Fun Friday: What Is Your Favorite Summer Olympics Event?
The opening ceremony is tonight. The London Olympics are upon us.
So I thought it would be fun to talk about everyone's favorite Summer Olympic sport.
For me, it's men's boxing. I really enjoy amateur boxing at the highest level. The athleticism of boxers always impresses me and there's a primal thing to the sport. So when men's boxing is on the next two weeks, I will do my best to tune in.
What is your favorites Summer Olympics sport?
Comments (Archived):
Basketball. The 1972 game against the Russians still hurts my soul.
Yeah. It will be fun to watch KD and LBJ play together instead of against each other
It will. I am chagrined they felt the need to compare themselves to the 1992 team. The 92 edition would have walked all over these guys. They were so strong up the middle. Could you imagine Chris Bosh trying to handle Karl Malone down low? Pippen could shut down Kobe, and I would love to see him defend Lebron, with Jordan and Magic circling to provide back up.
The Dream Team!!!
I was reading the other day that David Stern is considering putting a stop to NBA players competing in the olympics (or at least impose an age limit). He seems to be considering a world cup like event? Any thoughts??
Fine, but the US will get beat up in international competition. Unless other countries are prohibiting pros too.
Not really much of an athletics fan, but I feel like a cheat saying football (soccer). So I’ll go with diving. The utter lack of fear is incredible and the onset of the Olympics got me talking to someone the other day about Greg Louganis in 1988: http://www.guardian.co.uk/s…
Its a toss-up between athletics, and since it’s here this year, complaining 🙂
Moaning – There’s only one winner there! 😀
yes, tongue firmly in cheek 🙂
@RedRookDigital:disqus@rrohan189:disqusThe brits are having an exciting year, that I can say
4*100 metres by a long stretch. I love the passing the baton at explosive speed. You get a taste for individual brilliance but of course, that’s useless if they haven’t practiced like crazy as a team!
Yes! I love that race
yup – that is very cool especially with the potential disasters that can happen
I do like the fact that you get both the individual and the team performance element in relays. Something breathtaking about the lone athlete, but I also appreciate the value of being part of a team.BTW, my daughter runs this one on her h.s. team.
Any of the equestrian sports, but eventing especially. Men and woman, from 18 to 71 years old, compete equally.
I am shocked!
I agree. Love the equestrian– eventing and show jumping. Also fun because the athletes are animal AND human!
I love equestrian sports/events too but I didn’t think of it in terms of the human contestants — I get so focused on the horses. Really good point.
Cycling and track and field are tops for me.But I’m a big fan of the summer games and am always amazed at how I can get into sports I know zip about.
+1 for cycling
cycling is great. I followed tour de France closely this year and it will be interesting to see many of the same athletes compete individually for their countries
It was a great TDF this year. Team Sky was so impressive.The Frank Schleck stuff at the end was not so good but weird things going on within that team.Looking forward to seeing a lot of those guys in London.
Another fun friday idea – Favorite blogs (it’ll be nice to know what blogs everyone else reads..)
Yours. 🙂
dovbear.blogspot.com – I have to keep up with “local news”
Wow @ShanaC:disqus @JimHirshfield:disqusYou guys are fast! Let’s save it for IF/when Fred posts it!! 😀
I enjoy the field hockey. It’s a very popular high school sport here in South Africa, but rarely gets any TV coverage outside of the Olympics.
Yep, can’t wait.
i don’t really like the Olympics, it’s too real. looks like i’m watching news.love boxing though. used to spar in central square in Cambridge, Boston, which was a lot of fun
“…used to spar in central square in Cambridge…” – seriously? You’d just punch people as they passed by?
lol while that might have been very fun, it actually happened at the Red Line Fighting Sports..
The Unpredictable. Although I’m not a gymnastics fan (prefer Bball, Swimming, and Track events) it can easily get exciting given the stakes.So I’m excited about being surprised. No plans, whatever is hot on the Twitter stream.
swimming . . although almost no one (including me) watches swimming outside the olympics, it always seems like multiple compelling stories develop: record number of medals for one guy, 40 year old mom, 30 year old sprinter giving it one last shot. It also helps that most of them seem pretty likeable as well.
Yup. Swimming is great
agreed, swimming exciting during the olympics, the sprinting events are pretty good too
agreed. the sprinting events are always a highlight of the games!
Have to remember Lezak winning Phelps that vital gold medalhttp://www.youtube.com/watc…Incredible stuff. NYT’s coverage of the enormity.. http://www.youtube.com/watc…
The Romney Endurance – seeing how long we can endure his arrogance and stupidity before fits of laughter from everyone in the UK. Makes Dubya seem bright and worldly-wise.That apart – boxing, ditto, and cycling – Go Bradley!! (right after winning the TdF!)
I can’t believe how quickly he managed to outstay his welcome.
I can’t believe the ripostes from Boris and Cameron were witty and graceful. Even more amazed how he has made Dubya seem good, lol. Enjoy the gift, Obama. If you can’t beat this half-wit America is doomed. Don’t let the door slam your arse on the way out, Romney.
I was impressed with the “middle of nowhere” line. Pithy without being personal.
I’m hoping Mitt buys Poland and decides to stay there.
That aside we are very proud that our 12yo nephew is one of the kids chosen to form the guard of honour line for Team GB. Being almost 2yrs now since his 16yo brother suddenly died from an unknown heart defect whilst playing basketball we are all very proud. We will never forget that night at the hospital and I am sure we will never forget today – hope he gets his cheeky grin captured on TV. Go, Elliot!
Yeah. He’s not having a good week over there
he is arrogant and off-mark.
Is he wrong?
he is completely and utterly wrong – and why is he dying on that hill? dont die on that hill mitt – your arrogance seems to tell you otherwise.
