Olympics 2012, in Londontown

One thing I don't need is NBC's gajillion hours of programming. Show me the events. Tell me how far ahead we are in the medal count. Move on. I really don't care about this person's long back to redemption or that person's dad ran out on them.

 

I can't find it on-line but a couple of Olympics ago somebody was circulating a fake NBC Olympic Athlete Questionnaire with questions like:

Have you overcome anything?

Has anyone in your family overcome anything?

Has anybody you know overcome anything?

Do you have an illness?

Does anybody in your family have an illness?

Does anybody you know have an illness?

Wish I could find it because it was funny as hell.

 

I remember that. The last question was "Are you somewhat good at your sport?"

 

I get that. I don't totally agree, but I get it.

 

The difference may well be, it's the Trials. The hard-core fan is tuning in and knows the backstories already. Now, for the actual Games, you're getting everyone from those hard-core fans to the receptionist who only knows if an American wins the gold in this event, she gets a free bag of fries. This is where we get the every-athlete-has-lived-a-soap-opera stories.

 

I can't stand soap operas either, but here's something to think about as everyone starts slinging the tired old critique of Olympic storytelling.

Where does motivation to excel come from, if not some sort of void or hunger?

If you don't tell the audience what drives an athlete (and so what if it IS death or poverty or cancer), where's the payoff to his/her triumph or loss?

I'm not saying to cue the orchestra and blur the lens, but NBC has to give the audience SOMEthing to relate to and/or explain the athletes' pursuit. Otherwise it's just a bunch of guys with OCD trying to win a trinket.

 

Only thing I need to relate to is they want to crush the competiton, stand on the top step and hear The Star Spangled Banner played.

 

Generally, I dislike the Olympics, although I appreciate the athletes and I enjoy watching many of the sports in which they compete. I guess most of my dislike is reserved for the oh-so-corrupt IOC.

I'm not a hater like IJAG, though!

 

I kind of like Kobe's charge that Dream Team '12 would be Dream Team '92 (I figure Kobe was saying it as the teams were constituted at the time of their Olympics).
Other than Kobe, Durant and James though, I don't know who else on '12 would have made that team. Stockton and Malone had a better body of work than Paul and Griffin. I don't think '12 would have had an answer for Barkley and Robinson.

 

Come to find out today, not only are our athletes wearing butt ugly uniforms for the Olympics, the uniforms are made in China. Someone needs to be kicked in the nuts.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/07/team-usa-to-be-decked-out-in-uniforms-made-in-china/

 

If by any chance the Dream Team had had to face a team as good as the 2012 U.S. team, it would have named Larry Bird nonplaying captain or something and replaced him with Kevin McHale. The height advantage of the '92 team alone would be enough -- leaving Michael Jordan out of it.

 

Kobe needs to worry a bit more about the teams he will be seeing in London and a bit less about dream matchups that can only happen on someone's PS3.

Meanwhile, I'm watching the USA-DR game. When did they get rid of the trapezoid lane?