2012 London Olympics

[San]

http://www.london2012.com/

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/f28JxHQWleo?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/f28JxHQWleo?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US</a>

[San]

Sir Paul McCartney ignites the crowd as LeBron, Ali represent USA at Olympics opening ceremony



Bond, Beckham and the Queen: London welcomes the world with riveting opening ceremony to 2012 Olympics

Oscar-winner Danny Boyle finds inspiration in British culture from Shakespeare to 007 to create an astonishing opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games

By Kevin Armstrong / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

LONDON — The Summer Olympics opened Friday with a $42 million five-ring extravaganza, complete with a Beatles soundtrack and a peek at the latest Bond girl: Queen Elizabeth II.

The massive production — conjured by filmmaker Danny Boyle — featured a touch of special effects that made it seem the 86-year-old queen mum was rolling through London with the famed British spy.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics-2012/britain-kicks-2012-olympics-a-riveting-opening-ceremony-article-1.1123543#ixzz21vNuVP5A

[San]

Some nice photos by CNN.



http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/27/worldsport/gallery/olympic-opening-ceremony/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[San]

Some other helpful links to the Olympics:

NBC SPORTS - http://www.nbcolympics.com/

ESPN - http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/2012/writers/brian_cazeneuve/07/26/2012-olympics-medal-predictions/index.html

BLEACHER REPORT - http://bleacherreport.com/olympics

[San]

TWITTER LINKS:

Olympics
@Olympics - https://twitter.com/Olympics

NBCOlympics
@NBCOlympics - https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics

US Olympic Team
@USOlympic - https://twitter.com/USOlympic

Misty May-Treanor
@MistyMayTreanor - https://twitter.com/MistyMayTreanor

Ryan Lochte
@ryanlochte - https://twitter.com/ryanlochte

[klaasend]

I was lucky last night and got to watch the entire opening ceremonies.  We get east coast feed on NBC so we were able to watch from 4:30pm to 9pm.  I really like the way it was done.  Many parts were very youthful and I like that.  Loved Paul McCartney and also the Queen's entrance. 

[San]

I liked Paul McCartney and the Queen's entrance also.  The way they did the Olympic rings was so nice.  Hats off to the British for a job well done.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=157540673
Olympic Viewing: NBC Sets Opening Ceremony Record
July 28, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — A look at media coverage of the London Olympics:

An opening ceremony from the mother country with a Beatle, a queen and Mr. Bean proved irresistible for viewers in the United States, with a record-setting 40.7 million people watching NBC's first night of summer Olympics coverage.

The Nielsen company said Saturday that London's opener was the most-watched opening ceremony of any summer or winter Olympics. It topped the previous mark of 39.8 million people who watched the 1996 Atlanta Olympics begin, and the 34.9 million who watched the colorful first night from Beijing four years ago.
 ::snipping2:
:An estimated 5 million comments about the opening ceremony were made on social media, according to the research company Bluefin Labs. It was more interesting to women, apparently, as 58 percent of the comments were from women and 42 percent from men, Bluefin said.

It was the most-watched television event in the U.S. since the winter, when 39.9 million people watched the Grammy Awards and 39.3 million saw the Oscars.
 ::snipping2::

UPCOMING: The U.S. women's gymnastics team springs into action on NBC on Sunday night. In daytime viewing, the U.S. men's basketball team opens against France.

[San]

They just showed a news clip with the Queen walking with someone and you can hear her say I didn't get to see the clip yet and they guy said she was great.  The Queen said I hope it made people laugh.

They also said she did the clip in one take.

[crazybabyborg]

I got to watch almost all of it and thought it was GREAT!! I too, loved the way they did the torch!! What I didn't see was the queen's parachuting segment and the video has been removed from youtube! 

I can't wait for gymnastics!!   

[San]

Michael Phelps misses out on medal as Ryan Lochte grabs gold in 400 individual medley - as coach and competitors question work ethic

Ryan Lochte is the new golden boy in what was once Michael Phelps' best event. Coach Bob Bowman says that loss was a 'fitness issue' and Phelps 'didn't get by on talent this time.' Phelps agrees race was 'horrible' for him.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Saturday, July 28, 2012, 7:46 PM
Updated: Saturday, July 28, 2012, 8:36 PM

USA swimmer Ryan Lochte is all smiles after taking home the gold medal in the 400 IM. Here he points to some familiar faces in the crowd.

