I am in the U.S. for a few days and watching on the NBC channels while here with family. Good grief! The number of commercials is ridiculous. It’s like three minutes of actual events for every five minutes of commercials. And the variety of events shown is so limited. Can’t wait to get back to Toronto to the CBC coverage.
So why aren’t they showing anyone actually on the podium winning the medals? I actually like the synchronized diving, more as a novelty - I had no idea it was an actual thing.
I didn’t like Nastia as the gymnastics commentator, she was silent way too long and didn’t give real feedback. My d did competitive gymnastics in her day and makes her miss watching it, though she certainly never got to this level. I think the olympians are the 5 who are left standing after all the career ending injuries! Even watching her trying to qualify for states was nerve wracking to me, I completely understand the parents.
I noticed that the only medal award that was shown was the first US gold, and that was it. Not even the 4x100 free relay 
I really like to see the athletes’ reaction and emotions while the national anthem of the 1st place winner’s country is playing. Sad. NBC went into a serious hole!
They did show the medal award for the 4x100 relay. One of the swimmers was crying and Michael Phelps was comforting him.
Well, they waited too long then here on the West Coast! I went to bed at midnight…
I saw the medal ceremonies for Katie Ledecky on Sunday night and the men’s 100 backstroke last night.
The coverage probably vary significantly depending on the time zone. Nothing like that here, and I was glued to the TV until pretty much midnight.
We tape NBC’s coverage and start watching it late enough that we can skip through all the ads. And the events we’re not interested in.
I’ve seen all the US gold ceremonies. They show them last thing in the prime-time coverage if they haven’t shown them earlier.
I’ve seen some of the medal ceremonies… usually just before midnight.
I warned my husband that I would be doing very little housework during the Olympics. (I don’t feel too guilty because it is too hot and he refuses to get air conditioning). I have not been able to find a good source of information for the schedule. I have alerts set on the app but I prefer to watch on the tv so I flip the channels from NBC to USA to NBCSN to MSNBC to BRAVO (tennis). I am really enjoying being introduced to events that I am not familiar. Right now I am switching between judo (US won his match) and water polo (US safely ahead).
During prime time, my son watches in LA using his computer while I watch network coverage. He gets the stripped down version so he didn’t see the shots of Boomer sleeping through his dad’s gold medal swim.
The surfing aerial photo shots look so cool! I love seeing the scenery and the sight of the beach is so relaxing.
I’ve read some interesting articles. For example, the Olympic table tennis tournament is considered an easy one, because the best players are in China and other Asian nations. It’s easier for them to play all the other countries. I knew this had to be the case in a lot of sports. We whine about the two per country rule advancing in the gymnastics all around, when we have 4 girls on the team and likely a dozen or more at home who could advance. Other countries are in the same boat, just with other sports.
That’s why Michael Phelps looked like Darth Vader (as Mr. B called his loook) before the last night’s race! 
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/michael-phelps-made-hilarious-intense-023300965.html
I was struck by the scene Sunday evening of Catalina Ponor, the sole Romanian female gymnast qualifier for the games, competing alone on the balance beam, with the 54-year-old Ghost of Gymnastics Past, Nadia Comaneci, cheering her on from the stands.
For decades the Romanians were the one team that could consistently take on and sometimes defeat the mighty Russians in women’s gymnastics. The 28-year-old Ponor is perhaps the last remnant of that era. How the mighty have fallen. Ironically, the “Perfect 10” Nadia who took the sport to a whole new level acrobatic athleticism, probably could not compete all that well if she were coming up today. The lithe Comaneci did not have the right muscular body type required to excel at today’s routines. Nadia had sort of a petite pixie build. Today’s muscular champions are built more like fire hydrants.
“Today’s muscular champions are built more like fire hydrants.”
What I miss from the gymnastics of old is the gracefulness. I’ve watched a few floor routines that the commentators were praising but they looked ungraceful to me and lacked any sense of rhythm and musical timing. I’d like to sign some of these gymnasts up for some more ballet training. bah humbug.
Reminder of just how great Nadia was in her day:
I agree, @doschicos. I find the muscular look and the current physicality of the routines, unattractive. I miss the gracefulness, too.
Comaneci’s jump would have the level of difficulty of 0 according to today’s standards. The contrast is striking.
She could still be competitive on the beam though.