If your Aunt comes to visit, and she looks like shit, and you tell her she looks like shit, you are wrong even if she looks like shit. Because there are certain obvious cases where you know to keep your mouth shut. Unless you have aspergers or are autistic and tend to blurt things out.Otoh, people are not mind readers. They can’t account for all possibilities of things that might offend given someone’s unique sensitive mindset to which the “offender” is not reasonably privy to.Add: To be clear in case anyone hasn’t read what I’ve said elsewhere I stand behind Romney on this issue.
Please detail specifically the part that is arrogant relative to this incident.
are you serious?read anything other than fox news – you might get some perspective.Boris and DC are conservatives as well.Bottom line is – publicly criticizing a city you know little about on a project you have little experience with (dont even compare SLC to london)is arrogant.just read all the “clarified remarks” coming out of his camp. I am actually a fan of his.this type of stuff is beneath him and its costing him points.
+1
I find it fascinating and it’s obvious that everyone over in London is so immersed in all of this (by hype, media, and crowd effect) that they take this the way it is. Certainly proves much about how the human brain works and how people can be brainwashed by multiple repeat exposures.Please don’t take that as a slight. It’s meant to be merely a statement as far as what I see from the outside in terms of the reactions of several of the commenters from London.The point is don’t expect others who are not exposed to the same environment for as long as you have been to understand and have the same ideas as to what not to say to offend.Perhaps had Romney had advisers who were British he would have known not to say what he had said. But he does have a brain and he did get to where he is with that brain and he does have advisers as well. I’m sure if he met with the Queen he would have been well advised on proper behavior because that’s something that is obvious that you need to cover in advance. But this is not an example (once again from what I read feel free to quote something else) of something he (being here in the US) should have know not to say.
LE I am not in the least bit offended. I don’t think we should be hosting the Olympics, the security risk is enormous, bigger than most people realise.Romney was undiplomatic imo which for someone who aspires to be leader of the most powerful nation on earth is something he might want to think about working on.
not offended at all – and im in boston – just desensitized to the standard right line – which i may have incorrectly assumed you were espousing…as i said i like rommney.more pissed off that the ceromony is not live actually…..
publicly criticizing a city you know little about on a project you have little experience with (dont even compare SLC to london)is arrogant.Surprising that you would think that his criticism came from the fact that he headed SLC. He certainly has more qualifications to offer criticism than practically anyone else even if SLC isn’t London.But here’s the thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with anything he knows about the city. And it doesn’t have anything to do with whether SLC is a smaller project (which he headed).Bottom line: I don’t think what he said is criticism. Consequently I don’t think it’s arrogant.If you’d like to, once again, repeat the specific words that he said that you feel were arrogant please do because maybe I missed something. But what I heard, to me, wasn’t arrogant.
you wouldnt.from the telegraph (written by a US journalist) – broaden your reading.And Romney’s trip does remind us of how very different America and Britain are. It’s easy being a Brit travelling in the USA. Aside from America’s fascination for all things European (if I’m asked about Downton Abbey one more time, I’ll scream), all they want is friendly conversation and good manners. Telling jokes is difficult because they can’t always tell if you’re being witty, deadly serious or condescending. Of course, the Brits are all three things at once – so the confusion is understandable. But the bottom line is that the Americans have a curiosity about strangers that is rooted in national self-confidence. The argument over the USA being number one is already settled, so they can spare some time to discuss your sweet little country’s love of tea.For an American coming to Britain, it’s much harder to get it right. A tourist has to strike a balance between deference and familiarity – an art so precise that it could be likened to one of those Zen tea ceremonies. On the one hand, we really want you to suck up to us, because we’re aware that we’ve been pretty insignificant for fifty years and could do with an ego boost. On the other hand, we hate people who flatter and fawn – so if you overdo it, we’ll only display contempt.Poor Mitt has got that balance completely wrong. Rather than defer, he offered a professional opinion on why our games have been threatened by trouble (which, of course, they have). Then, to correct the impression of snobbery, he engaged in flattery so transparent (no Mitt, you’re not from Great Britain), that he has earned the eternal loathing of the UK commentariat. The only way to have avoided all these errors was to conduct the entire trip in silence, perhaps guaranteed by wearing a ball gag. If nothing else, it would’ve confounded the view that he hasn’t got a sense of humour.Romney’s gift to Britain is to remind Tories why they are not Republicans and to up Boris Johnson’s “ginger beer and hockeysticks” nationalism one more notch. “Are we ready?” Boris asked. Ready to be mightily bored, yes. Sorry but two weeks of muscular women from the Baltics throwing concrete balls about ain’t my idea of entertainment. Give me a good baseball game, any day.
“from the telegraph (written by a US journalist) – broaden your reading”Why the fuck would I be reading the Telegraph? By the way saying something like “broaden your reading” is condescending. So I will return the favor below!Here’s the bottom line. Let me put it this way. In this country we (meaning all the people that I have ever come in contact with as well as the media here (which if you are living over there you have no exposure to what we are immersed in here anymore than I know the day to day of “Fleet street” and all the shit that Londoners are into) don’t put much thought into the rest of the world as the rest of the world puts into us. It’s not a concern of ours in general. As a result we don’t have anything to prove, and don’t have an inferiority complex anymore than Silicon Valley or Silicon Alley really gives two shits about what is happening in the Philadelphia PA tech scene or Harvard Business School really gives to shits about what is happening at Wharton. Or the people in Philadelphia care about the suburban town I am located in. Have you ever read what makes the news in Philly vs. NYC vs. a small town? It’s (and I think this is one of your words over there ) “poppycock”.Here’s a headline from the local paper here:”Outlook mixed for Collingswood LumberYard project”Exciting!So you can see how in this small town we’d be all up in arms if someone in Philly said something insulting to us here I’m sure. And Philly would be insulted by something NYC said as well. We would only hope of course that NYC had us on the radar enough to insult us! That would be great and a high point of the day. That’s like being made fun of in high school by the quarterback. Wow, I’m on his radar, cool!So, yes, by that definition it is arrogant behavior.But here’s the thing. By highlighting how the country was hurt by what he said it doesn’t make you appear any better. It only makes you appear to be in an inferior position.But the bottom line is that the Americans have a curiosity about strangers that is rooted in national self-confidence. The argument over the USA being number one is already settled, so they can spare some time to discuss your sweet little country’s love of tea.We don’t even think about it it’s so natural. Nor do we really care about it.
