So what events do you like to watch? I'm hoping to catch atleast the

Womens Gymnastics
Womens Volleyball
Womens/Mens Swimming
Mens Kayaking
Mens 100m, 200m, 400m
Mens High Jump, Long Jump, Pole Vault
Mens Baseball
Mens Weightlifting

BTW, what did you think of the opening ceremony? I would rate it as a c+ so far (currently they are introducing the countries). I was disappointed with it. I would actually rate it a lot lower but I understand how much work actually goes into this.

I enjoy volleyball of all types, gymnastics, swimming, diving, and the shorter track and field stuff.

And fast forwarding through Bob Costas.

My favorite would be Track.

We shut down our Sat. service for the summer before I realized I'd be missing the Olympics. Dumb. There is a good bit of live content on the Internet of course, but the time shift makes it tough.

Zzzzzzz.

I have been watching a pretty fair amount with my wife and kids. Usually I am the only one in the house watching sports, so it is nice to have company. You are going to be upset to hear that men's baseball and women's softball is not included in the Olympics this time around. We have particularly enjoyed the swimming and diving.

We are recording and then watching swimming, gymnastics, track, some volleyball.

Disappointed that the Men's 4x100 freestyle relay lost to the French, but continue to be amazed by almost everything I see.

Being a former coxswain, rowing is my favorite sport to watch. It's easily the most difficult sport in the Olympics (particularly the men's 8). It's too bad more people don't appreciate a true beast of a sport.

With exception to women's basketball, I enjoy watch everything else.

You really think that? Try taking a pommel horse handle to the nads.

I think ANYTHING at that level of competition is at the same level of difficulty. Being the best at anything in the world isn't going to be cake, is it?

Well, Cam did have some personal experience with rowing, so it has to be "easily" the most difficult sport.

A moment of silence.

Why no golf, no baseball, no softball?

Golf is a game, not a sport.

I tried rowing once, for fun, with a friend who was in the canoe/kayak club across the lake where I stayed for a couple of summers with my Aunt.

I was in good shape then and I thought I was doing pretty well, coordination wise. Well at least for a while until they really poured it on. Then I couldn't power through a long stroke fast enough to keep up. I flailed along with clumsy, shorter strokes so I didn't bang my oars against theirs. It wasn't pretty. Not pretty at all.

Peter, on a very basic level, a sport that relies on the precise synchronization of eight people, is far more difficult than the independent performance of one.



I was talking about performance. That's a mistake. But seeing as you brought it up, try "catching a crab" while rowing. That's when one of your oars catches the water whilst in your backstroke, thus swinging back and hitting in the chest or face (the force usually knocks you out of the boat).



Of the summer sports, I also played football, judo, mountain biking, badminton, baseball and lacrosse (the latter two are no longer in the Olympics). No bias, just informed.




Baseball and softball were removed because golf and rugby are taking their place in 2016.

One reason baseball was removed is because of it's failure to be in strict compliance with WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency).

Cam, remember that this is just your opinion. I'm just saying I disagree. I've rowed before. It is a difficult sport, but with training that synchronization becomes second-nature. Rhythm is not crazy hard to attain. As with all sports, the difficult part is the training: the grueling schedule to push the endurance and strength of the human body further, the personal sacrifices made to dedicate a significant portion of your life to the possible attainment of fleeting glory. This experience is not unique to rowing.


Been there, done that. But I blamed it on my boatmates who couldn't set the boat worth a damn. (Did I mention the rowing I've done was for a team building exercise?)


Naturally, you're informed about your personal experiences, but it comes off as arrogant and dismissive to say that all the other olympic sports are less difficult than rowing. Can you not see that?

From my perspective based on my own athleticism, gymnastics would be the most difficult for me and I think for most individuals to execute even at the most basic level. I'm not saying that we would be good at the majority of the other sports but most people could learn to row a boat or swim the breaststroke for example. Compare that to the pommel horse, balance beam, vault or rings. The learning curve and the combination of speed, strength, coordination, finesse, timing, pure born gymnastic athleticism would be too much for large majority of people to even execute a basic move of that particular gymnastic event. I'm totally blown away by the athletes on the rings. I'm amazed at the stress the upper body (tendons) can take with that event.

Just for fun, water polo would kick my ass too.


I'm in the minority that actually likes the summer olympics better than the winter.

