what we've learned from the 2012 Olympic Games

Also:

1. The US has terrible sportsmanship (by having fits when they get silver instead of gold)
2. China still wins everything (diving)

I don't see anything wrong with being disappointed with second place. That young lady's face happened to express her disappointment more than others, but I doubt she's the only one to have been unhappy with second place.

Seriously.

The amount of Mckayla Maroney hate that has been going on turns my stomach. She was a 16 year old girl who fell on her *kitten* in front of millions of people. Lips pursed, eyes to the side, avoiding eye contact, "please dont look at me" face? Yeah, that doesn't just sound like a scowl to me, it sounds like the face I make when I'm trying to not break down into tears.

And as said, yes, some people go to compete and know they probably won't medal so if they get bronze, they're ecstatic. But athletes like Maroney (who was the best vaulter in the world and a shoo in for the gold), or Jordyn Weiber (world champion who scored higher than most of the other countries but was left out because of the "2 person per country" rule) and Phelps (needs no explanation...) when they get silver or when they don't qualify, I think that yes, they are disappointed to be second place. And that's human.

I learned that having artificial limbs DOES give you an unfair advantage. Not on the track, but when it comes to people rooting for you because you are so inspirational!!!!

Seriously, if anyone on here ever mitches and boans about not feeling like working out, you have no clue.

That the "Blade Runner" is the baddest @ssed man alive, followed by the American guy who broke his leg and finished his leg of the 4X400 relay.

1. NBC should be BANNED from ever covering any sort of live sports. NBC are NOT, I repeat, NOT bigger than the Olympics

9. NBC doesn’t know a thing about covering sports.

1) NBC has blown their coverage completely since the 2000 Sydney games. They used to broadcast the Olympics full-time, live and available on several channels (I remember setting my alarm to wake up at 3am to catch Taekwondo finals), and as the years have gone by, restricting it to prime-time and an incredibly small portion of the actual competition from other countries has really pissed me off. I streamed the Olympics this year on a BBC stream so I could actually watch other countries (along with the opening ceremony when it was happening, and not 9 hours later), and didn't even tune in to NBC after watching one night.

It is a common thing to criticize NBC’s coverage.

NBC does know a thing or two about covering sports. They did an amazing job with the NBA from 1990-2002 and they seem to do pretty well with the current NFL coverage.

The Olympics are a unique event. It is not like covering a Super Bowl, World Series or NBA Finals game. The Olympics audience, particularly in primetime, is a different type of audience than a regular season NFL Sunday Night Football audience or the Stanley Cup Finals, which are NBC Sports’ other big properties at the moment. The showcase sport on TV is gymnastics. Gymnastics is not a sport that your typical heterosexual, beer drinking male who watches the NBA or NFL regularly cares much about.

The NBC family of networks, including the NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus), MSNBC, CNBC, etc has had extensive coverage. The number of hours of total coverage on a television network is up compared to Sydney, Athens or Beijing. Plus, you have the option to stream online, provided that you have a cable TV subscription. Households with just Internet and no TV (total cord cutters) can’t stream the Olympics. However, NBC itself may have fewer hours of coverage. Sports in general are moving more to cable because the rights fees are so high that advertising alone can’t cover them. The dual model of subscriber fees from cable and advertising makes more sense from a business standpoint.

NBC’s primetime coverage of the Olympics should not be thought of in the same vein as live football broadcasts. It should be thought of more as a SportsCenter type program with look ins, some live, some taped.

Keep in mind that most Olympic sports are niche sports. Some of these events alone would draw a very small TV audience. Ever seen the ratings for the championship level swim meets in non Olympic years? They are miniscule.

NBC’s ratings for this Olympics have been pretty solid. They are getting better ratings than any other sports programming besides the Super Bowl, which is impressive considering that these are all small niche sports on their own that wouldn’t draw an impressive audience. The time zone issues are difficult to handle. If everything was always live and only shown live, most people would miss the events that they cared about. The Olympics, and most particular the primetime NBC coverage, should be thought of as a way to pass time. People want to come from work in the US and veg out and watch the biggest events of the day.

That the "Blade Runner" is the baddest @ssed man alive, followed by the American guy who broke his leg and finished his leg of the 4X400 relay.

I love Pistorius! And this picture of him and another amputee melted my heart



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1184359/Amputee-5-world-beater-bionic-blades.html


oops! I hit quote instead of edit!!! Sorry for double post.

The New York Times has sleezy writers (think Jere Longman) that spew hate, misinformation, and are one main reason the Grey Lady is in bad financial straits.

. . . .OH, WAIT. I knew this already.

People want to come from work in the US and veg out and watch the biggest events of the day.

