Wanna talk Olympics?

[FilterFunk]

Women’s hoops today was a blast.

I learned you can 2 hand shove a player and it’s traveling lol. But wow, what a game.

There was some rather questionable officiating, but yes, what a game!

 

[Krisfield]

My country of New Zealand - 10 gold, 20 total. Ranked 11th gold and 12th total. Not bad for 5.3 million people. Congratulations to all the athletes. It's great when the world comes together on things like this.

 

[FilterFunk]

And I could not be more ready for kickoff in a few short weeks.

Summer without the Olympics is basically a wasteland for televised sports, unless you're really into baseball.

 

[FilterFunk]

John Williams' fanfare for the Olympics theme is great, but this is one I grew up hearing, and it's still my favorite. I miss it, and I wish they'd play both. The part I'm talking about starts at 0:24...


The John Williams' fanfare sounds like this, starting at 0:49...

 

[Winslow]

And as the last burst of fireworks echoes over Paris, their sparks fading away, and smoke trails drifting out into the night, a grateful nation releases a quiet and weary sigh, free, once again, of the need to watch NBC.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

Summer without the Olympics is basically a wasteland for televised sports, unless you're really into baseball.

. . . and I say thank Jah for baseball for helping me get through the summer wasteland of Olympic hype . . . to each their own

 

[Krisfield]

I remember hearing this at song during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Great song.

 

[lermgalieu]

I liked the suggestion I saw a long time ago. Put a regular guy/girl in the event so we can see how awesome these athletes really are by comparison.

Someone did a video of normal but good swimmers. When they got 75% down the length, an Olympic swimmer dove in and caught them by the end of the lap. I’ll try to find.

 

[lermgalieu]

Breakdancing as an Olympic sport? Don’t get me wrong, I find the athleticism of modern breaking breathtaking, but the prospect of it being an Olympic sport just seems bizarre and out of place. Same with skateboarding.

The problem is that breakdancing is an art form, not a sport. And it has very specific cultural origins.

 

[Killing Floor]

That stage set of the stylized metallic 5 continents is full fledged badassery. So cool.

 

[mrpackerguy]

Wanted to say that Bob Costas has been the voice of the Olympics for a long time. But kudos to Mike Tericho. I though he did a great job as the host of the games

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Never ending closing ceremonies.

 

[Killing Floor]

Is anyone else totally obsessed with that stage at the closing ceremony? Metallic stylized continents. So dang cool.

 

[gln1955]

Is anyone else totally obsessed with that stage at the closing ceremony? Metallic stylized continents. So dang cool.

I thought they looked like stealth space ships.

 

[Passinwind]

Summer without the Olympics is basically a wasteland for televised sports, unless you're really into baseball.

Or car racing, soccer, and tennis.

 

[Funky Ghost]

I'm oddly mesmerized by the Australian Break Dancer. 100% invested in her routine. Owned it. Was it the best? Not even close. Did it illicit a bit of sympathetic embarrassment? Yeah, at first. I'm guilty. But then I realized she is living her dream and with such wonderful, reckless abandon. She channeled her inner 4 year old and I'm here for it.

 

[bass12]

I'm oddly mesmerized by the Australian Break Dancer. 100% invested in her routine. Owned it. Was it the best? Not even close. Did it illicit a bit of sympathetic embarrassment? Yeah, at first. I'm guilty. But then I realized she is living her dream and with such wonderful, reckless abandon. She channeled her inner 4 year old and I'm here for it.

It wouldn't surprise me if she was singlehandedly responsible for breakdancing not being included in the 2028 games. It also wouldn't surprise me if she loses her university lecturing job (apparently one of her main fields of interest is the "cultural politics of breaking").

 

[Killing Floor]

It wouldn't surprise me if she was singlehandedly responsible for breakdancing not being included in the 2028 games. It also wouldn't surprise me if she loses her university lecturing job (apparently one of her main fields of interest is the "cultural politics of breaking").

Not trying to get on the wrong side of things but if I was Pitjantjatjara, for example, it would be less than ideal to see someone from Indianapolis teaching about Uluru.
Just saying I don’t know how you make this a judged international sport without crossing some lines. And some of those lines were crossed.

Couldn’t the IOC rebrand it as some kind of rhythmic technical dance, remove the caricature costumes at the judge table, remove the MC and stop calling Australian moms “B Girl”?

 

[bass12]

Not trying to get on the wrong side of things but if I was Pitjantjatjara, for example, it would be less than ideal to see someone from Indianapolis teaching about Uluru.
Just saying I don’t know how you make this a judged international sport without crossing some lines. And some of those lines were crossed.

Couldn’t the IOC rebrand it as some kind of rhythmic technical dance, remove the caricature costumes at the judge table, remove the MC and stop calling Australian moms “B Girl”?

What lines do you think were crossed?

 

[FilterFunk]

That stage set of the stylized metallic 5 continents is full fledged badassery. So cool.

I liked that, too.

Never ending closing ceremonies.

Yep. I found the whole thing tedious, and too Cirque du Soleil for my tastes.