Once again NBC flushes another Olympic Games coverage down the toilet. Not that I was expecting anything less from these clowns but once again I'll be watching the games on CBC. They never seem to get that Olympic viewers don't want some sappy soap opera while systematically ignoring the reason for the Games, the events themselves. I tuned in just to see how badly they were going to blow the opening ceremonies and they did not disappoint.

Watching the "Globe" and the dancers walking around it, in traditional fashion, NBC decided to ruin the moment by giving asinine commentary about how difficult it must be for the people representing the Equator. Hanging from wires at an odd angle difficult? Really?

Already CBC is showing actual live events and not the "Live" clips that NBC decides that it wants to show its lone viewer. Showing events at the Olympic Games that don't revolve around the "Dream Team" from the US Prison System or Michael Phelps? What a concept! Now that the Hamm brothers are gone who will they choose to focus the attention on now?

Way to blow another Olympics NBC. Way to go.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/8/2008).]

11:40 here in the Seattle area. Let's check what's going on with the Olympic coverage on both CBC and NBC.

Currently on NBC: The Organizer of the Chinese Olympic committee Liu Qi is speaking as well as Jacque "Olympic Baseball has no stars so I'll do anything to get it removed from the Olympics" Rogge at the Opening Ceremonies.

Currently on CBC: Men's gymnastics, women's volleyball, men's cycling (road) all being shown live.

Who has the better coverage?

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/8/2008).]

The correct answer is: Any network other than NBC. NBC consistently thinks its commentators are more important than the story they are covering -- be it sports or politics. If NBC had been at Gettysburg, it probably couldn't have kept a camera and a mic on President Lincoln for the entire 4 minutes of the most famous speech in our nation's history.

This is pathetic. NBC's Olympic "Coverage" is now over for the night.

CBC is showing highlights of the Woman's Shooting competition while simultaneously showing the Men's Cycling race.

I feel sorry for anyone who is stuck with NBC's (heh) coverage of the Olympics.

Kyle: Why are you watching the Olympics when the "seaturkeys" are playing football? They crushed the Vikings last night.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one with a gut-reaction to how poor the coverage was.

I was more bothered by the political commentary during the March of Nations. Yes, it's hard to ignore the state of the world in terms of wars and human suffering. It mustn't be a back-burner issue. However, I had hoped, after the first few times, that the commentators would stop with it each time a struggling nation's athletes would walk out on the floor. Yes, we know their leader is corrupt. Yes, we know they just beat a hundred monks in the streets. Yes, we know their President was trying to flee their Country.

...but are we really watching Olympic coverage of smiling athletes showing their pride to have it sideswiped by a couple of schnooks with microphones? I know the rest of the week they cover tragedies but give it a break during the opening ceremonies.

It seems to me that the best coverage or the best programming is always on the expanded channels. Particularly true with sports. You can't expect much from the rabbit ear or basic cable channels except, of course, quality political propaganda.

This is not a news flash. How many years of Bob Costas' stupid stories about the athletes have we been subjected to? God I hate that guy.

Oh yeah Bob Costas sucks. So does Bryant Gumbel. It's so lame when they win awards for best sportscaster for their fluff pieces.

NBC never fails to disappoint me with their Olympic coverage. Bob Costas is a fool who feels that the viewing public needs to hear his pontifications every other minute.

I love how a couple years ago NBC decided to give the public "Expanded Coverage" which was simply more of the same horsepucky, only on multiple channels.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/9/2008).]

Here's something fun for those of you that are forced to watch NBC's *cough, cough* coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

If & When Michael Phelps fails to break Mark Spitz' record of 7 Gold Medals in one Olympic Games, watch and laugh at just how badly Bob Costas, Jim Lampley et al, trip and fall over each other trying to explain the "National Tragedy" of what has just occurred.

They did the same with Bode Miller in the Torino Olympics and will embarrass themselves again with Phelps.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/10/2008).]

Phelps looked pretty unstoppable last night. Although to win 8 golds, I think he'd have to win every event he's in.

I'd say that's alot to expect. He's more than capable of it. There's just no margin for error.

The opening ceremonies were so over the top. Put that in the context of the average worker in China making only $2 and week and all the human rights problems--just made me really sad.

Wow, what a FINISH in the 4x4 100m freestyle! 2 Golds down for Phelps and only 6 more to go. Of course NBC is not showing it live but rather is showing women's gymnastics from 4 hours previous and an interview with Bob Costas of George W. Bush.

Best line of the interview:

Costas: Are you going to go to any more events/venues?

Bush: I would if you'd let me leave here.

Even Bush is annoyed with Costas. I love it.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/10/2008).]

Talk about great finishes -- The men's relay was nothing short of incredible. Even NBC couldn't screw that one up! A-Mazing!

