is anyone watching the olympics?
82854
A little, but not as much as usual. The big problem is the tape delayed coverage  and the presence everywhere on line on cable and on the radio of the results. You know the results of every event before they are on, and it takes away the drama and excitement...
1021795
What many of these nimrods fail to see is the **$$$$$$$$$** that the games will bring into the the UK and European economy. \n\nLondon should not need to build too many new facilities (but probably will anyway). The broadcast rights alone will bring in a fortune. Since these rights are negotiated for each country, the sums will be PHENOMENAL! NBC won the US rights for $2.2 billion US. They expect the worldwide totals to exceed $4 Billion when all contracts are awarded.\n\nAs long as the UK avoids overspending and corruption such as what occurred in Athens, then they have a great chance to cash in on the games. The worse they'll have to deal with is the traffic and the South London thugs....but hey, the Brits made the '48 games a huge success and this was only 3 years after the end of WWII!\n\nFrankly, I'm excited by them winning the games, cause they could be great.
1048967
im watching it right now ... i think argentina is playing well.. but come on germany! go germany!
57262
To watch? Football\n\nTo participate in? Swimming
824590
I love the Olympics, it is something that for me shows the best of humanity. The world comes together, representing all nations and all walks of life, and in a friendly atmosphere competes as equals. \n\nWhen I heard it was coming to London, I was over the moon (until the very next day) and I still am. The Olympics is about more than money, we are privileged that it is coming to us and that the eyes of the world will be on our capital and our culture and everything that makes me proud to be British to celebrate something that, as mentioned above, I think is the best.\n\nI wont go as far as to say sod the cost, but I think the values it has are too easily overlooked when money comes into it. When you think of how much money is pissed away on welfare fakers who cant be assed to work as just one example, I think it is a small price to pay for greatness and for being a part of something that really matters
1062987
Here it is. I might watch a bit of it before the real football comes on ;-)\n\nhttp://www.ejwhittenlegendsgame.com.au/2006_Details.asp
798632
I've heard of them, but have never followed them as closely as the Olympics.
438839
No, im definatly watching, Vijay is whooping! I think this is Phil's year though, its gonna be great.
294187
australia's women won many golds in the swimming - its not jsut one race you know!\nIn fact, this morning they took over a second off the world record for the 4 x 100m team medley relay.
352724
Were Americans watching anyway?  The answer to that is no, unfortunately.  I am a massive hockey fan, but I also happen to work in the television industry so I understand how ratings work and why ESPN dropped its coverage - it's hard to fault them for turning their back on the NHL (bowling was getting higher ratings... BOWLING, people...).  Americans don't particularly care about hockey enough in general, and while an All-Canadian final is unlikely (only Calgary and 8-seed Edmonton are alive out West), it would certainly turn off a few more televisions in the States.
98735
For some people I can see how it would spoil the results.  But if you're a true fan of the Olympics then it doesn't matter.  It's unfortunate that they can't be held on our continent every time but there are other people in the world besides Americans. (That may shock some of you to learn!)  But we can all look forward to the next winter olympics that will be held in Canada.
1121400
Hi Joey, \n\nPart of the problem I feel is our media's commerical approach to covering sport. Viewership means ratings and without ratings, there's no coverage. So in spite of the interest, if the networks aren't convinced of the potential, they won't commit air time.  I may be mistaken, but I'm relatively certain that many of the broadcast networks in Europe and Asia are state controlled and sport programming is viewed differently than here. DO you remember ABC's Wide-World of Sports? No network bothers to try to show sports in this manner anymore, they'd rather stick with NASCAR and Wrestling...\n\nAs interesting as these sports may be to the average fan, some of the competitions may not translate well to viewing on TV.\n\nAs for ideas, well...I think it's going to be necessary for the governing bodies of these sports to work together to gain viewers through advertisement, corporate sponsorships, free promotion (like free clinics) and so forth. It's going to take a more grass-roots effort while you continue to court younger viewers. Help your fans make demands of the broadcasters and then they'll need to support them by watching the competition. It also would hurt for the Olympians to get involved collectively if possible.\n\nFinally, SHOW the competition. I realize you and the other athletes have little to say about how a competition is shown, but I absolutely hate the way US television broadcasts Olympic sports. They constantly cut away from competition, have FAR too many "human-interest" stories and show far too little competition. A poster mentioned being board by track presentations? Well, track may not be for every viewer, but if they'd show complete competitions, that might change. The same goes for Winter sports.
541433
You knucklehead! Yes I do watch.  Sometimes I don't know all that's going on in sports,so I watch to see what's up. I like them both.
1027569
HELL YEAH!!!\nThe best soccer you will ever see. I think I'm sleep deprived. Here in Australia the live coverage starts at 11pm on SBS so I've been up all night. I just had to watch my Aussie Socceroo's and then my 2nd faves Italy. I'm even more excited now to see how the Games in Australia's group pan out. I'm a very proud Aussie girl today.
93846
Its all in the name. Trust me. The Olympics is all the sports with a Big Name...that's it.
839997
it's on my tivo.  i'll be watching.  i think the twins will be a-ok.  there are others who need to go sooner...
1014053
While the World Cup doesn't interest me, I truly enjoy the Olympics.\n\nI don't care to watch every event, prefer individual sports. I do make a effort to see the opening and closing ceremonies.\n\nAs a young child, I learned about different sports, and some basic geography.\n\nI do agree, there may be some politics, some of the evils of the world are showing their ugly faces, but that is only a very small part of the overall.\n\nI still like to see it as a chance for the world's youth to compete and show their skills. For a couple of weeks every other year, the best of the best get to meet, no matter what country they call home.\n\nHowever I am afraid things are changing. Even the Olympics are being affected by the less than desirable human traits. Cheating appears to be happening more often, and that handful of people who would like to use it to make a political statement.\n\nThe commercialization drives me crazy. You see the Olympic logo attached to everything, however that is the lesser of the evils. Those companies do have to pay a lot of money to use it, and any money that is gathered honestly, beats the alternative.