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View Full Version : Do You Think the Olympics are BLOATED?



Essex502
08-17-2004, 12:19 PM
Who else thinks the olympics have become bloated with all of the weird little sports or big name professional athletes?
Come on, seriously folks do we really want to watch:
Badminton
Equestrian
Field Hockey
Judo
Shooting
Table Tennis
Handball (sounds more like handjob)
Water Polo (all the action is underwater)
Synchronized Diving (what's with that?)
Synchonized Swimming (anyone else remember Ester Williams?)
Taekwondo (huh?)
Rhythmic Gymnastics (what the hell is this?)
Trampoline
Then there are the popular sports that require subjective judging:
Diving
Gymnastics
Boxing
Then the big team sports that weren't part of the original Olympic ideal such as:
Basketball
Soccer
Baseball
Softball
Volleyball (except the women's beach version!)
Also the odd permutations that technology has brought to the games:
Rowing
Fencing (two peeps with swords...one leaves...not that BS they have now!)
Archery
Medley swimming (what ever happened to whoever gets there first?)
Cycling (ever see these peeps on a high banked oval come to a complete stop during the race?)
What ever happened to "how high", "how fast", "how much" and "how far" that the track and field sports of the original Olympics? Or Weightlifting or wrestling? Relegated to week two of the meet.
I am wrong or could they complete the games in a weekend - alright and extended 3 day weekend - if they cut out some of the "boutique" games (not sport)?

MagicMtnDan
08-17-2004, 12:38 PM
You just trying to stir things up or are you not watching the games?
I watched table tennis for about 15 minutes this past weekend and was amazed at the US men's competitor (from Chicago) - he could return everything his opponents hit at him - he was amazing!
The Olympics is the only time most of us ever get to see sports like this. I've watched the synchronized diving and I'm fascinated by what they're doing.

PHX ATC
08-17-2004, 12:42 PM
I think it's cool that all the weird little sports get to have a giant get together and play their sport/hobby and see who's the best. You get to hang out and check out the whole Olympic spirit.
I find it entertaining and enlightening to watch the smaller countries field a team or an individual competitor in a sport that is not popular here in the US. So what if it is boring to watch the actual sport. I bet, given the chance, you would at least try all the sports/events that are televised and played in the Olympics.
It's the spirit, the goodwill, the fun, the challenge for these folks. Get into it! :rollside:

Ziggy
08-17-2004, 12:46 PM
I actually agree with Dan for a change---its the only time we ever get to see these obscure sports so whats the big deal to watch some of it now/then, its only around for a few weeks every 4 yrs....It was better than that lousy ESPN Greenbay/Seattle game

HCS
08-17-2004, 12:51 PM
And they won't allow water skiing.
Crap like hand ball and table tennis I'm sure we could do without.
Hey George! I got tha gold medal in Hand ball...... herr herr. :notam:

Essex502
08-17-2004, 12:56 PM
You just trying to stir things up or are you not watching the games?
Why watch the games when I can't avoid the results 12 -24 hours ahead of the broadcast?
I watched table tennis for about 15 minutes this past weekend and was amazed at the US men's competitor (from Chicago) - he could return everything his opponents hit at him - he was amazing!
Yaaaawwwwwnnnn!
The Olympics is the only time most of us ever get to see sports like this. I've watched the synchronized diving and I'm fascinated by what they're doing.
All of these hobbies/games/pseudosports have a world championship every year but you aren't paying attention to ESPN9 or Fox Sports Asia or some such nonsense! :D
Now the Rupert owns DirecTV you should be seeing more of the boutique events on a more weekly basis.
My point is that I have to sort through all of the chaff to get to the meat that I would like to see. And...at odd hours...cutting back and forth between events.

jas0502
08-17-2004, 01:01 PM
Yes, I think they are bloated. Do I want to see:
Equetrian - yes.
all the other in your top list - no
Synchronized Swiming and diving??? Please. I was watching it last night, and the comentator was making observations that some dives were insync and other wern't?! How could she tell :confused: ? They all looked the same to me!

Essex502
08-17-2004, 01:25 PM
Yes, I think they are bloated. Do I want to see:
Equetrian - yes.
all the other in your top list - no
Synchronized Swiming and diving??? Please. I was watching it last night, and the comentator was making observations that some dives were insync and other wern't?! How could she tell :confused: ? They all looked the same to me!
That's some of my point exactly...anything that requires a JUDGE to determine some arbitrary number to determine a winner - shouldn't be in the Olympics.