I had to edit this post yet again because, well, I was only half-wrong. NBC got it right when they were at the pool but listening to Bob Costas give his musings on the event was, well, typical for NBC.

Knowing the outcome it was funny to hear them all but call it for France until the final lap.

I'll say this, Michael Phelps had better buy Jason Lezak a Gold Rolex for his all out smash of the frog eaters.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/10/2008).]

Yeah, break out the "Freedom Fries!"

Seriously, I hate NBC's coverage, so I watch very little of the Olympic Games. The Olympics have been pretty much unwatchable for at least 10 years.

"French swimmer Alain Bernard proclaimed "The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for."

Bob L. - Yeah, break out the "Freedom Fries!

I know I will.

The Olympics have been pretty much unwatchable for at least 10 years.

Not if you don't watch 'em on NBC.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/11/2008).]

We've had the Olympics on pretty much non-stop on NBC. And while I agree with you all on their coverage, it's all I've got. The Olympics have always been my favorite two weeks. When else do you get fired up about gymnastics, or swimming, or fencing (U.S. sweep!!). Watching the 4x100 relay last night is going to be one of those things we tell our kids about. The baby was sleeping when Lezak beat the dirty Frenchies, but Sarah and I were both fired up. It's going to be like Carl Lewis in 1988 or Edwin Moses in the 80's.

And just for my knowledge, is CBC the Canadian channell, and how do you get it?

Slosh,

I guess it all depends on your cable carrier and where you're located. Being from the Seattle area we're pretty close to Canada so I guess that's why we can get CBC.

I'm sorry you're stuck with NBC.

Watching the 4x100 relay last night is ... going to be like Carl Lewis in 1988 or Edwin Moses in the 80's.

To me, it made me feel like I was watching the 1980 USA hockey team beat the Ruskies - not quite as much build up, but still one heckuva thrill. WooHoo!

I agree with Kyle as far as the "personal interest" coverage goes but overall I think NBC's coverage has been pretty good considering they're dealing with a 15 hour delay.

they're dealing with a 15 hour delay.

Bob, the problem with that is that CBC is currently showing it LIVE. Why can't NBC do the same?

On another note it's 3 down for Phelps with 5 to go.

You can't get that result from a "Live" feed from NBC

Case in point:

http://sports.yahoo.com/o...=oly,99683

If live mid-day weekend telecasts are good enough for the NFL and college football, why not the Olympics?

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/11/2008).]

Maybe you should just quit watching Kyle. You sound like Bill O'Rielly now. He spends more time talking about what he thinks everyone else should be covering, than he does covering actual news. Who freaking cares? I watch the Olympics for the pure theater of athletic excellence. It does take some build up to get the theater in the correct context. To watch some of these events live, you would have to be up in the middle of the night. But that would just be another thing to whine about. Your never gonna make every viewer happy, but I think NBC is making the best of a 15 hour delay. Enjoy it for what it is. Great sport done pretty well. Or just turn it off.

..the US men's gymnastics team just captured the bronze...and they look EXTREMELY happy about it...in contrast, the Japan team finished ahead of them for the silver, but they look disappointed. China took gold. I guess it's all about the expectations.

Matt, don't get me wrong. I love watching the Olympics. It's for this reason that I can't stand NBC's "Coverage". They RARELY show you the events that you want to see. Rather they show you the clips that they WANT you to see.

Case in point the Americans swept Gold, Silver & Bronze in fencing but where was the coverage on NBC?

All too frequently they'll show you an "Event" involving somebody they've placed on a pedestal, such as the "Redeem Team" or May/Walsh, etc and to them that's the only thing going on in the Olympics. Then when said person fails or doesn't live up to the hype that NBC has heaped upon them they spend the rest of the Games wondering what went wrong.

As a contrast CBC has shown badminton, rowing, judo and boxing in addition to the "Better Known" events such as swimming. Granted most people in America couldn't give a rats rear-end about badminton but should these events just be ignored because they don't have a "Bankable Star" such as Michael Phelps? It's for that reason that Jacque Rogge pulled baseball & softball from the Olympics and why just about every country is calling for his head on a stake.

I want to watch the Olympics Matt. I just don't want to see all of the soap opera horsepucky that NBC seems to think that I want to see.

I want to watch the events live. I don't want to watch them six hours later under the guise of a "Live Broadcast".

I want to watch the Opening/Closing Ceremonies without all of the needless chatter that Bob Costas & NBC forces upon its viewers.

I want to watch the Olympic Games, not just the five events that NBC seems to think make up the Olympics.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/11/2008).]

You're right, Kyle. I'm truly bummed I missed the live broadcast of the women's fencing team sweeping the medals. If I don't get my fair share of live fencing coverage every four years, I'm a wreck until the next Olympics.

