Don't get me wrong I agree that he's the fastest swimmer in the world but why are there so many swimming events?
Most of the other events if you lose you go home.
Just curious if I'm the only one who thinks like this.
Impressed yes but it sure doesn't make him the greatest ever Olympian. Michael Johnson live the BBC coverage last night said he had been there a week and was bored and couldn't wait for the proper stuff to start. When castigated by the presenter he basically said that if the sprinters could do the 100m forwards, backwards and every which way they too could win bags of Golds. Interestingly swimming has 38 medals against track and fields 50 something.
Sort of like the same as winning gold in the Laser dinghy and winning cold in the Europe dinghy.
Wouter
Here is my take: As my kids swim on teams I've been exposed to the sport (But I'm no expert...)
1.)Each event is very short. If you didn't have many events it would be over in a flash then you go home... not very interesting.
2.)Its a small(ish) arena you can pack spectators all around to see the action.
3.)Short attention spans of spectators need constant stimulation and action... this will do it. Its like getting my wife to watch sailing on TV or even at an event. She says its like watching grass grow. Things seem to happen too slow if you're not on the boat.
Just my thoughts. And having seen his event times and compare them to the meets I've been too... dang!. Of course I'm only involved in elementary and high school levels.
Clayton
Phelps has now won the 400m medley, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 4x100m free relay, 4x200m free relay and now the 200m medley, all in world record time
I am not sure I would say he is the greatest Olympian but Johnsons’s argument is pretty lame as there are also many opportunities to win multiple medals on the track 100m, 200m, 400m, hurdles 110m & 400m, relay 100m & 400m. etc.
Gareth
Is there any other events in the Olympics other than beach volleyball, swimming, and diving? Cause that's all I've seen on the TV. Boring...
Most of the other events if you lose you go home.
Just curious if I'm the only one who thinks like this.
I suppose it depends on you perspective and background. I swam competitively through college and to me this is very cool to watch. The media coverage and their constant press on Phelps is extremely old though. The guy is a freak of nature and a lot like Lance Armstrong IMO in his drive to punish those pitted against him, just witnesing someone who can dominate by that much has its own appeal.
Track and field puts me right to sleep, but has the same draw to see people compete at such an eleite level. The events where they have judges are the ones that need to go. Synchonized diving and even gymnastics... whos to say whose flip with 2 twist is .05 pt beter than the other guys twist with 2 flip. What we need is for them to put 2 sets of rings together and see who can knock the other guy off - Then we have competition. <img src=
alt=
/>
The other night ~12:30am I was channel flipping and came across Badmitton! Now thats an exciting sport!!!!!
C
C
Four years from now the Olympics will have
flip cup
, and
beer pong
. I'm going to start training now. I just hope it's early enough. <img src=
alt=
/>
I am not sure I would say he is the greatest Olympian but Johnsons’s argument is pretty lame as there are also many opportunities to win multiple medals on the track 100m, 200m, 400m, hurdles 110m & 400m, relay 100m & 400m. etc.
Gareth
Dude you're way off on this one. 100m is way different from 400m which are totally different from 110m hurdles. Different events with totally different athletes.
I'm with Matt dump the sports decided by judging,be it diving, boxing or gymnastics.
Fred
I have a kid who aspires to Olympic swimming trials in 2012. The times posted by the Olympians are remarkable by comparison to even the best collegiate atheletes. By comparison to this elite Olympic group, Michael Phelps is truly a phenomenon.
There will be very few chances to ever see such an elite athelete in a lifetime. I am happy to have the chance to see so much swimming. (Could live without so much synchro diving and volleyball, though...would rather see more other stuff.) As for forwards and backwards running, I'd say that's a pretty glib simplification of the sport of swimming. Why then, has not a previous swimmer since Spitz, way back in the 70's, won 'bags of Gold'? An ignorant remark, I'd say.
If they ran the sailing events in sequence, how many events could the likes of Ben A, ian Percy, bundy and Ashby win?
More than I'd say.
Ben or Pearcy could probalby win the Laser and Fin each and team up and win the Star. Bundy and Ashby could probably have a good crack at most of them!!!
But it would never happen because the sailing events do not run like that.
Womens beach volleyball boring!? Are you freaking kidding me!
Most of the other events if you lose you go home.
Just curious if I'm the only one who thinks like this.
