BTHarner

I'll watch most days, but with a healthy dose of skepticism. I wasn't pleased with Gatlin's win. He may be clean now, but I'll never really be able to believe it. Almaz Ayana's obliteration of the field in the women's 10,000 also doesn't sit right with me. She only races a handful of times and wins handily. Are her infrequent appearances because she is hiding something? Why do I watch? Because I'll see an athlete from the Northern Mariana Islands get left in the dust, which causes me to feel sorry for them, only to find out that they actually set a personal best, and I feel an admiration for them because they did their best and did it better than ever before. I can understand the antipathy on these boards about the event. Why get too excited about a competition that recently has been a giant fraud.

Rest in peace. Even though it is inevitable, it is still sad to see the athletes of earlier eras pass away. I just do not feel the same reverence for contemporary athletes as I do for those who competed before sport became big business.

Kazakhstan was miss-spelled on the placard during Atlanta's OC. They forgot the h.

I think I would have had more interest in the now-defunct US Olympic Festival if it was broken down into teams by state just as this has teams representing provinces.

Two years to go.

Update: Apparently the TV link on the website now features the live stream of the US channel, access to which can only be attained by paying at least $35/month to subscribe to one of their partners. No thanks.

Thanks for the clarification firstin08. I think a lot of us have our own ideas on how to improve the Games, such as Stryker's comments above. I recently posted my ideas on another site recently which included the elimination of all team sports, all the additions to the 2016 and 2020 program, and sports whose venues leave a questionable legacy. I mentioned canoe/kayak slalom as an example (this was before I realized that some cities have made good use of their slalom venues. I also kicked weightlifting out for obvious reasons. These changes would have cut the number of venues needed at Rio by 13 and would have put the number of athletes at 8000. Of course this will never happen,

Well, DISH customers like me are out of luck. I vented a little on DISH on various social media, but now I just don't seem to care whether I have it or not. Probably because I realized I acted the same way about Universal Sports, I eventually got it and then hardly watched it. I'll stick with the online version with its more worldly focus.

Awesome find panamfan. Just in time for the 30th anniversary next month.

Some people think Garcetti could be a future President,

It certainly has. I'm pleased to say that I'm still feeling my Pan Am buzz.

Welcome to GameBids. I think we agree that the Games need to be downsized for their own good. The IOC did somehow manage to reduce athlete quotas for Tokyo 2020 despite unveiling a sport program that will feature a significant increase in the number of events. This reduction is just a drop in the bucket as there really needs to be a drop down to around 8,000 athletes, which is in line with your proposal, I agree that golf should go and perhaps it is time for the IOC and FIFA to part company. I disagree with your position on shooting as it does enjoy widespread participation. I have never been enamored of the permanent host idea. Just deciding what that would be located is fraught with political overtones. Your proposal basically calls for a Disney World of sports facilities. How would they be utilized between Games? Would the facilities used to house the athletes, media, and spectators be put to good non-Olympic use? Your concept of "if you pay, you can play" is also quite interesting given that many nations have to scrape to send their athletes to the Games, let alone contribute to the maintenance of sports facilities that might be halfway around the world. Your last point about the amount of money going to the IOC being reduced also caught my attention. The IOC's revenue basically comes from two sources-tv rights and sponsorships. This money will always be substantial, as long as the Games maintain the lofty esteem in which they are held (fortunately, most people still hold the Games in high esteem, if not the body that runs them). The IOC also owns the Games and everything associated with them and they are entitled to benefit financially from their existence, Though I may differ on some points, this is really an excellent first post. It provided some really good food for thought.

Well, the league announced a few weeks ago that Tampa would be the site of 2018 All-Star Weekend and it released the 2017-18 schedule yesterday. I'm now convinced that there will be no NHL participation.

Finally had the time to watch a few this evening and it is so nice to not have the constant yapping by the commentators. I was able to Shazam a few of the pieces of music that I really enjoyed from Atlanta's parade of nations (I never knew there was a group named Tangerine Dream). Nice to have titles to go along with some of the tunes.

The reported cost of the Rio games..... https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2017/06/14/ap-analysis-rio-de-janeiro-olympics-cost-13-1-billion/102860310/ Since the misinformed public thinks a winter games costs at least $50 billion, they will most certainly be somewhat confused by this number.