2012 Summer Olympics - London, England (1 Viewer)

[Ockeghem]

Heartbreak for Murry and Robson in the mixed doubles gold medal match. They came so close. Looking forward to the vault finals tonight even though the results were already spoiled for me.

Adam,
I was pleased to see Murray win the singles match, though.
I too was looking forward to (and really enjoyed) the vault finals. Not one girl stuck their landing tonight, even including their two vaults each. Some landings were close, but none were perfect. Maroney looked ticked only at herself on her second attempt. Had she nailed that landing like she did in the team final, she would have taken the gold. She was a good sport though, saying afterward that she didn't deserve the gold, having 'fallen on her butt.'

 

[Ockeghem]

David,
Nice link! I vaguely remember Mexico City, but I remember the Munich (1972) Games like yesterday. Frank Shorter was so inspiring (for me) in his race. That was quite an Olympics, and those memories will remain with me for many years.

 

[Ockeghem]

Yeah, I was a little surprised that it did not finish in the stadium, and even made the same loop 3 times, which included coming back to the starting line, and by some of the landmarks more than once.
I know the announcers made a big deal of the water stations being on the same side on a narrow street, and the u-turns that may affect the runners. I never ran one, so I don't know for sure.
And it looked like it was raining really good for a while, then the sun peeked out. Though the temperature was definitely be more ideal to be out there (at least it would be for me). A lot better than it was in the Olympic marathon in Beijing, which was steamy hot.

Walter,
There is just something thrilling about seeing the runners, after having run 26.2 miles, entering the Stadium to the roar of the crowd.
Speaking of Beijing, I would think the Los Angeles Games (1984) had a hot weather marathon, but I can't recall for certain. That marathon was an Olympic record for Joannie Benoit, so I don't think it could have been nearly as hot as Beijing.
Side note: I've actually run in the same race once with Joan Benoit (Boston Marathon in the early 1980s). I was actually tied with her for the lead.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Er, that was before the race began, of course.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I was pleased to see Murray win the singles match, though.

Yeah, that was a great moment in sports history for Great Britain. I root for Team USA first and foremost, but I almost always have a soft spot for the home team, too. Great Britain's definitely made the most of the home field advantage. And while there was a lot of controversy in London about Murray picking Robson over the higher-ranked Watson, I think the pair more than silenced the critics. A silver was more than Team GB could have expected going into mixed doubles, and a really extraordinary performance from an 18-year-old ranked 98 in the women's sport. Their success was of course driven primarily by Murray's powerful serve, but she won a lot of her points and saved their bacon on a number of occasions with her game close to the net.
Between Murray's win over Federer and Serena Williams's victory over Maria Sharapova, both singles finals that were expected to be real battles between extraordinary competitors turned out to be real thrashings.

I too was looking forward to (and really enjoyed) the vault finals. Not one girl stuck their landing tonight, even including their two vaults each. Some landings were close, but none were perfect. Maroney looked ticked only at herself on her second attempt. Had she nailed that landing like she did in the team final, she would have taken the gold. She was a good sport though, saying afterward that she didn't deserve the gold, having 'fallen on her butt.'

I enjoyed the vault finals as well, although the coverage made me wonder if NBC did research that said American TV viewers turn the dial after every so many seconds without an American on the screen. We saw more of McKayla Maroney stretching than we did of all the other competitors' actual vaults. Great television but brutal for an athlete at the top of her game to go out with such a mistake. The Olympics are most exciting for me when athletes that are normally solid find a little bit extra stuff in the basement and manage to pull of something extraordinary, the way Murray did in the men's singles tennis final or the way our swimmers have done night after night in many cases. Once Maroney fell, it wasn't a matter of Romania doing something extraordinary so much as it was Romania not making any mistakes. That doesn't take anything away from Sandra Izbasa's absolutely deserved and earned gold medal. It's just less engaging television. But Maroney's only 16, and she should take heart from Oksana Chusovitina, who took Silver in Beijing at age 33 and competed today again at age 37. Maroney won't be competing anywhere close to that, the US squad is simply too competitive, but barring any injuries she's got a good shot at trying again in Rio in 2016.

 

[Ockeghem]

Yeah, that was a great moment in sports history for Great Britain. I root for Team USA first and foremost, but I almost always have a soft spot for the home team, too. Great Britain's definitely made the most of the home field advantage. And while there was a lot of controversy in London about Murray picking Robson over the higher-ranked Watson, I think the pair more than silenced the critics. A silver was more than Team GB could have expected going into mixed doubles, and a really extraordinary performance from an 18-year-old ranked 98 in the women's sport. Their success was of course driven primarily by Murray's powerful serve, but she won a lot of her points and saved their bacon on a number of occasions with her game close to the net.
Between Murray's win over Federer and Serena Williams's victory over Maria Sharapova, both singles finals that were expected to be real battles between extraordinary competitors turned out to be real thrashings.
I enjoyed the vault finals as well, although the coverage made me wonder if NBC did research that said American TV viewers turn the dial after every so many seconds without an American on the screen. We saw more of McKayla Maroney stretching than we did of all the other competitors' actual vaults. Great television but brutal for an athlete at the top of her game to go out with such a mistake. The Olympics are most exciting for me when athletes that are normally solid find a little bit extra stuff in the basement and manage to pull of something extraordinary, the way Murray did in the men's singles tennis final or the way our swimmers have done night after night in many cases. Once Maroney fell, it wasn't a matter of Romania doing something extraordinary so much as it was Romania not making any mistakes. That doesn't take anything away from Sandra Izbasa's absolutely deserved and earned gold medal. It's just less engaging television. But Maroney's only 16, and she should take heart from Oksana Chusovitina, who took Silver in Beijing at age 33 and competed today again at age 37. Maroney won't be competing anywhere close to that, the US squad is simply too competitive, but barring any injuries she's got a good shot at trying again in Rio in 2016.

