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I noticed that, DC (the comparison between Missy Franklin and the Chinese gymnast).
I still get the feeling whenever the Chinese athletes compete that if they fail, one of their family members is sent to a work camp, never to be heard from again. And that they should be very good at their sport because that's all they do.
How about, after the competition, we put the Americans against the Chinese in real-life situations and see which one wins.
I am unfamiliar with this feeling of optimism
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I hate NBC's coverage of the olympics. I turn on NBC and whats on? Dr. Phil.
It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!
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... and when they DO air the Olympics, you see more Bob Costas than you do any of the events they're supposed to be covering. For the most part, the coverage is awful. 
[color:"white"]"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
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... and when they DO air the Olympics, you see more Bob Costas than you do any of the events they're supposed to be covering. For the most part, the coverage is awful.
I completely agree. I understand that we're in the US so they will show a lot of the US events, but I'd rather see the finals of all events (even if an American is not in the final) than see all the preliminary events just because the USA is in it. I watch the Olympics to see the best athletes excel at their sport, not just to watch the US Olympic team.
My biggest issue with the coverage is that in events like gymnastics, they'll spend 20 minutes profiling the American competitors and not even show competitors from the other countries even if they do better than the Americans. To me, the whole thing is just very poorly done and quite disappointing. 
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All I needed to see was Rachel Maddow and Andrea Mitchell....click.
I'm surprised theyre not twisting and spinning the athletes words as they come out of their mouths!
Oh, I saw fat Ed Schultz too.
Celebrities and news anchors are not what its about! Young athletes is the focus!
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I hate NBC's coverage of the olympics. I turn on NBC and whats on? Dr. Phil.
One of the guys on Around the Horn said the coverage should be broadcasted like the Brittish Open...air it live and spend the afternoon evening showing clips or chunks of the interesting parts. Essentially you have coverage all day......the people that want to watch it live or DVR it, can. The people that just want to watch the wrap-up show can do that later.
And yes, you see the US athletes followed up by countless vignettes. I always wanted to just turn on the TV and watch the whole hammer throw competition....every country, every throw. But there is NO CHANCE that can happen.
Maybe it's possible to see that on the online coverage, but I doubt it.
To me, this coverage is horrible. The wife and I went to lunch at a local tavern since we both get to work from home on Tuesdays...while eating there was swimming on, we couldn't tell if it was live or tape delayed. We had to ask the guy that had been watching for a while....and it was live but only the preliminaries. Come on, there isn't another medal even going on at that time?
Weak.
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Agreed on the horribleness...
I havent seen any swimming...not that ive gone after it, but yesterday I was watching USA womens basketball and they were destroying Angola all the while Brazil and i think Great Britain were in OT...Which actually doesnt make sense cuz I think they only have 1 basketball arena, but Yahoo sports had the game in OT while they were showing the USA game. I thought USA was live, idk...but why do they show USA smoke Angola and I cant find GBR v Brazil in OT
NBC Sports has done a good job in my opinion. MSNBC has done good with that theyre doing, and CNBC when they have sports...Bravo has done all tennis so far and Ive watched none of it.
NBC has been atrocious though
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let's not leave out that they have a terrible online site too. no, why put on the competitions even after you air them taped. let's wait until tomorrow if at all
#gmstrong
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Well...
and this will make a whole sweeping judgments on much of society...but, we all allow things to be horrible without making anything happen with our words...and the bottom line in our society is money over quality and theres our problem.
Ratings drive not quality...its a shame, because we understand that quality is important but dont have the options? to enforce it. If we tune out we dont get to watch...
"It has to start somewhere It has to start somehow What better place than here? What better time than now?"
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Agree with pretty much everyone on the coverage. I'd much rather DVR all the live coverage and watch that then that hacked up coverage during primetime. I don't care too much about the preliminary rounds and would MUCH rather see finals of events I normally don't get to see. Someone mentioned watching the hammer throw from start to finish, every throw... I'd love to see that!
Although I'm still miffed about the ridiculous "2 per country" qualifying rule for the individual all-around, I'm happy to see the US women gymnastics team win the team competition. Golds for everyone! They were far and away the best team out there. McKayla's vault was godly...