I have to agree, BJ1. I think there are a couple different standards of difficulty. First, can it be done AT ALL; second, can it be done WELL. The gymnastics stuff is just crazy in that "how can a human being DO that?" kind of way not present in most of the other competitions.

Ditto. I was watching the men's pommel horse and floor exercise last night and blown away at what I was seeing.

Synchronization of the stroke is a whole different story when you're rowing competitively, as Andrew's experience illustrated. The perfect stroke involves so many variable, which in turn relies on eight men. It's not just the oar.



Where did I even elude to this? I just said it's the most difficult sport in the Olympics. The Olympics isn't competitive training. Obviously the training is difficult in all sports (although based on your statement, ping-pong is as difficult as rowing), but the performance when the time matters is just as difficult (if not more) in sports. There's so many more correlates that come into play. I have heard professional athlete will say that, and experienced it myself. You train to pull it all together for that one moment; to be the best. One mistake, that's it. No "let's retry that".




No. It's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. It's not dismissive to other sports. If I say it's more difficult than women's basketball, it doesn't dismiss women's basketball. It's an opinion.

Question - is their another Olympic sport that consistently uses every muscle in your body?

We were watching the men's gymnastics too - unbelievable! Ian said only two guys in his high school could do the iron cross.

We watched a bit of the US women's qualifiers and I couldn't believe how many more rotations women do now than a decade ago. It's like figure skating too, I guess - the training just gets better and better. Man, the human body is a marvel.

Off the top of my mind swimming would use pretty much every muscle (legs, arms, chest even the muscles in the neck) and while not at a competitive level most people can do it competently.

I'm more impressed with the rings in terms of how the muscles in the body are utilized and that is more focused with just the upper body.

Gymnasts are amazing, that's for sure, but how one excels is all the same. You choose to be a specific type of athlete, you dedicate yourself to attaining the best you can, and you train. For gymnasts to accomplish what they can, their path was no different from a rower or swimmer.

The chances of a catastrophic failure at the highest level of competition seems much more likely in gymnastics than in any other sport. I mean, there is "faster and slower", but when gymnasts don't perform to their peak, they fall on their faces. Much smaller margin of error between excellence, competence and failure.

A moment of silence for the 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and coaches murdered in 1972 by Palestinian terrorists.

Gymnastics. I think gymnastics are the highest expression of human grace, strength and coordination.

I forgot to hit [quote] but the following was originally posted by Wheelz.
"Question - is their another Olympic sport that consistently uses every muscle in your body?"


Absolutely.
Between 1912 and 1952, you could compete in Olympic Architecture. Man, those guys were ripped!!!
Not to mention the Olympic Painting event. It doesn't get more gruelling than that.

Of course that was all before steroids. Imagine the buildings you could spec out out if you had the roids!

Think I'm kidding??? Art competitions at the Olympic Games.

I remember 1972. I continue to be horrified.

Off the top of my head:

Water Polo
Swimming
Judo
Wrestling
Gymnastics
Kayaking
Pole Vault
High Jump
Long Jump
Triple Jump
Javelin
Discus
Hammer Toss
Shot Put
Hurdles
Volleyball
Basketball
Weightlifting

Rowing is a great and physically grueling sport -- don't get me wrong -- but your extraordinary claim that it is "easily the most difficult sport in the Olympics" requires extraordinary support.

I once paddled in a Davy Crockett Explorer Canoe and it was easily the hardest thing I did at Disneyland that day. Mainly because it was noon, 100 degrees, and the only way we were getting back to shade was to paddle ourselves back to the landing.

Um, except nobody else was f**king paddling!!! Except the guide and me. And yes, the little girl behind me must've thought hitting my paddle with hers was part of the "ride." I suggested she next visit "It's a Small World of Coordination."


I needed some Mickey Mouse Deodorant after that adventure.

This is spot on.

I can hear Cam all the way from here, shouting, "You're not helping my argument!!!"

Tom, I'm in full agreement with you. The margin of error is minute in gymnastics, but in rowing it's minute, too. Literally all it takes is for one of the eight rowers to shift his/her balance by looking to the side, and it sets the whole boat off. I also think the margin of error is just as small in kayaking, and most, if not all of the "inner grounds" track events like pole vault, javelin etc.

