Is your interest in the Olympics the same as it was a couple decades ago?

[scheming daemons]

I just get the general feeling that Americans aren't as "into" the Olympics as we used to be.

Perhaps it was the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Perhaps it was the inclusion of professional athletes.

Perhaps it was the commercialization of the games.


Perhaps it was all of these.


In any case.... I don't think the Olympics is the "news dominator" that it used to be. I think both Obama and McCain can generate buzz during the Olympics if they want to.


Most Americans, I think, generally shrug over the Olympics now.

[PDJane]

1. I didn't have any interest in the Olympics

twenty years ago, either. Still don't. Watching sports is as exciting (to me) as watching paint dry. Your milage may, of course, vary.

[FourScore]

2. You just don't have "The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat"

moments with the guy crashing down the slolom hill anymore. I know that was that other sports show that came on every Sunday afternoon. But still, the Olympics have lost a certain edge that they used to have. It's all so packaged now.

[RufusTFirefly]

3. I choose options 2 and 5

Many of your explanations make sense to me.

Olympic coverage (like coverage of party conventions) is now fragmented and pre-chewed. U.S. coverage is exceedingly jingoistic. Corporate presence has gone well beyond intrusive. Many of the athletes (although certainly not all) aren't the hungry kids pursuing their brief moment of glory but are instead jaded pros.

Once upon a time, I watched the Olympics (believe it or not) for a lot of the same reasons I watched Congressional hearings: they were passionate, real, and often unpredictable.

But not anymore.

[DainBramaged]

4. I don't plan on watching one second of it

too many of my friends and co-workers have China and our corporate masters to thank for their 'demanufacturication' and re-education as car wash attendants and office cleaners.

[Webster Green]

5. I couldn't care less about that crap..

Especially since China is hosting.

China is a fucking shit-hole! Fuck them! I won't buy any of their crap.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. There is some kind of Olympics every other year now. It's particularly

crappy this year with this china thing. I hate everything about china.

[Awsi Dooger]

7. Same, other than NBC's coverage is pathetic compared to ABC decades ago

Plus, it was better to have winter and summer in the same year, an anticipated Olympiad every four years.

I've been to many Olympics and nothing remotely compares, in terms of spectacle and the sporting events. Right now it's cliche to knock or downplay the Olympics. I can guarantee the vast, vast majority of those doing so have never been to an Olympics, and basically have no clue what it is they are knocking.

[tokenlib]

8. The inclusion of professional athletes really messed things up....

For some reason rooting for spoiled, affluent athletes playing professional sports is not a problem.... But they still don't seem to belong at the Olympics. I miss rooting for the "amateurs."
Basketball has been a pathetic joke ever since they let the "big boys" in.

The tape-delayed "packaged" prime time presentation in lieu of more live coverage has really had a lousy effect as well.

[devilgrrl]

11. The only thing good about pros being involved is when they get their asses handed to them.

Like in Athens 2004, when team Italy beat the the NBA stacked team USA in basketball. :rofl:

Now, that was fun!

[Toucano]

9. Didn't give a shit then, don't give a shit now.

But other who gave a shit then, don't seem to give a shit now.

[Rue]

10. I second that sentiment.

I don't suppose that people's blinders finally coming off to the crap that's going on has anything to do with it, does it?

[Toucano]

13. I for one, am sick of hearing about the "sacrifice" the athletes make.

What sacrifice?

So you don't have friends or a social life because you train 60 hours a week because you want the glory and fame and fortune.

That's called a trade off, not a sacrifice.

Get bent, Olympiad!

[Ghost in the Machine]

20. Yeah, what you said...

Who really gives a fuck who can run faster or jump higher? I haven't ever seen a want ad for a pole vaulter, hurdle jumper, 100 yard dash runner or shotput thrower....


You wanna see who deserves our accolades? Look at our military men & women, look in the hospitals & emergency rooms across the nation and watch the nurses, aides, specialists & doctors, look in the classrooms at our underpaid & overburdened teachers, look in our fire departments and EMS workers....

There are a million other people more worthy of our respect & admiration than some yahoo who can run fast...

[emilyg]

12. Much less interest - bordering on 0.

[LSdemocrat]

14. Two factors: increased programming variety, and other sports have improved their marketing

First, there's just so much more available in terms of programming and entertainment options, that all our experiences have become less centralized around big events.

