Is it me; not a "full house" of opening ceremony spectators? Soo Grand the 2 Korean nations have come together for this worldwide event. very cool! Good Luck to all Olympians that made it happen to participate!
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Am I the only one who experienced dual audio commentaries broadcasting at the same time, canceling each other out? There was a steady monotone description of the proceedings by some anonymous announcer overlayed in bursts by Couric, et al.'s blather. It was horrible. I tried watching with the sound off, finally turning it off all together. I turned it on later to see the closing and the dual audios were still at it.
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It is more obvious than ever - Kim Jong Un wants to unify Korea, with himself as leader. He will keep trying to get the South Koreans to think he isn't such a bad guy after all, and that the only reason the North has a bad economy is because of US-led sanctions. He knows how Germany took over the Sudentenland and how Russia took over Crimea. He wants to do something similar.
If a vocal 20-30% of the South Koreans want reunification and Lil' Kim has nukes and the tacit approval of China and Russia, will the US go to war if he invades the South? China is helping him more right now than people think. And just maybe, China has the idea that if Kim takes over the South, they could "help" him with troops and eventually take the whole peninsula for themselves. Kim will be on his best behavior during the games. He needs to win over public opinion in the South.
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I love the fact that the South Korean athletes are wearing the most sought after fashion item in their country. The puffy coats are the fashion "Do" at this moment. Everyone is either wearing one or they want one. I do not know the reason. South Koreans love their fashion. Now, let us have some "FUN".
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Go Canada Go! We traditionally underpunch our weight class at the Summer Olympics, always being outdone by our sporty cousins the Aussies, but Winter is our time to shine. Go get'em curlers!
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isnt' it past time to admit that the Olympics have become a joke? For example, countries bring in athletes from other countries to play on their teams - doesn't that pretty much violate the entire point of the olympics? And the winter olympics consist of either real sports that are so obscure that few countries have anyone at all who plays them (see above) or newly invented 'sports' that are made up to look good on tv. i'm looking forward to the new event where people play ping pong while skiing on their heads. THis is hardly limited to the winter games -- beach volleyball anyone? how about gettting drunk at the beach or hot dog eating as new sports? meanwhille the olympic committee in lausanne is so corrupt it's a joke and every four years the country's organizers end up in jail for graft. Meanwhile, no one wants the winter games, despite the nouveau sports. i believe only two communist dictatorships made bids for upcoming winter games. maybe it should ust be in china permanently to celebrate their human rights records. most people think this thing dates back many centuries to the Greeks or something but the modern olympics were devised something like 70 years ago for dual purposes - to bring world peice and to get rich. one of the two has occurred, please guess which...
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As the announcers and the head of the IOC waxed on about the implications for peace between North and South Korea, was anyone else wondering whether these ceremonies were being televised in North Korea?
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Bryant Gumbel's investigation of the IOC aired almost simultaneously with the Games. The claim that many American athletes must pay their own expenses while IOC money funnels to executive salaries soured the event.
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How anyone could watch these games after the Nassar trial is beyond me.
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Shani Davis has done himself and the US Olympic team a great disservice. In one piggish act, he represented not his country, not his sport, but rather the very definition of poor sportsmanship. When he competes, he can choose to stand for himself. But when it comes to the parade and other team events, it's for something vastly greater than one childish ego.
Does that ego-bit sound familiar? It does to me. At a time when the US presidency has come to be all about self, we need to take advantage of every opportunity to show others we are still in it with them.
Carrying the flag is pure honor: a privilege and never a right. I'm not ashamed to be an American because of what Davis write and did. But I was so angry when I read his warped notion of dishonor, while there's so much of the real stuff about. I'm angry that he squandered this chance to show we're better. Dishonor is not about some stupid coin toss. It's about Davis. Certainly, he's not the only athlete -- or country -- to stand in dishonor. But he's established for all time his place among them.
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The Olympic Games have lost their luster, and I'm no longer willing to waste my time watching it. The mere fact that the IOC has allowed a gigantic contingent of Russians to compete after their country was caught red-handed running the biggest doping scheme in the history of the universe is reason enough not to watch. And anyone who thinks athletes from most participating countries aren't doping, well, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.
I'm also no longer willing to be subjected to the inane TV "coverage," which highlights certain sports to the virtual exclusion of others, and focuses to such a preposterous extent on American athletes.
Thank goodness NCAA college lacrosse season has just started!
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"...inane TV "coverage," which highlights certain sports to the virtual exclusion of others, and focuses to such a preposterous extent on American athletes."
