Summer Olympics and You

ancient olympics shoesSo, the 2016 Summer Olympics are upon us. The opening ceremony is tonight. There are various controversies going on.

Controversies aside, are you going to watch any of the events?

For my part, I’ll use my DVR to record swathes that I can zip through (I detest commericials) and I’ll watch the schedule for some of the sports that I was into when I was younger (fencing, karate) along with others like ping pong (yes yes, table tennis, I know I know) and gymnastic events. It’s also fun to see some of the classics of the olympics, track, jumping over stuff, throwing things, etc.

What about you?

UPDATE:

Of course in the opening ceremony they just had to indulge in absurd global warming scare-mongering B as in B, S as in S.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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35 Comments

  1. SanSan says:

    I’ll be watching some of it too…..

  2. leon says:

    I think the volleyball match ups will be most interesting.

  3. APX says:

    Not owning a TV, I plan on watching none of it.

  4. SaintJude6 says:

    As my husband would say, “Here is the least amount you think I could care about this subject, and about twenty feet lower than that is how much I actually do care.” The Olympics is now all about professionals, endorsements, advertising, doping, and people who put way too much focus on athletic achievement. But it’s always funny when Catholics try to tie it in to St. Paul.

  5. A.D. says:

    Blessings on you for reminding me. I rarely watch TV now, so almost missed the opening ceremonies. I am an Olympic fanatic! The Winter Olympics is my favorite. For Summer, I like gymnastics, swimming, diving, track and field, etc.

    Thanks again.

  6. juergensen says:

    As a former pole vaulter, each Olympiad I long to see the pole vault event, but it is never, or hardly, televised. Well, maybe at 2:00 in the morning. Just doesn’t have the mass market appeal of gymnastics and diving, I guess.

  7. I am currently being underwhelmed by the opening ceremony and will probably just go to bed. We will watch some events over the next few weeks. Gymnastics was always my favorite.

  8. Kerry says:

    We are also sans television, though I may try to see some track events. This article about Ralph Mann & Jason Gatlin is very interesting: http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/sports/a21183/justin-gatlin-usain-bolt-rio-olympics/
    And Gatlin is 34; I hope he wins.

  9. GrumpyYoungMan says:

    I generally avoid the Olympics – corruption and lots of warm fuzzy global group hugs just turn me off.

    None of the summer sports are particularly interesting, though I do enjoy watching ski jumping in the winter.

  10. Charles E Flynn says:

    In general, I watch very few sporting events on television. Therefore, it was a great surprise to me to see how captivating the reporting on Bryant Gumbel’s HBO program “Real Sports” is. See:

    The Lords of the Rings-Rio Sewage: Real Sports Trailer (HBO)

    That said, I am grateful to Dorothy Hamill for her performance at the 1976 Winter Olympics. I was in really bad shape then, having seen one clown mass too many (as in one). She lifted my spirits.

  11. wags221 says:

    I had to simply change the channel when the global warming part came on (the olympics SHOULD be an event where we don’t have to dig into politics at every corner), only to return once the awaited parade of nations began.

  12. Geoffrey says:

    Starting tonight, the Olympics will be on our television each night, even if only as background noise. I like swimming. Gymnastics usually has me on the edge of my seat. I try to catch fencing, but it usually gets regulated to some obscure channel owned by NBC and at an ungodly hour of the morning.

    I don’t think global warning should be a political issue. It should be a science issue. Let us leave it to the scientists to debate it and the charities to raise money for or against it.

  13. Papabile says:

    I will be watching all the swimming events. 5 of my seven swim in the summer, and 3 of them swim year round. We have Fios, so we can on demand it.

    However, I will probably torrent the complete swimming from British TV which will cover the whole thing.

  14. Norah says:

    Is it true that men pretending to be women have been selected in women’s teams to compete against real women?

  15. Semper Gumby says:

    Canoeing and Kayaking

    Marathon. The last 8 miles or so are fascinating as the lead pack breaks and reforms, some runners hitting the wall etc. A buddy and I once ran the Marine Corps Marathon, he crossed the line just under 3:00 and I finished 15 minutes later. At the Recovery Area we realized we had zero chance of shaving 40-50 minutes off of our times. So we helped ourselves to another cup of Gatorade and promptly retired from the sport.

  16. Nan says:

    I was at the hospital tonight, helping my sister plan her funeral. Her time on Earth is short and I’m helping her get her affairs in order.

  17. ncstevem says:

    I believe the last Olympic event I watched was the 1980 US hockey team defeat the USSR. The game was televised tape delayed so we already knew the outcome.

    Haven’t had TV for many years. The nanny who lives with my wife and daughter talked me in to getting one at the condo where they live. Actually turned it on for a minute this evening and a sit-com with 2 obvious sodomites, a female and a young child was on the channel.

    When I quickly recognized that this show was pushing the homo agenda, I said to myself let’s see how long this lasts before I have to turn it off. Within the first 60 seconds, one sodomite asks the child that he understands she thinks she’s ‘gay’. Click

  18. VexillaRegis says:

    I’m almost completely uninterested in sports, it’s sooooo boring! At my work place there are lots of people who are sports fanatics, so I usually catch up about what happened the day before in The Olympics -or what ever is going on . so I don’t make a fool of myself at the lunch table…
    Today we are going to an army museum, looking forward to that. It will be rather empty….
    Hm, wait, Rio is on the other side of the World! Now I will have to deal with tired work mates for two weeks. Sigh!