Honestly, rowing is a sport that doesn't get it's due because it's just.....rowing a boat. It was the least appreciated sport in highschool. Students would tease me for being on the team because they didn't think it was challenging. People just don't know how demanding it is because the technical aspects of it aren't in the forefront like they are with gymnastics and other sports. I guarantee that the moment anyone first sat in a single skulls boat you'll tip over into the drink.



My "extraordinary" opinion doesn't require any support, and neither does BJ1's opinion that gymnastics is the most difficult sport. Notice that I didn't tell him he's wrong, nor did I criticize his belief.

I appreciate all sports and the athletes amazing achievements, but that list just isn't factual. All sports require the use of various muscles at varying times, but very few (BJ1 said swimming, and I could see that being the case with the breaststroke for sure) sports in the Olympics (and in general) demand the entire body for the entirety of the game/event.

Interestingly enough, a lot of sports implement the rowing erg into their training regiment because it's a very tough, rewarding full body workout.

That's my opinion.

Gymnastics I wouldn't have any hope.

I would also have rowing/kayaking bunched together in my top five, along with water polo, the "athlons", I'd kill myself on equestrian (I can bet on horses but riding and jumping through obstacles...no way) and synchronized diving.

This didn't happen when a bunch of IT geeks I work with sat in a skull for the first time. As a matter of fact, not a single boat tipped over the entire time we were out on the water.

Didn't happen on my day, either. Now, the big guys all thought they had to pull as hard as possible, and very few in my boat actually had any rhythm, but we didn't go in the drink. Thank god we didn't, since we were in the Anacostia...

I want to hear more from Sean....

Peter, there was a group of you, so obviously there was assistance. There was also guidance by a member of the club etc. I was going to specifically state "on your own", and apparently should've. You can't just jump in a single scull and go for a row like you could a canoe. Even members of my crew had a VERY hard time balancing the boat beside the dock (our coach had to hold the boat steady). Most of the guys didn't like it.



Ken, if there were other guys in boat, then it's not a single scull. The more people in the boat (it's actually the more oar blades on the water), the less tippy the boat.

It's awesome to hear that some of you have rowed.

Water polo would be a sport that would utilize every muscle all at the same time.

I love watching water polo, it's quite entertaining. The lower and upper body are definitely always in motion. I don't think the torso is used much other than possibly when throwing the ball. In water polo you're mainly treading water, which is done via a kicking motion called the "eggbeater kick" .

I am constantly amazed at how far out of the water they can propel themselves for shots and blocks.

I love the summer Olympics!

I will not be viewing any of the Olympics, just as I did for our local games 2 years ago - my little protest I guess.

Given the world's dire economic situation where most counties are financially broke, I think that The Olympics have become a needless & costly white elephant.

Greece, an essentially bankrupt country, held the last Summer Olympics & spent billions that they obviously didn't have. How is Greece doing today?

Two years ago in BC we spent over $7 billion that we didn't have on the Winter Games - money that we'll never fully recover. Amazing considering that we are $50+ billion in provincial debt & increasing by the minute; however, we did acquire a nice multi-million dollar Speed Skating Oval Complex & Bob Sled Track that 99% of our population will never see nor set foot into. It's comforting to note, however, that the waiting list for a MRI procedure in BC is about a year - unless you're an athlete or some other elite of course.

The UK has now spent billions that it doesn't have as it too is an economic basket case - & look at the scores of empty seats!

I understand that Toronto is considering applying to hold the 2020 (or so) games - this with Ontario presently being over $200 billion in debt. Give your heads a shake down there.

Its time to rethink this whole Olympic thing. From the arrogance of the IOC elites to the constant widespread cheating including drug enhancement & doping etc, I believe that the games today are largely tainted.

Furthermore, there's the horrific security concerns with their ensuing staggering costs.

Sorry to rain on the multi-billion dollar parade, but it is sure an exorbitantly expensive reason to have a party every couple of years...

TAM

TAM, I couldn't have said it any better. I wholeheartedly agree.

Panem et circenses....

As an avid sports fan I find the olympics to be very....relaxing. So I just try to soak it all up with a gin & tonic as much as possible. I don't concern myself with the politics of the games. I'm just interested in watching the best athletes perform at the highest level from all around the world. I really don't even care about my country winning medals.

For stuff that I enjoy, I just try to maximize my enjoyment out of it.