its not condescending at all. Why don’t you go and get multiple opinions from a bevvy of sources before you spout of? why don’t you have a semblance of a considered opinion before you blindly trot out the fox news trombone.if you cant be bothered to read, and expect people to take your opinion as anything other than ignorant – don’t blame us for calling you out.i was born in the UK and spent 20 years there – i am now on my 21st here in the US. i happily see both sides. you?
…
sorry mark wrong person replied to!
My first thought on this I have detailed in a lengthy comment below.My second thought was this was actually good for Romney here in terms of rallying support for him based on the unfairness of what happened in relation to his comment. All bond together for a common cause. Nobody likes outsiders trashing one of their own.I mean look at the way Obama treated the Israelis (the dinner incident at the white house). This is all just tabloid fodder.
He’s not having a good week in general having earned a rebuke from both our ambassador and foreign minister only days prior. Given the president directs US foreign policy, diplomacy is an art he’s going to have to master. 0 from 2 ain’t a good start.
hahaha, poor guy. And definitely watching him is a sport.
thank you for your romney joke. while i regard both candidates presented in the land of the free as false choices i have a special fondness for romney jokes because of how painfully obvious it is that he is a corrupt politician.here is an image of a romney supporter i wanted to share.
I want one of those shirts – especially if it helps me win arguments :)I used to work with a guy who had a very large pickup truck with a flag painted across the front and sides. He was a pretty good dude ..but whenever we go into politics the backdrop of his flag-trunk brought to mind the stereotype.
“how painfully obvious it is that he is a corrupt politician”Please do take the time and all the space you need to expand upon that thought.
well, i like to consider it largely a matter of intuition. for instance, if i said, “LE, why don’t you give me all the money in your bank account, don’t worry i’ll give it back to you in a couple weeks” you might be suspicious. because such a request is inherently suspicious.but for those who prefer a more factual, measurable way of looking at the situation, rest assured a strong case can be made. such as:1. romneycare in massachusetts is the same type of socialized medicine that obamacare is. 2. check out who romney’s top campaign contributors are: http://www.opensecrets.org/… do you think he is interested in solving the financial crisis? do you think he is interested in reducing the national debt?3. romney supports NDAA, the unconstitutional bill obama signed into law. 4. romney is pro-war and campaigns largely on the “tough guy” image that appeals to so many deeply insecure rethuglicans who think being the world’s bully is admirable and a sign of courage. 5. he views china as a “currency manipulator” (whatever that means). of course what it means is irrelevant as he is just trying to rally nationalist emotions, not put forth a sound economic ideology.that is just scratching the surface. as a kook i regard anyone who gets as much mainstream media attention and establishment support as he does as automatically suspect; take a closer look at who is funding and what he supports and it becomes abundantly clear where he stands — and that the only difference between him and obama is in the packaging and marketing, not the substance. his supporters are clinging to two-party politics and nationalist pride, both of which are painfully obsolete.
Well nothing you have said has shown anything that I would consider corrupt.#2 is probably your strongest point. Would have been better to also put the link into Obama to show the contrast. I found it on my own in the pull down obvious. Quite a contrast. Love the law firm support.#1 so that’s a wash then I guess.#3 fine with me#4 I think being the world’s bully is necessary. Unfortunately there is no way to setup a double blind test and see what will happen if we’re not.#5 Blame Nixon for all that China stuff.LE, why don’t you give me all the money in your bank account, don’t worry i’ll give it back to you in a couple weeks” you might be suspicious. because such a request is inherently suspicious.The right way to pull that off is to ask me to lend you $50 and then work your way up from there. You pay back the small amounts and increase to larger and larger amounts. At the end you go bust and I am left holding the bag.
the point is there is no difference between romney and obama; on the five points i cited they are the same. obama may not explicitly call china a currency manipulator but both of them will have the same monetary policy and fiscal policy thus the same currency value relationships. there is no difference aside from branding.i like and agree with your robbing strategy! that is certainly the way to play it.
If they are the same person I will take the one who supports gay marriage and a women’s right to choose
those types of cultural issues should be localized (i.e. no one in the US debates one child policy in china), and were meant to be localized in the constitution, but i know if we acknowledged that there would be nothing left to talk about as there are no differences on the national issues (monetary policy, foreign policy, executive bureacracy). so to preserve the illusion of a functioning democracy, we debate cultural issues.
Romney is in a unique position after having actually run something other than a campaign. Specifically in this case, the Winter Olympics. Stunningly well. He was asked if London is ready and he gave his honest assessment. Perhaps you would have preferred that he lie for the sake of “diplomacy”?He forgot the playbook: World apology tour, send back bust of Churchill, give queen ipod! Brilliant!
Faux diplomacy is tiresome. What was amusing and mildly annoying to most Brits was his sheer ignorance and lack of grace. Dubya Mk2.
I guess we’ll see over the next couple of weeks whether his statements were ignorant or accurate, no?