You don't think French, German, British, etc, television doesn't focus on their own athletes?
And yes, some sports DO deserve less coverage than others. It's a mystery to me that curling is an Olympic sport, for example.
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There's a wonderful thing to peaceful resolution and a coming together in humanity. I wish it for all the world.
"Organizers here were proactive addressing the weather. Each attendee at the stadium received a package that included hand and foot warmers, a wool hat, a poncho, a blanket and a heated seat cushion."
Now that's hospitality!
No country will outdo the incredible grandeur and sheer size of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics ceremonies...and I'm glad no one's trying. The S. Korean stadium may be small, but the welcoming care and attention shown to guests by the S. Koreans shines through and does the country proud.
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The farcical Olympic ban against Russian athletes will be exposed daily. Does anyone really believe that the same country that nationalized sports cheating has been sufficiently chastised? Not me. Does anyone believe that same country, which went on to systematically assault US and other presidential elections, has shown that it knows how to be a good global citizen? Not on your life. Every time an "athlete from Russia" gets up to play in an event or accept a medal, that selfsame country will swell in full nationalistic pride, in self-affirmation that it's too big and too important to be evicted from the international stage. It would have been a pity for its individual athletes but an actual sting to its leaders had the International Olympic Committee acted upon its stated convictions. It has tarnished its name, and the games. What does this failure say to those genuine athletes who play with their hearts and not artificial hormones?
1
why do people have to vote for trump
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Americans love a con artist....and Americans are not particularly bright....and there's no democracy in America...put it all together, and you get an Olympic Twidiot like Donald Trump soiling the Oval Office.
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If only the White House stood for Peace.... Or even knelt for Peace.
May the Olympic spirit lift up our hearts.
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I love it! A golfer being one of the final torch bearer's at the Winter Olympics! Makes almost as much sense as the Polo player shirt being the main clothing wear at the US Tennis Open!
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She didn’t light the torch. She lit the cauldron. The torch is what carries the flame during the relay from Greece to the host city. The cauldron is what houses the flame during the Games.
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Thank God! Something else to focus on besides 24x7 Trump and all the political infighting in Washington. Let the games begin!
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North Korea makes atomic bombs - South Korea makes the Olympics.
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Swiss public television (SRF) broadcast the entire Opening Ceremony live.
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exactly NBC's coverage of the ceremony was atrocious
endless blather endless commercials
the time difference and the commercial interests of NBC will negate live coverage and reduce these games to nothing but a highlight show
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It was streamed live without commentary but with "natural sound" on the NBC Sports website: Olympics. There are a lot of sports being streamed live and also replays there.
1
Who is the Caucasian looking guy in the third pic down on Team Korea?
The Boston Globe reports Korea gave special citizenship to 19 foreigners.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2018/02/09/boston-born-ice-dancer-alex...
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A lot of countries, USA included, give citizenships to foreign athletes who then can compete for their "new" country. It's not unusual for figure skating pairs and dance pairs to take foreign partners. Some countries "recruit" foreigners whose ancestors came from their country and don't require them to give up their citizenship.
I stopped watching all this because of the MCDONALDS TRIPPLE BURGER advertising. The ugliness of America is constantly made loud and clear.
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It is the last Olympic games that McDonald's is sponsoring. Thank goodness.
3
All my friends and family in the developing world watch Olympics live all the time.
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Still oiled up from his summer games appearance, Pita Taufatofua is back for the winter games. If he doesn't have a sponsorship from old spice
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Too bad Davis is one of those who uses race as leverage. Technically, that is racism. Perhaps a flight home if he is such a child that carrying the flag is more important than being a part of a team. Very typical of the mindset theses days in the U.S.
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Oh please, don't descend into the mud with all the other otherblamers. Shani Davis has been prickly before and seems to lack self-control. Nonetheless, racism is a problem here.
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Photo of Korean team marching in together...unrealistic, but very moving.
Photo of US athletes in jeans and booties--so sloppy and embarrassing. Unworthy of these hard-working and talented athletes. Is this how we want to represent our country to the world?
Especially next to the elegance of the Korean performers.
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Hey Harriet - this isn't the first time the US team showed up in informal wear. I also remember the Canadians at a past Winter Olympics - Vancouver? - dressed as cowboys. The rest of the athletic teams from the other countries usually come dressed in outdoor winter outfits. So what is your problem?
3
"Photo of US athletes in jeans and booties--so sloppy and embarrassing."
