Thursday, February 18, 2010
WE'RE THE GOOD GUYS, MICHAEL: One thing I've been struggling with during the XXI Winter Olympic Games -- who are we rooting against, anyway? In the absence of the Soviet Union and its client states, and with these not being the Games in which a host China is trying to dominate with underage gymnasts and the like, who are the bad guys? It can't be our polite hosts, so, who? Anyone? And are your Olympics diminished by only having athletes to root for, and not ones so much to root against?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I love the US-Korea rivalry in short track, so I certainly root against Korea there. But other than that, it's hard to get very worked up against anyone. I mean, I'd love to see the US medal in some Nordic event, but I can't work up a lot of distaste for Norway.
ReplyDeleteGranted, they do seem to pay more attention to short track as a country than we do. See, e.g., the 1:30 mark.
ReplyDeleteTo make the Olympics more exciting my husband and I are running a contest where we each "drafted" 3 countries to root for. 3 points for each gold medal, 2 for silver, 1 for bronze. Whomever has more points at the end gets bragging rights. Go USA, Canada and Norway!
ReplyDeleteI think part of the problem has been with NBC's coverage, which was a bit helter skelter in the early days. They calmed down last night, so we got to see a few skiing runs in a row and then snowboarding for a good long while. I can get sucked into anything, and I appreciate getting to see it on long enough to get a sense for the rivalries and to hear the announcers talk about the non-US competitors. Because otherwise, unless it's an event like short track where you see people compete in multiple quick groups, it's hard to figure out who's good and why if they're not from the US.
ReplyDeleteWhy not cheer against Canada? The IDEA of Vancouver being recognized as a world city is fine. BUT IT'S IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST!!! A RELATIVELY TEMPERATE ZONE!!! Maybe they should have joint bid with Seattle for the 2020 Summer Olympics instead...
ReplyDeleteSee here:
http://www.wastedtalent.ca/index.php?view=445
And Canada is acting positively American with their "Own the Podium" mantra. Screw 'em.
I root against Canada because I'm a hockey fan and their arrogance annoys me. I also rooted against China in the Summer Games, so maybe I'll start a trend where I always root against the (non-U.S.) host country!
ReplyDeleteHowever, as a Red Wings fan I pretty much have to cheer for a Canada over Sweden Ice Hockey final. Steve Yzerman is Canada's GM this year (Gretzky's role in 2002) and Babcock is coaching. Combine that with the Wings' Swedish contingent (Lidstrom, Franzen, Zetterberg) and you're looking at a hella interesting final for Wings fans.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to root against is CTV for outbidding CBC for the rights. There is no CTV in Windsor. Detroit is stuck with NBC like the rest of y'all.
ReplyDeleteThe PNW has mountains, and if you head East of those mountains it can be much less temperate.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an Olympics guy at all, but my sense as an outsider is that there's no "villain" but a sort of patsy -- hapless Canada, which kills competitors, can't light its torch, can't clean its ice, etc. (And I'm part Canadian, eh, so I'm not taking much delight in the issue.)
ReplyDelete<span>I understand that. But they seemed to try to have it both ways in the Whistler location and ended up with rain, muddy, slushy mountains, delayed races, and canceled general admission tickets.
ReplyDeleteHere's the ten day weather there:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/CAXX0538?
40s for the next 10 days...</span>
I think lots of people can agree on NBC as the enemy for these Olympics.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I'm rooting against Korea in short track, but otherwise not rooting against anyone, and it's not bothering me at all. It's hard to root against Maria Reisch, for example, once you know she's Vonn's best friend.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to root for the USA, and in some of these events, like women's downhill, I'm just rooting for no one to be seriously injured.
Seattle got screwed the same way, I believe.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the 1980 Miracle on Ice match beteween the US and USSR, I haven't been that jingoistic an Olympics spectator. Thus I was surprised with my delight that yesterday the US pulled back ahead of Germany in total medals. Did that burst of fandom come from some misplaced Phillies versus Yankees vein?
ReplyDeleteHmm...the Canadians have three Blackhawks, US has one, and Slovakia of all things has two.
ReplyDeleteAnd are your Olympics diminished by only having athletes to root for, and not ones so much to root against?
ReplyDeleteIf anything, it's the opposite for me. The absence of villains brings the Games much closer to their idealized foundation: a pure contest between gifted athletes. The Chinese pairs skaters were amazing, and I'm glad they performed well, just as I'm sorry that the other pairs made mistakes. The nationalities don't enter into it. I'm glad that Shani Davis is much better socialized this time around, since it makes his performance on the ice matter much more than his performance in interviews.
