11/23/24
February 18, 2006
Welcome to Soap Opera Saturday in Torino: It's Soap Opera Saturday in Torino, Italy at the Winter Olympics. Tune in for answers to these questions. Can Chad ever forgive Shani? Can Apolo forget the past? Can Bode finally find happiness and_ a gold medal?
posted by skydivedad to other at 07:52 AM - 21 comments
Maybe the Olympics nighttime soap opera will finally beat American Idol
posted by roberts at 08:38 AM on February 18, 2006
When I read those 'DRAMATIC QUESTIONS OMG' on Yahoo! Sports, that's when I got sick of the Olympics.
posted by insomnyuk at 08:41 AM on February 18, 2006
No for Bode today - skied through a gate about halfway down. Guay for Canada in 4th in the Men's Super-G and Aamodt repeats with the Herminator in 2nd.
posted by mikelbyl at 09:27 AM on February 18, 2006
Is anyone else tuning out the Winter Olympics more than they did in the past? I find the gauzy, reality-TV approach to covering the sports aggravating. I miss the days when they showed the events, showed the medal stand, and included an occasional interview. There seems to be a presumption at NBC that viewers have a short attention span and favor heart-tugging stories about the athletes over the actual competitions.
posted by rcade at 09:44 AM on February 18, 2006
I've had the games on every night, but more as background noise. Except for the hockey, I've been glued to the TV for those games. But they're showing those games live, so there's a huge difference there.
posted by NoMich at 09:53 AM on February 18, 2006
I'm with you rcade.. they did that for the biathlon last weekend it was great TV. This quick edit stuff just sucks the life out of the performances. I'm watching out of the events live then catching the prime-time stuff in the eve.. Huge difference..
posted by skydivedad at 10:12 AM on February 18, 2006
26 degrees, light freezing rain here in dallas, a perfect day to settle in and watch the winter olyympics. i just watched that shooting-skiing event. absolutely cool. i would compare it to running a half-mile and then trying to get up on the mound and paint a fastball on the outer-black 10 times in a row. bring back Jim McKay and the ABC coverage. that's my first olympic recollection. '84 in sarajevo
posted by erkno11 at 10:41 AM on February 18, 2006
I agree with rcade and skydivedad. You would think with all of the cable and satellite channels these days, they could just have a station of unedited raw Olympic footage (maybe with some minimal announcing of what's going on, but nothing that interferes with the event). I would watch that. The only event I can watch is hockey, because they show the entire games (although I am scared about the US game coming up on NBC -- I am sure there will be more cut-overs to other events) and the announcers are reasonably competent (and familiar from US television broadcasts).
posted by holden at 10:50 AM on February 18, 2006
Hey what about that start to finish Curling coverage. C'mon it just doesn't get better than that. Not that the U.S. team is not great to look at. Yea I know male chauvenist pig right.
posted by scottypup at 11:21 AM on February 18, 2006
face it,nbc has screwed up royally.Jerry Rice was more entertaining in dancing with the stars
posted by arturo at 11:22 AM on February 18, 2006
--and Kostos trying as hard as he could to get Lindsey Jacobellis to agree with his opinion that she was showboating. Hey- she was having fun--caught in the moment She remained poised and confident throughout his interview. Kostos looked like he was dressed for some formal event instead of the Olympics Dress should be casual for those doing the interviews. Get with it Kostos..
posted by jbremus@sbcglobal.net at 11:48 AM on February 18, 2006
--and Kostos trying as hard as he could to get Lindsey Jacobellis to agree with his opinion that she was showboating. Hey- she was having fun--caught in the moment She remained poised and confident throughout his interview. Kostos looked like he was dressed for some formal event instead of the Olympics Dress should be casual for those doing the interviews. Get with it Kostos..
posted by jbremus@sbcglobal.net at 11:49 AM on February 18, 2006
excellent and exciting biathlon finish FRA over NOR good stuff
posted by skydivedad at 12:54 PM on February 18, 2006
With the loss to Switzerland, Canada's two big losses in curling are getting overshadowed. Overall, not a good day for Canada (save for Leuders).
posted by mkn at 01:57 PM on February 18, 2006
I'm with rcade on this one (and with erkno on the whole Jim McKay thing). I like my games with real drama, not some "very special episode of Will and Grace" drama-lite that the idiots at the Today Show cooked up on their lunch break. NBC should never be allowed to air any sports of any kind again. They're just pathetic.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:14 PM on February 18, 2006
Another epic day for NBC....Bode's a bust again, Apolo finishes third behind his Korean rivals, and then, as the network tries to build up the story of Shani Davis becoming the first African-American to win gold at the Winter Olympics, he gives a lousy interview and acts like he's not even happy to win it. Not a good move, he lost a lot of marketing $$ with that. Last time I checked, there was no National Pro Speed-Skating League to fall back on.
posted by eccsport78 at 01:59 AM on February 19, 2006
Love these Winter Games, especially Curling. Can hardly wait for the Curling combines and upcoming Curling Draft! Does anyone REALLY care?
posted by livedawhile at 12:44 PM on February 19, 2006
Does anyone REALLY care? posted by livedawhile at 12:44 PM CST on February 19 Well yes some of us do which is why we post on the subjects not just slam the sports. On topic, I would rather see these events live and not already know the results. That is enough drama for me. Now I am just tuning in to see which gate someone misses or how when they hotdog they lose the gold. I am also a little frustrated with the whole bit of showing a few minutes of one event and then jumping to another before finishing. I would tune in more if I knew when the events I want to watch are on instead of just reading my emails to see who won. The only sports that I have truely enjoyed because they are live are the curling and hockey. I am really learning alot about curling and have seen that it is a skill sport. It is very competitive and the only judging is with a ruler as to how close the rocks are to the center. No style points which drives me insane in skating just because it is all in the prespective of the judges. I do have to admit though, I like the new scoring better cause you can get credit for technical stuff even if you fall. I still don't understand it completely but I am learning.
posted by skydivemom at 01:57 PM on February 19, 2006
skydivemom, I'm with you. I love the Olympics. And I watch for the same reason, to see where, how and why they fell, missed a gate or whatever. I loved the way ABC covered the Olympics, but wonder in today's age and technology whether the coverage would ever be the same. You would think that NBC could control what goes on their own website and not reveal the outcome until they air it at night.
posted by lil'red at 07:56 AM on February 20, 2006
I guess I should be explicit on my opinion of the Winter Games. No, I don't love them! I do watch them, but only the events I enjoy. One of which is not Curling. Didn't mean to slam the sport of Curling. And I use the term Sport lightly. On the West Coast , plenty of sand not too much ice we call it Shuffleboard.
posted by livedawhile at 02:10 PM on February 20, 2006
Just check the internet to see if these things come to pass...ALL the stats are posted online like 6 hours before you get to actually watch the games. But with that said...I think that Bode and Apolo will come through today...don't know about Chad and Shani though...