2020, uh, 21, uh, who knows Tokyo Olympics thread

I realized during these games that Remember the Titans is what One Shining Moment would be if One Shining Moment didn't have the most ridiculous, hokey lyrics. That said, Deadspin did "Dumb Shining Moment" several years ago (to an 8-bit version of the song), featuring bloopers and other bad plays. I would pay money for an Olympic blooper reel at the end of the Games.

Speaking of money, finding the Titans montage online is something of a quadrennial chore. NBC has never paid for the rights to stream it, so you have to wait until the fervor boils down and the DMCA police to lose the trail. This happens because you can find all of the others dating back to 2002 (first usage, previously it was "Ode to Joy") on YouTube without a hell of a lot of effort.

That said, if I need to make myself cry, that is where I go. Best one is 2008, particularly Mattias Steiner, a German heavyweight weightlifter who won gold fairly soon after his partner was killed in a car wreck.

 

From our STFU And Go Away beat, Hope Solo is running her mouth again.

 

I had to wade through the boring closing ceremony to get to the montage. They didn't do it with the credits this time - I guess they did the credits in the afternoon close. Watched a couple of the others (CBC, BBC) and they didn't come close. I'm guessing it will be Remember The Titans until someone writes something better. It's a great theme, and long enough 7 and half minutes, where you never feel cheated. NBC has also used the theme from Gettysburg and Dragonheart (both Randy Edelman concoctions - and also quite good - but not as perfect as Titans). Also, NBC mixes the montage perfectly so you get just the right balance between the music, the event sound and play-by-play.

 

Part of it was that they used to roll credits for the whole Olympic deal over it all and the Remember the Titans part wasn't long enough and/or they didn't want a bunch of grips' names running over the good parts. In Rio 2016, they started separating the credits out and run them over a separate montage the night before the Closing Ceremony (I nearly had a conniption that time).

Another thing I've kept track of over the years is who gets the "hammer" in the montage (which is to say, which highlight is over the apex of the music, a term I ripped off a Bill Simmons column which he used for the person who gets the last spot in the death reel at the Oscars):

The complete list:
2020: Caeleb Dressel (cut was kind of late)
2018: Shaun White (this was bullcrap)
16: Michael Phelps
14: TJ Oshie
12: Alex Morgan
10: Lindsey Vonn
08: Jason Lezak/Phelps and friends
06: Italian XC skiers?
04: Another Michael Phelps relay
02: Sarah Hughes (but the cut is actually right on the beat).

 

In 06 NBC had a 30-minute doc on the Italian-Norway cross country skiing relay rivalry stemming from an epic race in 1994, so Italy reclaiming the title on home snow was a big deal. That and the pre-Olympics US stars in figure skating and alpine skiing didn’t deliver, so there you go.

Some of the intro montages are great, too. I think for 1992 it was the first time Yanni’s In Celebration of Man was used on any sports broadcast. 2000 and 2004 had James Earl Jones’ voice. 2002 was Jim McKay reflecting on 9/11 before the host city/athlete run throughs.

 

Unfortunate timing, to say the least.

 

Another olympic staple - didn't realize it was from Brisco County Jr. - but yet another Randy Edelman piece.

 

Cannot like this story enough. Glad more outlets are picking it up.

 

Stories like this are why I am still a big Olympics supporter despite all the obvious bullshit.

 

Just because the IOC is blatantly corrupt does not mean all the athletes are. That part I hope we all understand.

 

Very generous guy, didn't know he was in the supermarket game.