Indeed, but being Britain we can at least be ironic about any cock-ups.Looking forward to seeing more of Romney in the one-legged arse-kicking competition over there in a while 😉
Ha! It certainly would not be fun living under a microscope like those guys do.
” Perhaps you would have preferred that he lie for the sake of “diplomacy”?”See “walking on eggshells” below. If only it were so easy to know what to lie about! Only thing you can do is not say anything (and even then you can get into trouble).Anyway glad you mentioned that. I saw the interview by Brian Williams and then the rest of the report where he was skewered by the press over their and others.Simply unfair given what he said.Here is a snip of it (for some reason I can’t find the full text, this is from an article in the New York Times so I guess we can assume that is what that paper thinks is the worse part:“There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” Mr. Romney said in an interview with NBC on Wednesday.As someone who spends a good deal of time thinking about contingencies and things that can go wrong because if something goes wrong it’s my problem and I can’t point any fingers, somebody fucked up over there with that security contract where the company that was hired wasn’t able to staff properly. In terms of oversight. Belt and suspenders. To wit from July 16th 2012:Britain’s interior minister says the security firm G4S repeatedly assured the government it would exceed its targets for recruiting Olympic staff and only admitted last week it could not meet the terms of its contract. Home Secretary Theresa May said Monday that G4S had “repeatedly assured us that they would overshoot their target.” Britain is calling in 3,500 extra troops to cover the positions G4S could not fill. G4S chairman John Connolly says senior managers could lose their jobs over the fiasco.http://www.cbc.ca/news/worl… I mean what the fuck. This is so typical of book smart people who have no clue and no street smarts and will just take someone’s word for something with no oversight at all. “Repeatedly assured”. Then just point the finger at someone else and not think what could they have done or put in place to prevent this from happening. We all take chances everyday of course. But the amount of chances you take is relative to the risk involved. Think in advance.Here is what Cameron said:That brought a tart rejoinder from Mr. Cameron: “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world.Well then maybe you should have thought about that before deciding to host the Olympics then? This is not an earthquake or a nuclear disaster which you were forced into by act of God. This is an event that you made a conscious decision to host. And did so without a vote of the people in your country many who don’t give two shits about the Olympics at all and what it means or what it does to the image of the country.The country is so on edge that the comments were greatly magnified in the minds of those in the UK. And they decide to rally around and take their anxiety and irritation out on Romney as a scapegoat.To me the behavior of the British in response to this reminds me somewhat of abusive behavior by someone who expects someone else to think beyond what is reasonable about their sensitivity to something important to them. (And to be sure you could argue that Romneys handlers should have anticipated this but I’m not sure what the balance is between not saying anything and saying something that people will jump on.)It’s called “walking on eggshells”. If you’ve ever had a close relationship with someone where you have to walk on eggshells you will understand what I am talking about. You can say the most innocuous thing and it will become a totally overblown in their mind and in their anger they will lash out at you. Let me make something very clear here. It’s them. It’s not you. You did nothing wrong. There is no way to prevent this since the response is totally arbitrary and can be about anything. By not fighting back you only enable more behavior like that.I mean if you find out your friends father died you are automatically in “I’m so sorry” mode so you always say and do the right thing. You know not to crack jokes at the funeral.http://www.foxnews.com/spor…Some of the most successful politicians are ones that don’t back down that say what they feel and tell everyone to fuck off. (Christie comes to mind here.)I would like to end by giving a shoutout to @rrohan189:disqus in the UK who does think of contingencies. Rohan with the help of [1] @930ad67d83c44420bb48409d6f43668a:disqus was the brains of the idea of the video and the card for Fred & Joanne’s 25th anniversary. I don’t believe anyone has seen the card who did not sign it. This card made the trip of many miles to get to everyone who signed it. Rohan, thinking of what could go wrong, specifically told everyone to take a picture of the card “in case it got lost” so the effort wouldn’t be wasted. And the card was being sent by Fedex, UPS overnight and the express mail. (Somebody paid for all of that.) I’ve attached a picture of the card for all to see.[1] @donnabrewingtonwhite
Here is the photo. @disqus I’m still getting errors when posting photos.
Just a note to add that after this photo was taken at least a dozen other signatures were added by the NYC crew and USV team. We had to add the blue border to accommodate more signatures which turned this into a foldover card (thanks to @Panterosa:disqus in response to a frantic last minute email — she also added the animated FJ on the border and on the front of the card)
This is what disqus did to your handle – “with the help of”@930ad67d83c44420bb48409d6f43668a:disqusYour a hash or something.I did do an edit and added your name but it seems now to have disappeared.
I’m a hash? Is that a good witch or a bad witch? I also tried to add @Panterosa:disqus above which did not work. Also, if you edit a comment, I’ve noticed that you cannot add a name properly. Has to be in the first take.
If you’re a hash, you’re a very nice one, Donna! 😀
Donna, not hard work in my field to slap card onto blue paper :)But I never heard back from @fredwilson:disqus as to how he and GG liked being made into animated typography…..