(although I do admit feeling VERY bad for the Russian girl that had that catastrophic floor routine that basically crushed their hopes... I'm not a emotional guy, but I just wanted to hug her. There's no worse feeling than letting your teammates down like that.)
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let's not leave out that they have a terrible online site too. no, why put on the competitions even after you air them taped. let's wait until tomorrow if at all
In this day and age, I see no reason why all the events should not be available to stream online.
In other news, some badminton teams have been disqualified for purposely losing matches.
web page
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Agreed on the horribleness...
I havent seen any swimming...not that ive gone after it, but yesterday I was watching USA womens basketball and they were destroying Angola all the while Brazil and i think Great Britain were in OT...Which actually doesnt make sense cuz I think they only have 1 basketball arena, but Yahoo sports had the game in OT while they were showing the USA game. I thought USA was live, idk...but why do they show USA smoke Angola and I cant find GBR v Brazil in OT
NBC Sports has done a good job in my opinion. MSNBC has done good with that theyre doing, and CNBC when they have sports...Bravo has done all tennis so far and Ive watched none of it.
NBC has been atrocious though
The minute they switched out of the USA game to show a closer game between 2 other countries a whole different group of people would complain. The minute they showed the table tennis medal round with no Americans in it instead of some swimming qualifier with Americans in it, people would complain. If they show some of this stuff live people will complain that its at a time when they can't watch it, if they show it tape-delayed people gripe because they didn't get to see it live.. I have no great love for NBC but they are absolutely in a no-win situation here and people are going to gripe no matter what they do. They are devoting an unpredented amount of air time to showing more events than has ever been shown before and they are making a ton more available online and all everybody wants to do is complain that they don't get to see exactly what THEY want to see exactly when THEY want to see it with the announcers that THEY like...... Entitlement at its finest. 
yebat' Putin
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edited: somehow missed the end of the article on first pass.
apparently, the women on both sides were not trying at all and being blatantly obvious about trying to lose. they were repeatedly warned during the match. i understand why they took measures now.
what I don't understand is why they had to make it so obvious. just overhit or hit smashes into the net, etc. it's not hard to look like you are trying while losing.
Last edited by no_logo_required; 08/01/12 11:10 AM.
#gmstrong
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Right...and its true you cant please everyone.
So lets go about it in a way that seems to make the most sense....
NBC covers everything United States that they can. If they can do it live, do it live. If its something they deem necessary to tape delay, do that and stream it live online.
NBC Sports covers all medal events possible and/or backup USA events
CNBC gets all the "best" games...switchable to something closer if its the USA pounding someone,
BRAVO gets the other events...
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In this day and age, I see no reason why all the events should not be available to stream online.
Arent they?
I have an NBC Olympics app on my iPad that seems to have all the events live. Maybe there are some left off? I have been watching most of the events live though via that.
Eat it Phil...
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Quote:
Quote:
In this day and age, I see no reason why all the events should not be available to stream online.
Arent they?
I have an NBC Olympics app on my iPad that seems to have all the events live. Maybe there are some left off? I have been watching most of the events live though via that.
I did the same thing on my iPhone. I watched the girls get the gold in gymnastics live, Phelps win silver tying the record for most medals and then later on winning gold as part of the relay giving him the record for most medals live as well. I believe NBC has a website up that streams the events live as well.
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If you get NBC on your cable or satellite, you can get Live Extra for free on your computer. All events are broadcast live in HD. I've been watching weightlifting, kayaking, archery, judo....all the stuff I like but don't see much of on broadcast TV. They also have replays of the events. It's a good stream, but they do throw in commercials.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
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I'm not sure if this has been posted yet...but WHY do medal winners get paid in addition to winning the medal? 
#gmstrong #gmlapdance
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I'm not sure if this has been posted yet...but WHY do medal winners get paid in addition to winning the medal?
not sure if they managed to do it this year, but in the past the US Olympic Committee had been a self-funding entity. In other words, they don't use tax dollars unless they have a shortfall (they have sponsorships and fund-raising dinners, etc. that fund their expenditures).
also, it's not like these athletes make alot of money for their efforts: $25K for gold medal (medal itself worth $600) $15K for silver $10K for bronze
Considering these athletes are in a self-funding entity and have worked pretty much their entire lives to win a medal (and make our country look good in the process), I don't have much issue with them getting a small token of appreciation (which likely is gone immediatly put into training, coaches, etc. for the next Olympics/World Championships, etc.)