Adam,
I didn't get to see any of the tennis 'live' this year, but I did catch some highlights after the matches were completed.
Regarding Maroney and NBC, I know. They built her up so much before her apparatus final and had awarded her the gold before she had even vaulted. I had no idea how it would turn out, but watching her in flight is really quite a treat even when she doesn't nail her landing. I thought her response (posted in part above) that she did not deserve the gold was classy, and I particularly liked her lengthy embrace of Izbasa after the latter had won the gold medal. That was actually a poignant moment for me. And I agree too that Maroney will be quite hungry in Rio, assuming she is (as you say) free of injury.
My children couldn't believe the age of Oksana Chusovitina. In fact, the only other facts that surprised them more was learning whether any of the female gymnasts were over 5'3" (seriously). When they listed the girls' heights, I heard my daughters comparing those heights to their own. Any girl over 5' kind of got their attention.

 

[mattCR]

This to me is some of the worst olympic coverage I can remember. How is it I watched the Men's 100M dash - one of the "big time" events on a 4+ hour delay (after I knew the result) in HD, and could easily watch everywhere on the net via Youtube or others HOURS before. Meanwhile, here in Kansas City, all we had on our NBC was like early rounds of women's volleyball. I don't have anything against Volleyball, but the 100M dash was a huge tape delay so they could do that? Are you kidding me?

On the obscure olympic trivia bit, congratulations to Cyprus, for winning the first olympic medal in their history at the games: http://www.sbnation.com/london-olympics-2012/2012/8/6/3223124/sailing-shooting-cyprus-earns-first-ever-medal-china-adds-to-gold

 

[Ockeghem]

An interesting article on the American women entered in the Olympic marathon. It describes some of what they went through while running the race.
http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/espnw/story/_/id/8237764/2012-summer-olympics-marathon-misfire-trio-us-women

 

[Walter C]

/t/322614/2012-summer-olympics-london-england/90#post_3958831
This to me is some of the worst olympic coverage I can remember. How is it I watched the Men's 100M dash - one of the "big time" events on a 4+ hour delay (after I knew the result) in HD, and could easily watch everywhere on the net via Youtube or others HOURS before. Meanwhile, here in Kansas City, all we had on our NBC was like early rounds of women's volleyball. I don't have anything against Volleyball, but the 100M dash was a huge tape delay so they could do that? Are you kidding me?

On the obscure olympic trivia bit, congratulations to Cyprus, for winning the first olympic medal in their history at the games: http://www.sbnation.com/london-olympics-2012/2012/8/6/3223124/sailing-shooting-cyprus-earns-first-ever-medal-china-adds-to-gold

The thing that bugs me is how NBC holds the viewers hostage, by airing the bigger events only after 10 PM, and no replay option online. I find myself at times, recording the last couple hours of prime time and watching the next morning, as I just get too tired to stay up for the bigger events.

Also, Guatemala won their first Olympic medal as well, in the 20km walk few days ago.

 

[Walter C]

Originally Posted by Ockeghem /t/322614/2012-summer-olympics-london-england/90#post_3958712
Walter,
There is just something thrilling about seeing the runners, after having run 26.2 miles, entering the Stadium to the roar of the crowd.
Speaking of Beijing, I would think the Los Angeles Games (1984) had a hot weather marathon, but I can't recall for certain. That marathon was an Olympic record for Joannie Benoit, so I don't think it could have been nearly as hot as Beijing.

I thought the best one was in Athens, when the runners ran into the 1896 Olympic Stadium. While this marathon was not nearly as scenic, it was the one that defined what a marathon is.

I'm not sure how the marathons before Sydney were, but I can assume the one in Atlanta would be more brutal, considering how summers in the southern US tend to be.

 

[Sumnernor]

I just discovered this thread. Before I forget I was living in Munich in 1972 - lived circa 20 minutes from rhe area. I got reguler price tickets for the opening ceremony plus all of the afterniin track & field and the men's Basketball final (US-Russia). In europe & england they use "Athletics" rather than Track & Field.

Some time ago I read that you could see everything live in the US on the internet - is this true? On German TV is stated that the whole world saw the opening ceremony ljve EXCEPT the US- was this not live on the US internet???

