The Olympics happen every two years, alternating between the summer and winter game. It's about traditions, stories and making your country proud. There's excitement becuase you have no idea what will happen - even when you think you do.
Call me a cynic, but it seems these summer games in Rio have been overshadowed by a few things, like the TV coverage from NBC, safety in Rio, spoilers and plenty of controversial remarks and hot takes. Full disclosure here: I haven't watched a ton of the Olympics this time around mostly because I'm working during the primetime coverage. However, don't underestimate how informative your Tweetdeck can be when it comes to following the action. I follow enough news accounts and sports peeps that I can basically keep up with the play-by-play of what's happening, plus get plenty of video clips and GIFs, too.
Coverage and spoiler alerts
That leads in to the whole spoilers debate. It's 2016 and social media is as prevelent as ever. The days of not getting spoiled on the results that will be shown in the primetime slot are over. You'd have to avoid all media outlets and all social media if you don't want to know. Even then you risk overhearing a conversation at the gas station about something that happened at the games (This happened to me for one of the Minnesota Twins playoff games once.). It's just the way it is. In a 24/7 news cycle with loads of competition, news stations and papers will report on results as they happen. Sure it's kind of a bummer, but just accept it and move on.
Then there's the coverage itself. 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on NBC each night of the most noteworthy events for the day. I'm no expert on how this is selected, but you'll generally get swimming, track and field, and gymnastics as the big three. I've noticed that at least at the past couple Olympics, they break up the taped coverage, I'm sure as a way to get people to watch the entire four-hour block. So the coverage might start off with a good chunk of team gymnastics events, then show some swimming before heading back to the gymnasts to see how the medals are dished out.
Other than that, there have been a lot of critical takes about the coverage. Too many swimming premlims shown, skipping out on medal ceremonies, going over the allotted four-hour time slot (which makes no sense for taped coverage), showing in-studio interviews with athletes rather than show more events. And so on. Then there's the Ryan Seacrest variety hour after the late local news. No thanks.
Controversy reigns
Again, I'm not TV exec, but it seems I've seen way too many stories with a controversial focus, some justified and some not. It started with an NBC executive making a comment essentially saying that more women watch the Olympics than men, and women care more about the journey than the results because they aren't sports fans. That's a paraphrase, but it pretty much takes care of the point. It was not a good job of getting his point across, whatever that was.
USA gymnast Gabby Douglas has been ripped to shreds online because she was the only one on her team who didn't stand with her hand over her heart while the national anthem was played during the medal ceremony after her team won gold. She stood there respectfully on the podium. There's no law that says you have to put your hand over your heart. Let her savor that moment how she wishes.
Then people were upset because apparently she didn't cheer adequately enough for her teammates during the all-around competition. This comes from people in the United States, where cheering, applause and especially standing ovations have lost meaning, in my opinion. So, I guess because she didn't stand and cheer with a smile on her face throughout the competition, she was being a poor sport or something. I just think it's a shame that these issues have taken such a focus.
Simone Biles is one of America's sweethearts in these games, dazzling us all with her nearly flawless performances in her gymnastics routines. Then I heard about one of the NBC commentators referring to her parents as "not her parents," because she was adopted by her biological grandparents. Probably not the best choice of words, and then it sounds like he tried and failed to defend his words via Twitter. But again, just too bad this is something that happened and gained attention.
Take a moment and enjoy it
Anyway, I've enjoyed watching what I could of the Olympics. I always enjoy the gymnastics and swimming events. I've missed most of the diving for some reason, which is also fun to see. The gymnastics team from Team USA does not disappoint. As has been said, it's often hard in sports to live up to such high expectations, but they did. So Biles only got a bronze on the balance beam. She's still amazing.
Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte competed in what I hope will be their last games. They are phenomenal swimmers. I say their last games because I hope they can go out on top. If they were to come back, I could see it pressing their luck. Lochte already fell off a bit this time around. I compare Lochte being in the Phelps era to Andy Roddick in the Roger Federer era.
No matter your thoughts on the Olympics, your favorite sports or what you like to watch for, it's still an exciting event that comes around for a couple weeks every four years. Enjoy the good stuff, and take the rest with a grain of salt.
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