Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

[Brontoburglar]

I have a feeling when the ratings come in for this Olympics, the IOC is going to be in a bit of a panic. Figure Skating is the one sport that gets a ton of people watching who never watch sports. And a drugged up minor winning gold is not a good look.

No amount of inventing new sports will remove this taint. Think we're moving into an era where the Olympics is no longer going to be what it once was.

we are at least in year eight of this era after the debacle that was Sochi

[Steve of phpBB]

I have a feeling when the ratings come in for this Olympics, the IOC is going to be in a bit of a panic. Figure Skating is the one sport that gets a ton of people watching who never watch sports. And a drugged up minor winning gold is not a good look.

No amount of inventing new sports will remove this taint. Think we're moving into an era where the Olympics is no longer going to be what it once was.

we are at least in year eight of this era after the debacle that was Sochi

... which was year 12 after the debacle that was the 2002 bidding process and pairs figure skating judging scandal.

[Steve of phpBB]

Biiiiiig curling gane coming up. Womens USA vs Canada. Loser is out.

And, they're out. Lost again this morning just to make sure.

The US men are in unless they lose *and* Norway beats Italy.

The US is playing Denmark, the worst team at 1-7. Then again, they managed to lose by 4 in their last game against 2-5 Italy.

[The Sybian]

I have a feeling when the ratings come in for this Olympics, the IOC is going to be in a bit of a panic. Figure Skating is the one sport that gets a ton of people watching who never watch sports. And a drugged up minor winning gold is not a good look.

No amount of inventing new sports will remove this taint. Think we're moving into an era where the Olympics is no longer going to be what it once was.

we are at least in year eight of this era after the debacle that was Sochi

Beyond that, I think the media landscape and especially the way kids watch media is going to kill the Olympics. My kids don't watch sports, they watch clips on TikTok or Youtube, and I don't think many kids are wrapped up in the pageantry of the Olympics the way the world used to be. I was a bot frustrated my daughter won't watch a soccer game with me anymore, but whenever I mention a goal or something unusual that happened, she's already seen it. She follows a lot of soccer players on social media and she is constantly telling me about what's going on in various leagues, or showing me highlights from non-EPL leagues. Maybe her way is better, she is taking in a lot more information than I am, and in a lot less time. I wonder if our fathers generation felt the same way when we started watching Sports Center, but at least back then, we all saw the same shows. Now that everyone has their own curated bubbles, we don't have a shared cultural experience in what we watch. 30 years ago, if you asked high school kids who won the Gold in Olympic figure skating, 90% would know. This year, I'd bet you are under 50%, and of those that know, few actually watched.

[Steve of phpBB]

I have a feeling when the ratings come in for this Olympics, the IOC is going to be in a bit of a panic. Figure Skating is the one sport that gets a ton of people watching who never watch sports. And a drugged up minor winning gold is not a good look.

No amount of inventing new sports will remove this taint. Think we're moving into an era where the Olympics is no longer going to be what it once was.

we are at least in year eight of this era after the debacle that was Sochi

Beyond that, I think the media landscape and especially the way kids watch media is going to kill the Olympics. My kids don't watch sports, they watch clips on TikTok or Youtube, and I don't think many kids are wrapped up in the pageantry of the Olympics the way the world used to be. I was a bot frustrated my daughter won't watch a soccer game with me anymore, but whenever I mention a goal or something unusual that happened, she's already seen it. She follows a lot of soccer players on social media and she is constantly telling me about what's going on in various leagues, or showing me highlights from non-EPL leagues. Maybe her way is better, she is taking in a lot more information than I am, and in a lot less time. I wonder if our fathers generation felt the same way when we started watching Sports Center, but at least back then, we all saw the same shows. Now that everyone has their own curated bubbles, we don't have a shared cultural experience in what we watch. 30 years ago, if you asked high school kids who won the Gold in Olympic figure skating, 90% would know. This year, I'd bet you are under 50%, and of those that know, few actually watched.

I think you're right with your analysis, but I don't think that would kill the Olympics, just cut into the huge amounts of money sloshing around. The Olympics existed before Big TV - or even TV at all. I think they'll exist after Big TV as well.

[degenerasian]

I think the Winter Games are dead. They have always been smaller than summer anyways with figure skating being the marquee that draws non-sports fans. But having 3 winter games in weird timezones and all the ROC crap has killed that. And they are giving participation medals. 24 skaters in a 5 hour long skate programme is insane. It should be 8. And the stupid hokey tournament we can't decide who to send half the time crap.

