catapult magazine

Maybe the Canadian coverage is more comprehensive because there aren’t enough Canadian athletes to fill up all the necessary air time. And do Canadians want to watch American athletes. Hell no. Unless they’re really cute. So we get to see cute athletes from places in the world Americans have never even heard about.

Ah it’s good to be back in Canada where I can once again view our neighbor to the south as a giant monster gobbling up the civilized world. It was more complicated when I lived in the USA.

so, is anyone watching the olympics? i find myself not even remotely interested for perhaps the first time in my life. i wonder why i find myself in such apathy towards one of the few remaining things in life which attempt to unify the world.

does anyone else actually care? if so, why? perhaps you can reinvigorate my olympic spirit.

I’ve been watching them on and off. I guess the only thing I’m particularly interested in is ski jump and skeleton and bob sled type stuff. I’m still figuring out if its because deep down I want to see someone eat it, or if I’m really interested. I believe I’m leaning toward the former.
I’m thinking Python had the right idea with “Greece philosophers/Germany psychiatrists” soccer match or the summarize Proust competition. Lets get all the intellectuals of the world together to play tennis. I’ll be ball boy.

I find myself enjoying the olympics for the most part. I enjoy the competition. I think it has to do with seeing the results of the mental toughness of each competitor. All of the athletes are good at what they do – for the most part, but who is good today. Seeing who has to go last and watch everyone else, or who has to go first and set the bar.
I would like to see more of the other sports though. It seems like ice skating (pairs, mens, etc.) is the main event every night with everything else as filler; unless you stay up late for the late show. I also have a big personal dislike of Bob Costas, but that is for another time.

My wife always watches all the Olympic coverage she can get (even though that amounts of one or two ski runs sandwiched between 12 commercials). I like it, but I have a tendency to wander in and out and do other things. I like to see people excel, although I think it’s a little silly to say someone “won” and someone “lost” when the time difference is one one-millionth of a second.
Two things I like the least: the nationalistic judging, particularly of the skating (not just in the Olympics; we’ve watched figure skating for years, and it’s always been the same); and the skewing of the television coverage so that it’s 95% American and 5% for everybody else. I like to watch them all.
Sandy Wilbur

I’m in Canada right now. There’s a sign outside my hotel window that says “Way to go David and Jamie! You’re gold medalists to us!” Maybe I should go tell them the news.

Also, I’ve been watching the Candian networks’ coverage. It’s rather skewed toward the Canadian POV. Just like the US.

We were in New Brunswick for the Summer Olympics last time around, and were impressed about how much better the TV coverage was than what we were used to in the States. They certainly showed the Canadians, but they showed a lot more of the other athletes, and not just the medal winners. They also showed things in “real time,” so sometimes you got to see something before the local news spoiled any surprises.

yeah, don’t you love it when they report who won an event before they actually televise it? gee, maybe it’s just me, but i think that just might ruin the sense of eager anticipation involved in sports.