'24 Olympics discussion

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That was the most magnificent opening we've ever watched. Incredible.

Rugby, fencing, equestrian, diving so far. Will be glued to swimming, track and field, gymnastics. Seeing it all on Peacock is awesome - first time we've been able to go to whatever we want.

The surprise of seeing Celine Dion perform - and her absolutely sending a moonshot with it - put a cap on a day of extraordinary things.

I still believe in the Olympic ideal. For two weeks, vie with all one's strength to win, take victory with grace and comradeship, leave the field as friends.
 
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My wife got into the opening ceremonies and is keen on watching all kinds of events.
But aside from wondering why in heck they're going to conduct any events in the actual Seine River 😳 so far I'm not all that interested...
 
My wife got into the opening ceremonies and is keen on watching all kinds of events.
But aside from wondering why in heck they're going to conduct any events in the actual Seine River 😳 so far I'm not all that interested...
-they have an open 10K swim! Watching the e-coli counts and have to wait for them to go down. Are you KIDDING me? Yuck doesn't even begin to cover how far this old swimmer would run away.🤢

Edit: I trained to compete at a national level as a younger dude. I will always watch swimming, and love watching all kinds of stuff. The years of sacrifice, pain, guts, pursuit of excellence....yep, I'm a total sap.😁
 
I still believe in the Olympic ideal. For two weeks, vie with all one's strength to win, take victory with grace and comradeship, leave the field as friends.

Edit: I trained to compete at a national level as a younger dude. I will always watch swimming, and love watching all kinds of stuff. The years of sacrifice, pain, guts, pursuit of excellence (emphasis added)....yep, I'm a total sap.😁

When broadcast events return to these basics / essentials (the competitions, not the opening/closing/half-time ceremony), I'm willing to reconsider watching the events.

seeing Celine Dion perform
Given all she has gone through since 2020, I continue to wish her well.
 
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When broad cast events stop broadcasting the opening/closing/half-time ceremony and broadcast just the events, I'm willing to reconsider watching the events.
Oh, I see. Each to their own, that's cool. For me, from the ancient days of the original Olympics through to now, these are meant to be spectacle. An elevated plane where these youth come - and it's not just for us, it's for them, really, at the heart of it - and the opening and closing are something they'll take with them the rest of their lives. As the head of the IOC said last night, you come as athletes; now you are olympians. The rare chance for them to not only participate but to stand openly on the field of competition with the world's athletes, what a rare and beautiful thing in a world cracked with war and hatred.

The modern Olympics were founded on a creed, and as much as I've become a cynic and resigned to so many things, these games and their pageantry still hold a sacred space for me personally. I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.
 
Man - talk about grit!

For Dygert, medaling in Paris marked a remarkable comeback from assorted injuries and health-related issues that includes a gruesome crash in 2020 that required multiple surgeries to her left leg, knee and Achilles injuries, heart surgery, a bout with Epstein-Barr virus, and most recently, a bout with COVID during her Olympic training.
 
Then full on headbanging heavy metal....crazy spectacle.
I turned on the Olympic Opening Ceremonies and a Pink Floyd concert broke out...

But seriously, the breadth of musical genres alone was staggering.

When broadcast events return to these basics / essentials (the competitions, not the opening/closing/half-time ceremony), I'm willing to reconsider watching the events.
If your only option is to watch it on NBC, then yeah, don't watch it. But if you get Peacock (or are willing to spring for a trial subscription and remember to cancel it) then you can actually watch events of your choice without all the BS.
 
For those who might have missed...

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This year USAers are apparently kind of good at swimming and cycling.
Mon ami! As a former swimmer, I beg to inform you we are always good at swimming! 🤣

(side note: my brother was in the '68 Olympic trials. He missed the team when his foot slipped on the far %$##^&* wall at the final turn of the 200 meter breaststroke. Tons of home movies in B & W with Spitz. Pretty cool).
 
Given the current focus in this topic on the events of the Olympics, I'm a little reluctant to bring back the 'elephant in the room' that shows up in #8. OTOH, it needs to be noted that there is a recent offer of an apology for an opening ceremony scene (Paris Olympics Organizers Apologize for Opening Ceremony’s [...] Scene). Accept it or not. To each to their own.

If the Olympics were about just the events, I'd be "all in". The dedication the participators (as well as those who 'only' made it to regional/national qualifications) is worthy of respect.
 
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I'm starting to get suspicious that Gad embellishes the events of his life. He's described a lot of really interesting life events.
 
I'm starting to get suspicious that Gad embellishes the events of his life. He's described a lot of really interesting life events.
🤣

People who know me realize I've lived a lot of lives. Eternal wanderer and it's only been over the last 5 years I've come to understand why.

If you're talking here about the '68 games, my brother was part of a powerhouse class at Cal State Long Beach. Can't recall the coach's name but believe either that year or another, he was also the Olympic coach. In just looking for him, I came across this article, talking about the trials and Spitz. The Belmont pool, in which I competed quite a bit myself, was in my view a "fast" but in some respects a terrible pool - with maddeningly slippery walls. Doesn't matter as much in freestyle or backstroke (where you can do a flip turn, though can't remember if back then the backstroke flip turn was allowed yet), but for breaststroke and butterfly, where you have to grab, tuck your legs tight and push off - nothing more disheartening than pushing with all your legs have, and your feet slip, leaving you dead in the water. It happened to me too.

