Topic: The 2012 Olympics (Read 34479 times)

pwhodges · « **on:** 26 Jul 2012, 00:28 »

Let's have a thread where we can report on, comment on, muse on, laugh at, despair of, or complain about, the celebration of Adidas, Coca Cola and McDonalds that for some reason is called the Olympic Games.

And I'll start (with a rare double post!):

Of all the errors to happen on the first day of competition of the Olympics (yes, the sports start before the opening!), and of all the countries for it to happen to - the North Korean women's football team was displayed on a screen next to a South Korean flag. Oops!

What price national pride?

Zingoleb · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 04:53 »

I've got nothing on the subject other than oh god the logo design is terrible. Seriously, seriously, horribly, terribly terrible.

Patrick · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 04:56 »

MURRIKAH

pwhodges · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 05:18 »

Quote from: Zingoleb on 26 Jul 2012, 04:53

I've got nothing on the subject other than oh god the logo design is terrible. Seriously, seriously, horribly, terribly terrible.

We all said that when it was unveiled.

We also have issues like the statement (on TV by Seb Coe himself) that if you have a ticket and are wearing a Pepsi teeshirt you are likely to be refused entry.

pwhodges · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 05:20 »

Quote from: Patrick on 26 Jul 2012, 04:56

MURRIKAH

The requirement to designate reserved lanes on main roads for Olympic traffic only follows from the fact that in the Atlanta games some athletes missed their events because of traffic jams.

nobo · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 07:15 »

As commercial as the Olympics are, I love them. Especially during the opening ceremonies where you see the pride on the athletes faces when they get to represent their countries. Nobody ever hears about Botswana, South Chad, Comoros, or Bhutan, but they all get to walk and carry their flag. Sure, they'll probably get smoked in their competitions, but for some people just getting to compete is enough of a prize.

So while the Americans, Chinese, and Russians battle for who has the most medals, I think it is the other athletes that are much more interesting and praise-worthy.

Lines · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 07:24 »

I really don't give a crap about sports, but for some of the reasons Nobo listed, I really get into watching the Olympics. Especially swimming. The Americans have been doing amazing the past few years, men and women, and I get really excited about it. Other events, I don't mind what country they're from, if they kick ass and keep getting to compete and continue kicking ass, I love watching their progress.

Does anyone tend to just watch specific sports? Or do you guys watch whatever is on/as many events as you can?

Nikolai · « **Reply #7 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 08:05 »

I usually try to catch all the hockey and curling matches that I can...oh wait. Right. Canada only cares about the Winter Games.

jwhouk · « **Reply #8 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 14:15 »

See, that's just it with me, too. Of course, it's probably because of where and when I grew up - the only Olympians I know all played in the Winter games.

Oh, and I loves me some women's curling.

Lupercal · « **Reply #9 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 14:32 »

Don't forget that the flag of Taiwan was taken down over Regent Street because it might upset the Chinese. It was replaced with the flag of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee.

Regent Street Association put it up, Foreign Office had to intervene.

I've only been working in London for a few weeks but the change is quite startling, the biggest problem seems to be the Olympic Zil Lanes which have contrasting signs every fifty yards.

Good to hear that athletes are being sent home after racist tweets, too (Less competition I suppose!)

Oh yes - don't bring food, water, children, or unauthorised clothing into the Olympic stadium, or that £400 ticket will be worthless.

smack that isaiah · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 16:31 »

That's sad about the Taiwanese flag.

I love the Olympics. In the summer I tend to watch whatever is on, but I'm going out of my way to watch fencing. Unfortunately, the main bulk of the bouts occur from 5:00am to 11:00am where I am, with semifinals/finals around 12:30pm. So, I'm going to be waking up really really early on the weekends and watch a ton of fencing. For the weekdays, I'll wake up a few hours earlier and watch a bit before going to work.

In the winter I try to watch everything, making sure to catch hockey.

Omega Entity · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 18:45 »

For me, it's almost always been about gymnastics in the summer, and figure skating in the winter.

Lines · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 19:13 »

For summer I almost always watch swimming and gymnastics. For the 2008 games, I also watched a lot of beach volleyball because it was on during the afternoon and I had no job at that point. (Also I slept in until 12 because I was up late playing WoW, so I missed all of the morning events. Hooray joblessness?) And sometimes I watch field events because it's crazy.

I think I do watch more of the winter events, but that's because events involving ice are pretty dang awesome.

valley_parade · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 22:17 »

Quote from: nobo on 26 Jul 2012, 07:15

Nobody ever hears about Botswana, South Chad, Comoros, or Bhutan, but they all get to walk and carry their flag. Sure, they'll probably get smoked in their competitions, but for some people just getting to compete is enough of a prize.

The NBC announcers always love mentioning "The Central African Republic...which is a republic in central Africa."