LONDON -- There is a fine old film, “The Killers,” with Burt Lancaster, in which the main character is shot up in the opening scene and the whole, expected narrative arc goes flying off the rails from the start.

Which was somehow the very first thing that came to mind on Day 1 of the Olympics, watching Michael Phelps, our hero, flop terribly in the morning heat of the 400-meter Individual Medley and then sink in the finals at night.

There, straight into the spike queue, went all the prepared columns, all the readied story lines. Suddenly, we had to deal with this new guy, Ryan Lochte, who wasn’t really new at all but was always a vague shadow in the background, a six-time Olympic medalist we’d ignored now for eight years.

“A lot of people say Michael’s inhuman,” Lochte said, after he’d taken the 400-meter IM gold on Saturday and destroyed the fourth-place Phelps by 4.10 seconds, 4:05.18 to 4:09.28. “You know what? He’s just like us.”

Phelps was the two-time champion in this race, and then he was only the greatest Olympian in history, no longer the title holder, not even on the medals stand. His own coach, Bob Bowman, was shocked at his guy’s slow pace, his failure in the freestyle leg.

“He said it was horrible, and it was,” Bowman said. The coach thought his swimmer would go 4:06, 4:07, which would at least have made this respectable.

“Just a crappy race,” Phelps said, after finishing .34 seconds behind bronze medalist Kosuke Haino of Japan. “I couldn’t put myself in a good spot. It’s pretty upsetting. I’ll try to get past this and move forward.”

 ::snipping2::

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics-2012/michael-phelps-misses-medal-ryan-lochte-grabs-gold-medal-400-individual-medley-coach-competitors-question-work-ethic-article-1.1124095#ixzz220xorSg0

[San]

I see that Hope Solo hasn't changed.  She is a distraction with her big mouth.  I hope she loses.



Saddened by Hope Solo's tweets

LONDON -- What we should be talking about it is the fact that the U.S. women's soccer team, only two games into the Olympics, has scored seven goals and clinched a spot in the quarterfinals.

What we should be talking about is the Americans' come-from-behind victory against France in the Olympic opener and their 3-0 win against Colombia in the second game.

What we should be talking about is Alex Morgan's two beautiful goals so far, Abby Wambach's courageous play and the re-emergence of Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe. Or maybe the fact that U.S. coach Pia Sundhage once again has shown how confident she is in the depth of her team by continuing to make changes to the lineup. (I would argue there should be fewer changes as this tournament progresses, but her player rotation seems to be paying dividends so far.)

But instead, we all are talking about Hope Solo's Twitter comments. After the team's win against Colombia on Saturday, she took to Twitter to criticize her former teammate and NBC commentator, Brandi Chastain.

My initial reaction when I read the tweets? Sadness. Not anger, not outrage, just an overwhelming sense of sadness.

Look, I know this isn't the first time former teammates have been upset over comments made on TV about them or their teams. I know because I have lived it myself as a commentator; but regardless of how you feel about someone's commentary, let's put this in perspective.

Not only is Brandi one of Hope's former teammates (and one of mine), but Brandi is one of the legends of the game. She was, is and always will be one of the great ambassadors of women's soccer, especially with all she does to help promote the game. This was not the local pub team coach commentating on the game.

 ::snipping2::

http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/espnw/story/_/id/8211631/2012-olympics-julie-foudy-reaction-hope-solo-tweets-sadness

[San]

I don't want to see our professional basketball players in the Olympics.  It takes away from the game.  They are getting paid to play basketball and shouldn't be there.  I watched a little bit of the game and said this is boring and there was no excitement.  I want to see the best of our college kids go there and play the game. The pros took that away from them and it's not fair.  JMO

[klaasend]

Did you see yourself San?  I made you a gymnast 

[San]

I think the Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen might be on performance enhancement drugs. Her final 50 meters were faster than the American gold medalist Ryan Lochte. It's hard not to question it.

[San]

Did you see yourself San?  I made you a gymnast 

See how good I am on the beam 

[klaasend]

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-blogs/synchronized-swimming/russia-leads-synchro-swimming-duet-at-london-games.html

USA needs to do better in...............

[klaasend]

We're #1!