As I said Bob you might not watch fencing or badminton but what about the family members of those competing in said events?

Should their events be excluded from coverage save for a 20 second soundbite if for no other reason than NBC doesn't deem it "Worthy" enough to show?

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/11/2008).]

You sound like Bill O'Rielly now. He spends more time talking about what he thinks everyone else should be covering, than he does covering actual news.

Keep in mind that Bill O'Reilly is a commentator not a newsman. What he does for a living is blab about his opinion, not report the news.

I think too many Americans listen to idiot commentators and mistake what they hear for the news.

Check MSNBC, Oxygen, USA and some other channel I can't remember. We've been watching badminton, soccer, water polo, yesterday my favorite, the cross country portion of three day eventing. The nightly coverage on NBC is pitiful but you can see a lot more of the Olympics if you have cable or satellite.

I am aware David that O'Rielly is a commentator. Apparently he isn't aware of that fact. His promos, and Bill, tell us he has the highest rated "News" show on TV. My point was that he should stop ripping his competitors to no end. It makes him look very petty, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that his salary is based on numbers. Therefore, the more people he can drive away from the competition, the more likely they will end up watching FOX, increasing his salary. But this thread is about the Olympics, and I find myself all wrapped up in the games. I found the mens gymnastics to be very entertaining, other than the seemingly constant delay in posting scores. I doubt there is anything funny going on, but it looks bad when the only apparent delays were posting Chinese and American scores. And Michael Phelps might just be Batman! Winning a gold, in world record time, and coming back to swim another race 50 minutes later, winning that heat easily? Thats just nuts. I hope he wins all 8 golds, then gets to take a really long nap. He deserves to be pumped up by NBC. The dude is a machine. And he will be the most decorated medalist in Olympics history long before he is done at these games. I believe that deserves some stroking by the press. Of course if I had a family member competing in a "lesser" event, I would want to watch them compete live, but I think the majority of American viewers are happy with the coverage. No matter what event has to be shown delayed, or not at all, someone is going to be all pissed off. And how about the womens beach volleyball team? Those girls appear to be unbeatable. Well over 100 straight match wins? And easy on the eyes too. Thats a gimme for TV coverage.

Yesterday afternoon we turned when NBC turned over to the Soaps, we switched the satellite on and watched women's handball on MSNBC. Now that's a sweet sport. I wonder why it hasn't caught on in America. It's like water polo (which we are supposedly really good at) and basketball (which we are obviously good at). So that was a nice change of pace from the "Biggies."

As far as Phelps, he continues to amaze. Outside of Bonds' home run chase, Sarah hasn't been this excited about sports. This is why I love the Olympics, no matter how they're being broadcast.

And NBC carried the US men's volleyball match last night live, although it didn't end until 2 a.m. Good story there, and they're pretty good (2-0)

Anyone aware that a Montanan has won Bronze in cycling? Levi Leipheimer, formerly of Butte:

http://results.beijing20...181.shtml

If you t your service from Canada you get all the NBC's + the CBC + TSN + ESPN coverage of the games. Much deeper coverage, more diverse, less mono-national. They also broadcast many of the lesser known, less followed events. Did anyone watch the badminton- it's unreal how fast that little birdie is, WOW.

For the record, I watched Spitz win his seven events and have always been amazed by it. I hope Phelps can better the record and set a new mark on behalf of the USA!

[This message has been edited by Chad (edited 8/13/2008).]

NBC showed that race on Sunday and I looked for it for monday's paper, but I couldn't find it.

Montana will also be represented in pole vault. There's a Sidney girl that will be competing for Tunisia (her dad is from there) and we might get Mike Zadick into the wrestling. That's still not for sure, but a Bulgarian got hurt and he may get in. More information on that when it becomes official.

The perils of Olympic Weightlifting:









Ouch

Synchronized diving???? Three nights???? NBC sucks.

You prefer fencing?

Better than synchronized swimming- when are they going to drop that as a "sport"? Ethel Merman, are you still out there? Synchronized swimming? Right up there with ballroom dancing.

Ho-hum. Another Gold for Phelps, another world record flushed down the drain. Only one more to go to tie Spitz and two to beat him. It's kind of a slight on Spitz that they didn't invite him to watch Phelps go for his record but that's another topic for another day.

6 down, 2 to go.

On another note Tyson "Homosexual" won the first heat of the Men's 100m. He looked a little slow but otherwise his hamstring seemed to hold up well.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/14/2008).]

Since when is "naughty glove" (aka badminton) an Olympic sport?

Richard,

The same could also be said of rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, ping-pong -er - "Table Tennis" & Trampoline. How the hell these are Olympic events while Baseball & Softball get deleted from future Olympics because of the lack of "Stars is beyond me.

those female American swimmers are dog ugly...oops* wrong thread, I should have posted this on the "Please be Rude..." thread.