Couldn't disagree with you more. Blue jeans are icon of American culture...and they were NOT worn sloppily by our team. What I saw was a well-crafted well-coordinated outfit that represented the U.S. and Americans well. Our team looked youthful, contemporary, confident.
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I noticed the same thing. Commercial looking Emblematic Logo's all over the place, Low rise jeans, lumber jack boots. It was embarrassing when everyone else looked so elegant. But that's how everyone dresses in the USA today. I know we had more athletes than any other country, but they looked so raucous in comparison.
I'm pretty sure the pentagon shape of the stadium is after the symbol for the korean flower. Can be found on the presidential seal
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Kim Jung Un seems to have outfoxed our own Dotard - with this move of unity, North Korea is showing the world just how irrelevant Donald Trump has made the United States of America.
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he's only shown how easily some people will fall for anything; do you seriously think anything has changed with nk?
Or it show how brilliant Trump is. North Korea was threatening nuclear war, now they seem to be rejoining the civilized world. Sometimes calling the bully’s bluff is the best move. And getting out of the way to allow North and South to work things out themselves was smart too.
Democrats are still in a rage from losing two years ago and it has clouded their thinking when Trump has a foreign policy success.
you realize that the success of the sanctions imposed on NK and DT's hard line stance have made Kim understand that he can't bully his way. so he is being forced to play a last ditch effort card in the hope of fooling the world that he's not really a bad guy. some less intelligent people are falling for that. the word we keep hearing about korea is "reunifcation". do you think Kim is thinking about a united korea where he is not in charge? no way. he's thinking "annexation" of SK and possession of all its resources, technology and manufacturing. Kim is not outsmarting anyone. he is desperate. the plan is working, stay the course.
As an Amerasian Adoptee from South Korea, I have conflicted feelings about South Korea. And so as I was watching the opening ceremonies, there was pride mixed with some sadness.
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It’s okay and understandable. I’ll say as a “hyphenated” American I have learned to be proud of both cultures. It does take time and effort. If Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Mexican-Americans and others can so can you. Hang in there, it gets better.
1
Watching NBC is like reading today yesterday paper. If they will show the Olympics should be live and repeated at night. USA is a land of immigrants when showing events is better, since not all is possible, to show a small part of each nation performance. Limit the talking to what is really important.
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I don't watch them for that same reason, I wish they would stop the nonsense of the up close and personal stories. Olympics coverage went downhill after Jim McKay died. NBC's coverage from the start is awful and has been.
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Well, let's just be clear that NBC isn't responsible for all current U.S. Olympic broadcasting practices. ABC started the Up Close profiles back when it was the American rights holder. ABC's Up Close segments went back at least to Munich in 1972 (I vividly remember swimmer Mark Chatfield's Up Close profile featured his cello playing).
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You can watch the Olympics on your computer or tablet on the NBC Sports website. Sometimes it takes a little navigating to find what you want but click on the OLYMPICS heading and under that, ALL SPORTS will show which sports are being broadcast LIVE at that time. I watched the Opening Ceremonies early this morning that way with no NBC commentary, just "natural" sounds. I have watched other sports with commentators" who describe the action as if it's a sports event, not an entertainment show. Sometimes there are commercials, sometimes not. There are also replays available. The Rio Olympics was shown this way as well.
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How come nobody is talking about how the IOC took the word of the Russian deserter to ban all Russian athletes and now the CAS has apparently overturned that whole doping case against Russia?. Also how does this effect what the IOC did by banning Russia from the 2016 Summer Olympics?. BTW The same Olympic committees that apparently ignored Nasser's misdeeds. Just asking but how come the silence?.
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Can't you just enjoy the moment? Must American hand wringing ruin every moment of joy in the world?
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Go South Korea! Such a beautiful country. You will put on a great Olympics.
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I leave in a few hours for Korea.
I am preparing for the weather.
But it's the part of getting to the Olympics village is the hard part.
It's a 2 hour commute one way - every day.
9
I hope you enjoy the games in Korea!
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I live an hour from Montreal on the US side and am watching the Opening Ceremony live, courtesy of Canadian television. It happens every It's so infuriating NBC hides its coverage until Prime Time.
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It’s not just infuriating, it’s irresponsible journalism. They’re making the ceremony into a commodity that they can exploit for profit (called ratings). It’s a bit like using the words of MLK to sell trucks.
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NBC sports showed live coverage of the opening ceremony and I watched the entire thing on my computer. Not too many people have a flexible schedule to watch it at 6am and so it's great that they're showing the taping at prime time this evening.
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That's why I won't be watching.
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