I don't care about the politics either. It's the outrageous expenditures of taxpayer funds that have to be borrowed and/or printed to pay for these events that bothers me. Case in point, Montreal finally paid off their $1.5 billion debt for the 1976 Olympic Stadium in 2006 - 30 years!!

Bunch of disqualifications again today - 4 teams of athletes throwing games. Try to win at any cost I guess - disgusting behaviour that is so prevalent...

TAM

I try not to lose sleep over taxes either.

If we get them in Ontario, thats fine by me. But I actually enjoy the games.

One would think that, if profit and loss were the driving factors, if things boiled down to capitalism in its pure form, and if the games were such a money loser, then, eventually, no cities would bid for them. The market forces would dictate it.

So there must either be some unseen financial gain - dollars pumped into the local economy by tourists at hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. These companies will then employ more people, purchase more goods, and pay more taxes as a result of greater profits. Or perhaps there are the intangibles of having been an Olympic city and the cache that it brings.

Just thinking out loud.

I enjoy the Olympics. Can't wait for the track and field to start.

Amen to that. And for stuff that I don't enjoy, I try not to dwell upon it.

JP, I think the problem is government deficit spending, which fundamentally undermines the market economics angle. There's nothing "we can't afford". And the ego wants to afford the big party.

Interestingly this very subject was on local talk radio here this morning. The 'expert' guest stated that the number of cities lusting after the games is dwindling. It is deemed to be just not affordable anymore especially given the dire financial situations in which most government entities find themselves.

Enough said by me - enjoy the games....

TAM

A news report Montreal's 1976 Olympic debt. It was to be paid off with cigarette tax by 2006. But, bans on smoking extended the expected time frame. The roof of the $1.5 billion sports complex where the Olympics was held has collapsed twice.

I hope it never comes to my town.

I hear ya. I hate when we send people to Washington who can't even manage their own finances and then give them the government's checkbook and credit cards.

TAM, I hear ya, too. The Tom/TAM Club. Wasn't that the new wave side project that Negative Orange's rhythm section started in 1981?

medic:

I don't really know. Tom is my first name & TAM is my initials...

TAM (or is that Tom?)

I have a thing for Logan Tom...

The only ones that truly gain from the Olympics are multinational corporations. It's just a corporate money making machine. And that doesn't translate into profit for the proletariat. link

There are strict restrictions on what local shops are allowed to sell - link .

The empty seats fiasco - link. During the ticket pool, thousands were held specifically for corporate sponsors. Most ended up not being purchased, and many Londoners etc. were SOL.

And then there's the medals that come from a massive polluting mine in Utah - link .



I always think at who's and what's expense is my enjoyment coming from. I do so firstly because we should, and secondly because if I was living in a cardboard box beside a temporary million dollar structure, I'd like to think people would consider my well-being. Unfortunately this isn't the case, but SHOULD be.

It takes many people 30 years to pay off their mortgage too. Probably not relevant to the topic...just sayin'.

Hi Mary !

That's a really great perspective, Mary. Not many people would say going into debt to buy a house is an outrageous expenditure.

The one this I've learned from this forum is that there is a healthy diversity of political and social opinion. Even though I disagree with many opinions, hearing them makes me think and often evaluate my own POV.

We do choose to purchase a house and assume a mortgage. We don't have a say in where our dept creating tax dollars go.

Purchasing a house and going into dept shouldn't be considered an outrageous expenditure. Try telling that to a homeless person.

Very true, Cam! I was just making a point that sometimes 30 years doesn't seem that long when it comes to paying off debts.

Very, very true, Mary.

Have you been watching Star Trek marathons, Cam? I wish we could have a society free of money, but I don't see that coming any time soon.

So do I. Wait, where's the prefatory that links to that point ?

Dong Dong killin' it on the trampoline!

Paying off a mortgage over x number of years on my personal home is accomplished my own after-tax money. Interest payments on home mortgages are not tax-deductible in Canada as they are elsewhere.

Expenditures on this stuff is mostly public money - borrowed and/or printed. I can't imagine how much total interest accrued over 30 years on that original $1.5 billion - money that could have better been spent elsewhere, or better yet, not at all...

TAM.

Last night I watched much of a recording of the 2nd half of the Can. vs. US Womens' Soccer Match last night. Exiting, but what a heart breaker for Can. Still, a proud showing by the Can. team against some tough adversaries.

