From left to right: Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak. Picture courtesy of the Daily Mail.
Over the weekend, the Olympics got off to a terrific start amid political tensions Friday night in a fantastic opening ceremony. Of the past two Olympics (2004 Summer in Athens and the 2006 Winter in Torino, Italy), the Beijing opener blew both of them away. From the fireworks to the lighting of the cauldron to the impressive choreography of the performers, but it was Yao Ming and little Lin Hao, a survivor of the earthquake that hit China in May, that stole the show.
When Yao plays basketball during the NBA season, he plays in a very strict manner. I have hardly seen the guy smile or laugh on or off the basketball court, much less show any exuberance. Friday night, guiding Hao around the stadium and later holding him in his arms, he showed a compassion and tenderness I've never seen from him.
Swimming phenom Michael Phelps won his first gold of the Games in the 400 IM. There were some great volleyball matches (womens' indoor: USA vs. Japan; mens' beach: USA's Gibb/Rosenthal vs. their Dutch nemesis Boersma/Ronnes during a steady downpour) with both USA teams winning. Both American basketball teams soundly defeated their opening opponents. The volleyball news was particularly good as the American volleyball teams were reeling from the death of Tod Bachman and the injury to his wife, Barbara. Both were stabbed by a Chinese man Saturday who committed suicide by jumping off the Drum Tower before police could arrest him. Further investigation is ongoing, but it's looking like an "isolated" incident.
But the greatest moment of the weekend was the Men's Swimming 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay late Sunday night. It was a three-way battle between the Australians, French, and the Americans. The French anchor swimmer, Alain Bernard, boasted that the French would "smash" the Americans. Phelps started off and kept pace with the leading Aussies, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones kept the Americans in the hunt, looking like the silver medalists. Then it came down to the final 50 meters with the two anchors, USA's Jason Lezak and France's Alain Bernard, and Lezak just turned on the motor (Lezak would later say he got a "supercharge") and beat Bernard by .08 of a second, shattering a world record in the process. It was easily the most thrilling swimming match anyone has ever seen. A link to watch the video is
here.
A couple of observations as to the broadcasting of the Games:
1) Does NBC need to have flashy graphics all the time? Specifically, the peacock logo which at times looks as if it has a super bright spotlight on it that fades on and off. It's been incredibly distracting, especially during the Opening Ceremonies.
2) After watching the swimming coverage, I now cringe when NBC poolside analyst Andrea Kremer opens her mouth. It's not so much in how she asks questions, it's in what she asks. In last night's coverage, she repeatedly asked stupid questions akin to, "You just won a gold medal, how do you feel?" On her Wikipedia page, it says she has "been critical of efforts to minimize side line reporting during games." Gee, I wonder why. But that's a story for another post.
3) What is it with commentators calling games before they finish? NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines practically called the relay for the French last night with 100 meters left!
4) What is with the IOC and NBC's crackdown of Olympic footage on YouTube? The video player on NBC's main Olympics website is very selective of what systems it supports, essentially excluding a portion of the population that may not have the most up-to-date computing systems. I understand the crackdown is for copyright purposes, but isn't there a way to allow all users to see footage of the Games if they missed their broadcast?
