Olympics & STFU

I have to admit that I've been an Olymp-a-holic the past several days. After all, it's only every 4 years for the summer Olympics, right? I got hooked by the incredible and stunning opening cermonies. I think they were by far the best of all time. It surpassed my expectations by a mile and certainly set the bar up a few notches for the Brits in 2012. They will be hard pressed to even equal China's glorious efforts.

One of the cool things I liked about the opening ceremony, outside of the guy suspended in the air "running" around the top of the arena AND the drum countdown, etc, was the parade of nations. I thought NBC did a great job here because the announcers for the most part didn't just drone on about boring non-relevant crap, they provided a wealth of interesting and informational bits about each country. I was amazed by how much they put together. And of course, the attire and clothing displayed by each nation representing their particular heritage and culture was an amazing sight in of itself.

Since then, I've watched several games including volleyball (indoor and beach....love those bikinis..lol!), fencing, boxing, basketball, rifle/shooting, rowing, and swimming. I have to say that NBC has done a great job in covering the Olympics this year compared to years past. When the main network gives way to other programming, their other cable stations pick it up. The result is almost non-stop Olympic coverage.

What I like most is the 95% or more of the coverage are on the actual events themselves....not the endless cookie-cutter in-depth personal stories of the athletes. I mean, a 5 or 10 minute presentation here and there is enough. In years past, they'd run numerous such specials for 30 minutes or more at a time not just on the athletes, but the country and cities that were part of the Olympics. The end result was 50% olympics and 50% fluff crap. To me, the best story on the athletes is watching them actually perform. After all, that's why they train thousands of hours and make alot of sacrifices. It's nice to see the NBC pulled their heads out from where the sun never shines and finally "get it". As a result, their ratings are through the roof. It's a hit. I've certainly tuned in alot mre than I ever have in the past.

After watching the incredible fencing by Team USA (who got all three medals!!), I was witness to one of the most stunning and spectacular victories I've seen since the 1980 USA hockey team defeated Russia to take the gold. This was the huge 4x100 men's relay swim event or also known as "STFU" event (Shut The French Up...whaddya think I meant?). After the French team talked some smack about smashing Team USA, our guys rose to the challenge and beat them while setting a new world record in a very exciting race to the finish. The French should have waved the white flag instead of talking smack. LOL!! It is going to be an event talked about for a very long time to come. Full story HERE.

Okay, back to watching the Olympics!