Canada played better than I have ever seen them play. I can understand how Canadians feel and I would feel the same way if it happened to the U.S. team. Japan will be very tough for the U.S. women to beat today.

What those synchronized swimmers do is amazing.

Agreed. I bore of it quickly but the mass talent is tremendous.

I think it's creepy.

Women's soccer team defeats Japan, 2 to 1, for the gold medal. Very exciting game. Bravo to the USA women's soccer team. You've made us proud!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there is one sport Americans could care less about it is soccer.

So, we like it then?

Wohooo, Canadian women took bronze in soccer. Next time, when the US no longer has a ref on its side we can play for gold.

Oh, forgot this.

Yeah, if I could care less about soccer, that means I care about it at least a little bit. If I cared about it not at all then, mathematically, I couldn't care less than the zero amount I cared about it.

But that's either here or there and begs the question.

I think I was starting to understand what you said, but your avatar hypnotized me and all I could think of was Fat Head's and beer.

So if Peter likes soccer less than zero, then he is kind of a black hole of soccer love. This stand to reason that after years of sucking up all that soccer love, he really actually contains more soccer love than any of us and although the theories are not necessarily concrete, it's remotely plausible that someday, he will suck up more soccer love than he can contain and erupt into a fiery new universe of soccer love.

Congratulations on making soccer immortal! Or do you prefer that I call it Football?

Sportsnet, TSN, CTV all showing olympic events. NBC broadcasting Today.

NBC's coverage of these olympics is pure rubbish.

I suddenly find soccer arousing. And also a little gay.

You're a mean man, Jack.
::runs away thirsty::

So says the guy who's Avatar's ear is having an orgasm.

France.

Is there even a stat for that?

I've sucked up so much soccer love beyond by event horizon, that it occasionally ejects from my rectum.

Well, I don't care which sport is mot physically taxing. Training for any/all of them hurts.

As stated, no golf,baseball or softball. But we DO have ping pong, badminton, equestrian, and that strange 1 mph bike chase thing. BMX bike races too? Really???

OK, having said all of the above, the competition, even for those knowing they had no chance to even make it INTO your event past qualifying is inspiring. That helps get me past all of the other stuff - politics, cost, debt, etc.

So I simply enjoyed the human spirit on display at the highest levels for 2 weeks on my TV and I did it without regret. What a wonderful spectacle.

Right up to the end until they showed Rythmic FREAKING Gymnastics!!! OMG!!! What an abomination. Worse yet, imagine a visual once Mark realizes that putting on a leotard and waving a stick with a piece of ribbon on the end could earn him a trip to Rio!!!

Make the madness stop. Declare Rythmic Gymnastics a capital offense.

::eagerly awaits Mark's new avatar::

Will a "onesie" work? That would save me from having to buy something new.

We TiVo'd the closing ceremonies. I thought The Who played?

They were at the very end.

They got preempted by NBC's new sitcom.

No foolin'.

Holy! good thing we caught the show on the Canadian station!! Kudos to NBC for the Winston Churchill / America's place in the second World War special *after* rhythmic gymnastics, though, right?

Has said onesie already been an avatar, or is this something entirely new?

Now that is awful coverage. I've not worried too much about the way NBC flung everything around their family of networks, but when you don't make a way to show the whole closing ceremony, with the advantage of tape delay, even, then your heart is in the wrong place. In this case, in your self-promoting wallet.

I agree, JP. That's pretty crappy....though not really surprising.

Amie, the Onesie was just a recent request by some Canadian (cough-cough-Fred) Sicko.

Gotta love it. Following the closing ceremonies of the $14 billion Olympic games, Prime Minister David Cameron held a global hunger summit at which he stated:

"The figures are truly shocking. One in three child deaths are linked to malnutrition, and 171 million children are so malnourished by the age of two that they can never physically recover. That is the terrible thing about this, what we would call a 'silent crisis,' because it harms for life."

What a smack in the face to malnourished children - often suffering with kwashiorkor - and the now 1 billion people in the world that go to bed hungry.

I finally watched the USA-Spain gold medal basketball game off the DVR. There was so much flopping going on from Spain's players that I now understand why this Frenchman would do this. Aggravating to no end.

France should get the country of Italy to kick Spain in the nuts. Sicily might break off, but whatayagonnado?