I suppose it depends on you perspective and background. I swam competitively through college and to me this is very cool to watch. The media coverage and their constant press on Phelps is extremely old though. The guy is a freak of nature and a lot like Lance Armstrong IMO in his drive to punish those pitted against him, just witnesing someone who can dominate by that much has its own appeal.
Track and field puts me right to sleep, but has the same draw to see people compete at such an eleite level. The events where they have judges are the ones that need to go. Synchonized diving and even gymnastics... whos to say whose flip with 2 twist is .05 pt beter than the other guys twist with 2 flip. What we need is for them to put 2 sets of rings together and see who can knock the other guy off - Then we have competition. <img src=
alt=
/>
I agree with Matt - I too used to swim competitively and to see someone that does so well at the different disciplines of swimming is pretty cool to watch. I know the disciplines don't appear to be all that different but to race something like butterfly and then go to breast stroke...it's a big change.
They probably say similar things about sailing...
why are there so many different kinds - it's wind and a sail...how different can it be?
.
Phelps is pretty cool though. Did you see his press interview after winning the most ever Golds when he read out the last text he received before the race from a mate back in the states.
Dude, how many times each day do I have to see your ugly mug on TV..
At least the guy doesn't seem to take him sefd to seriously.
alt=
/>
I think that it's the ability to interact that separates a
sport
from an
exhibition
. Call it offense vs. defense if you want. In sailing, at least you can block or head-up the other guys and affect the outcome. But if you're alone on the floor or rings or golf course or bowling alley, where does the competition come in?
In swimming, as long as they're restricted to lanes, who cares if Michael Phelps is swimming alone or against 20 others? I say take away the ropes and let them block or grab; then see who's really the best swimmer! <img src=
alt=
/>
Even if he had only won one gold medal, and didn't get a world record, I would be impressed. But, he won 6 with 6 world records (and counting). On top of his 6 previous gold medals, and countless world records. That's amazing. Sure there there are skills that transfer from one event to the next, but the silver and bronze medalists in each event aren't the same, and few people in the finals of each event are the same, so each event definitely has different criteria for success and different skills. If they ran the swimming without any overlap Phelps could probably win a few more medals as well.
Sure, swimming lends itself to winning more medals than other sports. So does track and field, especially for the sprinters. But why do we have to compare him to every other athlete? Why isn't it enough that he is the best swimmer in over three decades? That he may have a better olympics than any swimmer, anywhere, ever?
Michael Phelps is a once in a generation athlete in his sport, there is no way you can argue against that. You don't have to watch, but to not be impressed is ridiculous. You don't have to like swimming to appreciate his accomplishment.
Why can’t you just appreciate the man’s talent, and self discipline, to get to his level of performance?
Who among the attackers here, has any major accomplishment in their life that can compare?
Clayton
This is EXACTLY the problem with sailing as a spectator sport, and why it will never be televised in its current state.
The only type of sailing that any Joe six-pack MIGHT watch would be Team Racing, with the 8-minute courses (Digital N).
Mike
Clayton
This is EXACTLY the problem with sailing as a spectator sport, and why it will never be televised in its current state.
The only type of sailing that any Joe six-pack MIGHT watch would be Team Racing, with the 8-minute courses (Digital N).
Mike
Not
EXACTLY
Look at the TV time for bike racing. Regular network only does the Tour De France and that only because of Lance, but a lot of the off brand stations give it quite a bit of coverage. Road course racing is just as difficult to cover and produce than a sail boat race. 135 guys riding in a pack for 6 hrs while the anouncers make up stories to keep interest until a couple decide to try and srint to the finish near the end.
We do ourselves a disservice by perpetuationg the theory that sailing is too difficult to cover or understand. Then to compound things the only time it makes it to prime time now is with billionairs and lawyers match racing on boring leaners. It is no wonder people write it off before they even give it a try.
Run some showy fast fleet racing complete with crashes and the associated human interest and even though they do not understand it will attract viewers given time. Right now it is just a catch-22. That does not exist so they do not watch, and they wont produce it becuase they do not watch <img src=
alt=
/>
I think we agree to disagree. Personally, I think people watch NASCAR, bicycling, marathons, swimming etc. because they can relate to those things sort of by osmosis. 99.99999% of everyone has swam, run, biked and driven a car at least once in their life, so it's easier to connect with those sports.
