<p>for what it’s worth, NBC did say that it was “almost animation”, implying that it was enhanced.</p>
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<p>from [Beijing</a> enhanced Olympics show with faked ‘fireworks’ - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/12/fake.fireworks.ap/index.html]Beijing”>http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/12/fake.fireworks.ap/index.html)</p>
<p>i was pretty sure they had said something about enhancement on air, i guess this is confirmation.</p>
<p>Zzzzzzzz. </p>
<p>Oh don’t mind me - just catnapping after staying up so late to watch mens’ gymnastics. </p>
<p>Did anyone notice the list of food Michael Phelps eats? Ykies, it’s a good thing he burns it all off!</p>
<p>I read a piece that said that the fireworks at the Birdsnest stadium were real, but the “footprint” fireworks from the other Olympic venues around town were digital.</p>
<p>It was fascinating to learn last night that the judges can review anyone’s gymnastics routine in slow motion. So, if you like someone, you judge them in real time. If you’re hunting for deductions, you judge it in slo mo. I think either every one should be judged in slow motion, or no one.</p>
<p>Missy, judging in gymnastics, figure skating and diving is – well – it’s hard to find words. If you have to have a judge, is it really a sport, or is it entertainment?</p>
<p>Yeah, I have one retired gymnast and one competitive dancer. The dance judging makes me nuts…we really try not to care. At Nationals this year, the top two senior dances were so different - one was the most precise & difficult thing you ever saw; the other was a dramatic production of a quality you might see on Broadway …it was lilke judging dogs and horses in the same show…can’t be compared, but yet one must beat another.</p>
<p>Am I the only one that’s bothered by NBC’s tape delayed coverage of gymnastics? I expected them to show the men’s team final “live” at around 7pm PST last night like many part of the world did. But they didn’t show any games at 7pm. At 8pm, they started showing beach volleyball (boring!!!). The first rotation wasn’t shown until 10pm and all I saw was just the Chinese team’s first rotation. By that time, the entire world already knew China won the gold! Then they jumped to swimming and when they switched back to gymnastics at 11pm, they skipped the whole 2nd rotation. I didn’t even see how the Americans did on the Rings. So instead of airing the most popular event at prime time and live, they decided to show it at people’s bedtime and taped delayed!! What the h*ll were they doing? I moved to the US in 1992 and I have started watching NBC coverage since the 1996 Olympics. It seems to me viewers in other countries see more live events. I feel bad for people that came from Romania and Russia here because NBC didn’t even show any routines from the Romanians/Russians, as if only the US, Japan, Germany, and China competed last night! NBC also likes to show events at unannounced random times so they can tease viewers into settling in for several hours when it’s only one or two events the viewer really wants to see. It’s frustrating to watch Olympics here.</p>
<p>I was following the men’s scores on the laptop, and the NBC coverage was not too far off time wise. There were pretty lengthy delays for scoring, plus there is a delay between each rotation because each group has to warm up on that apparatus. I’ve sat through lots of meets and I’d personally rather watch swimming between rotations than watch the warmups (they make me nervous!) </p>
<p>I don’t mean to be a huge defender of NBC (because their coverage drives me crazy, too), but there were other teams competing at the meet besides the top 4 and it is their turn sometimes. I think NBC would get more complaints if they showed France, for example, in gymnastics, in lieu of Americans in other sports. </p>
<p>But I am going to be there tonight with the computer at hand for all of the spoilers I can get. I don’t know how the gymnasts’ parents stand it because I am so nervous for them and I even don’t them!</p>
<p>NOTE: The women compete at 10:15 pm EST, I believe (10:15 am in Bejing). That means that for me in CST, the coverage will start at 9:15 and probably won’t be over until about midnight.</p>
<p>Can anyone please tell me what game was being played today around 2:30 or so on MSNBC?</p>
<p>It reminded me of soccer, except the ball was passed back and forth by throwing it (and occasionally bouncing it). It wasn’t lacrosse (no sticks involved), and the final score was something like 30-29 (can’t remember the teams). I’ve never seen this sport played before.</p>
<p>missypie,</p>
<p>You live in the east coast so your coverage is live at 10pm last night. Instead of airing it live in all time zones, they delayed it for the west coast viewers so we didn’t see it until 10pm PST. So I didn’t get to see it until 3 hours after you watched it. It was late for your guys but perfect prime time for us. What they did was to make it late for everyone. LOL! That’s just ■■■■■■■■!</p>
<p>Also, they were advertising gymanstics/swimming events before the show and I was tricked to think they must be showing it “soon”, if not live. I started sitting in front of the TV at 7:30pm but I didn’t get to see those two sports until 10pm. Now I realize from now on, I should use my east coast friends as guinea pigs and consult with them first. 
By the way, I think they need to remove “live” tag on the screen for people not living in the east coast…</p>
<p>Perhaps it was team handball. If you to the NBC website and click on the sport, it will show you the basics of the game and the rules. Those rules did seem a lot like soccer.</p>
<p>Here’s another question: Why is there still archery in the Olympics? I heard that they are taking softball away because the US is too dominant. Yet I read that South Korea wins in archery every time. Or with softball was it that the US not only wins, but few other countries even play?</p>
<p>I went to google images last night and found a picture of the Mark Spitz poster that girls my age went gaga over many years ago. Both of my daughters said, “Eeewwww.”</p>
<p>Teriwtt, here’s the listing from the NBC Olympics page for that time period: a lot of tennis and “Spain vs. Poland in the men’s handball preliminary round.” I kind of thought what you described was team handball. Does that sound right?</p>
<p>Missypie, I thought both baseball and softball were being eliminated because not enough countries play them. But that sounds fishy, as all of the Americas (north & south), the Caribbean, and Asian countries play baseball (especially Japan). Maybe it’s just that Europeans & Africans don’t play baseball or softball, but I gotta ask: where is team handball a big sport?</p>
<p>^^^ yep! That’s it. I’d never heard of it before. Thank you so much.</p>
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<p>Are you sure about that? My experience last night tells me the coverage will start at 10:15 pm PST (not 7:15 PST) in the west coast. Wait, so you have Central time and saw the men’s final live (i.e. starting at 9pm your time) yesterday night? Or did you see it at 10:00 pm CST?</p>
<p>Men’s gymnastics started an hour earlier last night that women’s will start tonight (they had two more events to fit in.) I think it was finally done close to midnight. </p>
<p>If you go to the NBC website and give them your zip code and choose one of the local cable providers, it will tell you pretty much hour by hour what is on.</p>
<p>^thanks! i just checked and they are going to show gymnastics anytime between 10:00pm and12:00 am here in the west coast (tape delayed).</p>
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<p>I’m going to save the Phelps poster D keeps in her bedroom. Someday, her kids will say, “Eeewwww!” :D</p>
<p>I recall reading that the Spitz poster was a popular icon among gay males back in the 70s as well.</p>
<p>Okay, I am Pacific time and I stayed up to watch the men’s gymnastics and Michael Phelps (also was trying to stay awake for the Perseid meteor shower) anyways the gymnastics did not end till midnight…and if I wanted to see the medals ceremony (which they ran out of time for) I would have had to tune back in at 12:30pm —local news had to fill their 1/2 hour slot. This is such a pain to those of us who are not night owls, don’t have Tivo, and don’t want to watch on the VCR the next day. I wish MSNBC would think about how many people on the westcoast may be turning the games off because they are going too late! Errrr! And the meteors were not cooperating either!</p>