I love the Olympics, best athletic competion there is. Don't get me wrong, I like the NFL, NBA, etc but the level of athlete at the Olympics can't compare. The next couple weeks are going to be awesome.

 

Actually it was one person away from being perfect.

Yes, I said it. One LESS person in the opening would have been better....

Because Bob Costas, who seemed to think he was broadcasting a sporting event and not a ceremony, would not STFU!!!!

 

true that

and way too many close in shots when they should have been showing super wide angles.

 

[QUOTE=8_ball,Aug 9 2008, 08:11 AM] I love the Olympics, best athletic competion there is.

 

[QUOTE=GPMike,Aug 9 2008, 01:09 PM] ROFL!

Most of those track athletes are failed Football, Basketball, and Baseball athletes that couldn't get on a Football, Basketball or Baseball team in high school or college and used track as their fall into sport.

 

I was absolutely blown away. I remember tuning into the opening ceremony every time only to be bored out of my mind after 10 minutes. Not last night. Instead of bored, captivated. The coordination of the drummers was astonishing. The people drawing caligraphy with their bodies was amazing. Same with the 2008 tai chi masters and the people running around the globe at all angles. But when the people popped out of the blocks of text my jaw hit the ground. Could not believe it. All I was left with is...Vancouver is ****ed. China opened the eyes of the world last night, but they had 7 years go plan. Vancouver's got 2 years to try to top that? Good luck.

A coworker made an interesting comment today though. Something to the effect of, "What if we go to war with them? If they can coordinate the random shit like that, imagine what they can pull off with weaponry?"

As far as the comparisons go with the different profession sports, I think I much prefer the Olympics. Those participating actually give a shit about it and care so much about it, that's what makes it so endearing in my eyes. I read this morning that Kobe and Lebron are both kicking around the idea of taking giant contracts to go play in Europe once their respective contracts are up. Something about making the move for $50 million, hard to say that their playing the game with winning at the top level in mind.

 

70 Million people apparently...

 

I agree, I can actually watch the olympics because I know the people are there because of their love for what they do. NBA,NFL,etc, those are just leagues for money...nothing else hence why I'll never watch it.

 

I read that one couldn't hear most of the opening ceremonies - the drums, for example - because of Bob Costas' non-stop drivel.

C'est vrai?

 

That is a very America-centric view of the world. America only makes up 5 percent of the world population, and apparently 4 billion, 2/3rds of the world, tuned into the olympics in some way. That's a huge accomplishment considering how many people don't have TV's at all.

It's interesting how much American tastes in sports differ from the rest of the world.

Football is huge everywhere else in the world, but in America it's been renamed soccer and barely anyone watches. We watch our own football, which barely anyone else understands, let alone play.

F1 racing is also huge on the world stage, but in America everyone watches NASCAR instead. Barely anyone in the rest of the world have even heard of NASCAR.

While many America sports are getting more and more recognition worldwide, they are still primarily exclusive to America, and merely side shows elsewhere. The NFL, NBA, MLB are all just basically American organizations.

Basketball gets alot of international recognition, but baseball (with the exception of Japan and a few other countries), and definitely America football is as irrelevant to the rest of the world as British Cricket or Rugby is to us.