling" it when I was training for the Oly Trials; I didn't think of them as radicals making America look bad, but as folks who weren't afraid to express themselves and call a spade a spade - political correctness be damned. Nobody else was talking about the irony of Black men risking their lives in Vietnam but being unable to sit where they wanted on a bus or even cast a vote in the south at home - especially not on an international level. But that one jesture of theirs - and the fallout that ensued - made people talk about it, which was the point. And their reward? Having their medals taken away. So much for freedom of expression...

So Hope - I'll bite - what happened to the Hungarian weightlifter?

Sooo happy that track and field events finally start tomorrow! 

Anonymous

Felicia, he dislocated his elbow ..... ouch, it was bad!!!!

AnnNYC

Did anybody see Rebecca Soni win 200m breaststroke gold last night?  I was shouting, it was so exciting!  She set a new world record, and beat defending champ Leisel Jones by 1.83 seconds.  It was just so awesome to see her pouring it on in the last 25 meters!

Anonymous

I saw it - and Soni was all over the local news this morning, Ann, asw she is from NJ. 'm practically hoarse from shouting at the screen and my fist hurts from pounding the couch...

 How far ahead of us is London? I think I should begin resting up for the "Watching of the Games" as soon as this current Olympiad ends... 

otter

Yeah, I had a real shock last night when I (briefly) thought this weekend was the closing weekend of this year's Olympics.  When that happens, I go through a sort of withdrawal.

Anyway, not to worry--there are still lots of events left.  And, yes, they're not just on the main NBC network.  They're also on MSNBC, CNBC, USA, and even Oxygen.  All I could find on CNBC was boxing, which I refuse to watch.  The other networks have had some good stuff.

Don't tell anyone, 'cause it is probably considered sacrilegious, but I'm glad Michael Phelps swam his last race tonight ... he did, didn't he?  I am glad he won 8 golds, even though I was glued to the TV when Mark Spitz won his 7 golds and I think Spitz was (and still is) better-looking.  I happen to like guys with dark hair and moustaches. 

OMG, it's almost midnight, and the Olympic coverage just came back on again, after the evening news.  Gotta go!

otter 

lewisfamily503

I just HAVE to whine about coverage here in little old Oregon.  Because we are on the west coast, we are being delayed with the coverage.  So.........even though Michael Phelps swam for his 8th gold medal a couple of hours ago, we STILL haven't had coverage here!  I know he won the medal, but jeez......I would have liked to see it live.  We can't even get it in the so called "real time" on the internet because NBC, in their infinite wisdom, won't stream certain "prestige" events.   I am steamed.  Can you tell?  Thanks for letting me vent!

Anne 

jezza

Watching it all here in Australia as well and really enjoying it..even if America is giving us Aussies a bit of a caning (well we DO have a small population) !

jezza

Anonymous

I'm ticked about the track coverage! They've only broadcast about 8 races - including every blinking step of the marathon - zzzzzzz - and not one of them (save for the afore-mentioned marathon) have been live! The men's 100m - which lasts less than 10 seconds - wasn't even shown live - and a freaking world record was set! Same with the women! Who decides this stuff?!?

Now I've been glued to my set watching gymnastics, beach volleyball and even water polo, but come on! How many swim heats and gymnastics events did we see (and great land, aren't they done with gymnastics yet?!?)? Something more than the 10-minute recap each night in track would be nice, geesh! 

drcrisc

There were a few more races tonight, Felicia.  And, yes, tonight is the last night for artistic gymnastics.  They will show the finals of the rythmic in a couple of days.  I would think track and field would be big over the next few days, but who knows...

I hope so or somebody at NBC could be sorry...lol...

AnnNYC

Did anyone/everyone see Natalie Dutoit, the open-water swimmer from South Africa?  She lost much of her left leg when she was hit by a car in 2001.  She returned to lane-swimming in 2002, but eventually switched to open-water.  She came in 16th out of 24 in her event, the 10K (6.2 mile) open-water swim, just 1 minute 22.2 seconds behind the winner. Really inspiring.

Anonymous

Too pissed off about the coverage of track and field! They've shown only a handfull of distance races (they broadcast the freaking men's 1500M at 2:30am! Could it be because no Americans made the final?!?) and only ONE BLOODY FIELD EVENT (the women's pole vault - probably because they wear less of a uniform than the beach volleyball twins). WTF?!? And please, please, PLEASE somebody make Ato Bolton sit his a$$ down! Why does being a silver medalist eight years ago make him qualified to be a color commentator? This has got to be the worse coverage of Olympic track and field EVER. They ought to be 'shamed...

And poor BMX! Its Olympic debut was in Bejing and NBC showed only two races in prime time! How stupid is that?!?

jezza

Looking forward to the Australia/USA womens basketball match.

Should be a tough match.

On tonight..our time so hope it gets good coverage.

jezza

otter

Felicia, you can come to my house and we can all stomp around and hrumph together about the pathetic NBC coverage.  My dh was really p*ssed that there were gold medals in shooting and sailing and who-knows-what-else ('cause we won't find out), but none of it was shown on NBC.  At least, it wasn't shown when most people in the western hemisphere were awake and functioning.

Yesterday (I think) there was brief coverage of the "modern pentathlon".  The U.S. woman did not do very well in the final standings, because she was last in the fencing competition.  But, otherwise she did a respectable job, placing 1st in the swimming and equestrian competition.  That was it, though--they only showed her competing, and maybe they accidentally included one other woman.  The U.S. competitor had been disappointed that she couldn't get any sponsorship.  That's no surprise, considering the lack of coverage and attention to her sport.

One of the nicest Olympics-related programs I saw was on the New York NBC affiliate station this morning.  LXTV had a program called, "My 1st Time:  2008 Summer Olympic Games."  The program highlighted 3 U.S. athletes who were competing in the Olympics for their first time this year.  One was on the U.S. field hockey team; another was competing in fencing; and the third was in the 50-meter 3-position rifle competition.  The show was very touching and informative.  They talked about things I'd never imagined, like the pre-Olympics qualifying meets, and how the athletes get all the gear and clothing they'll need in Beijing, and the transportation arrangements from the U.S. to China.  Very nice.

Well, it's almost over, and there was so much we never got to watch.  But, we sure got to see a lot of skin on the beach volleyball court!  I guess that, plus women's gymnastics, and anything involving Michael Phelps, is what most viewers wanted to watch.  Every 4 years my dh complains that there really ought to be 2 different networks covering the Olympics.  Not just one, with a monopoly on coverage.  This year, NBC showed stuff on Oxygen, USA, MSNBC, and CNBC, but only after-hours.  During prime time, coverage was restricted to the single NBC affiliate's channel, and most of the air time was spent with interviews and personal interest stories.

Sorry.  This is so bitchy, it should probably be on Traci's thread.

otter 

otter

They're over!!!!

    

otter 

drcrisc

Boo...and just now that I've gotten used to staying up until 12 or 12:30 AM!!  Now I have to readjust for "back to school".

Anonymous

Hey, the winter games are only a year and a half away...

iodine

Maybe I didn't stay up for it, but I never saw any of the athletes out and about --except a few still photos at the great wall.  the coverage was so restricted---only on the morning shows did I see Anyone, out and about.  I have a feeling that china didn't allow much access to the athletes or general areas of the country. 

I agree with 2 having coverage would a big help as well.  I missed the ones that were not covered and disliked the ones OVERcovered!  Kinda became a soap opera with only the major players being available.