Our home movie has my brother, who had shaved down and had a good shot at making the team, crying at the finish. An extremely kind line judge, or whatever we called them, comforted him and helped him out of the water.

edit: Ha! Yes, at the end of the article, they mention my brother's (and Olympic) coach, Don Gambril.

Edit II: My brother's team is mentioned here as NCAA 1968 champions.

Edit III: My brother's classmate and friend, Jimmy McConica, is a former Pan-Am gold medal winner (1971) and multiple masters world record holder. The dude also swam our channel, a 20 mile swim, 4X, in record time (also the English channel). I remember well "Jimmy McConica day" in Ventura.

Ha! Memory lane. That's Jimmy at left, me at middle, my brother at right.

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Me, getting ready to dive those same Channel Islands.

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Actor.

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Shakespearean actor, at "The Mount," Edith Wharton's home. This was from an article in the Smithsonian magazine.

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Chef/owner, Waterstone, first French restaurant in the Upper Peninsula region.

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Founder and Chief Instructor, Hokoryukan Dojo, Marquette, MI. The Japanese man was my master, when I lived as uchideshi, or full-time, formal, live-in direct zen and martial arts disciple to a master. His name was Fumio Toyoda, Shihan, in death given the Buddhist name Tenzan Gensho Rokoji.

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My greatest accomplishment.

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Sorry for the OT. Back to these games.
 
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That's awesome! Hahaha - true story (yes, it is true Kent 😁 ) a broke acting student at conservatory many lives ago, I got a gig moving Trinity Rep's (this is the regional theater and conservatory, Providence, RI, where I studied) stage warehouse up one floor. I came upon a gargantuan wheel of cheddar, ancient already by then...asked if I could have it. Lived on it for weeks, that and coffee, lol. My cat came bounding out every morning hoping for something different and I was like, "when I do well, you'll do well....". Good times.🤣
 
Hahaha - true story (yes, it is true Kent 😁 ) a broke acting student at conservatory many lives ago, I got a gig moving Trinity Rep's (this is the regional theater and conservatory, Providence, RI, where I studied) stage warehouse up one floor. I came upon a gargantuan wheel of cheddar, ancient already by then...asked if I could have it. Lived on it for weeks, that and coffee, lol.

I didn't think coffee could counter all that cheese, but I guess it's possible.
 
🤣

People who know me realize I've lived a lot of lives. Eternal wanderer and it's only been over the last 5 years I've come to understand why.

If you're talking here about the '68 games, my brother was part of a powerhouse class at Cal State Long Beach. Can't recall the coach's name but believe either that year or another, he was also the Olympic coach. In just looking for him, I came across this article, talking about the trials and Spitz. The Belmont pool, in which I competed quite a bit myself, was in my view a "fast" but in some respects a terrible pool - with maddeningly slippery walls. Doesn't matter as much in freestyle or backstroke (where you can do a flip turn, though can't remember if back then the backstroke flip turn was allowed yet), but for breaststroke and butterfly, where you have to grab, tuck your legs tight and push off - nothing more disheartening than pushing with all your legs have, and your feet slip, leaving you dead in the water. It happened to me too.

Our home movie has my brother, who had shaved down and had a good shot at making the team, crying at the finish. An extremely kind line judge, or whatever we called them, comforted him and helped him out of the water.

edit: Ha! Yes, at the end of the article, they mention my brother's (and Olympic) coach, Don Gambril.

Edit II: My brother's team is mentioned here as NCAA 1968 champions.

Edit III: My brother's classmate and friend, Jimmy McConica, is a former Pan-Am gold medal winner (1971) and multiple masters world record holder. The dude also swam our channel, a 20 mile swim, 4X, in record time (also the English channel). I remember well "Jimmy McConica day" in Ventura.

Ha! Memory lane. That's Jimmy at left, me at middle, my brother at right.

View attachment 854198

Me, getting ready to dive those same Channel Islands.

View attachment 854202

Actor.

View attachment 854199View attachment 854200
View attachment 854201

Shakespearean actor, at "The Mount," Edith Wharton's home. This was from an article in the Smithsonian magazine.

View attachment 854233

Chef/owner, Waterstone, first French restaurant in the Upper Peninsula region.

View attachment 854203View attachment 854204

Founder and Chief Instructor, Hokoryukan Dojo, Marquette, MI. The Japanese man was my master, when I lived as uchideshi, or full-time, formal, live-in direct zen and martial arts disciple to a master. His name was Fumio Toyoda, Shihan, in death given the Buddhist name Tenzan Gensho Rokoji.

View attachment 854205View attachment 854206View attachment 854207
View attachment 854234

My greatest accomplishment.

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Sorry for the OT. Back to these games.
After reading Gad's bio, I feel like I am a mere floating poop in the Seine trying to cause trouble. That's one heck of a journey Gad!!!
 
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Brilliantly swam the 800 today, breaking right when she needed to from Ariarne Titmus of Australia, who is a dynamic closer. With this 800 victory, Katie has earned her 4th straight olympic win in the 800 (with Phelps, 5 Olympics. Think of it - keeping honed to a razor's edge at this level, for 16 years!), 14th Olympic medal (9 of them golds), the winningest female swimmer in history, and tying with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals for any female Olympian, period. Two world records and three Olympic records, one of them her 1500 M these Games.

Queen.
 
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