It was great
” Perhaps you would have preferred that he lie for the sake of “diplomacy”?”See “walking on eggshells” below. If only it were so easy to know what to lie about! Only thing you can do is not say anything (and even then you can get into trouble).Anyway glad you mentioned that. I saw the interview by Brian Williams and then the rest of the report where he was skewered by the press over their and others.Simply unfair given what he said.Here is a snip of it (for some reason I can’t find the full text, this is from an article in the New York Times so I guess we can assume that is what that paper thinks is the worse part:“There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging,” Mr. Romney said in an interview with NBC on Wednesday.As someone who spends a good deal of time thinking about contingencies and things that can go wrong because if something goes wrong it’s my problem and I can’t point any fingers, somebody fucked up over there with that security contract where the company that was hired wasn’t able to staff properly. In terms of oversight. Belt and suspenders. To wit from July 16th 2012:Britain’s interior minister says the security firm G4S repeatedly assured the government it would exceed its targets for recruiting Olympic staff and only admitted last week it could not meet the terms of its contract. Home Secretary Theresa May said Monday that G4S had “repeatedly assured us that they would overshoot their target.” Britain is calling in 3,500 extra troops to cover the positions G4S could not fill. G4S chairman John Connolly says senior managers could lose their jobs over the fiasco.http://www.cbc.ca/news/worl… I mean what the fuck. This is so typical of book smart people who have no clue and no street smarts and will just take someone’s word for something with no oversight at all. “Repeatedly assured”. Then just point the finger at someone else and not think what could they have done or put in place to prevent this from happening. We all take chances everyday of course. But the amount of chances you take is relative to the risk involved. Think in advance.Here is what Cameron said:That brought a tart rejoinder from Mr. Cameron: “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world.Well then maybe you should have thought about that before deciding to host the Olympics then? This is not an earthquake or a nuclear disaster which you were forced into by act of God. This is an event that you made a conscious decision to host. And did so without a vote of the people in your country many who don’t give two shits about the Olympics at all and what it means or what it does to the image of the country.The country is so on edge that the comments were greatly magnified in the minds of those in the UK. And they decide to rally around and take their anxiety and irritation out on Romney as a scapegoat.To me the behavior of the British in response to this reminds me somewhat of abusive behavior by someone who expects someone else to think beyond what is reasonable about their sensitivity to something important to them. (And to be sure you could argue that Romneys handlers should have anticipated this but I’m not sure what the balance is between not saying anything and saying something that people will jump on.)It’s called “walking on eggshells”. If you’ve ever had a close relationship with someone where you have to walk on eggshells you will understand what I am talking about. You can say the most innocuous thing and it will become totally overblown in their mind and in their anger they will lash out at you. Let me make something very clear here. It’s them. It’s not you. You did nothing wrong. There is no way to prevent this since the response is totally arbitrary and can be about anything. By not fighting back you only enable more behavior like that.I mean if you find out your friends father died you are automatically in “I’m so sorry” mode so you always say and do the right thing. You know not to crack jokes at the funeral.http://www.foxnews.com/spor…Some of the most successful politicians are ones that don’t back down that say what they feel and tell everyone to fuck off. (Christie comes to mind here.)I would like to end by giving a shoutout to @rrohan189:disqus in the UK who does think of contingencies. Rohan with the help of Donna White was the brains of the idea of the video and the card for Fred & Joanne’s 25th anniversary. I don’t believe anyone has seen the card who did not sign it. This card made the trip of many miles to get to everyone who signed it. Rohan, thinking of what could go wrong, specifically told everyone to take a picture of the card “in case it got lost” so the effort wouldn’t be wasted. And the card was being sent by Fedex, UPS overnight and the express mail. (Somebody paid for all of that.) I’ve attached a picture of the card for all to see.
shhhh FEELINGS FIRST!
“Feelings” Used to be a staple of the Bar Mitsvah circuit when I was growing up. You had to dance with your mom. Or worse an aunt.Feelings, nothing more than feelings, trying to forget my feelings of love. Teardrops rolling down on my face,trying to forget my feelings of love.http://www.youtube.com/watc…Song starts at 35 seconds in.
I couldn’t give a monkey’s what he chooses to say, he might wish in the future that he had lied for the sake of diplomacy.
Although I wonder if even with the diplomatic faux pas if the moment of honesty might win him some points. Lying is what we EXPECT politicians to do.The choice between honesty and wisdom. Seems like they would always be the same. Perhaps not.As my grandmother would have said, he was between a rock and a hard place.
I wasn’t really talking about your election Donna. I have absolutely no feel for US politics it interests me even less than UK politics and I have no interest in that.
If you think what Romney said was bad over there it was nothing compared to what Obama has been saying over here.
I’m not sure Romney is as dumb as Bush ..then again, I’m not sure Bush was as dumb as Bush.
I am already tired of this election. Show some mercy. Let’s talk about Olympics! At least for the moment.
Being an amateur boxer myself, I am also excited for boxing. But don’t sleep on women’s boxing, Fred, I’m really looking forward to watching that also. Quite a few elite women train at my gym (Gleason’s) and it’s great to watch them spar.My other favorite sport is olympic weightlifting: the clean and jerk, and the snatch. Those folks have to be incredibly fast to get under the bar, as well as obviously very strong. it’s a great mix of speed and strength.
Those weightlifters are so huge!
apparently some of the women who compete are living at near poverty levels :/
shana, there is not a lot of money in boxing except at the very top. most fighters are very poor.
pretty great weekend for boxing! I hardly ever watch TV and I watched like 3 hours yesterday!
Swimming because I used to swim in school…but this year the whole family is really looking forward to the 400 because that has become my oldest sons event (he was just off setting a school record this year for 3rd & 4th graders – he was in 3rd so he’s already excited for next year)
+1 for swimming too. I used to swim competitively.
You swam William?? I was on the diving team. What I could do when high school had no gymnastics team.I swim laps now since 10 years. I have a coach from a boarding school every at my pool July who kicks my butt. You should see the drills he has me do. So now, besides Diving, Gymnastics, and synchro on both those, I watch swimming.
Nice. Swimming is great for endurance.
So do you still swim?
With same style, but less speed and endurance…on/off. You? I can still do a 50 m butterfly but it kills me.
I swim 2x a week in NYC, and would love more but it’s inconvenient. In July, I swim every day, at least a mile a day. I swim with zoomers, paddles, pull buoy. I can do 25 fly, and will try for 50 now I’ve been doing so many fly kick drills. I’ll let you know if I make it!
