Like many people, Lisa and I have been watching some of the Olympics in the evenings. It's been kind of fun to see them going on. I realized on my way to work this morning that the last time the Summer Olympics were going on we (Lisa and I) were both spending the month in Colorado. Kind of amazing everything that has happened in the past 4 years!
Several Olympic observations:
1. Swimming events make me hold my breath for fear of drowning.
2. Little known Olympic events with poor/ un-excitable announcers are boring, even in HD.
3. It's interesting to see muscle development on different Olympic Athletes. (Swimmers: Huge on top, Bikers: Big legs, light top, Beach Volleyball: "Pepper Pots" (straight up and down))
4. Olympians will do anything for a little advertising revenue. ("I've been waiting my whole life for this! [pause] A chicken sandwich from McDonalds!")
5. Michael Phelps has more Gold Metals than I'll ever have, and he eats more at breakfast than I eat in 2 days.
6. NBC will do almost anything for a story. (Producer: "Hey, we need a story about Chinese food!", Attention Starved Reporter: "I'll go eat stuff and pretend to like it, even though you won't see me chewing anything." Producer: "Make sure you bring back some of those "Scorpions on a Stick" for your co-host, we don't let him outside at all.")
I have to admit that I am kind of looking forward to seeing what the Pentathlon is like...
~B.
Watching the BBC coverage has been quite different than watching the NBC coverage. There is a lot more #2 and a lot less #6.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC shows the events that the Brits are big in - rowing, canoing, horse eventing, badminton, you get the idea...
They also have the BBC commentators who are rather understated...
So far the "little known" (in the USA) events I've caught are dressage and badminton. Dressage was interesting for about 2 minutes (Oh, look at the horse walk all funny!!) but then even with an announcer I got bored.
ReplyDeleteBadminton, however, was riveting. No announcer or player background information when you're watching live online like I was, but I was completely into Indonesia vs Denmark. I think this is purely because I played a lot of badminton in hs (on the school team) and understood the moves and techniques. In fact, in my mind I was almost running around and hitting the birdie. I couldn't help but utter "sweet drop!" and "no, don't clear it!" like a sports nut - which I certainly am not.
So now I can understand a little better the men yelling at the puny football players on the screen...
Then there is the Canadian coverage that spends an incredible amount of time focused on people standing around. Beth keeps muttering, "Silly Canadians."
ReplyDeleteOkay, so does anyone REALLY believe the Chinese "women" gymnists are 16 years old??????? If they are, they must be taking something to keep their bodies from going into puberty.
In RE: Chinese Gymnasts, I think that they might LIVE to be 16 at some point. I think it's probably a translation problem.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that a quick grab of some of their blood might be all we need to see how old they are. (And what they might be taking...)
P.s. Updated a link to Slashfood on What Phelps eats...
~B.
So that is the breakfast of champions! I wonder if he takes vitamins too, since he doesn't appear to eat any fruit...
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a lot of the olympic female athletes look undeveloped, no matter their age. Not sure if it's the training regime which forms them, or if they need to have that body type in the first place to do so well.
Ben,it's Friday.
ReplyDeleteI try to never nap. Why? Last thursday I napped after waking up early to attend Siggraph, when I woke to go to work I thought it was friday. Naps are too disorienting.
ReplyDeleteI love watching the events on NBColympics. Weightlifting, Cycling, and Crewing have been favorites. I am a bit disappointed by Table Tennis. I keep wanting them to cut to a side angle to make the table appear bigger but they never seem to.
My favorite moment so far was watching cycling and seeing the bike mechanic hang out of his window and fix a gear issue on a bicyclers back tire. At the speed they were going at that must have been risky.