2024 Paris Olympics

[dgies9156]

After 2010 and the way the IOC treated President Barack Obama and the U.S. delegation advocating for Chicago for the 2016 Olympics, I swore I would never again watch the Olympics. Sadly, my wife didn't take the same vow, so one of the televisions in our home covered the Olympics in those years.

She watched this year and I got sucked in every now and then. The two races I loved were the 100 meter dash and the women's bicycle road race. Snoop Dogg was cute too.

But all-in-all, I found myself in another room watching pre-season football rather than the Olympics. It's more interesting and at least the creepy old men who run the NFL are OUR creepy old men (ahem... Jerry Jones), not a bunch of entitled European oligarchs hanging on to the last vestige of power.

I'll come back when either the Olympic Summer Games rights its wrong and comes to Chicago or when NASCAR becomes a sanctioned Olympic sport. I aint holding my breath on either!

[Jockey]

I agree with these posts. I have watched 25 Olympics and this was easily the most enjoyable. From start to finish.

Both the city of Paris and NBC did an outstanding job. It was a very joyous 2 weeks.

I am definitely the anti-Muggsy when it comes to watching the games. For me, the competition is everything. I am not there to watch the US destroy the world. Most athletes know that they have a zero chance to win a medal, yet their effort is as great as the winners

[The Sultan]

I agree with these posts. I have watched 25 Olympics and this was easily the most enjoyable. From start to finish.

Both the city of Paris and NBC did an outstanding job. It was a very joyous 2 weeks.

I am definitely the anti-Muggsy when it comes to watching the games. For me, the competition is everything. I am not there to watch the US destroy the world. Most athletes know that they have a zero chance to win a medal, yet their effort is as great as the winners

Yes. The men's game was legendary for what Steph did at the end. A blow out doesn't provide that.

By the way, that game did huge ratings. On a Saturday afternoon in August!

[The Sultan]

After 2010 and the way the IOC treated President Barack Obama and the U.S. delegation advocating for Chicago for the 2016 Olympics, I swore I would never again watch the Olympics. Sadly, my wife didn't take the same vow, so one of the televisions in our home covered the Olympics in those years.

She watched this year and I got sucked in every now and then. The two races I loved were the 100 meter dash and the women's bicycle road race. Snoop Dogg was cute too.

But all-in-all, I found myself in another room watching pre-season football rather than the Olympics. It's more interesting and at least the creepy old men who run the NFL are OUR creepy old men (ahem... Jerry Jones), not a bunch of entitled European oligarchs hanging on to the last vestige of power.

I'll come back when either the Olympic Summer Games rights its wrong and comes to Chicago or when NASCAR becomes a sanctioned Olympic sport. I aint holding my breath on either!

Your loss.

[jficke13]

Of course the IOC is corrupt and the Olympics have issues, but at the end of the day it's still cool as hell to see the world's fastest/strongest/whatever-est exhibit the absolute peaks of human performance every once in a while. Both of these things can coexist.

Bring on LA.

[Scoop Snoop]

But all-in-all, I found myself in another room watching pre-season football rather than the Olympics. It's more interesting and at least the creepy old men who run the NFL are OUR creepy old men (ahem... Jerry Jones), not a bunch of entitled European oligarchs hanging on to the last vestige of power.

I'll come back when either the Olympic Summer Games rights its wrong and comes to Chicago or when NASCAR becomes a sanctioned Olympic sport. I aint holding my breath on either!

Time to bring back the guillotine? The French probably still have a blueprint on how to build one.

I thought you were going to watch NASCAR races during the Olympics. Spectators often suffer neck injuries from pivoting their heads while watching the cars go by a couple of hundred times.

I respect what you are saying dgies, but I think you are pissing into the wind.

[The Sultan]

Time to bring back the guillotine? The French probably still have a blueprint on how to build one.

I thought you were going to watch NASCAR races during the Olympics. Spectators often suffer neck injuries from pivoting their heads while watching the cars go by a couple of hundred times.

I respect what you are saying dgies, but I think you are pissing into the wind.

NASCAR took two weekends off for the Olympics FWIW.

[Pakuni]

NASCAR took two weekends off for the Olympics FWIW.

Isn't that because NBC holds the media rights for this part of their season?

[The Sultan]

Isn't that because NBC holds the media rights for this part of their season?

Yes

[Scoop Snoop]

NASCAR took two weekends off for the Olympics FWIW.

Well, now you know that I have zero interest in NASCAR. But clips of the crashes are pretty cool, as long as no one is injured.

[Galway Eagle]

After 2010 and the way the IOC treated President Barack Obama and the U.S. delegation advocating for Chicago for the 2016 Olympics, I swore I would never again watch the Olympics. Sadly, my wife didn't take the same vow, so one of the televisions in our home covered the Olympics in those years.