I think the summer games are bigger and work better. For example, the swimming finals is an hour, boom boom. boom, boom 4 races each night, we're done. Same with track. Gymnastics is kind of dying because the rotations take too long, again, too many countries in the finals. Do your qualies than boom 8 teams in the final. And you've got your team sports, basketball, volleyball, etc... And ROC is not as relevant in the summer games.

I thought RIO was a great Olympics. Tokyo was unfortunate due to COVID. Paris and LA will be awesome.

[Rex]

I’ve decided that the Winter Games should be every 2 years instead of 4. I think that would help the athletes build a brand, and make it easier to spread it around to different places. Part of that would be reducing budgets and expectations for each games, make them a little smaller.

I would say the same for the Summer Games, but it’s pretty obvious from comments the IOC made this month that they want no part of competing with the World Cup.

[Steve of phpBB]

I’ve decided that the Winter Games should be every 2 years instead of 4. I think that would help the athletes build a brand, and make it easier to spread it around to different places. Part of that would be reducing budgets and expectations for each games, make them a little smaller.

I would say the same for the Summer Games, but it’s pretty obvious from comments the IOC made this month that they want no part of competing with the World Cup.

Hm. I'd go in a different direction. It costs a bunch of money to build top-notch bobsled runs and speed skating rinks, and if the Winter games were every two years, I don't know if they would get the attention that would justify the expense.

I think that to keep costs down, the Winter Olympics should just be in Salt Lake City every time. Or maybe they can just rotate between SLC and Pyeongchang and somewhere in the Alps.

[Rex]

You could maybe do a rotating concept where there is a “big games” every four years with the more expensive stuff (and hockey, because the NHL isn’t going along with every 2 years) and a “small games” in the other four that would be cheaper to put on.

I don’t think the Winter Games are totally dead—there are events that are clearly growing, mostly the snowboard and X-games stuff. There’s a lesson in that. Those sports are doing a better job of constantly selling themselves which isn’t limited to the Olympics.

[The Sybian]

I have a feeling when the ratings come in for this Olympics, the IOC is going to be in a bit of a panic. Figure Skating is the one sport that gets a ton of people watching who never watch sports. And a drugged up minor winning gold is not a good look.

No amount of inventing new sports will remove this taint. Think we're moving into an era where the Olympics is no longer going to be what it once was.

we are at least in year eight of this era after the debacle that was Sochi

Beyond that, I think the media landscape and especially the way kids watch media is going to kill the Olympics. My kids don't watch sports, they watch clips on TikTok or Youtube, and I don't think many kids are wrapped up in the pageantry of the Olympics the way the world used to be. I was a bot frustrated my daughter won't watch a soccer game with me anymore, but whenever I mention a goal or something unusual that happened, she's already seen it. She follows a lot of soccer players on social media and she is constantly telling me about what's going on in various leagues, or showing me highlights from non-EPL leagues. Maybe her way is better, she is taking in a lot more information than I am, and in a lot less time. I wonder if our fathers generation felt the same way when we started watching Sports Center, but at least back then, we all saw the same shows. Now that everyone has their own curated bubbles, we don't have a shared cultural experience in what we watch. 30 years ago, if you asked high school kids who won the Gold in Olympic figure skating, 90% would know. This year, I'd bet you are under 50%, and of those that know, few actually watched.

I think you're right with your analysis, but I don't think that would kill the Olympics, just cut into the huge amounts of money sloshing around. The Olympics existed before Big TV - or even TV at all. I think they'll exist after Big TV as well.

I didn't mean kill in the literal sense, but severely hurt. Do kids today dream of being in the Olympics? If kids aren't watching, are they going to devote their lives to excelling in the sports that are primarily Olympic sports? They are still going to play hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis etc... OTOH, maybe other countries still watch the Olympics and follow skiing events, bobsled and the rest. If kids don't watch now, they certainly aren't going to watch as adults.

[Steve of phpBB]

I didn't mean kill in the literal sense, but severely hurt. Do kids today dream of being in the Olympics? If kids aren't watching, are they going to devote their lives to excelling in the sports that are primarily Olympic sports? They are still going to play hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis etc... OTOH, maybe other countries still watch the Olympics and follow skiing events, bobsled and the rest. If kids don't watch now, they certainly aren't going to watch as adults.

I dunno - haven't the Winter Olympics always involved niche sports?

No one my age grew up dreaming of being Franz Klammer or Eric Heiden or Dorothy Hamill.

But out here, there's a bunch of kids dreaming of being the next Shaun White.

[degenerasian]

Biiiiiig curling gane coming up. Womens USA vs Canada. Loser is out.

And, they're out. Lost again this morning just to make sure.

The US men are in unless they lose *and* Norway beats Italy.