What diminishes my enthusiasm is anything that interferes with the competition. I'm not happy that they took the teeth out of the luge course, since it turned that competition into a simple test of who could pull out of the starting gate quickest (they might as well have shortened the course to a 200 meter straight line; it wouldn't have changed the outcome). I'm not happy that it started snowing during the Biathlon competition, as that doomed anyone with a late start. I don't want anyone to get the flu 24 hours before a gold medal match. I'm not happy that the not-Zamboni malfunctioned and screwed up the 500-meter speed skating schedule.
But I don't miss the negative energy that comes with rooting against a villain, even if it's somewhat gratifying to see them come up short.
As a Washington Caps fan, I find myself strongly behind the Russian hockey team, of all people. And I definitely marked out for the Chinese figure skating pair the other day as well. Bizarre.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Eric and Cecilia; it's fun to cheer against Costas and the NBC coverage. Last night in particular was delightful, when NBC proved it could tape delay everything in the Olympics except the stream of profanity from Shaun White's coaching staff. Oops!
If more competitors were revealed as secret country-bailing internet spam kings, it would make it a lot easier to cheer against people.
More like SNOREWAY.
ReplyDeleteI'm with bad dad on this. Does climate not enter the conversation when they talk about who will host the Olympics? All you need is a ski mountain, and you are in contention?
ReplyDeleteI was watching a rerun of Colbert last night and this issue was raised. He had Al Michaels on as a guest and they referenced the 'Miracle on Ice' and the whole Soviet/US rivalry. Funniest moment was when Colbert asked Michaels what would make him repeat the words, 'Do you believe in miracles?' His response - if Shauni Davis wins gold and mouths the words, 'Thank you Stephen Colbert' on the podium.
ReplyDeleteBut in answer to the real question, I've never been someone who watches to cheer against someone. I love the backstories and want to pull for someone I know something about. And I love watching the medal ceremonies. Cool when I get to hear the US anthem but really enjoy the moment for the medal winners from any country to see them reach their dream and be in the moment.
100% agree that we root against the Koreans in short track.
ReplyDeleteI could watch any medal ceremony for any country. As a general proposition, I love national anthems -- big choral versions, if possible -- but any national anthem will do.
ReplyDeleteAgree. I've said "fucking bastards" to the nbc.com and NBC screen at least five times in the last three days. I'm over it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the root against NBC position. I hate how these "sportscasters" treat the athletes. Silver is treated like "oh that paltry thing." Stop harassing poor Lindsey Jacobellis. Don't ask Hannah Kearney how she feels about preventing Jen Keil from winning the first Canadian home gold. All of this is poor form.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the fact that they have been showing the medal ceremony a day after the actual race/competition is super irritating.
I've been loving these Olympics. But I could really do without the sportscasters and their inappropriate comments...
It is a freakishly warm winter there. This winter seems to be acting crazy (see DC, Atlanta, etc). Whistler is usually buried in snow all winter and a prime ski destination for my sister and brother.
ReplyDeleteI think some of those medal ceremonies happen a day after the competition. Shaun White was on GMA some morning this week saying he didn't have his medal yet, he was getting it during the medal ceremony which they seem to have at some location where they can line em up and give em out to lots of sports at once.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the case. I thought I heard that they sold tickets for something like $25 (Canadian) and then present a bunch of medals from the previous day's events.
ReplyDeleteThat was the best story of the whole Olympics, in my book! Why can't we get more profiles on that guy?
ReplyDeleteThat's right. The medal ceremonies are in BC Place, I believe, which is where the Opening Ceremonies were. I think that's so lame -- the medal ceremonies should be at the site of the event, right after the winner is declared!
ReplyDeleteMarnie: yes, oh my god yes, on stop harassing the poor athletes and ginning up fake drama that diminishes their accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was understood that NBC was the enemy. and Canada.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the big concern about their bid was the weather, so it was a known issue, but they got the Games anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe moguls ceremony where the first home Canadian gold was given out was awesome - an entire arena belting out O Canada (which is one of my favorite anthems anyway). Fantastic.
ReplyDeleteFact is, it's been Vancouver's warmest winter in 100 years. That's a freak thing, not poor planning. Last year at this time, city and mountain were buried under snow on the scale of what the east coast is currently experiencing.
ReplyDeleteWhen Bilodeau won his gold, they mentioned he was going right to drug testing after his interviews. I wonder if part of the reason for the delay is to see if they pass the post event test?
ReplyDelete