She watched this year and I got sucked in every now and then. The two races I loved were the 100 meter dash and the women's bicycle road race. Snoop Dogg was cute too.

But all-in-all, I found myself in another room watching pre-season football rather than the Olympics. It's more interesting and at least the creepy old men who run the NFL are OUR creepy old men (ahem... Jerry Jones), not a bunch of entitled European oligarchs hanging on to the last vestige of power.

I'll come back when either the Olympic Summer Games rights its wrong and comes to Chicago or when NASCAR becomes a sanctioned Olympic sport. I aint holding my breath on either!

The rules at the time Chicago attempted to get them would've been a disaster for the city. If Chicago made a bid now I think they'd be extremely well done (despite the leadership) as we have enough massive college/pro stadiums within short bussing distance and an impending new stadium coming.

I don't think it's worth doing some type of boycott though, at the end of the day it kind of seems like a reaching for an excuse to not watch sports that you're not traditionally interested in kind of like my "super patriotic" FIL saying he was boycotting because the opening games... that he didn't watch.

[MU82]

I agree with these posts. I have watched 25 Olympics and this was easily the most enjoyable. From start to finish.

Both the city of Paris and NBC did an outstanding job. It was a very joyous 2 weeks.

I am definitely the anti-Muggsy when it comes to watching the games. For me, the competition is everything. I am not there to watch the US destroy the world. Most athletes know that they have a zero chance to win a medal, yet their effort is as great as the winners

I actually surprised myself how much of these Olympics I watched. Definitely my most ever, and I liked almost everything I saw. Didn't watch either the opening or closing ceremonies, though; just not my thing. But I'm glad those who did enjoyed them.

[JWags85]

I don't think I have enjoyed an Olympics that much in decades. I love how NBC approached these games, outside of the celebrity shots. I truly don't care that Tom Cruise was in the stands watching WBB.

But that's just a small complaint from what I thought was a very nice production.

Time Zone is also always the elephant in the room production/viewing wise for the US.  Paris time allowed a bunch of prime time/night time events in France to be shown live mid/late afternoon here, and then replays for actual prime time in the US.  Its so much harder when its taking place in Asia/Oceania.

At breakfast yesterday we were talking about the Games, and agreed that they were most enjoyable, helped by the fact we were watching lots of stuff live. Made me wish I had gone, don't know why I didn't really, other than inertia.. they did a great job integrating Paris into the Games.

The marathon ending with Les Invalides in the backdrop was AWESOME.  Reminiscent of 2010 ending down the Mall in London.  So much cooler than the "traditional" marathon ending with a lap around the Olympic Stadium.  Paris is an amazing aesthetic city, anything less than featuring it as much as possible would be a crime, and they certainly did it justice.

Of course the IOC is corrupt and the Olympics have issues, but at the end of the day it's still cool as hell to see the world's fastest/strongest/whatever-est exhibit the absolute peaks of human performance every once in a while. Both of these things can coexist.

Bring on LA.

Exactly.  Its the same as FIFA and the World Cup.  At the end of the day, pushback against it, while understandable, hurts the athletes more than the fat cats profiting off corruption, the Olympics even moreso.

Its fun to have an event where the vast majority of Americans bind together and get patriotic and forget tribal divides of politics (outside of nonsense social media) or professional/collegiate sport affiliation, and go all in.

Also, while I don't totally agree with Jockey cause I love watching Americans succeed at the games, seeing the individual excellence from non-Olympic mainstay countries is awesome.  There have been multiple articles about it, but success at the Olympics for them can be truly life changing.  I mentioned my colleague from Bostwana, but plenty of athletes can see a medal (even in a "lesser" sport or event) completely change their family's life financially and otherwise.  And thats amazing to see. 

I was just at an event in Jakarta the first week of the Olympics and there was a former badminton medalist who might as well have been Lebron the way people reacted to him.  There is also a speed climber from Indonesia who won gold who they mentioned is basically gonna have a bidding war from the Indo jewelry chains for spokesperson work for watches and such.  I'm sure it would make people gripe about capitalism or whatnot, but I rather view it as years of sacrifice and long odds (not in a specially formulated feeder system for Olympic sports like the US/China/Australia) culminating in true generational change for some people.

[lawdog77]

After 2010 and the way the IOC treated President Barack Obama and the U.S. delegation advocating for Chicago for the 2016 Olympics, I swore I would never again watch the Olympics. Sadly, my wife didn't take the same vow, so one of the televisions in our home covered the Olympics in those years.

She watched this year and I got sucked in every now and then. The two races I loved were the 100 meter dash and the women's bicycle road race. Snoop Dogg was cute too.