The Seldom Killer · « **Reply #14 on:** 26 Jul 2012, 22:39 »

Heading down to Surrey this evening to watch the Road Races. Men's on Saturday and Women's on Sunday. Decided not to get fleeced for tickets to Box Hill we're going to catch it headed out, pick up a spot on the Box Hill loop outside the ticked area to watch the racers do circuits and then attempt to ride back to my parents in time to watch them race up The Mall on telly. Very excited to see if the British team can follow up on the success at the Tour de France (and the Tour of Poland). Wish I could grow some sideburns before tomorrow.

Carl-E · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 06:37 »

Paste oN some false ones?

Barmymoo · « **Reply #16 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 09:35 »

Aha! I thought I had seen an Olympic football match at the restaurant last night, but I was very confused. I won't be watching much, I expect, partly since I haven't yet figured out how to use Edith's TV, but also because I'm not all that interested in sports. I'll be following along on the news though, to see who is winning etc.

jwhouk · « **Reply #17 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 13:52 »

England is apparently leading Senegal 1-nil in men's football at Old Trafford at the moment.

You know, I really don't understand why NBC isn't showing the opening ceremony in real time on one of their sister networks, while they can show the tape delay on the main network during prime time.

Carl-E · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 13:59 »

I'm sure it has something stupid to do with broadcast rights.

jwhouk · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 19:16 »

Gotta love some of the athletes from Kazakhstan holding up their iPads to record their walk into the stadium.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #20 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 20:24 »

Man that giant baby was creepy

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #21 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 20:27 »

I heard... somewhere, probably NPR... that NBC is playing all the matches live online if not on TV, but if you miss it you have to wait for the highlight reels later. I guess they decided to consolidate the opening ceremony audience. I only watched a bit of the opening ceremony, from about 2 minutes in (after the industrial drudges started pouring out of Mt. Doom/the faerie ring) til a bit after the rings flew up into the air on the power of a thousand gerbs. It was... about how the radio said it was. Very British-history and rather movie-ish. The hundred-strong extra-neon Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was kinda weird out of the middle of coal dust and nowhere. It was pretty spectacular (in the theatrical sense of the word, that my damn professors lodged in my head during Torino I think) especially since I was half-drunk.

jwhouk · « **Reply #22 on:** 27 Jul 2012, 20:30 »

Sorry, but I loved the whole James Bond/Queen Elizabeth clip.

Lupercal · « **Reply #23 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 03:01 »

Yeah, I liked the whole thing. I was in a pub in Holborn watching the ceremony, and semi-drunkenly joked that the jigging nurses were pretty much exactly like the real NHS nurses. Ha ha ha!

Oh wait, there's a fucking huge NHS sign now. Maybe they were actually serious about that...

James Bond, Mr Bean, Paul McCartney, some big internationally recognisable faces (plus Mike Oldfield). Afterwards the commentators were saying it was "very British humour", as if nobody else was going to understand it. I'm sure Boyle made it as easy to "understand" as possible.

LTK · « **Reply #24 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 03:52 »

Quote from: Lupercal on 28 Jul 2012, 03:01

Yeah, I liked the whole thing. I was in a pub in Holborn watching the ceremony, and semi-drunkenly joked that the jigging nurses were pretty much exactly like the real NHS nurses. Ha ha ha!

Oh wait, there's a fucking huge NHS sign now. Maybe they were actually serious about that...

Yeap, you got it, according to the Dutch commentator, the dancers are all employed as nurses at the NHS!

Quote

James Bond, Mr Bean, Paul McCartney, some big internationally recognisable faces (plus Mike Oldfield). Afterwards the commentators were saying it was "very British humour", as if nobody else was going to understand it. I'm sure Boyle made it as easy to "understand" as possible.

Yes, 'British humour' insofar that it involves the British and it's humorous...

jwhouk · « **Reply #25 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 04:11 »

I believe there were a lot of US watchers who had NFC about who or what Brannagh was playing in the first part of the OC. I picked up the imagery right away - he was playing a "John Bull"- like character.

pwhodges · « **Reply #26 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 04:36 »

Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

jwhouk · « **Reply #27 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 09:27 »

No fair, you have the home-field advantage.

Silentbanksy · « **Reply #28 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 09:52 »

I love how damn British the queen is. (As much as she's er... Not...) She just sat there looking miserable throughout the entire thing, probably the highlight of the games for me. Or the fact we're trying to show other countries how great we are by demonstrating the horrors of both hospitals and our history.

Damn, we ARE a misery bunch.

pwhodges · « **Reply #29 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 11:00 »

Quote from: jwhouk on 28 Jul 2012, 09:27

No fair, you have the home-field advantage.

And my degree is in Engineering, so he's a bit of a worship figure for me. And my wife said that if we had been able to have a child, she would have called him Isambard, just for the pleasure of shouting that name in the park!

Quote from: Silentbanksy on 28 Jul 2012, 09:52

She just sat there looking miserable throughout the entire thing,

And when she declared the games open, she sounded proper fed up, I felt.

Omega Entity · « **Reply #30 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 13:34 »

Oh geez, I forgot Equestrian! Dressage is not very exciting (though freestyle is fun). But cross country and show jumping are a lot of fun - but maybe that's just because I used to jump on horseback before.

