Appreciating that Olympic spirit
I’ve managed to watch a fair amount of televised Olympics coverage. How can you not be inspired by some of our American athletes, such as swimmers Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin or the gold-medal winning U.S. women’s gymnastics team, led by Gabby “The Flying Squirrel” Douglas?
Maybe you found the story of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt or South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, running on two artificial legs, more fascinating.
I appreciate the back stories that NBC often provides. Especially remarkable was Friday night’s look back at the “Magnificent Seven,” the first U.S. women’s gymnastics squad to win the gold medal in team competition in 1996. It was a wonderful reflection on the team that overcame Russian domination, and how Kerri Strug helped lead the U.S. to victory despite injuring her ankle on her first of two vaults that wrapped up her team’s efforts. Nevertheless, she vaulted again, “stuck the landing” on one leg and then collapsed due to the injury. It marked the last time she ever competed.
Of course, it turned out to be annoying Sunday that NBC's commentator had U.S. gymnast McKayla Maroney all but crowned the gold medalist before the individual vault competition started. Maroney, as it turned out, fell on her second vault and took silver.
Have you been watching the Olympics? What has been your favorite moment? Do our athletes fill you with national pride?
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or gpeck@gazettextra.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook
Aug 7, 2012 at 7:14 p.m.
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saxcat70: and she didn't wear red, white, or blue! According to Fox news, Ms. Douglas in un-American!
Aug 7, 2012 at 5:12 p.m.
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I have the opposite reaction, Greg. I wish they’d reduce or eliminate the back stories, and just show the competition. They could save up the back stories and put them into a special after the Olympics are over, and save prime time for the good stuff.
NBC added a truly obnoxious new “feature” this year, having a couple of knobs standing around gushing about the “social media” highlights. Does anybody tune in to hear what people are tweeting about? It’s supposed to be about the events, but some nights there seems to be more fluff than meat in the broadcast.
Aug 7, 2012 at 8:55 a.m.
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I love watching the olympics. I was however, a bit turned off by Ms. Douglas' appearance on the podium of the all- around. While the other ladies were singing along with the anthem, with pride and amazement in their eyes, it appeared to me that the "flying squirrel" looked bored. Like she had somewhere else to be.
I have no idea what it is like to be in that position, but that's how it came across to me.
Aug 6, 2012 at 4:35 p.m.
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Watch this interview cut short by Usain Bolt to respect the American National Anthem. Wonder if all our athletes would be that perceptive? The Olympic spirit lives!
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/8908893/us...
Aug 6, 2012 at 2:32 p.m.
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I've made it a point to watch some of the more popular events. It hasn't been that much fun though because media outlets such as MSN have been reporting results in their headlines.
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