But all-in-all, I found myself in another room watching pre-season football rather than the Olympics. It's more interesting and at least the creepy old men who run the NFL are OUR creepy old men (ahem... Jerry Jones), not a bunch of entitled European oligarchs hanging on to the last vestige of power.

I'll come back when either the Olympic Summer Games rights its wrong and comes to Chicago or when NASCAR becomes a sanctioned Olympic sport. I aint holding my breath on either!

Well baseball will be a sport in 2028. Maybe some Cardinals/future Cardinals will be on the team(s). I believe Yadier would singlehandedly end Olympic corruption.

[dgies9156]

The rules at the time Chicago attempted to get them would've been a disaster for the city. If Chicago made a bid now I think they'd be extremely well done (despite the leadership) as we have enough massive college/pro stadiums within short bussing distance and an impending new stadium coming.

I don't think it's worth doing some type of boycott though, at the end of the day it kind of seems like a reaching for an excuse to not watch sports that you're not traditionally interested in kind of like my "super patriotic" FIL saying he was boycotting because the opening games... that he didn't watch.

First, I agree on the question of the Olympics would have been a disaster. With R2D2 as Mayor, the corruption, cost overruns and general fraud that typifies Chicago government would have been rampant. But, once we were in, I supported the efforts of my President and my long-time hometown.

I could even see losing to Paris or Tokyo, but Rio? Yuck.

The IOC got what they deserved in Rio -- an unmitigated disaster and likely a lot of under-the-table wealth.

I'll concede there's Olympic sports I find interesting. Basketball the biggie.  But, find gymnastics duller than TV golf. But to each their own. Maybe what I'm doing is in a classical sense, a one-person boycott, but it's admittedly easy to avoid things that more often than not, you generally don't find appealing.

That said, what I did see was generally well done. But, given the choice between the Bears/Bills and Vikings/whoever they played, I'll take the pre-season football every time.

Finally, Yadi will be the Rican manager. Count on it!

[jesmu84]

NFL preseason > Olympics?

Yeesh

[Galway Eagle]

my long-time hometown.

Weren't you in Lincolnshire that whole time before you recently started renting in the city?

I'll concede there's Olympic sports I find interesting. Basketball the biggie.  But, find gymnastics duller than TV golf. But to each their own. Maybe what I'm doing is in a classical sense, a one-person boycott, but it's admittedly easy to avoid things that more often than not, you generally don't find appealing.

That said, what I did see was generally well done. But, given the choice between the Bears/Bills and Vikings/whoever they played, I'll take the pre-season football every time.

All fine and good to have preferences, I find football to be the second most boring sport that trots out people thinking they're wayyy tougher and more athletic than they are. And find baseball to be agonizingly slow. But I don't claim I don't watch the NFL because they turn the other way to scumbags to keep them in the league. I just admit I find them boring.

That said it's once every four years to find an interest in an activity or sport that's not commonly marketed in this country. A chance to see if we're really as "elite" at everything we claim we are with blind national pride (see Muggsys basketball expectation) and I think that's a good thing to support.

[tower912]

LIV golf with rocket commentating >>>>>NASCAR.

[jesmu84]

42 pages later...

A good show.   One that is going to linger for a bit because of the Jordan Chiles controversy.

If there is something that is going to cause this to "linger", it will be the impending lawsuits from Khelif

[Warriors4ever]

I was a volunteer with the Olympic bid committee in Chicago, doing things like passing out stuff at events, stuffing envelopes, helping out at different athletic competitions the city was hosting...I actually helped with hospitality when the IOC bid committee visited . There was no question we had the best bid, but aside from the Rio corruption, they really wanted to take the games to South America...
That disappointment  has not put me off from watching, because I love seeing the athletes. And it led me to being able to volunteer with the USOC at the Vancouver Olympics, which was great fun.

[Spotcheck Billy]

https://www.reddit.com/r/woahthatsinteresting/comments/1eqei7n/this_is_rachael_gunn_she_has_a_phd_in_cultural/

[jesmu84]

https://www.reddit.com/r/woahthatsinteresting/comments/1eqei7n/this_is_rachael_gunn_she_has_a_phd_in_cultural/

The story behind her is fascinating

[Galway Eagle]

https://www.reddit.com/r/woahthatsinteresting/comments/1eqei7n/this_is_rachael_gunn_she_has_a_phd_in_cultural/

Up there but still not the craziest story of getting into the Olympics.

Look up Elizabeth swaney.

[The Sultan]

Those comments are funny.

"Dance like nobody is scoring."

[Jockey]

LIV golf with rocket commentating >>>>>NASCAR.

Anything >>>>NASCAR