#gmstrong
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I get that they don't get rich winning a medal, and I know the US is one of the lowest paying countries. However, why pay at all?
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What I dont like is that they have to pay tax on the value of the medal they win
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What I dont like is that they have to pay tax on the value of the medal they win
Ha ha ha....typical. You would think the government would waive the tax, but I'm not surprised. Oh well.
If you have an inspirational story, a cute face and a gold medal, you may get rich on endorsements. So there is that too.
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I don't know what it is about the Olympics. but they just don't hold my interest.
I mean, I am always happy for an american gold win and all, but still, as a whole, it doesn't make me excited..
#GMSTRONG
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If you have an inspirational story, a cute face and a gold medal, you may get rich on endorsements.
So what you're saying is that I'm just a golf medal away from being rich? Cool... 
yebat' Putin
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What I dont like is that they have to pay tax on the value of the medal they win
it's been demonstrated that there are so many tax deductions they can use on it that very few (if any) actually pay tax "on the medal"
all money they spend on travel, equipment, training, coaches, etc. is tax deductible from that medal money. so, except for the few like Phelps that have an absolute ton of endorsement money coming in, they don't have to pay tax on that prize.
#gmstrong
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I get that they don't get rich winning a medal, and I know the US is one of the lowest paying countries. However, why pay at all?
because the US Olympic Committee has enough sponsorship money and donations to pay for it?
why not reward the best? it's not even out of our tax dollars.
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Thank goodness for some sport that doesn't involve the Browns being sold!

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What I dont like is that they have to pay tax on the value of the medal they win
it's been demonstrated that there are so many tax deductions they can use on it that very few (if any) actually pay tax "on the medal"
all money they spend on travel, equipment, training, coaches, etc. is tax deductible from that medal money. so, except for the few like Phelps that have an absolute ton of endorsement money coming in, they don't have to pay tax on that prize.
Why even have it though?
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I don't know what it is about the Olympics. but they just don't hold my interest.
I mean, I am always happy for an american gold win and all, but still, as a whole, it doesn't make me excited..
I know a few people who feel the same way. In any of lifes endeavors, I just love seeing people who've given their all in devotion to their craft. The olympics is pinnacle of the careers of these athletes. There's no big fat professional sports contract awaiting most of them when it's over. It's refreshing watching world class athletes trying to be the best at what they do.....vs. some entitled whiner making millions per year for standing in the outfield getting 3-4 balls hit in his direction per evening.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
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j/c
Has anyone else been disappointed in the version of our National Anthem that has been played? I've heard high school bands perform it better, IMO.
I am unfamiliar with this feeling of optimism
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Quote:
Quote:
What I dont like is that they have to pay tax on the value of the medal they win
it's been demonstrated that there are so many tax deductions they can use on it that very few (if any) actually pay tax "on the medal"
all money they spend on travel, equipment, training, coaches, etc. is tax deductible from that medal money. so, except for the few like Phelps that have an absolute ton of endorsement money coming in, they don't have to pay tax on that prize.
Well, by the same token, the money they spend on travel, equipment, training, coaches, etc, is also deductible if they DON'T win anything, right?
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
What I dont like is that they have to pay tax on the value of the medal they win
it's been demonstrated that there are so many tax deductions they can use on it that very few (if any) actually pay tax "on the medal"
all money they spend on travel, equipment, training, coaches, etc. is tax deductible from that medal money. so, except for the few like Phelps that have an absolute ton of endorsement money coming in, they don't have to pay tax on that prize.
Well, by the same token, the money they spend on travel, equipment, training, coaches, etc, is also deductible if they DON'T win anything, right?
with the arcane tax laws they have it is only deductible towards monies that they earn through the sport. i am not sure how it works with endorsement money or if that is a different beast.
and most of these kids don't get endorsement money (at least beyond paying for coaches/training anyway) and don't have time to work a job
#gmstrong
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I don't know what it is about the Olympics. but they just don't hold my interest.
