Ten Things to Hate About Olympics

Real Clear Sports ^ | July 26, 2012 | Jeff Neuman

[dfwgator]

I remember when ABC was broadcasting and they showed every routine live.

Not everything was live, obviously, because of time zone differences, but back then, there were fewer media outlets, so you had to go out of your way to find out what happened before it was aired during Prime Time...today with the Internet and Cable TV, it's easy now to find out what happened.

[dfwgator]

In fact, I recall that even the famous USA-USSR Hockey Game in 1980 was not shown live. But I remember even before they showed the game it was clear that Jim McKay couldn’t contain his excitement because he knew what had happened.

[agere_contra]

My bad: you would need to buy a VPN account with an IP address located in the UK.

Maybe BBC Worldwide operates a subscription service?

[left that other site]

#6 has been my pet peeve for over 30 years.

[SMARTY]

What really turned us off was figure skating 24/7 during the winter Olympics!

There is so much subjectivity in the judging and besides, how much of THAT can we be expected to see during the overall Olympic programming.

Also, women's softball....REALLY???? Wall-to-wall coverage of a sport hardly anyone wants to watch, even when there isn't an Olympics!

[Cyber Liberty]

I agree. If a victory doesn’t come from a measure, or a time, or a score, then it’s not a sport. Gymnastics and figure skating come to mind.

[dfwgator]

If I ran the Olympics, I would basically scrap every event that has been added since the 1976 Montreal Games.

[tanknetter]

11. The mascots. The London ones look like giant walking penises (or, as one commentator has said, the products of a one night stand between a Dalek and a Teletubby [NOT the purple one, obviously])one of which is emblazoned with the 2012 logo - which itself looks like a profile shot of two people engaging in a sexual act occasionally referred to as “a Lewinsky”.

[Leo Carpathian]

What is most annoying, the use of “instruments” like drums and trumpets to make noise. This should be banned. They can scream and clap, but that annoying crap makes watching painful.

[dfwgator]

Nothing, could ever be worse than the Atlanta Mascot.

I mean seriously, WTF?!?!?!

[dfwgator]

What is most annoying, the use of “instruments” like drums and trumpets to make noise. This should be banned. They can scream and clap, but that annoying crap makes watching painful.

Just be thankful it's not Vuvuzelas

[BitWielder1]

My top 3 Olympic pet peeves:

1. Commercials.
2. Talking Heads.
3. Sob stories.

I love the sports but when 1., 2. and 3. burns up 58 minutes of every hour, I get disgusted and turn it off.

They don't have to package or spin the Olympics, all they have to do is SHOW IT and people will watch.

[SMARTY]

Yup! It gets to be so trivialized.

And the overall commercialization has spoiled the whole experience.

[trailhkr1]

one of which is emblazoned with the 2012 logo - which itself looks like a profile shot of two people engaging in a sexual act occasionally referred to as “a Lewinsky”.

Actually looks more like one person PIITB of the same gender... I could not say PIITV of a woman because both logos are of the same "gender"

[Studebaker Hawk]

In ‘honor’ of the Olympics a little question: Who’s birth certificates are more likely to be authentic? A female Chinese gymnast, or Barak Obama’s?

Trick question - both are bogus.

[donna]

I think it was the switch to professional athletes.

[Polyxene]

“Will not watch one minute. NBC’s horrid coverage.”

Totally agree!! All of the mindless chit-chat, interviews, travelogues, etc., along with more commercials than sports events, make it unwatchable.

[justice14]

I actually believe that it should be all athletes. This is a stage to see who is the best overall athlete in their respective event. Why put an age limit on it? If your good enought to qualify as a 40 year old, then why can’t you?

[1010RD]

There are many anonymous UK proxies. We watch BBC/iplayer all the time.

[Humbug]

I agree with all that you say.

Will also add that allowing professionals to participate has helped degrade the Olympics as well, since it’s obvious most pros won’t feel particularly devastated if they fail to win a gold. Maybe embarrassed, but to them the Olympics are just an exhibition anyway.

And along those same lines, there are now so many other major competitions throughout the year that the dramatic “everything is riding on how well they do here” scenario is seldom felt anymore. They just move on to the next big event.