I guess for me it was the Summer 1976 games.

In 1980 we boycotted the Soviets, and then they boycotted us in 1984, so it was like "who would want to watch without the other major competitors".

In 1988, I didn't own a TV, so I didn't watch.

Then the cold war was over, so they lost the principal reason most people watched them for what they were. An East-West competition.

So I lost interest, and I've never watched again.

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freeradical
Then the cold war was over, so they lost the principal reason most people watched them for what they were.

I refuse to believe that this is true - I think this is YOUR reason for not watching, but I don't know of anyone else who stopped watching the Olympics because the cold war ended.

I LOVE the olympics. I love sporting competition and the best in the world against the best in the world is as good as it gets imo.

Attended Vancouver 2010 winter games in person. Saw some figure skating.

For tv watching live, 1996, Atlanta games. Was up late feeding my baby son when Tom Brokaw came on and said there had been a bombing.

After that only a few recorded clips here and there.

Always watch the events I’m interested in (if I can). Attended live events at the 1984 LA Olympics.

And that “Cold War” proposition is flat out wrong.

I lost interest at least 20 years ago. Maybe longer.

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My life goes smoothly and in regular intervals

I live in Japan. It has become a never ending serial drama.

I never miss them. I love the Olympics. I've been a part of the LA '84, Atlanta '96 and hopefully the LA '28 Olympics.

One of my favorite moments:

Carmelita Jeter pointing at her world record time at the end of the Women's 4x100 Relay. Super exciting.

I watched most of the 2008 Olympics opening to closing because of a friend's interest. That was pretty much the last time in 20 years because I don't like the coverage. I will watch some of the big events, but that's about all.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

You sure Bob Costas is gone?

I quit when Apollo Oh and a bunch of obnoxious kids came on the scene.

It was wholesome fare for our young family. I think about 2016 we sort of collectively and tacitly and stopped making time for them. When they were on the other side of the globe, and all the US primetime coverage was so obviously heavily curated and time delayed was when it was the least compelling.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2021 10:14PM by Acer.

One of my favorite moments too - I had to go find it now... [www.youtube.com]

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vision63
Carmelita Jeter pointing at her world record time at the end of the Women's 4x100 Relay. Super exciting.

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hal
One of my favorite moments too - I had to go find it now... [www.youtube.com]

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vision63
Carmelita Jeter pointing at her world record time at the end of the Women's 4x100 Relay. Super exciting.

You made me clap all over again! I love hearing Alyson Felix scream to Bianca Knight after handing her the baton!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2021 11:11PM by vision63.

The greatest sports event I ever saw was Franz Klammer in the 1976 Men's Downhill ski race. I couldn't end it on YouTube now.

I enjoy watching a lot of the trials and usually keep the games on when there's nothing else on TV that I want to watch. You never know when something cool will happen. Records broken. Drama over disqualifying seams in someone's leggings. Bathroom problems.

Except for skating, I pay more attention to summer events than winter.

And recently, I've been watching more gymnastics because we've got a GOAT.

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Stopped watching after the Rio games after reports of the conduct of the Olympic games' officials, such as people's homes being destroyed to make room for Olympic buildings and stadia that will be used temporarily. And it has apparently been going on for many Olympiads. Not to mention bribes and favors to the Olympic Committee, especially during the selection process awarding a city to host the games.

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Something different...

Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
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"Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime."- Lavrentiy Beria

Seems like the summer Olympics is 100 straight days of swimming, then a little gymnastics and that's it.

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Lux Interior
Seems like the summer Olympics is 100 straight days of swimming, then a little gymnastics and that's it.

Reading this and other posts above; perhaps the criticism is more about how crappy the broadcast TV coverage is (looking at you NBC!), and not the event itself?

Endless hours of saccherine athlete backstories with interruptions for only the events that generate the highest viewership (gotta keep those sponsors happy so the highest ad rates can be justified.)

I enjoy watching. Amazing human competitors. Try not to fall asleep during the "human touch" segments!

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

After having seen the events-centered Canadian coverage of the Olympics while I lived in Buffalo, the NBC stuff renders it unwatchable. It's also a gross insult to all those fine athletes who have worked so hard for years to be in this competition.


The up-close-and-personals are disgusting as coverage of the world's greatest sporting event.

I watched a lot of coverage when I was a kid. I've seemed to outgrow watching now. I can't say I've seen more than a blurb or two in the last 40 years.

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Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

We usually watch it on a Canadian network on cable. Better coverage, less curated babbling.

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“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]

when did it go from ABC to NBC?

Since the 1984 LA Games, I've been an Olympic junkie (still have the expanded Sports Illustrated edition from it). I love watching them, both Summer and Winter Games. I'm looking forward to watching these upcoming games.

But nothing beat going to 5 different events in 3 days, 25 years ago in my own hometown. I was living in Cincinnati and able to get home for one weekend. My mother was a volunteer for the Olympic Committee and got me tickets to a bunch of events. My brother and I were at Centennial Park the night the bomb went off. Fortunately, we had left about 30 minutes prior. I had a time to get credentialed and get a tour of the Olympic Village the next morning (which obviously never happened). Hard to believe it was 25 years ago.

I love watching the Olympics. What I don't love is watching the absolutely dismal American coverage of the Olympics. Try watching it in Europe and you'll have multiple channels of wall-to-wall competition covering multiple nations and events. Watch it in the US and you only have a single channel that paid for the licensing rights and they only show snippets of competitions where US athletes are featured and a bunch of smarmy backstories worthy of a Hallmark miniseries. They also focus on popular american sports (basketball, ice hockey, etc) that we already overdose on in this country. It is truly pathetic. I think that this is why many americans have no enthusiasm for the games.

For the last Olympics I stooped to watching some of the important competitions by a Facetime feed from my English cousin in which he pointed his iPhone camera at the TV screen because there was no other way to watch them in the US.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2021 04:16PM by davester.

Lost interest a long, long time ago. I may catch an event here or there, but I don't make it a point to watch any particular part of it.

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DavidS
Hard to believe it was 25 years ago.

LOL - the 1984 Games were 37 years ago. That event was so exciting for this then-19 year old L.A boy. No Olympics since has come close to matching it.

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It is what it is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2021 07:21PM by N-OS X-tasy!.