NBC can still do prime-time recaps of the events, but they could include the showing of live coverage on other channels, and they SHOULD show some other popular sport live BESIDES water polo, volleyball, or another sport that isn't a favorite. If people just want to watch the biggest events in prime time, NBC could still do recaps at night, without an issue. It's more the fact that NBC SPECIFICALLY picked the most popular sports, didn't air them live (except streaming online with a current cable subscription, which, let's face it, cuts out the people who don't fork out that money for cable), and then cut out a majority of the competition when they did air it in favor of fluffy crap and only the top competitors. That's like watching the Superbowl and only showing the major plays, along with spending a ridiculous amount of time on the players' backstories. Pretty sure people would be pissed if they did that.

So why is the Olympics any different? It's not like NBC has been bogged down with a crazy amount of other sporting events of things to broadcast. Just because NBC has had good ratings during the Games doesn't mean their coverage is sound or great; it means that the audiences that they're targeting are satisfied with a less than mediocre performance. Which really speaks volumes about the lowered standards of the American public in general more than NBC.

the underdogs will prevail....we may not have won gold, but Galen Rupp kicked some serious *kitten* in that 10,000m race!!!

People want to come from work in the US and veg out and watch the biggest events of the day.

NBC can still do prime-time recaps of the events, but they could include the showing of live coverage on other channels, and they SHOULD show some other popular sport live BESIDES water polo, volleyball, or another sport that isn't a favorite. If people just want to watch the biggest events in prime time, NBC could still do recaps at night, without an issue. It's more the fact that NBC SPECIFICALLY picked the most popular sports, didn't air them live (except streaming online with a current cable subscription, which, let's face it, cuts out the people who don't fork out that money for cable), and then cut out a majority of the competition when they did air it in favor of fluffy crap and only the top competitors. That's like watching the Superbowl and only showing the major plays, along with spending a ridiculous amount of time on the players' backstories. Pretty sure people would be pissed if they did that.

So why is the Olympics any different? It's not like NBC has been bogged down with a crazy amount of other sporting events of things to broadcast. Just because NBC has had good ratings during the Games doesn't mean their coverage is sound or great; it means that the audiences that they're targeting are satisfied with a less than mediocre performance. Which really speaks volumes about the lowered standards of the American public in general more than NBC.

Even with the skyhigh ratings NBC is essentially breaking even covering the games. If they aired the popular stuff on TV fewer people would watch in prime time lowering ratings and revenue. I have found it frustrating too, but none of the other stations would have sacrificed prime time ratings either.

NBC was critizing in 2008 because they strong armed the Olympics into scheduling events popular in the US early in the morning in Beijing so it would happen live during our primetime. They couldn't do that in London because prime time here is middle of the night there.

Sochi in 2 years will be the same deal. But Rio will be awesome because it's only one hour ahead of EST.

USA men's basketball is dominant. 82-57 USA over ARG at the moment.

I've learned that the Olympics are done. (due to the OP speaking in past tense)

People want to come from work in the US and veg out and watch the biggest events of the day.

NBC can still do prime-time recaps of the events, but they could include the showing of live coverage on other channels, and they SHOULD show some other popular sport live BESIDES water polo, volleyball, or another sport that isn't a favorite. If people just want to watch the biggest events in prime time, NBC could still do recaps at night, without an issue. It's more the fact that NBC SPECIFICALLY picked the most popular sports, didn't air them live (except streaming online with a current cable subscription, which, let's face it, cuts out the people who don't fork out that money for cable), and then cut out a majority of the competition when they did air it in favor of fluffy crap and only the top competitors. That's like watching the Superbowl and only showing the major plays, along with spending a ridiculous amount of time on the players' backstories. Pretty sure people would be pissed if they did that.

So why is the Olympics any different? It's not like NBC has been bogged down with a crazy amount of other sporting events of things to broadcast. Just because NBC has had good ratings during the Games doesn't mean their coverage is sound or great; it means that the audiences that they're targeting are satisfied with a less than mediocre performance. Which really speaks volumes about the lowered standards of the American public in general more than NBC.

I mentioned how I didn't like how you need a current cable TV subscription to stream the Olympics online.

I know I would not like the Super Bowl with too much focus on back stories. With the Super Bowl, the back stories are all during the pre-game shows, which I haven't watched on Super Bowl Sunday in a very long time.

I would favor less fluff as well.

People have been complaining about Olympic fluff for years. Part of it is that the Olympics are marketed to an audience of a non sports fan more so than the hardcore sports fan. It really captures the casual viewer.

My son learned how cool men's gymnastics can be and is now excited about taking his classes in the fall. (he showed an early aptitude for the sport but this year will be his first at age 8) I also learned that to be an olypic champion in a sport like gymnastics we had t start him at three and you're washed up at 20. guess we missed that boat LOL

I've learned that the Olympics are done. (due to the OP speaking in past tense)

Yeah, Right? At first I thought I was hearing things wrong. This has ruined a lot for me.

That the "Blade Runner" is the baddest @ssed man alive, followed by the American guy who broke his leg and finished his leg of the 4X400 relay.

so badass you don't even know his name?

I just like the moniker "Blade Runner" but if you need formality Mr. Oscar Pistorius is a bad @ss. Better or still butt hurt?