Chip off the old block, I see. 🙂
I meant the 400 in track (which I ran as well, but not at a record pace)…I did have a swimming record in a relay for a few years but that is long gone now (only the good memories remain)
Does anything else really matter? (Aside from the good memories, I mean..)There’s nothing else we truly carry forward in our lives, after all. 😀
+100 and Agree 🙂
Summer Olympics hold a special place with me because in the summer of 1976, I arrived in Montreal a month before those Olympics started, and my first job at 17 was to work at the Organizing Committee selling Coke and Beer at a stand. The perk was a pass to attend any event at the main stadium, so I was literrally there 12 hours per day and got to watch several events, including the Opening and Closing ceremonies.My favorite sport to watch is one that’s not very popular but I used to play it well in high-school. HANDBALL! It’s a cross between basketball and soccer. Any other handball fans?Also, there are 2 special athletes I know that I’ll be closely following. If they win, I’ll let you know. I don’t want to jinx them.
My favorite spot to watch handball is at the street level. In the park at 1st and 1st and Houston where the locals play.Grab a juice at The Juice Press (wacky place) and relax.
I love the Juice Press!
Interesting company.Great juices. Smoothies I don’t care for though.A frequent visitor.
I hope London fares better economically after the Olympics than Montreal did 🙂
Wow. That must have been fun, William! :-DI saw the flame yesterday. That’s the closest I’ve gotten to the games.. hahaI’d love to be able to see the athletic events! This reminds me of sports day in school.. except of course it’s 14 days.. and of course, it’s the world…
awesome story!
Men’s basketball. CP3 is a warrior. And hope to see some Anthony Davis. #browdown
Fred,I have had the privilege of working with many members of Team USA Track and Field this past year, so I will be focused on that area. I am especially excited about the women’s 400 meter with Sanya Richards-Ross and the 200 meter with Allyson Felix….Tim
I will keep an eye out for them
Hi Tim,We have an Athelete from our town, his last name is Kinsley…he is the nephew of a good friend – I think he throws the Javelin
Team sports that you don’t typically see televised are my favorite (handball, volleyball, water polo, field hockey, badminton, etc). Those athletes put so much time into not only performing on an individual basis, but working together as a team, and since nobody is making a living as a pro handball player, you know it’s all for love of the game.
+2 for handball. It’s the most underrated sport I think, but I’m biased cause I love it. I love those 3 steps.
hmm handball…one to check out.
My interest this year is watching my best buddy’s company http://www.rocktape.com break through to the big time with its kinesthetic tape. A cult favorite, there a bunch of athletes using it in the games.Big opportunity. A co-founder of Creative who just went anti-tech and is turning a lifestyle biz into something significant.
very cool!
It’s always been the 100 meter dash, but because I find the sport of presidential politics even more interesting, this year I am going to check out dressage! #horseballet
So far I would have to say Mitt Romney is my favorite Olympic sport. Great to watch him compete with himself.
Gymnastics, table tennis, fencing
Oooh. Fencing. My dad was a fencer at west point. Apparently a good one. He retired from the sport before I was born
There’s a certain sense of nobility and elegance about it that I find appealing. The hidden faces behind the mask, moments of lightening fast attacks and reflexes, the thrust and parry exchanges. Your dad has a refined taste it seems.
Good description, Flavio. It’s like a dance.
this is a great example http://www.youtube.com/watc…
They teach fencing at my daughter’s school and she takes it. I took it. Fun. Glad to see such an ‘old school’ sport still out there.
table tennis ! yes. need to watch it in slow motion…it’s such a fast game, you can’t see the ball.
William, I’ll say! When I watched my first professional match I couldnt believe my eyes. Our table at the office is the most used out of all the other leisure activities. Incidentally , we have an ex college champ on our team. He elevated everyone’s game.
I always enjoy wrestling, having done that in high school. Without a professional level (aside from MMA), it’s neat to see the best in the world compete. Since you like boxing, you should check it out. Very similar mano a mano competition.
Fencing and Equestrian, because my kids compete in those events. The 2016 games could possibly include a kid that my son has fenced.
Forget the sports, Mittens versus BoJo – now that is entertainment http://www.guardian.co.uk/s…
If I have to watch, fencing. Though I rarely watch sports on tv.
oo, and pole vaulting.
Yeah…pole vaulting. The physics behind it is fascinating.
I used to pole vault…was horrible at it, but had a blast doing it (jav and 400 were my better events – coach jav now actually)
I love fencing too. Such an elegant sport.
Very tough decision but I have to go with swimming. As a kid I was able to compete at the Junior Olympics in backstroke. Watching it today brings back memories and adrenalin rushes.
Looks like between 1975 and 1978 ?
I am eager to check out the 100m dash.
Fencing. I discovered the sport in high school and college and it’s never televised… so it’s nice to see it on the grand stage. (I think the fact that the USA has historically lagged other nations contributes to it but we’re making a surge!)
gymnastics. but the whole thing is stupid and i probably wont watch any of it. a distraction that reinforces the obsolete cultural mentality of nationalism. i hope all the countries lose and i look forward to the day when networks/burbclaves compete in their own sporting events. although i feel sorry for the networks that will compete against fredland — they must have low self-esteem and an unconscious desire to get beaten badly.
Rest assured, most countries will lose. I’m 99% sure the games are designed that way.
the games are designed for most to lose, but not for ALL to lose. the latter is my dream. because when the winners win they act like they are cool and special and take pride in their stupid country. if they all lost they’d all be embarrassed and less supportive of their stupid country which is what i’d cherish.
