Let the games of the XXVIII Olympiad begin!

well, the opening ceremony fireworks were pretty cool.. lets see what else thay can do to impress me.

they were running soooooo far behind with construction, i am surprised they actually got it started. i sure hope the athletes can stay safe..

bigjohn

Speaking of athletes staying safe, I'm sure you heard Costas mention the security fence around the Israeli athletes' quarters. And the Iranian wrestler who would rather drop out of the Olympics than wrestle an Israeli. What is up with that?

I assume you mean Bob Costas...and no, I was watching a different feed.

This is not the same world as before, but similar fears have contributed to many withdrawing from competition. Several NBA stars declined, and cited personal confilicts and security concerns.

The security of athletes, and harm that might come to them has to be on all of their minds. Most would be too young to remember the 1972 Munich games where athletes were killed by terrorists

Sad, but true.

OK, I'm overwhelmed. My sports are volleyball and cycling, both of which I also participate. Just got my HD Tivo on Thu (YEAH!) but my plasma is under repair because of a stuck pixel. (Panasonic agreed to replace it w/ a new one and it shipped from NJ to CA last Monday.)

So now I've got an SD D*Tivo w/ 110 hours and an HD Tivo w/ 200 hours SD or 30 hours HD. I've scheduled every showing on CNBC, NBC, MSNBC, Bravo and USA that's related to my sports. I heard there's something like 1200+ hours of coverage. I think I'm taping about half of that...

I have 80 hours on my DirecTiVo.....been going through it when I can and deleting right after I watch.

oldskool.....volleyball(beach and indoor) player/fan here too! US women indoor did not look great against China, and Blanton/Nygaard did not look good on the beach. The US womens beach teams look good though.

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The US womens beach teams look good though.

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Now THERE'S an understatement. Now I know why you like beach volleyball, Curtis. I had a great deal of trouble focusing on the game and not on Holly McPeak's...........Ahem. Sorry! I now restore a modicum of decorum to this post in order to maintain my classy image. (Why don't we have a [drool] emoticon?)

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I had a great deal of trouble focusing on the game and not on Holly McPeak's...........

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... peaks?

hehehee...

I actually see Holly McPeak around town once in a while. She definitely has quite the body....even if it is a bit enhanced.

I am more of a Misty May fan. hehe...drool

Well I've peeked at McPeak who would have no trouble meaking ME peak. But, having never seen Misty May, I may have to watch for her to see if May could make me misty. OY!

I'm sure it would make Holly's day to know she's "piqued" the interest of a "crotchety" Ohioan.

Curtis
I would agree, the US women indoors did not look good against China. However, China was (in my opinion) unreal. The setter was giving up some butter, and when she did that dump set, I wouldn't be surprised if she could dunk. I don't think the women can beat China.

For beach, Blanton/Nygaard were pretty bad. It was worse seeing them interviewed afterwards, why don't we just twist the knife more? May/Walsh were good, although their opponent (Japan?) was sad. It was almost like I was playing... They were so intimidated by Walsh's block that they didn't even hit. I had to stop watching.

My wife and I used to have Stanford season tix and watch Walsh all the time. She's pretty impressive. But we're more impressed w/ Jaimi Gregory. Being 5'6" myself, I'm always impressed w/ the short players w/ the hops. Although, sometimes the stats are stacked. I stood next to a 6' Stanford men's player. I was almost as tall as him...

May's hot? Really? I'm a fan of her athletics, but not the looks. She's been in Maxim, Stuff, and a couple of other men's mags where she got the "hot" treatment. Hell, w/ photogs and make up artists like that, I'd look hot too... As far as hot, I think if Logan Tom ever smiled, she'd be hot.

Dig the Norwegians though. I spent some time there a few years ago in Trondheim. Norwegian chicks are HOT. There's something to be said about their closed borders.

The hands on some of those players amaze me. What is interesting is the US women came in ranked #1, and China #3.

OK...I will also say Logon Tom is a hottie as well.....its OK if she doesn't smile on the court.

Yes....stats are padded. I played across the bay on Cal State Hayward's Men's tennis team....I am 5'7"....and one year the program said I was 5'9"....hehehe.

Whenever I hear of Stanford volleyball, I get the shivers. About 10 years ago, I set for a six-man beach team in the annual Surf Festival tournament in Manhattan Beach. In our pool, we had some ex-Stanford players....one guy...I forget his name now....green-something maybe, played on the national team....anyways he went to hit sweet set on the left side, and I am standing in front of him, about 2 feet behind the 10' line straddling the sideline....and there was NO BLOCK...my life flashed before my eyes...he pounded it and it made a crater at the 10' line infront of me...but it was out! "Top-Flite" was sure to be somewhere on my body. All three of my front row bit on a cheap quick middle set. We still joke about it every year.

The Norwegian girls that played McPeak/Young did not do anything for me.

Those Norwegians were absolutely hot - they hadn't trained all the fat away.

Ha, Stanford ringers...

I was playing a co-ed IVL B level (indoor) in Mtn View. One of the teams who had trouble getting players had a new 6' + player. He saw my Stanford Roofing Club shirt and we talked for a bit. He said, yeah, I actually played last year. Yeah, that's fair...

Unfortunately in Surf Fest...which is the largest volleyball tournament in the world, anybody can sign up.....there are only age group brackets, not levels.

You should have made him play only backrow with his off-hand.

PLEASE! I prefer "curmudgeonly." "Crotchety" conjures up images of.......well.......areas I'd rather not get into.

I love the Olympics...some of my fondest sports memories are from the Olympic games of years gone by (e.g., Bruce Jenner in 76) but as usual it seems every time I get a chance to tune in they are beating me over the head with gymnastics! Give me the race against the clock - swimming, track & field, cycling, etc. (or team sports like volleyball, soccer, etc.) any day. I have the utmost respect for gymnasts...but I just don't dig sports (along with figure skating, etc.) based on 'the judge's score'.

I'm also at a loss as to why so much (all?) of what is on HD is delayed by a day or more. Everytime I turn it on it is something that's already been broadcasted on the other channels. Anybody know why? It sure does take the allure of HD out when I know what's going to happen!

I don't really know why the HD feed is delayed by a day. But, when in doubt, follow the money. Small percentage of viewers watching in Hi Def; few advertisers (seems like only one?); don't want to upset the larger number of advertisers paying big bucks for the ads on the regular feed by siphoning off some viewers; etc.

Just my guess.

Who advertises on the HD channel? Blose? JK, have fun.

Sony. The same commercial over and over and over and over. UGH!

I had a feeling it had something to do with the advertising...there's definitely less of it on HD than on the NBC standard broadcast channel. But like you pointed out, it's the same commercial over and over again (don't want to watch gymnastics? well, how about the same commercial over and over until you crack!)

I seriously considered taking the plunge and getting a TiVO system but at this point I'm not sure whether to wait on the cable company. Comcast recently introduced their TiVO-like box, but will be another 3-4 months before one that records one channel while you watch another.

Chances are I will just go for the TiVO...but not for this Olympics.

Yes, the schedule is sometimes dreary...but some days there is more than I can watch!!

I enjoy watching some of the international feeds, as they don't focus on any one nation, but tend to balance the coverage with the "best of the best" athletes. The announcers are very knowledgable, and impartial.

While I enjoy seeing my nations athletes in competition, I also enjoy watching some of the world's best from around the globe!!