The Summer Olympics. Do You Care?

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Nope. If I'm flipping thru channels and Diving is on I'll occasionally watch that. Not entirely sure why.

Maybe you're a closet Canucks fan and you just don't realize it.

And yeah I watch the Olympics, when you're in the dog days of Summer and you're only choices on television are baseball or the CFL, you have to take what you can get elsewhere.

[Flabbibulin]

My wife booked some vacation right during the Olympics, so pretty sure I wont get to spend quality time watching this year... will coincidentally be in London during the Paralympics though.

[GirlySports]

Winter Olympics I find myself totally cheering for Canada. I expect them to kill everyone.

Summer Olympics I find myself more neutral and watching events. Obviously if a Canadian does well I'll be happy but that's not priority #1.

[Cowperson]

I love the track events. Just amazing stuff.

And women in bathing suits.

Opening and closing ceremonies are always extremely ponderous. If you're the home country, like in Vancouver, you're interested. Otherwise, DVR it and fast forward like an awards show.

Cowperson

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

I just can't care about "athletics" that involve sports such as: sitting on a horse, using an over-engineered bow, or having people make the same swimming motions at the same time.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Daradon

Isn't horse ballet a sport this year? (dressage)

It's been all over Colbert.

Horse ballet...

If you like it fine, but a Summer Oly sport? Really? This goes to the crux of my argument.

all the equestrian stuff needs to go, why horses are allowed to compete in the Olympics baffles me. why not allow Olympic dog shows then or events with monkeys? (ok that last one sounds kinda awesome)

[Daradon]

^^^ Monkey Power Lifting!

I would watch that.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I used to be even more into them as a kid, but I love big events like this. I don't care about a lot of the sports outside of the 4 years, but as soon as they are on I am in Olympic mode. Same goes for the Euro and World Cup. I eat it all up, and like being around others who do too.

That's one thing I really miss about NY....during the WC it seems like the whole city just turns into a big soccer town (bound to happen with so many foreigners), and people shutdown to watch games and drink and socialize. Don't really seem to get that in Calgary, which is a bit of a shame.

It's like that right now for the Euro too, just slightly less so due to no US team.

As for the summer Olympics, right now I'm not all that interested, but I'm pretty sure when they roll around I'll be completely into it. Happens every time.

[Nammer403]

I enjoy watching it. The events are more interesting than the tv shows on during that time anyways.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Daradon

^^^ Monkey Power Lifting!

I would watch that.

Gorilla bench press! I read somewhere once that a gorilla has the capacity to bench press over 4000 pounds!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Gorilla bench press! I read somewhere once that a gorilla has the capacity to bench press over 4000 pounds!

Theres only one way to find out for sure....

[blankall]

Love it when the olympics are on TV. Don't pay particularly close attention to any event, but love being able to tune in and out of sports and watch world class atheletes compete. Most of the events are short so you can tune in and out as you please.

The whole concept of the olympics is amazing. Bringing countries together, even though many are in conflict with eachother, to compete is a fantastic concept.

[Sr. Mints]

I, for one, won't be wearing any pants when watching women's beach volleyball.

The summer games are boring as ####. I keep tabs on the medal counts if I'm reading the paper or something, but I invest no real time watching.

[Svensational]

I remember watching the last summer Olympics.. barely. I was pretty much strung out for that entire summer though.

*nods, clears throat*

..No, no I don't care about the games. Basically watch em if I got nothing else going on.

[scotty2hotty]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Agreed completely with this sentiment. I understand that having races of different distances is important (testing raw speed vs. endurance), but I don't get why there are so many events for various swimming strokes. Do we really need all of these:

200m Freestyle
200m Backstroke
200m Breastroke
200m Butterfly
200m Medley

I agree and was just talking about this the other day.

It's not like they have the 100m sprint. Then following that up with:
100m backwards run
100m skip
100m crab walk
100m 3 legged race

The point is to get from start to finish in the fastest time possible, is it not? Why have them do it in awkward, slower ways?

[troutman]

I enjoy the Olympics, regardless of how Canada does. There are many interesting events and stories to follow. The Olympics sometimes shows the best side of mankind, in a world in distress.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Not a ton. I'm sure I will get caught up in it when they're on, but as of right now I'm not very excited about them.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

all the equestrian stuff needs to go, why horses are allowed to compete in the Olympics baffles me. why not allow Olympic dog shows then or events with monkeys? (ok that last one sounds kinda awesome)

I dunno. Tell that to the 30,000 people that jam Spruce Meadows for every event down there. The equestrian events are a bit of an odd cat, since they are less about human strength, endurance and ability, and more about the ability to control another living animal. They are pretty much rooted in Victorian era cavalry military drills, which is probably why they were made into Olympic events.

Maybe we should add more Victorian events instead! How about fox hunting?

[scotty2hotty]

I also hate the pompous attitude of Britain in general. Anyone remember how relentless the British media was in panning the Vanouver Olympics at every turn? It's their national past time to turn up their noses at others.

Part of me hopes the logistics and planning of this olympics turns out to be a disaster just to see them with their tale between their legs.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by troutman

I enjoy the Olympics, regardless of how Canada does. There are many interesting events and stories to follow. The Olympics sometimes shows the best side of mankind, in a world in destress.

It is interesting to contrast Canadian Olympic commercials against American. Have you seen an American commercial that even hinted there is another nation competing? The Canadian commercials focus on athletes around the world.