2012 Summer Olympics - London, England (2 Viewers)

[Jay H]

I used to fence in high school but it has since changed so much since then. I was Foil but the Sabre folks get all the airtime. We didn't have electric sabre either which means all the scoring was done by two judges (plus the head judge) without the use of any electronics. Foil and Epee were electric for awhile because it's a thrust so it's easy to put a little plunger on the end of the blade and connect that like a sensor. Sabre is a slashing motion as well so it's I guess took more time to evolve.. Different target areas for each weapon. A lot of determining who gets the point as you will have multiple hits in many cases, especially with sabre is who has right of way unless it's a single hit... Foil is very precise with that..
Jay

 

[Malcolm R]

Women's weightlifting was being shown on MSNBC one afternoon earlier this week (I think Tuesday, around 5PM).
Glad to hear CBC will have future Olympics coverage.

 

[Ockeghem]

Wow Scott! I remember those days of weight lifting being shown! That's right, they don't show that as much today. I guess it was more a part of the Cold War days.

Nelson,
I remember those days fondly. I also liked Jim McKay as an anchor, although Bob Costas is quite good as well.
Well, there certainly is great news for the U.S. today in several events, with more medal events to come tonight. It should be another great night of viewing.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Whenever the TV coverage cuts to commercial, I find myself muting it, and reading during the break. It's just unbelievable how often I ended up doing that, with the constant breaks and the way they show a swimming race, commercial, an interview, commercial, and so on. I think I got about 20 pages of reading done that way.

Since I know the outcome of all of the events anyway, I just DVR NBC's primetime coverage and wait a couple hours so I can skip both commercials and the events I don't care about. If they were showing events live, I'd be much more likely to tune in live so I could experience it "as it happened", or very nearly close to it.
Looking forward to the induvidual all-around tonight for women's gymnastics. Really looking forward to the Women's Vault final on Sunday. McKayla Maroney must be one of the few people on this planet that know in a tactile way what it feels like to fly.

 

[Patrick_S]

Nelson,
I remember those days fondly. I also liked Jim McKay as an anchor, although Bob Costas is quite good as well.
Well, there certainly is great news for the U.S. today in several events, with more medal events to come tonight. It should be another great night of viewing.

I also remember those days and of course I remember Vasiliy Alekseyev.

 

[Stan]

Did another hour on the treadmill at the gym today and got to watch women's double badminton.
Once again seemed pretty lame at first, but wow can those ladies move, especially the Chinese. Some big deal with them playing poorly to gain a higher ranking, not sure of the details, but the team I saw today didn't hold back at all.
Kind of nice being trapped and having to watch whatever channel is on, although I could get it changed if I asked, I haven't with the Olympics.
Interesting to compare it to the fencing I watched Wednesday. Fencing may be athletic, but it's nothing compared the workout those women went through with badminton. Some of the hits and moves they made almost looked impossible, and their speed and movements while returning hits were amazing. Plus they had to play to 21 points, and win two out of three games if I read the captions correctly. Definitely not the badminton I played as a kid, this was serious and a major workout for the players.
Chinese were down in one game by six points and looked like they had given up, but they came from behind and trounced the Russian team.
I've often thought some of these supposed athletic events were fairly ridiculous, but when you watch them for a while it's really pretty fascinating.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Again, NBC doesn't bother to show the final score that decides the difference between gold and silver for women's gymnastics. Again, they cut to the medals ceremonies with the non-American bronze and silver medalists already on the podium. On the plus side, I found Al Trautwig marginally less irritating tonight. And we got to see all of the performances from the athletes with a legitimate shot at medaling.

 

[Ockeghem]

I really enjoyed the women's all-around tonight, as did my children. The younger children haven't been allowed to stay up this late in years. I wish I had been able to see athletes other than Douglas, Raisman, Komova, and Mustafina; however, these four were probably shown since they had a better chance at earning a medal than many of the others. I did get to see one Chinese gymnast, but no Romanians. I caught a glimpse of Iordache off in the distance on beam, but no Izbasa. One neat moment was when (I think) Komova was on the beam and Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond was playing during someone's floor exercise.
Although my children were rooting for the U.S.A. gymnasts, they were very happy to see Komova win silver, especially given her tears from the team event final a few nights ago. My eldest daughter felt badly for her. During the team event final, I told her that there was still the all-around and the individual apparatus final. I'm fairly certain Komova will medal on bars, almost as certain as I am that Maroney will do fairly well on the vault. I would love to see both score tens in their respective events.

 

[Ockeghem]

Good to see the U.S. men's basketball team squeak by Nigeria.
http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/basketball/story/_/id/8227877/2012-summer-olympics-us-men-hoops-scores-156-shatter-olympics-points-record
Seriously, my sons get a chuckle during the Summer Games as these are the only times in my life that I root for Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

 

[Walter C]

/t/322614/2012-summer-olympics-london-england/60#post_3957586
Good to see the U.S. men's basketball team squeak by Nigeria.
http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/basketball/story/_/id/8227877/2012-summer-olympics-us-men-hoops-scores-156-shatter-olympics-points-record

I watched part of that game, and was thinking the over-under would be 40, which I picked over. But I did not expect a romp to be that huge, but I guess it should not be surprising with the way the US jumped to a 13-0 lead. For a while there, I thought there would be a shutout in a basketball quarter.

Today is the start of track & field, the sport most associated with the Olympics, and the one I enjoy watching more. And the cauldron had to be moved as a result, but still not visible outside of the stadium, which has been a noticeably absent sight in London.

