A martini is a terrible thing to waste.

Worst Olympics Ever.

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Jul 30, 2012 15 Comments

I was so pumped for the Olympics this year.

I watched the Opening Ceremony and was like, “meh”.   It felt more like a history lesson, and that storyline of the boy and girl and their cell phone was just silly.   And the Queen jumping out of  a plane?  I was waiting for Leslie Nielsen to sky dive over to her and squirt ketchup in her face.

If I was the producer of that ceremony, I would have had Adelle perform, and had her new boyfriend / baby daddy come out on stage and break up with her in front of the entire world.   And then she would cry really hard, eat a big turkey leg, and then write a brand new impromptu  break up song that would be even better than “Someone Like You”.

And why am I looking at Ryan Seacrest on my telly.  You know what, he’s got plenty of food on his table, he doesn’t really need this gig.  And does anyone believe that Ryan Seacrest has ever sprinted, jumped, caught any type of ball, or lifted anything in his entire life?  Why is he interviewing athletes?   And why is his hair so big?

What is truly ruining the Olympics is that you can not escape the social media updates of what’s happening REAL TIME in London.  I’ve been dying to watch the men’s gymnastics finals all day on TV, and it’s on later tonight on NBC. but I already know who won because I decided to click on the world wide web.

Why isn’t NBC showing the events LIVE??!?!!?!?

When the World Cup is on TV, they games are televised live at 2:00 in the morning, or whenever the match is being played in real time.  Why are they not doing this for the Olympics?

I really think NBC messed up big time.  I am having such a hard time finding when the events are on, and before I even get to see the competition, I already know who won because of Twitter and NYTimes.com

It’s really frustrating.  So much so that I haven’t even been watching the events as much as I’d like.

And who chose that “London 2012″ font??  It looks like someone wrote it with duct tape.

Why am I so cranky today.



Comments

  • LucyInDaSkyWithDiamonds
    Jul 30, 2012 at 6:22 pm

    I’m not cranky, but I totally agree with you. I read an this article today on Gawker about how much EVERYONE is pissed at NBC about them dropping the ball…

    Methinks ABC will get the Olympics next time around

    Here’s the article btw – http://gawker.com/5930118/every-single-person-in-america-is-pissed-at-nbcs-olympic-coverage

  • Laurel
    Jul 30, 2012 at 6:47 pm

    I cut cable /satellite (only half true, I can’t actually get cable where I live) which means I don’t even get to “legally ” watch the online streams. Every other country seems to have provided the content to its citizens in some way. I’d like to cheer on the US, it’s just not possible…

  • alex
    Jul 30, 2012 at 7:02 pm

    I can’t say I agree with you. NBC is showing all events live online and quite a few during the day on all their platforms. I’m a bit miffed they editted the opening ceremony but overall, their coverage has been decent. I think they will learn from this experience to get a better handle on the social media aspect. Here’s the thing, if anyone thinks other networks would be better they are wrong. The bottom line is they make their big bucks during primetime and people will still watch. I would hope that for the future Olympics (since they have the rights till 2020) they will consider showing the opening and closing ceremony live at least online.

  • Miss SJ Albany
    Jul 30, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    mayhaps you need a wee bit of chocolate

  • Diana
    Jul 31, 2012 at 9:39 am

    I could not agree more. Maybe I too have my cranky pants on today, but I’ve been greatly disappointed with the coverage and find myself looking for results of the live competitions online. Knowing the results ahead of time definitely makes watching them in prime time much more ho-hum, but I feel like it’s just not the same as cheering on your country’s athletes while they are actually competing. Not that they can hear my cheers from across the pond, or that it would do anything to improve their performance if they could, but it seems kind of pointless to get so excited over a competition that ended 5+ hours ago. It just doesn’t seem like such a unified US cheering/support effort as there has been in Olympics past. I get that they make the big bucks in primetime TV, but there has to be a better solution, and no, I don’t have one, just complaining. :)

  • Rich
    Jul 31, 2012 at 9:48 am

    this is the 30th olympics games..but no roman numerals to commemorate it…I think I would have bought one of those shirts! Talk about new olympics events! :) The commentary alone would be worth it.

  • DanCF
    Jul 31, 2012 at 9:55 am

    Wow Matt. You are in a bad mood. Get off of the web and social media and take a break. Then you can watch the olympics like the rest of us in the evening blissfully not knowing our team has already lost! Just like the old days…..

  • creed
    Jul 31, 2012 at 10:14 am

    I am SO HAPPY someone else HATES the font and noticed how BAD it is too! Every time I turn it on.. .the font GLARES at me and I hate it worse than a bad day at work.

    I want to know……………WHO did choose that font? YUCK! ICK!

  • lealorali
    Jul 31, 2012 at 11:11 am

    I watched the first hour of the women’s qualifying competition on primetime not even realizing Jordan Weiber didn’t even make it, as the competition took ace earlier that day and I had been reading about it ALL day. I was just so confused. So confused.

  • Ribbon
    Jul 31, 2012 at 12:28 pm

    Matt- its like you just read my mind!!! I thought the opening ceremony was HORRIBLE- the pasteral & industrial era homeage was not interesting and the whole dance scene w/the boy/girl who lost her cell made no sense. The Queen looked miserable and the only thing amusing was when Mr. Bean showed up.

    I thought the same thing w/the ‘London 2012′ font too! I sat there during teh opening ceremony dumbfounded over it. I actually could have doodled something on my own that was more impressive- I wonder who was the head honcho who made that call?

    Ryan Seacrest just wanted more camera time aside from his billion hosting gigs.

    I’m disspointed w/the London 2012 Olympics this year :(

  • PoGo
    Jul 31, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    Why isn’t NBC showing the events LIVE??!?!!?!?

    Boom.

    I’m with you on this one.

  • Jackie
    Jul 31, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    That London 2012 font is driving me batty, too! I told my husband this morning that it looks like someone drew it on a chalkboard.

  • Ryan Peterson
    Jul 31, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Alex @ #3 is exactly right. The network has learned from its past mistake of not providing any “live” coverage on any platform. Granted, most of the big, marquee events are still tape delayed for primetime simply because NBC is able to charge advertisers more for the events aired during those hours. And believe it or not, they’re actually losing money on the Olympics. They’ve shelled out billions for the exclusive TV rights over the years, so the execs at 30 Rock are just trying to recoup as much as they can!

    Plus, it’s still better than watching the Super Bowl. Coverage of the NFL’s crown jewel has become downright atrocious.

  • cac
    Aug 6, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    folks in the design community feel the branding for the 2012 Olympics is an epic fail.

  • Cherisse
    Aug 20, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    Couldn’t agree more…and I live for the Olympics…this yr it just wasn’t the same

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