The US is playing Denmark, the worst team at 1-7. Then again, they managed to lose by 4 in their last game against 2-5 Italy.

If the US hadn't lost this morning to make sure it would have been a big mess. 5 teams at 4-4. Instead only 3 teams are 4-4.

And bring back ski ballet!

[Rex]

Yeah, they just need to lean into the X-Games sports because that's where winter sports are heading anyway. The people competing in those events do seem to care about being in the Olympics even if they don't get as wrapped up in the nationalism part.

[The Sybian]

I didn't mean kill in the literal sense, but severely hurt. Do kids today dream of being in the Olympics? If kids aren't watching, are they going to devote their lives to excelling in the sports that are primarily Olympic sports? They are still going to play hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis etc... OTOH, maybe other countries still watch the Olympics and follow skiing events, bobsled and the rest. If kids don't watch now, they certainly aren't going to watch as adults.

I dunno - haven't the Winter Olympics always involved niche sports?

No one my age grew up dreaming of being Franz Klammer or Eric Heiden or Dorothy Hamill.

But out here, there's a bunch of kids dreaming of being the next Shaun White.

Maybe growing up close enough to Lake Placid I was inundated with ads saying you can learn how to luge at the Olympic training center, so we'd build ice tracks and compete by timing ourselves sledding. Hometown HS/college track star lived in my neighborhood and ended up being a pusher on the USA bobsled team in 92 and 94 Olympics. He'd run past all the time while we played outside, so we all thought it'd be cool and somehow possible to be Olympic bobsledders, if only our parents sent us to train.

ETA: Guy's name was Chris Coleman. Totally forgot he was the guy who bumped Hershel Walker off the team when the driver, who lived in a neighboring town and was friends with Coleman, requested Coleman replace Walker. In 1994, they finished 1 second behind the Jamaican team, so you know they were great.

[Steve of phpBB]

I didn't mean kill in the literal sense, but severely hurt. Do kids today dream of being in the Olympics? If kids aren't watching, are they going to devote their lives to excelling in the sports that are primarily Olympic sports? They are still going to play hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis etc... OTOH, maybe other countries still watch the Olympics and follow skiing events, bobsled and the rest. If kids don't watch now, they certainly aren't going to watch as adults.

I dunno - haven't the Winter Olympics always involved niche sports?

No one my age grew up dreaming of being Franz Klammer or Eric Heiden or Dorothy Hamill.

But out here, there's a bunch of kids dreaming of being the next Shaun White.

Maybe growing up close enough to Lake Placid I was inundated with ads saying you can learn how to luge at the Olympic training center, so we'd build ice tracks and compete by timing ourselves sledding. Hometown HS/college track star lived in my neighborhood and ended up being a pusher on the USA bobsled team in 92 and 94 Olympics. He'd run past all the time while we played outside, so we all thought it'd be cool and somehow possible to be Olympic bobsledders, if only our parents sent us to train.

ETA: Guy's name was Chris Coleman. Totally forgot he was the guy who bumped Hershel Walker off the team when the driver, who lived in a neighboring town and was friends with Coleman, requested Coleman replace Walker. In 1994, they finished 1 second behind the Jamaican team, so you know they were great.

That's kinda awesome.

[A_B]

I like to imagine he did his training runs pushing a bobsled the whole time.

[rass]

I didn't mean kill in the literal sense, but severely hurt. Do kids today dream of being in the Olympics? If kids aren't watching, are they going to devote their lives to excelling in the sports that are primarily Olympic sports? They are still going to play hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis etc... OTOH, maybe other countries still watch the Olympics and follow skiing events, bobsled and the rest. If kids don't watch now, they certainly aren't going to watch as adults.

I dunno - haven't the Winter Olympics always involved niche sports?

No one my age grew up dreaming of being Franz Klammer or Eric Heiden or Dorothy Hamill.

But out here, there's a bunch of kids dreaming of being the next Shaun White.

Maybe growing up close enough to Lake Placid I was inundated with ads saying you can learn how to luge at the Olympic training center, so we'd build ice tracks and compete by timing ourselves sledding. Hometown HS/college track star lived in my neighborhood and ended up being a pusher on the USA bobsled team in 92 and 94 Olympics. He'd run past all the time while we played outside, so we all thought it'd be cool and somehow possible to be Olympic bobsledders, if only our parents sent us to train.

ETA: Guy's name was Chris Coleman. Totally forgot he was the guy who bumped Hershel Walker off the team when the driver, who lived in a neighboring town and was friends with Coleman, requested Coleman replace Walker. In 1994, they finished 1 second behind the Jamaican team, so you know they were great.

