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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| latininxtc |
Anybody gonna tune in? Boycott it? Not give a shit b/c the UK is almost never a factor for medal contention, or other reasons?
I'm definitely tuning into the Opening Ceremony, since I've been watching the opening ceremonies to the Olympics since Lillehammer in 1994. Any place that y'all know where I can view the ceremony live? NBC, who owns the rights to broadcast the games here in the US, will not air it live and I'd rather try and not deal with the awful commentary from the US reporters.
Not sure if I'll "boycott" the actual sports events, but I'm sure I'll tune in to some of them, like bobsledding and some of the alpine skiing events. |
| Elipton |
Interestingly, I watched a Panorama highlighting Putins corruption and the dark side of the run-up to the games. I'm not entirely interested in Winter sports, but I won't single out Sochi as something I'll avoid. However, I hope that the people who hold the power to make an impact - such as the athletes - do take a stand with their principles. I'd love for Putin to be shown up and disgraced, but I'd rather things are run properly and the common enemy of terrorism kept at bay. |
| Hard2Get |
I find mainstream sports boring beyond belief. |
| latininxtc |
quote:
Originally posted by Elipton:
I'd love for Putin to be shown up and disgraced, but I'd rather things are run properly and the common enemy of terrorism kept at bay.
In a perfect world I would love to see both happen! But if I had to choose definitely the latter of course. I would hate for us to have another Munich Olympics incident. If something were to happen and it's due to faulty security, then FIFA should consider pulling out of Russia for the 2018 World Cup. Sochi and Russia had 7 years to prepare for the Olympics and create a safe and secure to keep the athletes and spectators safe, and another 4 years for FIFA world cup would not make a difference, especially since that event will take place in multiple cities.
As far as a disgraced nation, it's looking like that will actually happen. A few articles have pointed out the little progress that Russia has made in improving their Olympic athletes, and they're predicted to only break the top 10 and no way factor into the top 3 in medal counts. Their best bet at gold is in ice hockey, and possibly figure skating. They look to possibly grab a gold in the figure skating team event and pairs skating, but they're a longshot in the other 3 events. They don't really factor in alpine skiing and many other events. And whether or not they manage to pull off a smooth Winter Olympics, these games are already pegged to be a financial disaster. |
| latininxtc |
quote:
Originally posted by Hard2Get:
I find mainstream sports boring beyond belief.
lol you consider this mainstream sports? |
| Elipton |
Its a big worry that so much bad press has surfaced about Russia. Personally, I feel a little bit of glee when I hear that they've spent $51 billion on it [url=citation]http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/oct/09/sochi-2014-olympics-money-corruption[/url]. Panorama said that upwards of half of that has been lost through corruption, and no workers have been paid. That's beyond belief when you scale that number next to the $9billion that London 2012 cost. Apparently a single road linking Sochi to the mountains cost $9 billion alone. What's worrying is that the Russian state is arresting and framing people for asking to be paid for their labour in building Sochi. In that regard, there's very little difference between Russia and the DPRK. I'm holding out for a big cock up on Russia's part. With so much going wrong in the run-up, and so many revelations leaking out, it looks likely that the whole thing will go tits up. |
| Triquatra |
quote:
Originally posted by Elipton:
I'm holding out for a big cock
hehe |
| whispering |
The Neighbors are on break because of the Olympics, so I kinda hate the Olympics. |
| jenks |
Hope fully there are loads of gay pride protests and it's a massive disaster for Russia. |
| Triquatra |
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
The Neighbors are on break because of the Olympics, so I kinda hate the Olympics.
What is this?!?! Haha, fantastic!
I'll tell you what it is, it's something to watch whilst I wait for falling skies to start back up again! Thank you. |
| Elipton |
Decided to watch it while Im in the uni library, and I wasn't disappointed!
 |
| latininxtc |
quote:
Originally posted by Elipton:
Decided to watch it while Im in the uni library, and I wasn't disappointed!
lol that ring. That was when my computer crashed and didn't see it. I'll watch it again on NBC tonight.
I too was not disappointed at all! I expected it to be ridiculously over-the-top and overwhelming, but it was a great one. They did a far better job than Vancouver's opening ceremony, and I think there are things they did better than the London opening ceremony. But I'm not comparing which is better of those 2, because it's not fair to compare summer and winter olympic opening ceremonies together. I just enjoy the high-culture opening ceremonies a bit more, and this was well done.
