Active.com 2008 Olympics

RE: The Olympics on ESPN?

RyanActive — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:42:14 GMT

"We would never put an event on tape delay," John Skipper, executive vp content at ESPN, said. "When we put 'live' on the screen, we mean 'live right now.' We don't mean live three hours ago."

He said that if NBC was having technical trouble taking the "live" bug off its tape, ESPN would lend its technical expertise "to help them remove (it)."

If you're on the west coast, you can't help but laugh at that.

I have seen events dubbed "Live" on NBC, only to see the results of it on my RSS feed, making me doubly mad.

Personally, I would love to see the Olympics on ESPN. You know the Worldwide Leader would throw a ton of money at it, and saturate our brains with over-the-top coverage on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, ESPN 360, ESPN the Ocho and whatever other dozen or so channels they acquire in the next six years.

Which begs the question: Which events should Chris Berman be forced to do play-by-play of?

RE: Lolo Jones: Class Personified

Trish18 — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:59:21 GMT

I agree that Lolo Jones conducted herself in the classiest of ways after her unfortunate hurdle mishap. I watched every agonizing replay with two hands over my face--one of those times where you hate to watch it happen but you can't look away either. So heartbreaking to see something like that happen... when four years of hard work is fruitless because of a mistake of centimeters, a mistake that only happens once or twice a year (as she admitted in the post-race interview), and it happened on the biggest stage possible.

So I was very impressed that she was able to even get through that interview at all. And she was able to do so honestly and calmly. I, too, hope she comes back with a vengeance in 2012.

RE: Lolo Jones: Class Personified

RyanActive — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:57:58 GMT

I think the complaining about Bolt's chest thumping is because we wanted to see just how fast he could run a 100. I mean, he had 9.59 in his reach for sure. He tried for all 200 meters and nearly broke 19.3. We were disappointed because he was feeling great and running super but he sacrificed an immortal 100 time to let everyone know he was about to win it. Yeah, we could see that.

Tiger Woods doesn't sacrifice any ounce of his game just so he can pump his fist.

I don't have a problem with being cocky if you can back it up. Hopefully one day he can show his full potential in the 100, because it will be mind-boggling.

RE: Is U.S. Too Good at Softball?

Trish18 — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:46:09 GMT

The U.S. had a shaky game against Japan that went into extra innings yesterday. They ended up winning 4-1 to get to the gold medal game, but it demonstrated that anything could happen. Unfortunately for the U.S., that held true today.

Losing for the first time since 2000, the U.S. softball team was denied a chance for a fourth straight gold medal in the sport's last appearance in the Olympics for at least eight years--and maybe for good. :/ As disappointing is that is, it helps a little bit to think that the perhaps moved the international game forward.

RE: Is U.S. Too Good at Softball?

Jesse@Active — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:14:24 GMT

In an article in today's +San Diego Union-Tribune+, Mark Zeigler writes about the one IOC voter who may have been able to save softball, had he voted.

"+Fifty-two IOC members had voted against softball, but it was who didn't vote that, when it leaked out weeks later, drew the ire of the legions of ponytailed American players and their parents: Jim Easton.

He owned Easton Sports, which makes aluminum bats, and was among the sport's biggest advocates. He also is an IOC member who at the time was an IOC vice president.+"

I guess there's a little bit more to it...the whole conflict-of-interest thing. But I think the loss of baseball and softball also has to do with money. Why would hosting nations other than the U.S. or those in Latin America want bb or sb in the Games? Multiple fields are probably pretty expensive to build and maintain, probably will be torn down, and from what I've seen in China, aren't drawing huge attendance numbers. (Though major leaguers might help that.)

It also costs a lot for a competing country to send an entire team over just to get trounced by the Americans. As a baseball fan, I'd love to see it continue to be an Olympic sport, especially if Chicago wins the 2016 bid. But I think right now bb/sb fall into the same category as cricket and rugby -- they're just not globally competitive.

RE: Is U.S. Too Good at Softball?

SoftballPerformance_com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:40:00 GMT

There are several reasons why softball was rejected but one of the main one has to do more with being perceived as women's baseball rather being too American. Yes the anti-american feeling in the world probably played a little bit but at the same time, most IOC members are from countries with no culture of softball and they associate softball with doping, not sending its players, etc. because baseball has those problem. It is really a matter of perception.

I posted a link on my blog about

Why Softball Got Kicked Out of the Olympics.

RE: BMX Olympic Debut

mvalenti — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:18:47 GMT

Update: All four Americans advanced and will race in Thursday's semifinals. Kyle Bennett dislocated his shoulder but still plans to race while Mike Day finished first in all three of his qualifying races.

Watch BMX top 8 moments from its Olympic debut here:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0820_sd_cbb_to_l1031&channelcode=sportcy

RE: Gymnastics Wrap-up: America's New Golden Girl

RyanActive — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:56:34 GMT

Spoke too soon -- Shawn Johnson took gold in the beam pretty much right after I wrote this.

Must be the lack of sleep.

RE: Why Doesn't Usain Bolt Care?

mike@active — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:06:29 GMT

Watching that guy in the prelims, I knew that nobody could even get close to beating him. He spent the second have of that prelim run checking out the scenery and basically not paying attention to the race. I think he even yawned.

RE: Olympic Triathlon Broadcast Schedule

rustyspoon — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:25:47 GMT

Go here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/triathlon/index.html

Right now there is a recap of Snowsill's race in the center of the page. Directly to the right of the main picture in the center of the page there is a link for the recap of the women's race. Tonight that women's recap will move down and there will be a new link saying something about watching the men's race live. This link does not show up until the exact scheduled time. Yeah, that bites.

I watched most of the women's race. I missed the start of the race because the link does not show until the race starts and I had to wait for the player to load. There were lots of commercials and buffering problems. But I did get to see most of it. And most importantly I saw the transitions and finish.