PHX ATC
08-17-2004, 01:45 PM
Yes, I think they are bloated. Do I want to see:
Equetrian - yes.
My wife and daughter are dying to see the equestrian events, yet can't seem to pry themselves out of bed at 2 a.m. to see it. :mad:

Scream
08-17-2004, 01:46 PM
I just wrote a note to the NBC boneheads who decided to drag out the big events, like mens and womens gymnsastics and swimming finals till MID Friggen NIGHT...
What a bunch of assholes, IMO, I've decided to read the news instead and get the results 12 hours earlier. Bastards.
And I think they used to have all those sports anyway, just that it was like the oscars, you only saw the biggies on tv, everyone else showed up to the Howard Johnson in North Hollywood in jeans and tshirts...
What ever happened to Jim McKay and the normal Olympics?

mirvin
08-17-2004, 02:18 PM
Hot Boat has an Olympics??
mirvin :wink:

Essex502
08-17-2004, 02:28 PM
Hot Boat has an Olympics??
mirvin :wink:
What's Hot Boat? :D

Essex502
08-17-2004, 02:28 PM
My wife and daughter are dying to see the equestrian events, yet can't seem to pry themselves out of bed at 2 a.m. to see it. :mad:
Time shift - TiVo or VCR - simple solution!

jas0502
08-17-2004, 02:58 PM
My wife and daughter are dying to see the equestrian events, yet can't seem to pry themselves out of bed at 2 a.m. to see it. :mad:
I think they had the start of the three day event today on Bravo. My husband was going to set the tivo this morning for me . He better have :hammerhea .

eliminatedsprinter
08-17-2004, 03:11 PM
Let me see, the Olympic rules for a sport to be quaified for possible inclusion in an Olympics are; that the sport be competed in and have national organizations on at least 3 continants and that there be an international governing body. After that the IFC decides, perhaps someone from the Hot Boat forum should PM the IFC. ;)
P.S. I loved that Olympic Triplecast that they had back in 92, because I could watch what I wanted. I watched and taped every heat of every Track and Field (The sports real name is Athletics) and still got to see as much of the other events as I wanted. :D

Boozer
08-17-2004, 03:21 PM
NBC was actually concerned that people would not follow the Olympics this year due to American Sports interests shifting. People dont watch Track n Field events anymore. People watch Extreme Sports nowadays Motocross, BMX, Skaeboarding, In-Line skating. THAT's what the people want.
While I respect the training and spirit these olypmians have I have no desire to watch a guy in a speedo swim in a pool. Just not my bag. Winter Olympics at least has snowboarding. I like to watch the bob sledding and luge but they usually get interupted by the crappy ass figure skating.
Also the Olympic commity has no plans to add any extreme sporting event to the summer line up even though extreme sports are now world wide. They say they just dont have the room for them and they cant remove any of the existing sports. I think that's a crock. The Olympics are suppose to be competitions between the people FOR the people. What would you rather see? The American boys dueling it out on the half pipe against the other countries or some candy ass's playing ping pong??

eliminatedsprinter
08-17-2004, 03:39 PM
The ancient games also suffered from bloating. The first 14 games consisted of one event, the stadia race (about a 200 meter sprint). The second event added was the Dua Stadia race (about 400 meters) after that, over the next 1900 years it bloated all the way up to 14 events. Then, after Rome took over Athens and the games they added all kinds of wierd events and the Games died, when Emp. Constintine declared them decadent...
The Greek games were strictly professional and the Stadia race was always the premier event, with it's winner being declared a living god and the next for years of the greek calendar were named after him. There were no women competing in the Olympics (in the stadium) but there was a major event called the Pan Helenic ( or Helena? my memory is failing a bit on the name here) Games that was a big deal for professional women athelets.

CA Stu
08-17-2004, 03:55 PM
No one is being forced to watch them, are they?
I think it's cool for people whose interests are diffferent to be able to compete against the rest of their world in their chosen sport.
For example:
"Hey, you have a ping pong table! You like ping pong?"
"Yes, I am the Olympic Gold Medalist in ping pong, bitch!"
Boozer, here's a newsflash: the American public's choice of sports to follow doesn't revolve around your buddies. I'd much rather watch Olympic Judo than X games. My son may rather watch X games, but I can still kick his ass . Case closed.
As far as needing a judge to score an event, most sports have some kind of referee or umpire, don't they? The scores aren't totally subjective. A certain dive/jump/routine starts off at a prescribed level determined by its difficulty, and points are deducted from there. Like that Romanian dude that fell off the bar last night (ouch)? Mandatory .5 point deduction, for example.
It's all about international competiton, sportsmanship, and camaraderie.
If you can't understand these concepts, or don't want to watch it, don't whine about it, turn off the tv and go do something else! Or tune to Rikki Lake, who gives a crap?
As far as some sports being "relegated to the second week", the main event is always the last fight of the night, isn't it?
Thanks
CA Stu