I mean, I am always happy for an american gold win and all, but still, as a whole, it doesn't make me excited..
I'm the opposite, D.
Once every 4 years, I get to see sporting events that are almost NEVER televised at any other time. I get to learn about athletes from tiny countries who get a chance to go head-to-head against the monolithic powerhouses: dirt-poor distance runners from Kenya who train barefooted, weightlifters from Lithuania, a Chinese diver who grew up in some obscure province, looking to help her family out of poverty and oppression.
In some ways, it's much more interesting than hearing a backstory like Brayleon Edwards getting into a bar room scuffle, or Plax Burress bustin' off a cap in his own ass.
I was a swimmer in HS, so I don't miss a swimming event. Not a single heat of prelims or semis. My heart rate increases as soon as I hear "Swimmers- take your marks." I hold my breath with them at every turn, and I'm spent as they touch the wall.
My bf from HS was all about Track & Field. Hurdles, sprints, pole vault, relays- I'm right there.
Like Jim McKay used to say every Saturday afternoon: "The thrill of victory.... and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition..."
For me, there's nothing quite like it... and I'll be hooked for life.
jaho, Clem
"too many notes, not enough music-"
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j/c
Has anyone else been disappointed in the version of our National Anthem that has been played? I've heard high school bands perform it better, IMO.
Here's a quote from my fb page:
"[Clem] "is decidedly less impressed with the Summer Olympics' arrangement of the US National anthem than he was with the Winter arrangement:
Wrong key too fast winky orchestration. spiritless playing.
Still like hearing it after Olympic events, however."
______________________
It's hard to believe that someone got paid actual cashmunny to put out that arrangement. I've heard better writing in a freshman orchestration class mid-term project.What's even more unbelievable is that that weak-wristed playing was done by none other than the London Phil.
Tragic.
[shakes head slowly]
p.s. If you can find a clip of an American's gold ceremony from Vancouver, check it out... and listen to THAT version. Perhaps the best, most original arrangement I've ever heard. I'm still trying to chase down the arrangement for Our Bunch to play at some concert.
"too many notes, not enough music-"
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I also like to watch because I find myself saying quite a bit: "I couldn't do that. Couldn't do that. Nope, couldn't do that one."
I am unfamiliar with this feeling of optimism
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and I say, "ah hell, I could do that 30 years ago." of course I've had a drink or two.. 
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NRTU This thread depresses me.... it's the OLYMPICS! And we're in here complaining and arguing about the winners getting 25k for winning the olympics?!? I'll only say very quickly that almost all of these sports are now professional sports where the athletes get paid for winning... just the way it is now, I don't see why the olympics should be any different... ok... back to what's important... the olympics!!!! How about that race by Phelps and Lotche!?! Wow! Great swim! and as others have said... I've actually found myself cheering for the Chinese woman more than I ever have (watched them play Brazil in v-ball this morning) because I just have a feeling that if they mess up they or a member of their family will be beaten... so excited to see track today!!! Steeple is streaming right now! Love that event!!!! 
<><
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I found the commentary amusing last night because they were talking about how Gabby Douglas was the first African American woman to win the the womens gymnastic individual gold... when what they meant to say was that she was the first black female to win the gold... one moron on the local news even said she was "the first African American female in the world to win the gold"...  I'm pretty sure the United States is the only place where we refer to our black females as African AMERICAN.... but they couldn't get over the unPCness of just saying that she is black. Oh well, congrats to her, it was a great performance. 
yebat' Putin
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Well I suppose both would apply, since she is also American, but it diminishes the accomplishment. PCness can absolutely be a weird thing. In college I was yelled at because I corrected a teacher who referred to Kofi Annan as African American... guy was born in the gold coast of africa and has no american citizenship. Still everyone thought I was being wrong about it 
Last edited by gage; 08/03/12 10:59 AM.
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Anybody hear about the boxing judging travesty? ... sure, that's sort of redundant, I guess ... but if you thought the Paquio fight was fixed, check out this video: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/boxing/...l-decision.htmlThat's some Roy Jones Jr-esque robbery there. Fortunatly, they eventually overturned the results and the Japanese fighter won, but give me a break ... boxing needs some SERIOUS reforms if they want to stay a relevant sport in the future. 
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