 

[DavidJ]

Again, NBC doesn't bother to show the final score that decides the difference between gold and silver for women's gymnastics. Again, they cut to the medals ceremonies with the non-American bronze and silver medalists already on the podium. On the plus side, I found Al Trautwig marginally less irritating tonight. And we got to see all of the performances from the athletes with a legitimate shot at medaling.

I have been very annoyed by this practice as well. And it is just stupid not to show the score.
On the subject of NBC's coverage:
http://adage.com/article/media/nbc-sports-admits-mistakes-calls-critics-loud-minority/236463/

 

[Malcolm R]

I have been very annoyed by this practice as well. And it is just stupid not to show the score.
On the subject of NBC's coverage:
http://adage.com/article/media/nbc-sports-admits-mistakes-calls-critics-loud-minority/236463/

Ditto here. Since they're showing these tape-delayed anyway, it's fully within their capability to edit down these extended waits for scores so that they can show more actual competition. Is it really necessary for us to watch everyone stand around for two minutes, when they could immediately jump to the score then have time to show another athlete's routine?

 

[Ockeghem]

And they sure love showing Weiber in the stands multiple times, as oppose to Maroney, who was sitting next to her, but only shown once. I did find that a little annoying.

Walter,
Well, you would have been seeing a lot more of Maroney in a couple of days during the individual apparatus finals, but she was disqualified today.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

For having repeatedly defied gravity during her vaults. Sorry if your heart stopped there for a moment.

But glad to see Gabby Douglas win gold, which was clearly deserved it. And for a minute there, I thought there would be 2 bronze medal winners, when both Raisman and Mustafina were tied.

That was certainly a close call for third place. My daughters were rooting for Raisman and were a bit disappointed when she was nudged out for the bronze.
I seem to remember the days when two of the same medal were awarded in one event. For example, first place = gold medal and third place (tie) = two bronze medals (with no silver medal being given for that particular event). Does this sound familiar to you?

 

[DavidJ]

Dang you Scott! I even started Googling it before I checked your spoiler.

 

[Ockeghem]

Dang you Scott! I even started Googling it before I checked your spoiler.

David,
Sorry about that. I'm hoping Walter doesn't have a weak heart.

 

[DavidJ]

The piece NBC did on the USA's "Magnificent 7" winning the gold medal in 1996 was great. Kerri Strug's second vault is seared in my memory to this day. It's one of the great moments in the history of sports.

 

[Ockeghem]

The piece NBC did on the USA's "Magnificent 7" winning the gold medal in 1996 was great. Kerri Strug's second vault is seared in my memory to this day. It's one of the great moments in the history of sports.

David,
Absolutely great. I watched it once, then my daughters came into the room and we watched it again. My wife, who was making a dress in another room, heard 'oohs and ahhhs' from my girls coming from our family room, so she came into the room and we watched it a third time! It's my favorite piece thus far. Like you, that image (and for me, that Olympics in general) is seared into my memory as well. My children learned a neat part of sports history tonight, and it was gratifying to see how engaged they were seeing it unfold for the first time.
I watched some Olympics DVR'd from yesterday as well as much of the action tonight, including volleyball, swimming, and track and field. I also caught some rowing and (finally) judo. The track and field, which is my very favorite event(s), was awesome, and these were (for the most part) only heats. The 10K was riveting. When I saw Dibaba in the final pack of four, I knew the race was hers to win. I saw a couple of surges by the two Kenyans, but to win this race they would have had to have had about a 200 meter lead during the final lap, and that wasn't going to happen tonight. Dibaba's kick is truly wonderful to watch. They way she separated herself from the other three runners (and the length she eventually led by) during the final lap was amazing.

 

[Walter C]

Originally Posted by DavidJ /t/322614/2012-summer-olympics-london-england/60#post_3957901
The piece NBC did on the USA's "Magnificent 7" winning the gold medal in 1996 was great. Kerri Strug's second vault is seared in my memory to this day. It's one of the great moments in the history of sports.

I always think the pieces that NBC does, are hit or miss. This one was a hit, as I thought it was great, as I did not watch any of the Atlanta Olympics. I did like the part of how Strug described Bela Karolyi, on the type of coach that he is.

Also, it's great that Missy Franklin won another 200m backstroke to win her 3rd gold, but I am not yet ready to dub her the "female Phelps". A little too soon for that.

And Scott, I have not seen that spoiler.

 

[Malcolm R]

I seem to remember the days when two of the same medal were awarded in one event. For example, first place = gold medal and third place (tie) = two bronze medals (with no silver medal being given for that particular event). Does this sound familiar to you?

It would a gold and two silvers, or two golds and a bronze, but I don't think a gold and two bronzes is possible (someone has to be second, not just first and third).
I'd also read that while this is possible in most events, gymnastics has a number of tie-breaker mechanisms to ensure this does not occur. Unfortunately, those tie-breakers went against Raisman (she also didn't help herself with a shaky beam routine, and removing some of the difficulty from floor exercise).

 

[Ockeghem]

It would a gold and two silvers, or two golds and a bronze, but I don't think a gold and two bronzes is possible (someone has to be second, not just first and third).
I'd also read that while this is possible in most events, gymnastics has a number of tie-breaker mechanisms to ensure this does not occur. Unfortunately, those tie-breakers went against Raisman (she also didn't help herself with a shaky beam routine, and removing some of the difficulty from floor exercise).

Malcolm,
Yes, I think you've got that right about the placement of the medals. Thanks.
I don't believe they mentioned this (Raisman) the night of the all-around, but on the night of the event final (I think it was during warm-ups), they showed a difficult move that she removed from her floor program. It had her landing (I think) on her head/neck, and it didn't look pretty. Maybe this is that move that she decided not to include in the all-around?