Kind of a neat story : http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--japanese-equestrian-defies-father-time-as-oldest-competitor-at-london-olympics.html

Silentbanksy · « **Reply #31 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 16:14 »

Quote from: tuathal on 28 Jul 2012, 15:57

Anything that tries to capture Britishness is an instant failure. It's almost a universal law!

That's the point! Everything in Britain is a little bit broken, but it has character so we like it!

Patrick · « **Reply #32 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 18:12 »

Idunno I mean you've had some pretty solid musical output over the last 50 years.

jwhouk · « **Reply #33 on:** 28 Jul 2012, 19:51 »

And much of it from that old guy they pushed out on stage at the end.

I hear he was in a band once.

(Or twice.)

Zingoleb · « **Reply #34 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 01:35 »

I usually don't watch TV but when the Olympics came on I sat down and turned on the television

there was some British person who did a lot of things that were rather impressive and he got a medal

and then Snape killed Dumbledore.

I mean, the Olympics were on, but so was Harry Potter. There's been dozens of Olympics! Only one Harry Potter, though.

Patrick · « **Reply #35 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 03:21 »

Quote from: jwhouk on 28 Jul 2012, 19:51

And much of it from that old guy they pushed out on stage at the end.

I hear he was in a band once.

(Or twice.)

Oh you mean that guy from Wings right

Lines · « **Reply #36 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 08:55 »

Watched a bit of Women's volleyball yesterday. One of the girls on the American team is 6'7" and yes she blocked freaking everything and holy crap she's 6'7".

Lupercal · « **Reply #37 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 09:31 »

Quote from: tuathal on 29 Jul 2012, 03:58

Wait, I forget. Did he write Bohemian Rhapsody or Mull of Kintyre?

Wasn't it Layla?

I'm just glad the ceremony didn't have some huge inflatable Noel Fielding in it or something.

Zingoleb · « **Reply #38 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 09:59 »

Quote from: Linds on 29 Jul 2012, 08:55

Watched a bit of Women's volleyball yesterday. One of the girls on the American team is 6'7" and yes she blocked freaking everything and holy crap she's 6'7".

yeah this has been known to happen

Carl-E · « **Reply #39 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 10:17 »

Quote from: Lupercal on 29 Jul 2012, 09:31

Quote from: tuathal on 29 Jul 2012, 03:58
Wait, I forget. Did he write Bohemian Rhapsody or Mull of Kintyre?

Wasn't it Layla?

No, it was Lola, wasn't it?

"L-O-L-A, Lo-ola!"

pwhodges · « **Reply #40 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 10:50 »

Let's ban cyclists from going near the Olympic games.

jwhouk · « **Reply #41 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 11:36 »

Quote from: tuathal on 29 Jul 2012, 03:58

Wait, I forget. Did he write Bohemian Rhapsody or Mull of Kintyre?

Something about Silly Love Songs.

Romanians are kicking but and taking names against the UK in Water Polo at the moment.

jwhouk · « **Reply #42 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 11:40 »

Quote from: pwhodges on 29 Jul 2012, 10:50

Let's ban cyclists from going near the Olympic games.

Wait, I thought this was the UK, not China?

Kinda glad my ancestors on my mom's side got outta town two centuries ago.

pwhodges · « **Reply #43 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 11:46 »

Quote from: tuathal on 29 Jul 2012, 03:58

Wait, I forget. Did he write Bohemian Rhapsody or Mull of Kintyre?

Scrambled Eggs (working title...)

Barmymoo · « **Reply #44 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 12:07 »

I thought the Queen looked like she was about to cry - either from how off-key the children's choir was, or how moving a sentiment they were expressing. One or the other.

Silentbanksy · « **Reply #45 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 13:10 »

I think it's clear the Queen was expecting Rammstein, and was very disappointed with the deaf children and Arctic Monkeys.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #46 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 13:19 »

The more I think about the Michael Phelps interview thing, the more it puzzles me. The NBC broadcast was recorded, not live, and I can attest that they edited in a whole lot of commercial breaks. Why, if they absolutely needed an inane chat with a swimmer who wasn't even involved in the opening ceremony and who said nothing that wasn't repeated by the commentators when the ceremony came back on, didn't they just add it in as well? I feel like it was a conscious choice to edit out the 7/7 tribute.

jwhouk · « **Reply #47 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 16:03 »

I'm thinking the same thing. I pointed out elsewhere that it was the UK equivalent of Jordin Sparks singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" over a tribute to 9/11 victims - though even the London 2012 event guide says it wasn't a tribute to any particular person or time.

One thing I wanna ask others - am I the only one who is having shop.london2012.com redirect automatically to www.teamusashop.com?

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #48 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 16:19 »

No, it showed the London 2012 banner for like half a second and then redirects. Looks like they have the London stuff here: http://www.teamusashop.com/Olympics_USA_London_2012

Omega Entity · « **Reply #49 on:** 29 Jul 2012, 16:47 »

Mine tried. But Firefox asked me permission for the redirect before it did so.

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Author Topic: The 2012 Olympics (Read 34479 times)

Zingoleb

Zingoleb

Zingoleb