Could one watch yesterday the track and field with the 100m mens race live! The local time in Gernany was circa

Here everything is live. In Germany one could see the Olympics on the ARD/ZDF and Eurosport.Eurosport is not biased with the germans like the ARD&ZDF.

Eurosport has shown lots of weight lifting - yesterday saw little 350 pound Mangold, the sister of a NYJs NFL player. She didn't win.

 

[Ockeghem]

LOL. I just realized what I wrote above regarding Joan Benoit and the 1984 Olympic women's marathon. Of course her time in the 1984 Olympic Marathon was an Olympic record for women, as it was the first-ever Olympic marathon for women. Sorry about that.

 

[Walter C]

Originally Posted by Sumnernor /t/322614/2012-summer-olympics-london-england/90#post_3958869
Some time ago I read that you could see everything live in the US on the internet - is this true? On German TV is stated that the whole world saw the opening ceremony ljve EXCEPT the US- was this not live on the US internet???

It is true that everything is live on the internet, but with a couple issues. One, you need to have a cable subscription, so if you don't have it, you are pretty much out of luck. Two, the buffering problem, as I find myself at times, just closing the whole thing down in frustration when wanting to watch the marquee events live and it just freezes.

I don't know how NBC can correct these problems in the next Winter Olympics, though. The next Summer, on the other hand, there should be no excuse, but I know they will find ways to delay the airing of some events, to keep people watching past 10pm.

 

[Ockeghem]

Guess which Russian gymnast actually knows how to smile? My children and I were wondering if we'd ever see one from Aliya Mustafina.

The U.S.A. - Canada soccer match is into overtime now. What a game thus far!

 

[DavidJ]

The U.S.A. - Canada soccer match is into overtime now. What a game thus far!

It has been quite a match. Full of great play, breakdowns, drama and it may be headed to penalties.

 

[Ockeghem]

David,
I thought I would be able to catch some of it live, but no luck. Well, the game is over. I 'watched' some of it via ESPN.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This to me is some of the worst olympic coverage I can remember.  How is it I watched the Men's 100M dash - one of the "big time" events on a 4+ hour delay (after I knew the result) in HD, and could easily watch everywhere on the net via Youtube or others HOURS before.  Meanwhile, here in Kansas City, all we had on our NBC was like early rounds of women's volleyball.   I don't have anything against Volleyball, but the 100M dash was a huge tape delay so they could do that?  Are you kidding me?

It's precisely because it's one of the "big time" events that it was tape delayed (or in NBC Sports lingo, "archived"). It's not that women's volleyball was chosen over 100M dash, it's that NBC wanted to hold the 100M dash for when it could get the most eye balls and the most ad dollars. NBC's got, what, six channels broadcasting HD from the Olympics simultaneously? It can air just about every event everywhere live if it wanted to.
I too find the practice infuriating, but given the ratings bonanza for NBC -- a network in bad need of good ratings -- it looks like the practice is here to stay. The primetime broadcasts have been averaging well over 30 million viewers a night, a truly astonishing figure for any time of the year, much less July and August.

Some time ago I read that you could see everything live in the US on the internet - is this true? On German TV is stated that the whole world saw the opening ceremony ljve EXCEPT the US- was this not live on the US internet???

The opening ceremony was an exception to NBC's "everything live" streaming rule. I found that there are other exceptions, mainly that NBC has to be covering the event in some fashion to see a live feed while it's going on. Some of the early rounds of tennis where there were several matches going on simultaneously I couldn't find live feeds for all of the courts.

It has been quite a match. Full of great play, breakdowns, drama and it may be headed to penalties.

What a grueling slog for the players. Just beautiful stamina play from both squads as the game carried into stoppage time on the second overtime. And what an outstanding header from Alex Morgan. That goal will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of her career.

 

[Ockeghem]

Adam,
I saw the tying and winning goals by team U.S.A. after the game later this evening. That header was cheered on by my children and I quite loudly! I had to explain the rules of the game in about two minutes, which was challenging. I wish I had seen the entire game.

 

[DavidJ]

Rapinoe's two goals were pretty spectacular (even if the defender on the second made a huge mistake) too.
A couple of neat Olympic moments/stories in case you missed them:
http://news.yahoo.com/gymnastics-grimacing-jovtchev-relieved-over-171051817--spt.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/key-2012-olympics-moments-oscar-pistorius-and-kirani-james-400-semi-finals

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Telegraph: 54-Year-Old Wins Gold Medal

 

[Ockeghem]

David,
Yeah, I watched Jovtchev's rings final and Pistorius's two 400-meter runs the past few days. Great stuff. I wish Jovtchev had stuck his landing. It's amazing to me how strong the men are, and those iron crosses are incredible to see.
The rings final was quite a shock even to the announcers when Arthur Zanetti won the gold after his last routine. They had all but given the gold to Chen Yibing. You could see the look of disbelief on the face of Yibing's coach.
Adam,
That's a neat story on Skelton. Now I wish I could actually see some equestrian during the Games. I've been looking for it just about every day during the Olympics, but to no avail thus far.