eliminatedsprinter
08-17-2004, 03:59 PM
No one is being forced to watch them, are they?
I think it's cool for people whose interests are diffferent to be able to compete against the rest of their world in their chosen sport.
For example:
"Hey, you have a ping pong table! You like ping pong?"
"Yes, I am the Olympic Gold Medalist in ping pong, bitch!"
Boozer, here's a newsflash: the American public's choice of sports to follow doesn't revolve around your buddies. I'd much rather watch Olympic Judo than X games. My son may rather watch X games, but I can still kick his ass . Case closed.
As far as needing a judge to score an event, most sports have some kind of referee or umpire, don't they? The scores aren't totally subjective. A certain dive/jump/routine starts off at a prescribed level determined by its difficulty, and points are deducted from there. Like that Romanian dude that fell off the bar last night (ouch)? Mandatory .5 point deduction, for example.
It's all about international competiton, sportsmanship, and camaraderie.
If you can't understand these concepts, or don't want to watch it, don't whine about it, turn off the tv and go do something else! Or tune to Rikki Lake, who gives a crap?
As far as some sports being "relegated to the second week", the main event is always the last fight of the night, isn't it?
Thanks
CA Stu
Relegated to the second week? Pistol Shooting has been the traditional first event. But the premire sport has always been Athetics and it is in the second week.

Kilrtoy
08-17-2004, 04:25 PM
KIds are having a blast rooting for the USA they are learning all these peoples names,
By the way the kids are 5 and 7

MagicMtnDan
08-17-2004, 04:45 PM
While I respect the training and spirit these olypmians have I have no desire to watch a guy in a speedo swim in a pool. Just not my bag.
That's some funny stuff Boozie!

HighRoller
08-17-2004, 08:52 PM
You know, as much drama as they try to create, as much nauil biting nervousness the badminton final brings.....NONE of it compares to the opening ABC used to have for the "Wide World of Sports". You know, the one where the announcer, with doom in his voice, says "...and the agony of defeat..." as some poor prick wipes out like a MOFO on the ski jump and slides 400 feet across a frozen pond! I must have seen that clip 300 times and laughed my ass off every time. Think that guy ever lived that one down? :D

Tyson Ross
08-18-2004, 12:27 AM
Get rid of tennis (they play each other all year long already) and synchronized swimming and add horseshoes and beer drinking.. :jawdrop: ;)

HighRoller
08-18-2004, 12:31 AM
Good point. Drunk horseshoes takes REAL skills! As a matter of fact, any Olympic sport while hammered would be much more fun. And while we're at it, Women's sports need to have a mandatory G-string rule for the over 18 competitors. Talk about ratings! :2purples:

Infomaniac
08-18-2004, 03:49 AM
I could have kicked everyone's butts at The Womens Breast Stroke :cool: :cool: I have been practicing for nearly 40 years.

Essex502
08-18-2004, 05:31 AM
I think it's cool for people whose interests are diffferent to be able to compete against the rest of their world in their chosen sport.
That's why I CHOOSE to not watch most of the telecasts.
As far as needing a judge to score an event, most sports have some kind of referee or umpire, don't they? The scores aren't totally subjective. A certain dive/jump/routine starts off at a prescribed level determined by its difficulty, and points are deducted from there. Like that Romanian dude that fell off the bar last night (ouch)? Mandatory .5 point deduction, for example.
Yes, referee to keep the action clean and within the rules. Too much political BS in JUDGING. See....Winter Olumpic Figure Skating and the French Judges. Or the Korean judges in Boxing during the Seoul Olympics - too numerous examples to list them all.
It's all about international competiton, sportsmanship, and camaraderie.
If you can't understand these concepts, or don't want to watch it, don't whine about it, turn off the tv and go do something else! Or tune to Rikki Lake, who gives a crap?
Who's whining? Just commentary or are you too full of yourself to understand commentary? :D Besides...TV is a "background event" while I'm doing something else until and interesting subject/sport/event is broadcast that consumes my attention.
As far as some sports being "relegated to the second week", the main event is always the last fight of the night, isn't it?
Same night not dragged out 16 days. Olympic officials are probably afraid to schedule the most interesting (read: to the most people or do you count the 4 persons in the world who watch Badminton?) sports first 'cause the folks wouldn't attend after that.
Thanks
CA Stu
Your Welcome!

HighRoller
08-18-2004, 08:04 AM
I was thinking they could "consolidate" some events. For example, Badminton and skeet shooting. Anyone who could smoke that little birdie with a shotgun after a hyper chinaman swats it at 400mph is a stud!