Second, in terms of sports fans, the other major, and to a certain extent some minor sports, have improved their marketing in a way that the Olympics just hasn't. In other words, people can follow their favorite sports year round, sating their demand for sports coverage and cutting their interest in the Olympics and other, arguably less interesting sports. Every day now on television you will find more television coverage of the major US sports leagues on television than you did 20 years ago, both in terms of live broadcasts, for example: nearly every baseball game is now televised in each team's home market which was definitely not the case 20 years ago, in terms of daily analysis shows even during the off season, or even dedicated cable/satellite networks. This also explains why "Wide World of Sports" went off the air.

[Zookeeper]

15. I've never had much interest; now I have even less.

The Winter Olympics are more interesting than the Summer games, IMHO. Probably because of the figure and speed skating. And watching skiers wipe-out.

[comtec]

16. Its been too NFL-ized

Too many "heart warming stories of our athletes". BAH!

When I was a kid, you could still see all the sports, though some were on way late at night, and NBC was just that, the Olympic channel. I LIKED that , because I could see some of the oddball sports like Judo.
They just wholesale IGNORE entire areas in US coverage.

I'm very sorry to say Ill be in California during the Olympics this year (4 years ago I was in spain... sick LOL but the coverage was good, if not in Spanish)

Seriously, the coverage has actually gone DOWN hill!
I like watching the 'athlons, but I also like all the other "small" sports that get brushed aside, like the caber toss (oh wait that's in Scotland) and the one where the guy tossed the big lead ball.

Just the one-offs that rarely get coverage in the US because it's just not sexy enough anymore.

If there was an Olympic channel that showed all the games, start to finish, i might be interested, but the coverage is such crap anymore, and it 'ssooooo sensationalized that i just can't manage to give a fuck, which is sad because those athletes DO work their collective asses off, and giving up a social life for your dream IS a sacrifice, a fucking HUGE one!

[DainBramaged]

17. Isn't it pre-season yet?

:sarcasm:

[comtec]

18. LOL I deserved that

:yoiks:

[DainBramaged]

19. So, this isn't a Brett Farve thread?

:evilgrin:

[NuttyFluffers]

23. that's the big thing for me. i loved watching in Europe back in the 80s

we'd get to see one event right after another, on various channels. we'd get to see things like Rhythmic Gymnastics, Fencing, Bicycling, etc. we don't see any of that stuff in American media -- it's so disappointing. i could give a shit about "heartwarming stories of our athletes" at the moment, i want to watch the events! tell me that later after they do well or epically fail, not during the short span of continuous events. if it wasn't for the horrible coverage i would really enjoy the Olympics again.

[Golden Raisin]

21. Today's bloated, commercial extravaganzas

are an affront to the spirit of the Original. Nothing but Corporate bread and circuses providing large amounts of lucrative commercial time reaching lots of consumers. The typical American TV coverage as a nationalistic race for the Gold repels me. The Olympics should be about the prowess and wonderful abilities of the young athletes, not who won the most Gold medals for their Homeland. China as Host is typical as much as it is unsettling and unsavory. I'd rather see the Olympic Committee raise money for starving children the world over.

[enuegii]

22. Where do supposed "amateur" atheletes

(yes I know they allow professionals now...or are they all professionals now?), even in the wealthy countries, get the necessary financial backing for equipment, travel, etc., to participate in the games? The costs, I understand, are staggering. And what about the poorer countries? I suppose it's a great morale boost for some in these countries to have one of their guys or gals show up and finish dead last..."At least they tried! Isn't the Olympic spirit of competition great!"

Probably not so much to those back home starving to death or dying from malaria, I bet. Especially if they don't happen to have television sets or dependable electrical service to power them.

[TexasObserver]

24. it was the rampant US jingoism that began in the Reagan years that turned me off

The chants of "U-S-A!" became filled with hubris, if not belligerence.

The commercializaton became off the chart. The commentaries became ever more vacuous.

[Nay]

25. I was turned off when it went pro. Up until then, I felt like it was a true

amateur contest, and enjoyed it all.

This time, since it's in China, a place I despise, I won't watch one minute. And I won't miss it either.

[rucky]

26. I still dig the gymnastics.

that's about it.

[lanlady]

27. I can't stand US TV coverage

For years I watched the Games in Europe, without commercials, preening sportscasters, or dopey human interest spots. It was lots of fun. Then I moved back to the US, in time to see the Atlanta games on American television. I was turned off permanently by the over-commercialization and the jingoism. The only bright spot for me was watching the US women's gymnastics.

This year I'll TiVo the opening ceremony and the gymnastics and some of the swimming. That's about it.

[KharmaTrain]

28. Women's Beach Volleyball

That is all...