Did you not see the Amanda Beard spread in Playboy. I realize she's not on the team anymore, but wow.

In reference to Amorette's post:

http://milescity.com/foru...fpid=54214

I also find it kind of refreshing that, although countries are distinct, the athletes competing in them are blurred. What I mean is that Chris Kaman from the L.A. Clippers is from the US but is competing for Germany at the behest of his friend Dirk Nowitski from the Mavericks.

What I also really like is not so much the "Michael Phleps-type" stories of the "Stars" of the Games cleaning up. Rather I love the underdogs and those countries who at first glance have no chance of winning anything smearing the bigger countries.

Witness the Lithuanian Beach Volleyball team smoking the vaunted Americans.

Two of my favorite Beijing Games stories:

Benjamin Boukpeti
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...n_Boukpeti

Mongolians rejoice at first-ever Olympic gold
http://www.iht.com/articl...t-Gold.php

After all, isn't this what the games are all about?

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/18/2008).]

Well the Beijing Games are now over and as is to be expected NBC once again screws up the moment of the Closing Ceremony with asinine, needless commentary.

CBC on the other hand just let the moments speak for itself.

Now that the Games are over what is everybody's impressions on how the Chinese conducted the games, the events themselves and just how badly NBC screwed them up (again).

Favorite Moments:
Benjamin Boukpeti from Togo winning that country's first Olympic Medal

USA Men's Volleyball winning the Gold

USA Men's Basketball winning the Gold.

Watching CBC and not having to hear Bob Costas (Which is always a bonus)

Michael Phelps winning 8 Gold Medals

and much, much more.

[This message has been edited by Kyle L. Varnell (edited 8/24/2008).]

Some of my favorite moments (and yes, I had to watch the entire Olympics on NBC)

- Nastia Liukin's face when she saw that she was tied with the Chinese 7-year old on the uneven bars and she was in second place.
- Sarah, and the rest of America (including myself) getting so fired up about 7-year old Chinese girls that can flip and twirl better than anyone.
- Obviously Phelps' 8 golds, but Jason Lezak's performance in the 100 relay was astounding.
- Usain Bolt. If Phelps had won 7 golds, Bolt would easily be the cover boy for these Olympics.
- USA Volleyball. 3 golds and a silver in the four volleyball events, pretty decent effort.
- USA baseball with bronze and softball silver. I think the girls getting the silver could be a good thing in the long run. One of the reasons why they're getting rid of softball is because of America's dominance. And maybe (there's no way in h*@l) MLB will stop for 2 weeks to allow baseball to have their stars.
- As much as I hate it (I blame NBC) but watching the diving wasn't that horrible. The Chinese look pretty good doing it. But if synchronized diving is going to be in the Olympics, baseball and softball should be too. In fact, beer league softball should be an official sport then.
- Shawn Johnson not being able to reach the floor while sitting on the couch getting interviewed by Costas.
- Bela Karoly (horribly misspelled) getting so fired up. Far and away the best commentator on NBC.

There were a lot of great things about the games. As a sports guy, I'm going to stick to the sports and leave the politics out of it. I'm just going to miss the late night volleyball games that kept me out of commission the next morning.

[This message has been edited by Slosh (edited 8/25/2008).]

My favorite moments in no particular order:

USA Men's basketball wins the gold.

Chinese chick lip synch episode.

8 golds for Phelps.

Really fast Jamaican.

Any women's beach volleyball match.

USA Men's volleyball wins gold.

Female Chinese gymnast age debates.

Kyle's pictorial post of the weightlifter mangling his arm.

Floating, wired Chinese people.

Hearing a public safety announcement on the radio and realizing Shawn (sp)Johnson should be riding in a child safety seat.

[This message has been edited by Bob Netherton (edited 8/25/2008).]

Have to say I don't remember ever being this disappointed to see an Olympics end.

As far as the host country goes, it was a perfect display of what makes China China... both good and bad. The ceremonies were perfect, but to the point of being almost creepy, and their athletes give you the same vibe.

But I can't ever remember enjoying the games themselves more. I've never been much of a Kobe fan either, but the olympics brought out his best.

Here are the top eight comments made by NBC sports commentators during the Summer Olympics, that they would like to take back: ________________________________


1. Weightlifting commentator: 'This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria . I
saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.'

2. Dressage commentator: 'This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother.'

3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: 'I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.'

4. Boxing Analyst: 'Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious.'

5. Softball announcer: 'If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.'

6. Basketball analyst: 'He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.'

7. At the rowing medal ceremony: 'Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew.'

8. Soccer commentator: 'Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field.'

Those are HILARIOUS! Are they real or just urban rumors? Whatever the source, they are FUN NEE.