Posted February 10, 20223 yr Here's my quick summary so far: U.S. = diplomatic boycott Mikaela Shiffrin = disastrous start Nathan Chen = redemption Lindsey Jacobellis = also redemption Chloe Kim = still incredible Elaine Gu = perhaps the most interesting (high profile) athlete at these Games Kamila Valieva = the best ever? now marred in a doping scandal Alpine skiing conditions = crap Probably plenty that I'm missing. Very Stable Genius
February 10, 20223 yr I’ve not been able to get into it at all. We signed up for Paramount + on trial and even with that the NBC coverage has been awful to make sense of. We don’t really watch it avidly, but have it running on the tv in the background, but I think we’ve watched the same hockey and curling matches multiple times😅 My hovercraft is full of eels
February 10, 20223 yr Pretty spot on. I would also add that the US audience has largely tuned out too.
February 10, 20223 yr Were there any sports besides curling on Tuesday? My god it was on for hours and hours and hours, and I still don't understand the rules.
February 10, 20223 yr Author 3 minutes ago, TBideon said: Were there any sports besides curling on Tuesday? My god it was on for hours and hours and hours, and I still don't understand the rules. We mostly just watch the condensed prime time coverage, so very little curling lol. It's basically life shuffle board on ice. Or bocce ball if you've played that. Closest to the center of the target wins that end. If they have the two closest "stones" they get two points. If they have the three closest, three points. The person throwing has to release it by a certain line on the sheet of ice. Their teammate or teammates can sweep in front of the stone, reducing friction on the ice (if they want it to go faster/farther or stay on a certain trajectory longer). The opposing team can sweep in "the house" (basically near the target) - essentially trying to reduce friction to get one to slide out of the back, for example. Teams alternate turns throwing. Very Stable Genius
February 10, 20223 yr Author 19 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: Pretty spot on. I would also add that the US audience has largely tuned out too. 12+ million people a night in the U.S. are watching. Probably a few things... -China (some might be boycotting over human rights abuses and tuning it out entirely) -pandemic (a lot of sports TV ratings have been down the last couple years) -we just had the Summer Olympics ~7-8 months ago -Not sure how they do the ratings, but there are a lot more options to watch now - Peacock (which has only been around a few years), YouTubeTV, various streaming apps, etc. -The sports in Winter Olympics in general are much more niche and don't appeal as globally - everything seems to be done on a ski, blade, or skate. Compare that to the sports in the Summer Olympics. -Very few U.S. stars, relative to some of the hype that goes into the Summer Olympics. -Time difference - not sure how much people care, but a lot of the stuff in prime time (in the U.S.) isn't live and already aired. So the hardcore [insert random event here] fans probably already watched on Peacock when it aired live. Very Stable Genius
February 10, 20223 yr 21 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said: 12+ million people a night in the U.S. are watching. Probably a few things... -China (some might be boycotting over human rights abuses and tuning it out entirely) -pandemic (a lot of sports TV ratings have been down the last couple years) -we just had the Summer Olympics ~7-8 months ago -Not sure how they do the ratings, but there are a lot more options to watch now - Peacock (which has only been around a few years), YouTubeTV, various streaming apps, etc. -The sports in Winter Olympics in general are much more niche and don't appeal as globally - everything seems to be done on a ski, blade, or skate. Compare that to the sports in the Summer Olympics. -Very few U.S. stars, relative to some of the hype that goes into the Summer Olympics. -Time difference - not sure how much people care, but a lot of the stuff in prime time (in the U.S.) isn't live and already aired. So the hardcore [insert random event here] fans probably already watched on Peacock when it aired live. The biggest factor in my opinion by FAR is it being the week of the Super Bowl. The U.S public and media outlets are hyper focused on it (naturally). Super Bowls always suck up all the sports energy around this time. Lucky for NBC it’s also broadcasting the Super Bowl this year. Edited February 10, 20223 yr by 646empire
February 10, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, DarkandStormy said: 12+ million people a night in the U.S. are watching. Probably a few things... -The sports in Winter Olympics in general are much more niche and don't appeal as globally - everything seems to be done on a ski, blade, or skate. Compare that to the sports in the Summer Olympics. -Very few U.S. stars, relative to some of the hype that goes into the Summer Olympics. -Time difference - not sure how much people care, but a lot of the stuff in prime time (in the U.S.) isn't live and already aired. So the hardcore [insert random event here] fans probably already watched on Peacock when it aired live. Definitely think these are the primary reasons. I would like to think human rights or pandemic play a difference too but when you boil it down it is 1) Harder on NBC to get the numbers when the Olympics are difficult to show live in Primetime, and you are right, especially this year, there are fewer stars with recognizeable names than in the past. No Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller, etc. No NHL players in hockey and both mens and women's figure skaters are not as well known as in the past. I think the pandemic part to your point is important, not because people are not watching now, but more the fact that in 2021 and most of 2020 sporting events were all cancelled or much smatller if they happened and generated less buzz. I did not remember the national figure skating championship last year (it may have happened) or some other large showcase events that are used to highlight the upcoming stars.
February 10, 20223 yr Peacock is really annoying but if you have cable (or know someone's info who has cable) the NBC Sports App is shows everything. I will agree that the time difference and having watched events already is a problem if you are into the events. On a few occasions I have watched events live in the mornings when getting ready with the kids, and then I don't watch the national NBC primetime coverage at all because its all either: 1. Repeated events I've already seen 2. Events that happened during the day that got spoiled by ESPN and other networks who don't care about NBC, or 3. Fluff pieces/tear jerk pieces trying to tell us about the Olympians but not actually showing us their events.
February 10, 20223 yr Author 2 hours ago, ucgrady said: Fluff pieces/tear jerk pieces trying to tell us about the Olympians but not actually showing us their events. We use YoutubeTV, and wait about 30-40 minutes until after 8:00 to start watching. There's already a lot of fast-forwarding through the commercials, but we mostly skip the puff pieces as well. Feels like half the time could be cut. Very Stable Genius
February 18, 20223 yr Well, that was f-ucked. The whole Valieva situation. Female ice skaters and gymnasts have long been sacrificed due to the world's fetishizing the elegance and majesty of their performances. That sh*t has to change with age limits going forward. No more of this child abuse. Bach, Eteri, the CAS, IOC, hell, even Lipinski and Weir failed these girls. And Russian athletes, whatever they call themselves, need to sit out another 20 years for this ugliness. What a sh*tshow.
February 19, 20223 yr 20 hours ago, TBideon said: Well, that was f-ucked. The whole Valieva situation. Female ice skaters and gymnasts have long been sacrificed due to the world's fetishizing the elegance and majesty of their performances. That sh*t has to change with age limits going forward. No more of this child abuse. Bach, Eteri, the CAS, IOC, hell, even Lipinski and Weir failed these girls. And Russian athletes, whatever they call themselves, need to sit out another 20 years for this ugliness. What a sh*tshow. They need to raise the age limit to 18. That 15 year old Russian skater had a damn breakdown. And if something is "up", they have that fallback of "protected status" because they are underage-nobody deserves any special protection, and if they need it then they should not be participating. Russia is the worst but not the only one-the whole system especially in women's skating seems to be a mess-just assembly line production of skaters who are products with built in obsolescence when they hit 18 or 20.
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