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| Elipton |
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
quote:
Originally posted by Elipton:
Decided to watch it while Im in the uni library, and I wasn't disappointed!
lol that ring. That was when my computer crashed and didn't see it. I'll watch it again on NBC tonight.
I too was not disappointed at all! I expected it to be ridiculously over-the-top and overwhelming, but it was a great one. They did a far better job than Vancouver's opening ceremony, and I think there are things they did better than the London opening ceremony. But I'm not comparing which is better of those 2, because it's not fair to compare summer and winter olympic opening ceremonies together. I just enjoy the high-culture opening ceremonies a bit more, and this was well done.
As far as bigger goes, Sochi takes it, but with three times the budget, who's surprised? I think Sochi has been a technical marvel (albeit a snowflake) with its opening floor, massive lightened structures and open space stadium. London was an artistic marvel with its pandemonium sequence, Danny Boyle directorship and music. Each Olympics has its own strength and motive, but nonetheless, it was very enjoyable! |
| latininxtc |
quote:
Originally posted by Elipton:
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
quote:
Originally posted by Elipton:
Decided to watch it while Im in the uni library, and I wasn't disappointed!
lol that ring. That was when my computer crashed and didn't see it. I'll watch it again on NBC tonight.
I too was not disappointed at all! I expected it to be ridiculously over-the-top and overwhelming, but it was a great one. They did a far better job than Vancouver's opening ceremony, and I think there are things they did better than the London opening ceremony. But I'm not comparing which is better of those 2, because it's not fair to compare summer and winter olympic opening ceremonies together. I just enjoy the high-culture opening ceremonies a bit more, and this was well done.
As far as bigger goes, Sochi takes it, but with three times the budget, who's surprised? I think Sochi has been a technical marvel (albeit a snowflake) with its opening floor, massive lightened structures and open space stadium. London was an artistic marvel with its pandemonium sequence, Danny Boyle directorship and music. Each Olympics has its own strength and motive, but nonetheless, it was very enjoyable!
Yup! And I get to watch it again in a few hrs when it's broadcast on NBC here in the US. They decided not to air it live, so it would be interesting to see what exactly they decide not to show. My guess is they'll exclude the communism/revolution part, which would be stupid because that's my favorite segment. |
| latininxtc |
So on top of a snowflake that wouldn't obey, there was a stray dog that wandered in the stadium lol. Fortunately for the Russians it did not make it into center stage, and it was chased away by some volunteers. But I have been seeing reports that dogs have been barking at all the alpine skiers during practice. I wonder if they will become a problem when the actual competition starts.
BTW, a US bobsledder was stuck in the bathroom due to a locked/jammed door. The bobsledder won.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2554663/Sochi-failures-U-S-bobsledder-Johnny-Quinn-forced-break-door-Sochi-hotel-jams-latest-Winter-Games-farce.html |
| Elipton |
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
So on top of a snowflake that wouldn't obey, there was a stray dog that wandered in the stadium lol. Fortunately for the Russians it did not make it into center stage, and it was chased away by some volunteers. But I have been seeing reports that dogs have been barking at all the alpine skiers during practice. I wonder if they will become a problem when the actual competition starts.
BTW, a US bobsledder was stuck in the bathroom due to a locked/jammed door. The bobsledder won.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2554663/Sochi-failures-U-S-bobsledder-Johnny-Quinn-forced-break-door-Sochi-hotel-jams-latest-Winter-Games-farce.html
Apparently toilets have no walls, there's random seats in cubicles, few hotel rooms have curtains, door locks have been changed locking athletes and journalists out, bee's in honey pots and hotels without floors.
On the other hand, the sports are good to watch.
Saw a British slopestyler crash out with an enthusiastic "**** it, go big or go home" attitude in the interview :D
LOL AT THE DOOR! Haha! |
| Triquatra |
The kids weren't intereseted in the 'normal' Olympic games, the winter Olympics they loved though - Oliver want's to go snowboarding now! so that's certainly on the cards next year when he is a little older. |
| latininxtc |
So if anyone has not heard yet, Russia has just lost to Finland in ice hockey! Russia won't even medal at the olympics hahaha!!!
I'm rooting for USA but I would not mind if Sweden takes the gold so long as we get at least silver |
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