Not the last time Walker would be trumped.

[A_B]

GOLD

[degenerasian]

Or you can get citizenship somewhere else. I watched the slalom yesterday and they let anyone in. Even a guy from Timor Leste who got a huge ovation for making it down to the bottom.

[Rex]

The Winter Olympics would rock as an every 2 years event, like the Ryder Cup. That's the perfect distance.

Why do the Olympics still run on a schedule from the days when you had to get on a boat to cross the ocean?

[degenerasian]

The Winter Olympics would rock as an every 2 years event, like the Ryder Cup. That's the perfect distance.

Why do the Olympics still run on a schedule from the days when you had to get on a boat to cross the ocean?

Same reason they are proposing an every 2 years World Cup.

[Rex]

I think a biennial world soccer championship makes a lot of sense. The problem is that the World Cup, as it’s currently put together, takes 3 years from start to finish.

[degenerasian]

I think a biennial world soccer championship makes a lot of sense. The problem is that the World Cup, as it’s currently put together, takes 3 years from start to finish.

It doesn't have to be, they could really shorten it. More knockout matches.

[A_B]

I think a biennial world soccer championship makes a lot of sense. The problem is that the World Cup, as it’s currently put together, takes 3 years from start to finish.

It doesn't have to be, they could really shorten it. More knockout matches.

I'd think if you let the quarterfinalists be automatic qualifiers it might ease matchday congestion. ANd if they are still going to have Euro, probably some of those are auto qualifiers, maybe same for the Copa America tourney and (gasp) the Gold cup. Sure, AFCON as well and whatever Asia does.

[Rex]

Yup, let the continental tournaments replace the qualifiers for the teams that advance deep. We really don’t need France vs. San Marino anyway.

[degenerasian]

Yup, let the continental tournaments replace the qualifiers for the teams that advance deep. We really don’t need France vs. San Marino anyway.

That's right. Asia does the opposite. The final 12 in World Cup qualifying get a ticket to the Asian Cup. They could easily do the reverse.

[Nonlinear FC]

Yeah, who really knows... But the fact that they're not going to hand out medals in two premiere sports, not to mention the pall this is putting over all of the figure skating events (non-stop questions from the media) sure isn't going to be forgotten anytime soon.

This might be the black eye that is necessary to get the Russians banned from int'l competition for a couple of cycles. This is incredibly problematic for the IOC and other governing bodies. Everyone knows she's dirty, and there she is about to win another gold.

I have a feeling when the ratings come in for this Olympics, the IOC is going to be in a bit of a panic. Figure Skating is the one sport that gets a ton of people watching who never watch sports. And a drugged up minor winning gold is not a good look.

No amount of inventing new sports will remove this taint. Think we're moving into an era where the Olympics is no longer going to be what it once was.

My wife is pretty good one person focus group on this. I've mentioned on this thread, she's a HUGE fan of the Olympics. Well, this figure skating thing has her so disgusted, she's punching out on the entire thing. She's done.

I think you are absolutely correct, that the marquee event for the winter games has been tainted beyond repair and it's going to have repercussions.

[Rex]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

[tennbengal]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

[A_B]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

[Rex]

Will be interesting to see how tonight’s tape-delayed and depressing figure skating coverage compares to last Thursday’s live half-pipe and skiing coverage in the ratings. It looks like that was NBC’s best night so far (other than Super Bowl Sunday which is useless for comparison).

[tennbengal]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

I mean, I would 100% tune in at that point. Not so much, now...

[A_B]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

I mean, I would 100% tune in at that point. Not so much, now...

You miss the Lutz, I kick your butts!

(still workshopping)

[The Sybian]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

I'm thinking a Bob Probert or Marty McSorely type. Still relevant references, right?

[Rex]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

I like it. Let's get on that immediately.

[Ryan]

It should be on the speed skating oval with stations for doing the jumps. You can't keep going until you get it right.

[wlu_lax6]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

I like it. Let's get on that immediately.

This will be an olympic event at some point
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/live/marseille-recap

[The Sybian]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

I like it. Let's get on that immediately.

This will be an olympic event at some point
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/live/marseille-recap

That is a crazy sport! I want to see the zamboni go over the course.

[wlu_lax6]

Is there a way to X-Gameify figure skating, or some cooler version that the Tik Tok kids are doing?

Obstacles on the ice

Terry Tate: On-Ice Linebacker

I like it. Let's get on that immediately.

This will be an olympic event at some point
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/live/marseille-recap

That is a crazy sport! I want to see the zamboni go over the course.

[rass]

[+] spoiler

So how many people that swore it off tune in tonight to see her crash out?