  19. Simon_GNR says:

    The only events I’m definitely planning to watch are the finals of the men’s 5,000 and 10,000 metres, provided that the reigning Olympic champion Mo Farah of Great Britain is running in them. (And even then, if the races are at 2.00 a.m. (or whatever) British Summer Time, I won’t stay up to watch them live.) I know it’s rather narrow-minded but I’m really only interested where a British competitor has a good chance of wining a medal. I’m not very interested in most of the sports other than track & field athletics.

  20. Wiktor says:

    “What about you?”

    Kettles! I mean, curling!

  21. KAS says:

    Not this time. It has become a secular international global religion of sorts, with its ceremonies and all. I am no longer able to enjoy it. The few things I might watch are rarely televised when I am likely to watch, and even then, they tend to avoid spending much time on them. So, I am not bothering this year.

  22. Suburbanbanshee says:

    NBC is actually streaming some events on their website for those of us who don’t have cable. I am watching men’s team archery right now. There was an exciting upset by Indonesia, who beat Non-Red China by just a few points.

  23. Suburbanbanshee says:

    Ah. NBC only lets you watch 30 minutes of livestream.

    Well, isn’t that special.

  24. Confitebor says:

    I had the misfortune of being in a place where the Olympics opening ceremonies were on television, but the television’s sound was muted. I ended up seeing most of the show, without the sound. From what I could tell, it appeared they were symbolically representing the history of Rio de Janeiro from the creation of the earth until today, and then forecasting what I deemed to be a most hopeful future of global warming, melting icecaps, and the blessed inundation of Rio. But realistically, I doubt Rio is going to be inundated any time soon — probably not for a few thousand years at least. Sorry, guys, you won’t be able to count on rising sea levels to someday wash away all your floating fundament — you’re just going to have to clean up your, um, act today.

  25. VeritasVereVincet says:

    The first time I heard about the Russian whatever-it-was was actually during the ceremony, as I don’t keep up with sports at all.

    90-95% of the TV watching in our household is the Olympics. I’ve been recording them in various degrees since 2002. This year I’m experimenting with recording on DVD instead of VHS. I like to record at least the opening/closing and the individual gymnastics all-arounds, which I’m sadly going to miss watching live-ish as I’ll be out of town. After that I’ll watch (sometimes record) more gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, diving, and synchronized swimming (I spy a pattern here…), along with whatever else is televised with those, because we only have over-the-air TV.

    (And maybe whatever Michael Phelps and Kerri Walsh Jennings do. I’ve been watching them for four Olympics and half my life–I’m a bit attached.)

    My reaction to the “climate change is a danger facing us” was “Oh come on, SERIOUSLY?! At the Olympics?!” followed by a massive eyeroll and tuning out til that segment ended.

  26. Confitebor says:

    “Is it true that men pretending to be women have been selected in women’s teams to compete against real women?”

    Yes, Britain is sending a couple men to compete against women athletes — so it’s likely that the real winners of those events will be defrauded of their medals and recognition.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3671937/Transgender-British-athletes-born-men-set-make-Olympic-history-competing-games-women.html

  27. Persistant says:

    Father, I don’t think you’ll be able to watch karate, since it currently isn’t an olympic sport. However, it will be back in Tokyo 2020!
    I’ll watch sports in which people from my country will perform: handball, basketball, waterpolo, some athletics,tennis, sailing and rowing, perhaps some taekwondo and boxing. Anyway, the time difference is huge so most competitions will be during the night where I am so I’ll have to adjust.

  28. Mariana2 says:

    Gymnastics, decathlon… But not live, it’s all on in the middle of the night.

    I wasn’t able to sit through the inauguration thing, too boring, thank goodness I missed the global warming bit.

  29. Patti Day says:

    I watched a bit of the opening ceremonies last night, but switched over to one of my favorites, The Great British Baking Show. I don’t expect I’ll see much of it.

  30. PostCatholic says:

    I’ll be watching sailing. In high school, I used to sail on a team with a fellow who went on to compete in the Barcelona Olympics on the Canadian Soling-class team. They didn’t medal but it was still a thrill to watch.

  31. benedetta says:

    Rowing — USA woman’s single scull took first this morning! Huzzah!

  32. marthawrites says:

    Me, too: I watched The Great British Baking Show instead of the opening ceremony and then went to bed. I watch so little tv that I’ll just tune in occasionally and if something appeals to me I’ll watch for a while. Two years ago when the Winter Olympic games were held in Russia I was so disgusted by NBC “stars” focusing on themselves, their activities, their faux competitions, that the Olympics lost its glow for me. The network’s coverage of itself obscures the actual events. Too bad, because years ago when our family took an August vacation we used to look forward to relaxing in the evening together in front of the tv, cheering on the Americans; it was part of the vacation agenda. We can still recall certain events that brought tears to our eyes or caused debate about points awarded fairly or not. “Those were the days, my friend…”

  33. Kathleen10 says:

    Nan, may our merciful Lord bless and guide both of you. It’s rough, I know.

    We probably won’t watch the Olympics. As soon as politically correct material comes on, I’d be out, and I can’t imagine the One World Order Regime will allow this global opportunity to propagandize to pass them by. No thanks dudes.
    The winter Olympics are more to my liking anyway. I prefer the ski jumps, skating, and so on.

  34. un-ionized says:

    Nan, you’re involved in the real olympics, the one that matters. God bless both of you.

    I don’t have a TV, I just read and write and paint. I miss Ice Road Truckers! Yay, Alex!

  35. JuliB says:

    I really like the X games. Those are super exciting!

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