Olympics

Because it only took Viking-Sensei three years (and the approaching end of Errant Story) to come up with a better name for "General Discussions"
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Sareth
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Olympics

Post by Sareth »

I'm surprised no one has started this yet.

Already we've seen several dramatic events. We had the spectacular extravaganza that was the opening cerimony with it's declaration that China is built by it's people (it's most stunning affects, that seemed initially to be animatronic were, in fact, people powered). And already we've seen the first medals awarded, including a stunning upset in the Women's air rifle (where Chinese competitor Du Li was expected to win, but didn't even place.) And, of course, there have been the controversies. Debates if China's civil rights record and actions in Tibet and Darfur should have lead to boycotts were held. Comments on environmental concerns were made. And counterprotests accompanied the olympic torch (including an attack on a paralyzed Chinesewoman, Jin Jing) and have made their way into the events themselves, with protestors being ejected from the dressage events.

So let's cheer for the athletes, discuss our favorite events, and examine our views on the events surrounding the olympics.

Just one rule. Keep it courteous. Let's be gracious winners, losers, and debaters.
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dubioso
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Aaaaargh!

Post by dubioso »

I thought at least here I'd be safe from this hype... :evil:
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Pillaroforder
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Re: Aaaaargh!

Post by Pillaroforder »

dubioso wrote:I thought at least here I'd be safe from this hype... :evil:
Ditto. But this is 'General Discussions' after all. The proper place for this kind of 'omnipresent RL spam'.
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Sareth
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Re: Olympics

Post by Sareth »

Forgive me. I was under the impression that if you weren't interested, you could just politely go read a different thread and ignore this one. I had forgotten that, should you fail to piss on the thread, your mothers would be turned out of their homes, your dogs raped, and your children would never be allowed to go to college.

My mistake.
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Imp-Chan
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Re: Olympics

Post by Imp-Chan »

Enough.

There's nothing wrong with discussing the Olympics, it's a time-honored tradition, and I'm glad to have at least SOME commentary going on here.

The hype part, well... it's a strange year for the Olympics. The world's been falling apart even more than usual, and it's difficult to set that aside and embrace an event that is founded on the idea of suspended differences. We're all focused on this idea that we have to DO SOMETHING TO STOP IT (regardless of what it is), and so letting go is proving to be a greater challenge for the world than physical superiority right now. Thus, not letting go is considered more interesting for the media to cover.

The Chinese people in particular have got to be in a weird position right now... Chinese History is generally taught as cyclical, not progressive, and so what makes sense to them on an internal cultural level as a natural decline of the current order and ways of the world is horrifying a lot of westerners who haven't had history (as in consistent, written history... the Chinese had it, even if they tended to destroy the records in waves of political fervor) for quite long enough for our culture to get used to that idea. Certainly we're not generally very accepting of it.

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Sareth
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Re: Olympics

Post by Sareth »

Thanks Impy. (And sorry for my little outburst there).

It's not just us western types who seem to be struggling just a bit. While the Chinese crowd enthusiastically greeted the American delegation (a slight surprise, but a good one), and gave the Iraqi delegation a roaring good welcome, they were less than enthusiastic when the French entered. So it seems they, too, aren't perfectly comfortable with the whole forgetting any troubles thing.

Anyway... So far I've been pretty impressed by the venues. The Chinese seem to have done a pretty good job of getting ready.
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Re: Olympics

Post by Viking-Sensei »

I too am filled with an insufficient degree of give-a-damn, though for the record I am trying to care.

Part of it is that, this year, the timing of the Olympics is all off for me... I work 3rd, so I'm actually working through most of the live televised events, and they seemed damned and determined to schedule the delayed broadcast events for times which are either a) still when I'm at work or b) when I'm asleep.

Now, I've got a DVR, but I dunno... watching recordings of sports... I always wind up fast-forwarding everything. While this normally has hilarious results, especially for the running, speedskating (winter, of course), and gymnastic portions ("Man, at that speed, she should've gone through the roof!") it still takes the edge off of watching something live.

Also, I generally don't like watching any sports, so it's not like I'm being discriminating.
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Graybeard
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Re: Olympics

Post by Graybeard »

Viking-Sensei wrote:I too am filled with an insufficient degree of give-a-damn, though for the record I am trying to care.
Me three. I normally enjoy watching sports (at least sports other than the farces that are football, soccer, and pro basketball), but it's hard to build up much enthusiasm for an event where everything from the opening ceremony to an athlete's flatulence is viewed as a political statement. That's a problem in every Olympics, but it's reached an all-time low in this one. I get enough of the politics of lunacy (or vice versa) at work; why immerse myself in it recreationally?
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Sareth
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Re: Olympics

Post by Sareth »

You do have a point there. And while there certainly is some of that on the part of the athletes and the host nation, the vast majority of it is on the part of the reporters. They just can't give up on it and let it go.

Very frustrating.
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Re: Olympics

Post by Stick & String »

A good friend of mine is over there, and this is a heck of a point he brought up in his last call.
This is the internet age is it not? If so, then why is coverage of the Olympics about the same as it was 20 years ago?
I think a person should almost expect to be able to log in (possibly as a pay per view event?) on the internet and view just about anything they want event wise via a streaming video feed. Instead, we are held to the same limited TV network coverage that we have had for generations, with snippets of some events, and events with competitors no one really wants to watch. IS this more of the antiquated news media trying to control things and still try and make themselves valid? I don't know.

I do know this, and I found out via a web poll (not public access poll at that), that 100% of the people with my similar interests want to see more archery. We only get to view gold medal event shoots, and little of that. Its the age of the net, so what the heck, they do have cameras over almost every square inch of competition venues, why not get those feeds out on the net?
I would pay to view more, and so far some 1.5 million of my fellow archers have voiced that they would too. I realize limits would be in place, having this Olympiad occurring in China and all, but damn, I really thought a lot more would be available for viewing, not a lot less.

And yes, the reporters, and broadcasters are, well, the bottom. If they are not trying to invent a political insult out of nothing, they are kissing up the arses of the chinese government (maybe they are interviewing to go to work for google!?).
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