Thursday, August 21, 2008

I've seen some of the Olympics the last week or two. I haven't seen very much of them, because most of my free time these days is spent griping about how tired I am, but I did catch the occasional event. I was left with the following thoughts:

1) Have you ever seen "Dot Racing" at a baseball game? It's that idiotic "race" they show on the scoreboard where several animated dots (or cable cars or whatever) have a virtual race and people cheer for their favorite blob of color. These dots don't have any distinguishable strategy, personality, or perceived effort. They're just blobs of color.

That's what watching swimming is like. It's all the excitement of dot racing, except without the color.

2) The U.S. women's volleyball team has won over 100 games in a row. So, forgive me if I don't feel the slightest bit of drama watching them play. "Oh, look, they won again! Marvelous."

Riveting.

And why do they put these women in bikinis? The runners, divers, and swimmers don't wear bikinis, but for some reason, the volleyball players must appear in bikinis. I mean, I could get behind those suits if they actually had some boobs, but, uh, no.

3) Did you see the men's 100 meter race where Usain Bolt just coasted in the last 15 meters?

Huh?

The race, as the name implies, is just 100 meters long. It's the shortest race they run. It takes less than 10 seconds for the winner to complete it. So, um, would it be a big deal to maybe run ALL the way to the end? I've seen people sprint to the finish at the end of a marathon or an Ironman length triathon, but Usain Bolt couldn't be bothered to do more than jog after 85 exhausting meters?

I know the dude won and set a world record in the process, but he's an idiot.

2 comments:

Nutmeg said...

Dot racing? Really? That is lame. Haven't been to a professional game since before the Loma Prieta Quake in 89. I do go see the Rivercats a lot though.

I love the swimming. I don't get why they don't wear the 'super suits' all the time. My daughter can't figure out how the boy's pants stay on. Me either but I try to not dwell on it too much. Also, someone needs to put those little computer animated flags behind each swimmer. Or little icons over their heads as they swim like in the Sims.

I have wondered about the beach volleyball as well. It just doesn't seem like a sport. Sort of like synchronized diving. Yes, it takes muscle, stamina and precision but so does cleaning out the back of my van and I'm not getting any medals.

meg

Mike said...

Ooh, putting the icons over their heads as they swim is a great idea. Some sort of identifier would improve the watchability of that sport.

And, does cleaning your van really require a lot of precision? You must do a hell of a job.