There are probably other reasons why people watch gymnastics and beach volleyball...
Mike
I don't know if anyone else watched it, but the Eventing competition was shown live all five days online (3 days of dressage, 1 cros country and 1 show jumping). The cross country coverage was great but there was not any commentary.
All that stuff is still online at nbcolympics.com Pretty cool sport to watch... nothing like galloping multiple 4' SOLID obsticals at 20-25 mph... even more fun to do!... The horses are serious athletes to be able to do what they do.
...Still does not compare to cat racing.
Clayton
This is EXACTLY the problem with sailing as a spectator sport, and why it will never be televised in its current state.
The only type of sailing that any Joe six-pack MIGHT watch would be Team Racing, with the 8-minute courses (Digital N).
Mike
Not
EXACTLY
Look at the TV time for bike racing. Regular network only does the Tour De France and that only because of Lance, but a lot of the off brand stations give it quite a bit of coverage. Road course racing is just as difficult to cover and produce than a sail boat race. 135 guys riding in a pack for 6 hrs while the anouncers make up stories to keep interest until a couple decide to try and srint to the finish near the end.
We do ourselves a disservice by perpetuationg the theory that sailing is too difficult to cover or understand. Then to compound things the only time it makes it to prime time now is with billionairs and lawyers match racing on boring leaners. It is no wonder people write it off before they even give it a try.
Run some showy fast fleet racing complete with crashes and the associated human interest and even though they do not understand it will attract viewers given time. Right now it is just a catch-22. That does not exist so they do not watch, and they wont produce it becuase they do not watch <img src=
alt=
/>
Amen! Saying anything else is like giving up without trying in my head. We have an excellent product with loads of drama.
I agree; however, the television audience for the Olympics appears to have the attention span of a gnat. The mainstream people don't seem to want to watch any hour-long competition that is a single event (such as one race). A gymnastic competition is different, because there is action all the time, with a different competitor to focus on each time.
I still have no clue what they were thinking when they televised men's indoor volleyball last night. Talk about watching grass grow...
Mike
I personally think can be a very exiting sport to watch when televised well.
Afterall, it is a chess-game combined with stamina. Unlike a track sport the competitors can go different ways, make a visually obvious gamble and won or loose. How about the exitement of a port flyer in a 50 boat fleet. Will he make it or does he have to crash tack at the last moment ?
I've seen the French do ORMA 60 racing with small computer graphics in the lower corner of the screen explaining the dirty wind, right of way and the position tacktics. That can make an upwind duel or downwind high speed approach to the bouy very exiting. They have superimposed circles projected on the screen showing how two boats are different loactions on the water are just as far from the bouy and will meet up there at full speed.
I think sailing can actually have more drama then many other sports, especially more then swimming and track. They just need to televise it right. Why not do it as the Superbowl games with lines drawn on the screen with the commentator explaining how a boat is pinches or scrapped off ?
We just must not do it with only 2 boats on the water where one can dominate from beginning to end. Get in the 3rd, 4th and other boats forcing the leader to spread his attention for challenges further way or from the other side of the course.
Wouter
I guess I might be the only one here that hasn't watched any events yet. I'm waiting for Track & Field and Weightlifting. Everything else is just fluff.
Fully agreed.
A GPS, a couple of small cameras and a transmitter would cost what? Maybe USD 300,00. This is not expensive compared to new boat prices.
This pack could be mandatory equipment. A computer would collect the data in the RC boat for instant (automatic!!!) protest judgement, instant positions and for broadcast.
Umpires would become a complement of the software, necessary only in major events. Add a couple of cameras in blimps attached to the buoys and any around the buoys event will be easy enough to cover very efficiently.
Start making it mandatory only on GP boats coasting more than (say) USD 50.000,00. Afterwards, when the standard package is working well, the software debugged, etc., make it mandatory on important ISAF graded events. After some time a number of used packs will find their way into club racing, everyone will get used to instant information, indisputable computer judgment and live coverage.
This seems to be the future of sailing coverage. Why wait until other sports have it? ISAF should be working on this instead of playing their usual games of
advanced bending rules gymnastic
.
By the way: has anyone else noticed that ISAF's website publishes almost exclusively
local
(british) news. Only sometimes news from other english speaking countries can be found, rarely news from europe and almost never from anywhere else.
Sorry for hijacking the thread...