I figured that’s what you meant.
there you go again with the burbnations and whatnot 😉
Like the bible there is always something I can agree with you on.My choice would not be to watch the events but all the technology and action behind the scenes involved in the production of the olympics. The backup systems, the fail safes, the contingency planning. I’d love to watch a documentary on that.”the whole thing is stupid”One of my customers is the Brazil Olympic committee 2016.”feel sorry for the networks”Tremendous amount of money that is invested in pulling this off. All the planning and this year with the web access there are particular challenges with respect to the advertising model. Will be interesting to see what happens with all of that.
LE, the backend of the Games was/is amazing. I worked on the transport plan and the gold medals but the most bizarre job I had was to ensure not one piece of documentation, press release or sponsor marketing contained the word “Olympics”. It is always The Olympic Games or The Games – never the Olympics!I have never seen a doco on the backend but there is a very funny “mockumentary” on the Sydney Games with scenarios that actually happened called aptly “The Games”. Funny stuff.
How are they handling TV coverage of the events this year? In the past it’s been a drag that many events were not televised, or that they were compiled or abbreviated.
Curling. I don’t even care that it’s a winter event only. It’s just that much ahead of them all.
Can’t tell if you are being sarcastic…but curling is a lovely game.
I love everything about it.
Had friends who went as Swedish curling team for Halloween. Brilliant.
I love curling too…so addictive to watch in the winter olympics for some reason…already excited for the next one to start!
well crap – if we’re talking all olympics – then I change mine biathlon ..just a little behind bmx.BTW – we actually had a curling team at my highschool 🙂 …well i think it was a team.. they were way too excited about curling in any case.
Actually, we are talking about summer Olympics. But @andyswan:disqus makes his own rules. We have a few of those around here. Comes with the territory.
🙂
Hope it was clear that by “a few of those” I meant people who make their own rules.
I was all thinking “what! others are impersonating @andyswan:disqus ?!! ” hehe.
Olympics are unique because I tend to watch whatever is on TV when I am home. This is true for both summer and winter and I find it is a great way to get introduced to new sports. Still, I do have my favourites -Cycling: I have gotten into watching the Tour de France the past two years and I am looking forward to how some of this year’s participants in the tour will perform in the Olympics. Also, I enjoy mountain biking so I will be watching some of that as wellRowing: I rowed competitively for a number of years and my wife also rowed and trained with Canadian national team so we always enjoy watching Rowing (also we know few people on both men and women team)Track: especially the 100meter and 200 meter
The great thing about the Olympics is variety.
Normally I would go with swimming because I grew up swimming competitively.But I’m going with women’s soccer. Seems to be the most competitive, high drama sport going these days.
4 x 100 meter relay. The baton handoff is tougher than it looks. I have the need..the need for SPEED…
Unfortunately, Olympic boxing has reached the depths of figure skating and gymnastics on the list of “sports” beholden to political judging. Diving may be there too for all I know, except I have never watched a minute of it. As an endurance sports geek I never miss the men’s or women’s marathons, and am looking forward to streaming coverage of the endurance events (5000m and 10,000m running, road race & time trial cycling) that only make it to TV in highly edited form, if at all.
We’ll watch more swimming than anything else because wife and both sons swim competitively, but I want to catch some team handball and table tennis if I can. Remember stumbling into the former on tv when I was a kid living in Germany and thought it looked pretty cool then.
Swimming and 100m dash (of course). The 4 fastest men of all time running in this year’s race. Should be great to watch.
BMX baby! http://www.usacycling.org/bmx/
Hum – I found that Girls beach volley ball to be intense, and maybe cycling.Side note – I am told that NBC is live streaming all events – found this linkhttp://www.nbcolympics.com/…Only catch is that you need – a cable subscriptionWATCH THE OLYMPICS LIVEWith a cable, satellite or telco TV subscription that includes MSNBC and CNBC, you can access live streams of EVERY Olympic event.
I love it all except boxing. I could enjoy boxing if it didn’t involve hitting. My empathy level is too high.Love the track events and even more so now that my daughter is a runner. Also I can never get enough of anything equestrian and I love to watch fencing– probably for some of the same reasons I enjoy watching gymnastics — the combination of grace, focused strength and precision of movement. Ah, this describes most of the sports in the Olympics, but still something especially beautiful about fencing.But I pretty much enjoy anything I happen to watch. Except boxing. 😉
I agree. The only thing worse than boxing is MMA. I get no pleasure out of seeing pain inflicted even if it’s in a contest setting. Or movies. Or video games.
AVC QuestionOver the last week or so I have been getting a pop-up on AVC – Crowd Source survey – Assuming this is legit?
it is legit but i hate it. it comes from federated media who sells the banner on my blog. i have asked them so many times to remove it and they keep putting it back. i may have to fire them.
Womens gymnastics floor routine And opening ceremonies.
I grew up as a volleyball junkie, so naturally it’s my favorite Olympic sport. I try to catch at least one game/match of every sport during the two weeks. The best part of watching the Olympics is to see the inspirational stories of the athletes. So much of what I have learned about life and overcoming challenges has been because of this. I am really stoked about the Olympics! #goteamusa
track and swimming, because it’s what our daughters do. It’s awesome to watch performers at the highest level.
I find this blog post very surprising. I would never have guessed that Fred Wilson was into the Olympics. Seems like you’re only into investing in disruption ‘online’. Or am I missing something here?
Fun Fridays – My sense is that it is like pot luck – not sure what you are going to get…
Do you enjoy them?
