He went to Paris looking for answers...

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

I don't care because its summer Olympics....  mostly boring shit.  especially climbing. climbing is a lifestyle not a sport...  pulling plastic = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...  wtf is a speed climbing event if its not on el cap or the NF of the Eiger? 

On the positive side, surfing was held at a world-class break at Teahupo’o and not in a wave pool. Easily surfing’s equivalent of el cap or the eiger. Conditions weren’t all-time but still rippable and well worth watching. Breaching whale outside? So sick. Maybe they should have held the climbing at Buoux?

I have found the Olympics coverage to be full of amazing, beautiful, and mind-boggling performances, along with touching, cathartic human stories. I’ve witnessed a wide variety of endeavors in which the participants are inspiring examples of mental and physical strength, often accomplished after many years of hard work and overcoming the odds. I wish that the profuse examples of good sportsmanship among citizens of rival nations would carry through to their leaders, although I’m not optimistic. Snoop, btw, is a good ambassador for positivity. We could use a lot more of that!

I havent watched any of it simply because I don't really know how to make it come on the TV. I tried to watch MotoGP a few weeks ago and couldn't get that to work.. sucks not having a mouse and a keyboard..  

Our friends gave us a NBC channel to watch the Olympics on and honestly I prefer YouTube highlights. 

The women's beach volleyball players will wear anything for more viewers, so will the women's gymnasts, it's a horny dude/sell commercials thing. If you can't  see it you may need a checkup. 

And yeah, the French dude should have taped his junk...

John Byrneswrote:

He went to Paris, looking for answers, to questions that bothered him so.  -- Jimmy Buffet

1) Beach Volleyball: Why do the men wear shorts and shirts, and the women compete naked?

2) What the f**k does Snoop Dogg have to do with the Olympics? Does anyone else think he's an insult to the athletes? Did anyone else catch the fleeting look of disgust on Michael Phelps' face when in the pool with the Dogg? Why isn't NBC embarrassed? (if the put him on a climbing wall, I'm gonna puke.)

3) Why does NBC think that just showing the last 4 seconds of an event conveys any drama or excitement?

4) Why can't NBC put two *knowledgeable* commentators on each event? For the climbing events, we have one person who knows what they are talking about and one that doesn't know their ass from a undercling. Can't NBC afford Matt Groom?

5) When someone wins a medal, why do all the interviewers ask, "What did that feel like" instead of a pertinent question? (See #4 above)

6) Your questions here....

Who is Snoop Dog?  Why should I care?

Climbers are predictable closed minded curmudgeons. Competition climbing is amazing. Climbing in the Olympics is super fun to watch. The climbers competing are the best problem solvers in the sport and the level of athleticism is inspiring. You can use a VPN into a European country and use the streaming service Max to get Matt Groom and Shauna’s commentary. Hang up your hexes for one week and give it a shot, maybe you’ll like it and you almost certainly will learn something.

I’ve really been enjoying the games, and I discovered something new about myself: I like rugby sevens and synchronized diving. 

wishing the olympics were contested naked as they were originally in greece (volleyball and all are fully covered genitals and nipples covered not even semi naked)

also wishing greece made a permanent home for olympic summer games for ever more 

and maybe the winter games rotated or permanently held in southern hemisphere like new zealand or chile

The better coverage is on Peacock. Worth the measly few $$$ extra IMHO. I’m not a huge Snoop Dog fan, but ya gotta love Snoop and the torch/joint. 

Came up with an awesome Olympic drinking game, should work well for women's final too. Whenever the announcers say:

Foot/feet (1 drink)

Transition (1 drink)

The __ year old from __ (3 drinks)

Pedigree (3 drinks)

If an American medals (finish your drink)

Good luck! Make sure to have plenty of beer handy

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

I havent watched any of it simply because I don't really know how to make it come on the TV. I tried to watch MotoGP a few weeks ago and couldn't get that to work.. sucks not having a mouse and a keyboard..  

As Tim Schafstall posted:          

The better coverage is on Peacock. Worth the measly few $$$ extra IMHO. 

Without a doubt. You can replay *any* event in its *entirety*. The climbing events were highly engaging and entertaining. (I haven't watched the men's or women's lead climbing finals yet).

As an aside for the folks denigrating climbing in the Olympics: how difficult are the routes in all 3 disciplines? Just your unresearched opinion - no Googling allowed!!

I got the song reference in the title immediately...one of my fav's for sure.  

I kinda binge on the Olympics a fair bit.  Sometimes the coverage is frustrating, but the commentary has been ok especially in the sports that have a legend helping out.  Hard to beat Rowdy for swimming.  Julie for women's soccer.  Misty for women's beach volleyball.  Cynthia for Diving.  Mary on tennis.  Etc.

Track and field has been great.  Some many great performances to mention.  Have to admit I like a few of the shooting events.  Men's skeet...four olympic golds in a row.  Wow.

I like Meagan's NBC for climbing commentary but easier to dial up Peacock to watch the full match...although my version has commercials which are a bit too much sometimes.  And the camera cuts away from a move into the crowd are fairly irritating...although not as bad as the comp's went on.  Still...coverage and commentary was good.  Just finished watching the women's final sport/bouldering.  Wow.  I think even Petra misted up.  Really an emotional finish and the medals ceremony with all the podium sharing in the moment was super.  Sounds like the coverage of climbing from the UK was pretty good.  Be interesting to try to find some of that.

I like Snoopy.  He's a fan and supporter.  'Preciate his positive energy.  Catchin' flies with that honey for sure.  I mean, fo shizzle.

Surfing was amazing.  Jost?  Ahh...mildly entertaining.  Road bike.  Wow.  Flatting near the finish...good times and a nail biter.

