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<p>I guess it was based on a British sitcom which obviously would mean nothing to us Yanks. But that was also the segment which chronicled British music of the last 60 years, and there’s no denying the their global influence there.</p>
<p>Japan really underperformed in gymnastics. They qualified fifth in team and Kohei Uchimura qualified in ninth.</p>
<p>USA now has plenty of hype. They qualified first in team and Danell Leyva qualified first in the AA.</p>
<p>I would still bet on Japan getting the golds.</p>
<p>Louis Smith qualified first on pommel horse, giving more hype for British gymnastics.</p>
<p>dstark – </p>
<p>[2012</a> Summer Olympics | Full Sport Coverage | NBC Olympics](<a href=“http://www.nbcolympics.com/sports/index.html]2012”>http://www.nbcolympics.com/sports/index.html)</p>
<p>Under each sport, you can “Watch Live.” If there’s no live event going on at the time, you can watch replays.</p>
<p>The scheduling problems are the time difference, and the way NBC wants to package its primetime coverage. Marquee events like swimming finals will be aired during American primetime, long after the actual event has finished in London. They don’t want to spoil their evening ratings by showing such big-draw events live, with a smaller audience. </p>
<p>Daytime is reserved for preliminaries in big sports like swimming, gymnastics, diving, and track and field – but also for a cornucopia of sports which will never make it to primetime. Today alone I’ve seen archery, fencing, and cycling, and I’m looking forward in the coming days to equestrian, rowing, shooting, table tennis, and sailing. I’ll just watch all of those either during the day, or online. </p>
<p>I’m grateful, though, to have so may ways to watch. It wasn’t that long ago that Olympic coverage was one channel, evenings and weekends only. We watched the one thing they wanted to show us, and that was that. It’s great to have so many options.</p>
<p>“Can’t Americans watch it live on the BBC sport website? Or does that only work for Brits?”</p>
<p>Only for the Brits. :(</p>
<p>NBC is just awful. Been dealing with their tape delayed coverage of Wimbledon for eons and finally someone woke up and took the coverage away from them and gave it to channels who promised to carry every match live. While I’m grateful they at least are live streaming and have channels covering lesser sports live I don’t really enjoy watching coverage on my computer when I have a HD 42" TV. </p>
<p>So what does NBC lead off with on the the nightly news, Phelps “shocking” loss. They didn’t even tell viewers to mute their TV’s saying instead that the news had already rocketed around the world.</p>
<p>^^ You gotta think from a network programmer’s point of view. Mentioning the loss in a promo (even a promo delivered as “news”) will get viewers to tune in for primetime coverage. And I guarantee that the race will be teased all during the broadcast tonight, but not shown until shortly before 11:00 p.m. – the end of prime time. I also guarantee that if Phelps had done the expected, i.e., won the race, they would have told you to turn down the volume. They wanted you to hear the word “shocking.”</p>
<p>Thank the lord Bravo shows tennis live!</p>
<p>And I’m going to have to find the best place to put my laptop because all day my streams kept pausing. </p>
<p>I watched tennis, beach volleyball, swimming, cycling, and fencing today.</p>
<p>Did anyone else think that the opening ceremonies were a confused mish mash, colorless and mind numbingly dull? I fell asleep.</p>
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<p>No.</p>
<p>Moving on, was Phelps coming fourth really so shocking? I wasn’t that surprised, he was good four years ago but he is quite old for a swimmer - most of the good ones are 16-20 these days.</p>
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<p>Yes, plenty did think just that. Until the PC police showed up! It appears that americans are too dense to understand the beauty, the depth, and the irrevence of the idiosyncratic pageantry displayed last night in London. </p>
<p>Indeed, we do have problem grasping the Islanders’ superior intellect, even when they tell the world: “How can one make a pattern out of this muddle?”</p>
<p>“Thank the lord Bravo shows tennis live!”</p>
<p>Ditto. And that they showed some matches with no American playing was an added bonus. 
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<p>I am having trouble though with the purpley-pink court background. Finding it disconcerting - though not nearly as much as the blue clay courts in Madrid this year. That was just all wrong.</p>
<p>Can’t wait for Roddick, Venus, and Serena/Venus matches tomorrow.</p>
<p>I think the ratings for the opening were good, but maybe like me, people fell asleep before they could switch channels or turn it off. I should have taped it to use as a sleep aid. Terrible!</p>
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<p>Well, it appears that the gold medalist did not get your memo.</p>
<p>NAME: Michael Phelps
DOB: June 30, 1985 </p>
<p>NAME: Ryan Lochte
DOB: August 3, 1984 </p>
<p>Do you ever think or look up anything before hitting the keyboard with non-sense?</p>
<p>PS Too bad, Dara Grace Torres, who is born on April 15, 1967 did not make it this year. She was still young enough four year ago to earn our respect and some metal!</p>
<p>“Can’t wait for Roddick, Venus, and Serena/Venus matches tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Yeuch. With any luck two of the three will end in loses and the draw will be de-cluttered of a few more Americans.</p>
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<p>You didn’t answer my question earlier, what exactly were you expecting it to be like? What would have pleased you? I hope you’re not going to watch the closing ceremony; the Olympics are wasted on people like you.</p>
<p>I guess that despite an advanced degree, I am just a simple person. I expected it to be entertaining! The bit with the queen produced a smile, the rest was simply bad.</p>
<p>I am glad I am not the only person who thought the opening ceremony was awful… It was such a mess…</p>
<p>It had some good moments, but otherwise pretty bland. I got tired of shots of the queen…I don’t respect people who are worshiped simply because they happened to be born into a certain family. I will never understand the fascination with the British “royal” family…bores me.</p>
<p>Does anyone else enjoy watching the rowing? There’s something very peaceful and graceful about it. It was nice to see such large crowds there watching. Looking forward to the kayaking which I think begins tomorrow.</p>
<p>The men’s cycling road race circling Box Hill went past the wall surrounding the grounds of my boarding school over and over again. It was a blast to see the village again.</p>
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<p>I have absolutely no interest in watching millionaire professionals “compete” n the Olympics. To me, Olympic basketball has also lost all interest.</p>