Do I enjoy them? (Fun Fridays)- absolutely! AVC is this great place….always something going on there, wide & diverse range of topics, discussions, interesting people ……. the list goes on and on.Maybe some Friday – you do a post on what you (community members) like about AVC and why.In the Post>Recording that you did on a talk about blogging (Gary and Christina’s SVA Class) http://bit.ly/GGwwdw – I think you mention that the content/mix on AVC has changed over the years (some topics now posted on FW.VC vs AVC).#ContinualFeedBack
I like sports
All the track events but 400m is my favourite, a really tough event.
Basketball … go USA! Shared this shot of the team getting rested up all over my social networks this morning. Hilarious.
For some strange reason, I always watch the kayak stuff during the Olympics but never in between events.
Basketball. It is the only event where the sport is played to its ultimate skill and grace. Unfortunately Team USA does not take other FIBA events seriously, so we are deprived the opportunity to see our best in action more frequently. (…and we still might not take gold!)
I just generally love the fact that for a few weeks during the Olympics, all these athletes and sports get a chance to be in the news and on the world stage. You hear people talking about sports that would never enter normal conversation any other time!
Yup. Totally agree
Has anyone found a good site to watch the Olympics live online?
I am with no TV so trying on iPad. I have two links I can send you
The links all suck, as I posted on Saturday’s post. My connection sucks too. But my connection is probably equivalent to iPhone, so I wonder how that problem can be solved.
I know. The Olympics is still for the traditional tv medium.
One of the best events at the Olympics, which I will try to watch even though it doesn’t get enough coverage is the Pole Vault. The U.S. women has Jen Suhr competing. She recently broke the US record and is favored to win the gold. She won the Silver in 2008. This is an incredibly challenging and dangerous sport. Women’s pole vault are on August 4th and 6th. Keep an eye out for it….and for Jen.
Favorite Olympic events that I am sure to watch?Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony.
Yup – I find both – very good to watch
Here’s an Olympics trivia:If one synchronized swimmer drowns do all the rest have to drown too?
bad-ump bump :groan: 🙂
I have actually considered learning synchronized swimming. I was designing the coolest bathing caps. In NYC there is a team that meets. The captain is a Chinese physicist. How cool. They meet at bad times for me though. Otherwise I’d be there!
there is a syncronized swimming team in manhataan? That is super cool!
The thing I love most about the Olympics is just watching your country compete for medals in events you’d never watch outside of the Olympics. Kicking back with a beer and cheering on your country as they medal in Women’s Under 55 kg Judo is the ultimate form of patriotism
My favorite sport would be the Project Management and oversight that goes into delivering the games. A sport I still aspire to achieve a gold medal in…someday…
Football (aka soccer) hands down! It’s the first time in 84 years Uruguay plays footie at the Olympic Games, quite incredible considering our track record at the FIFA World Cup.The last time (in 1928!) we won gold, so that should give you an indication how unused we are to the olympic footie vibe!Thankfully it seems we might have a chance to at least scrap some metal ware again after such a long time.Anyways, happy to be back!
I will root for Uruguay
We won the first match against UAE and then we lost yesterday to Senegal, but we still have one more game ahead against the hosts, Great Britain next wednesday.Don’t miss it because it may be our last if we lose 🙂
100m – Bolt defies physics.
Triathlon, it has some of the most well rounded endurance athletes out there!
Swimming is my favorite to watch – I worked on the Sydney Games and fondly remember standing on a chair to talk to Ian Thorpe a lovely boy just reaching his peak then. Look out for a young lady called Leiston Pickett who is a breaststroker. She attended my son’s school and is an awesome kid. We are expecting great things.
Olympic shooting. Specifically 3 X40 MenEvery Olympic shooter can shoot a 10 easily. So the competition is shooting 40/60/120 shots, and whoever has the most 10s wins. Physically it requires an amazing control over your body. Mentally it means that you need to change the negative “gotta make as little mistakes” mentality into a positive one. And then in the final shots are counted by 10ths of points: 10.6 beats 10.5…3 X 40 is a 4 hour, 120 shot match in prone, standing and kneeling. It’s the peak.Shooting doesn’t pass well on television, but catch the finals. If your commentator is good, I promise a fun 20 minutes.Proper disclosure: I’ve competed in shooting most of my life.
As I used to do decathlon and fencing, they are close to my heart. However, I am mesmerized by the feats of the gymnasts.PS – I agree 100% on the silliness of the IOC’s and NBC “social media policy.” Outdated for the 21st Century.
Gymnastics is my first fave. I competed at young age. Could touch my head to my ass, and do a walkover across the beam, not lengthways. Has been tough on back as years go on.Next is diving, which I was on team for as well, 1 meter.Last is swimming, which I took up 10 years ago. And love. Strokes coming along nicely. Not interested in speed at all, just grace and good feel.
Very ate to the comment stream here – but I think what you find is that if you are at the games, your view changes. I’m in London now – and seeing the men’s road race yesterday was just amazing. The bikes go by fast, but the crowd is what makes it fantastic – standing in a crowd of strangers all there for the same purpose – some Italians, a few Columbians (their rider took the silver), Americans, tons of Brits (poor Mark Cavendish!) etc… made for a great experience.later in a pub we watched the US defeat South Korea in Archery – which was far better with a large partisan crowd (found a lot of Americans in the pub)Same thing happened to us in Vancouver. It is easy to point to the big US television events – because that is what people see – but get down in the crowd with the international fans and your view might change. Among the great things there was curling!
Track and field all the way. I can’t wait to see the match up between Bolt and Yohan Blake in the 100 and 200
I watched Lochte and Phelps swim in neighbouring lanes- men’s 200m individual medley final.. proud to be in the same ‘room’ with the greatest Olympian ever. Incredibly inspiring!
Boom!
I generally agree with you Charlie and I often wonder how many Obama haters are swayed by the issue of race
Maybe we should let Obama and Romney box for it.
Romney would deny being knocked out!