Some of the late night stuff hasn't been awesome.  Mildly entertaining is all...  I'd prefer if they got into the weeds a bit more on the nuts and bolts of being an athlete.  Still...

Not as much a fan of the speed climbing.  Break dancing...entertaining but it's one and done for the Olympics.  Didn't think BMX would be that interesting but wow.

Women's final soccer!  Been fun watching the men's and women's teams in b-ball too.    

Almost over.  Winter Italy in 2026...interested to see them add Skimo.  LA in 2028...be tempting to try to see some of that.  And it looks like we're going to host here in SLC again.  Yikes.

Katie Ledecky inspired me to sign up for a 1-mile ocean swim race. I was able to successfully return to shore without drowning in just over double her time, I am counting that as a win !! Love the games !!

USA Basketball has been pretty fun to see Steph, LeBron, and KD teaming up for one last ride and delivering in the biggest moments. And funny/weird to see Steve Kerr refusing to play Jayson Tatum for even one minute in multiple games.

I think the issues with the commentators is that without exclusive broadcasting rights around the globe, networks carrying the games are forced to scramble to find a team with a limited pool of people with experience.

They likely felt as though without Groom or maybe Charlie Bosco, there was not an announcer with expertise in climbing, so it’s better to go with a random announcer with an expert climber. 

Aaron Kolbwrote:

USA Basketball has been pretty fun to see Steph, LeBron, and KD teaming up for one last ride and delivering in the biggest moments. And funny/weird to see Steve Kerr refusing to play Jayson Tatum for even one minute in multiple games.

It's as if Tatum didn't study the European style of play much, that or Kerr is expecting injuries.  Maybe I'm wrong but Tatum played pretty solid team ball to win his championship,  he certainly didn't hog the ball too much. They barely made it past Jokic and a bunch of nobodies, France should be easier. 

Watching the speed climbing we were not too impressed that the American who set the world record in his final climb only got 3rd,  BS format made for tv

Brian in SLCwrote:

I like Meagan's NBC for climbing commentary but easier to dial up Peacock to watch the full match...although my version has commercials which are a bit too much sometimes.  And the camera cuts away from a move into the crowd are fairly irritating...although not as bad as the comp's went on.  Still...coverage and commentary was good.  Just finished watching the women's final sport/bouldering.  Wow.  I think even Petra misted up.  Really an emotional finish and the medals ceremony with all the podium sharing in the moment was super.  Sounds like the coverage of climbing from the UK was pretty good.  Be interesting to try to find some of that.

Petra is obviously a world class climber and knows the competition scene inside and out but she wasn't a great English broadcaster. I suspect it was a bit of a language barrier thing, but whenever she was tasked to break down why something was done, or some particular climbing movement, she seemed unable to go beyond the most basic explinations. To get her to say much of anything, often felt like a chore for the other commentator, whatever his name is.

I've watched maybe 60 minutes of the Olympics total, mostly the medals rounds of climbing. It thought it was great. If I wanted to spend a lot of time watching it all I'm sure I'd find fault, but I just watch the finals, I don't really care one way or the other about the announcers. It's not the type of climbing I prefer to do, but what they do is amazing and I can appreciate it. Both the woman's speed and combined finals were great to watch.

That 1500m was the greatest race in track history. The way they brought out track n field legends to open each session was a nice touch as well. So nice to see the face of Haile Gebrselassie this morning!

Jaren W wrote:

The track and field events were simply astonishing. So many down-to-the-wire finishes. Men’s and women’s pole vault were fantastic. Men’s 3000 m steeplechase was great. I’m still reeling from the 1500 m.

The truth about boredom is that whenever I find something boring, I’ve identified where I lack the capacity to pay attention. The solution is simple: develop a greater capacity. It’s not necessarily easy, but it can be trained. The payoff is that one needn’t ever be bored again.

Consider it from this perspective—is it more admirable to be fascinated by a great many things or by relatively few? Do you prefer to be fascinated or to be bored?

Lots of enticing dishes on life’s menu. It’s unnecessarily limiting to order macaroni and cheese day after day, even if you enjoy it.

John Byrneswrote:

1) Beach Volleyball: Why do the men wear shorts and shirts, and the women compete naked?
Because they are allowed to, they have a selection of approved uniforms and a two piece bathing suit is one they can choose. They probably choose it to display their physique or because they think they look hot (both fair enough, Ross and Brooks went straight out and said it in an interview, don’t call me sexist for pointing that out), same reason male swimmers wear a speedo
2) What the f**k does Snoop Dogg have to do with the Olympics? Does anyone else think he's an insult to the athletes? Did anyone else catch the fleeting look of disgust on Michael Phelps' face when in the pool with the Dogg? Why isn't NBC embarrassed? (if the put him on a climbing wall, I'm gonna puke.)
He is a popular commentator and people liked him in 2016, so the olympics keep inviting him and kevin hart back. 
3) Why does NBC think that just showing the last 4 seconds of an event conveys any drama or excitement?
Because not everybody in charge of everything is an expert in every sport. They don’t have infinite resources. 
4) Why can't NBC put two *knowledgeable* commentators on each event? For the climbing events, we have one person who knows what they are talking about and one that doesn't know their ass from a undercling. Can't NBC afford Matt Groom?
Matt Groom is British so he would not commentate for an american broadcaster. And most people who watch the olympics don’t care that much. They also had Petra Klingler commentate it, and she is quite the expert. 
5) When someone wins a medal, why do all the interviewers ask, "What did that feel like" instead of a pertinent question? (See #4 above)
Probably laziness, the interviewers are more interested in watching the events than doing their job and I can’t blame them. 
6) Your questions here....