Gamesbids’ Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Live Chat

[FYI]

49 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

I didn’t create a mess. I created a discussion that is very much within and pertaining to the topic of the thread. It seems like you are most upset that your pristine thread was sullied by difficult questions and unexpected opinions rather than going the way you wanted/expected it to. I see this a lot in many different forums - someone creates a topic then freaks out when they don’t get the responses they wanted and want to close it or ban opinions dissenting to theirs. It’s been said so many times - if you post an thread in a forum, the expectation is that that open and subject to discussion and debate. No-one “owns” a thread or can dictate how it develops. GamesBids over the years, from long before you joined, has thrived on frank and often heated debate. The board has always given a lot of leeway for debate. Many of us aren’t here to be a cheer squad.

The funny thing here is, that you-know-who ("without naming any names", of course ) said pretty much the same thing to Olympics 2028 over in the LA28 thread just last month. And now he's whining over here that you're being "self-righteous" towards him. That's just SO rich, to say the least! I'd say their projection machine is working overtime.

BTW, just noticed your sig, lol. 

[AustralianFan]

34 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Again, If you feel you’ve been judged, I’ve obviously struck a nerve.

I haven’t “dumped on” all ceremony fans. I have nothing against the ceremony fans, they’re a part of the mosaic of GamesBids where all of us are probably a bit eccentrically fascinated by the games. What I have dumped on is what I perceive to be a blindness and insensitivity within many hard-core ceremony fans. I hope to open their eyes to a wider perspective beyond “I hope it’s big and spectacular and better than some of the crap we’ve seen lately”. 

I’m sorry Sir Rols but you did indeed dump on us all, even though it wasn’t intentional.

Here is a sample of what you have posted in this Live Chat thread.

This is where you have tarred us all with the same brush …… and still you don’t realise it.

Sir Rols:   

“I will make no apologies for bringing up the politics of Beijing 2022 in the GamesBids threads. If I’m raining on anyone’s parade and that makes some people here uncomfortable or forces them to question or defend their choices... Good!”

“….a handful of ceremony enthusiasts on GamesBids.com are starving for one and are gleefully and will fully ignoring and dismissing  basic decency and morality to get their fix.”

“ And I do find it very disquieting and troubling to see such gushing and members wetting themselves in anticipation at the thought that the CCP are “finally” going to give a spectacular ceremony and thank God for the CCP. Even if the entire ceremony is about peace, love, togetherness and understanding, the message is still grotesque coming from the CCP.”

You DUMPED big time on all of us.

 

 

 

 

[Sir Rols]

And?????

i stand by each and all of those comments. If you feel you’ve been “dumped on” by them… well, they’re attitudes I certainly meant to “dump on”. They’re meant to make some people uncomfortable.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Sir Rols

[AustralianFan]

8PM CEREMONY START TIME

For those who wish to respectfully chat or air your opinions on the traditonal Opening Ceremony Live Chat, the actual Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony begins at 8pm local time, not 7.30pm as previously advised.

Here is an amended time zone guide to the Ceremony start time:

[Chris_Mex]

1 hour ago, Sir Rols said:

And?????

i stand by each and all of those comments. If you feel you’ve been “dumped on” by them… well, they’re attitudes I certainly meant to “dump on”. They’re meant to make some people uncomfortable.

You're right, you know, all these weeks i've been pretty excited for the opening ceremony, it may not have the flashiness and wow factor of 2008 but still olympics are an olympics. But after reading your position towards CCP i've decided not to watch the opening, I will not support an olympics which either I watch or not watch will happen anyway, and an event which either happens or not happens will not prevent human rights violations from happening in china.

Was that the reaction you wanted or maybe my comment needed a bit more of dramatism?, i mean I'm a mexican average person, winter olympics are not even such a thing from where I come from but still Im here waiting for the olympics, because even if it is organized by a terrible dictatorship or the most wonderful fairytale democracy, olympics still reunite people from all the world in the name of sport. I'm not Joe Biden or Scott Morrison to have a point of view towards CCP sportswashing, but im a normal person passioned by an event specifically organized for our enjoyment. So either you like it or not, Beijing 2022 is happening and it will start on february the 4th, 2022

[Scotguy II]

20 hours ago, AustralianFan said:

Everyone is entitled to respectfully express their opinion on gamesbids.com on the topic of that thread.

While I am reluctant to bring up politics in an Olympic fan blog such as gamesbids.com, I do need to respond to your previous post Sir Rols.  

Firstly, with the world gripped in a once-in-a-100-years pandemic, it is absolutely ok for all of us to lift our spirits by watching Olympics, sports, ceremonies, shows, movies, music or whatever we enjoy doing in our own time.  Goodness knows, the mental health of many around the world has taken a hit during these past two years of the pandemic.  Our worlds have been turned upside down.

Secondly, Gamesbids.com is not a political platform and anyone reading this should not feel guilty watching the Beijing Olympics and Ceremonies.  

Like many, I personally do not/did not like nor agree with the politics nor the practices of the national government in which several Olympic Games have been held in 2022, 2016, 2014, 2008, 1980 as examples.

I still watched the Opening Ceremonies of those Games and the sporting contests which followed.

But I am like many as an Olympics and Ceremonies and big shows/events fan am able to separate and recognise that the creative teams of the Opening Ceremonies are not the national governments.

The Opening Ceremony creative group including directors, technicians, artists, musicians, volunteers, performers, etc  just put together an entertainment and ceremonial show to open or close an Olympics.

This is just my opinion but it is entirely possible to watch an Olympics ceremonies and events put together by a creative team while at the same time strongly disagreeing with the policies or practices of the national government of that country, including that of these coming Winter Games.

The same goes for big shows or events like the Superbowl for instance.  I loved watching the Superbowls and Half-Time Shows from 2017 to 2020.

At the same time, I personally separately detested that poor excuse for a human being sitting in the oval office during that period.

I’m am sorry that politics of the national government of China have suddenly been linked somehow to Olympic Ceremonies fans on gamesbids.com looking forward to watching the upcoming ceremonies.  

So I say again, it is absolutely ok to watch Beijing 2022 Ceremonies and the coming sporting contests and achievements.

Politics is for a different platform - not Gamesbids.com.  That’s how I see it anyway.

Sir Rols, how you express your political opinions is respectfully up to you.  I would suggest thought that this gamebids thread is not the place for a political protest or making assumptions about the views of others.

There are other avenues and platforms for political passion and action.    But again, I suggest that gamesbids.com is not one of them.

Well said mate - completely agree with you and i for one will be watching the ceremony and the games with excitement and enjoyment and will not be made one bit to feel guilty for it.

[Rob2012]

10 hours ago, AustralianFan said:

Sir Rols, you continue to throw mud over many Olympic and Ceremony fans here in these threads by not naming any names at all.

Why on earth did you not just have your say that you are boycotting the Ceremony and leave it at that ?  Why on God’s earth would you then go further and do this without naming anyone nor asking anyone what their opinins are?

You’ve created a right mess here now and it all began with your post at the beginjng of this thread.

By not naming anyone you have twice now thrown mud over the lot of us.

I find this quite astounding especially since you are a moderator.

You are literally ridiculing all the fans here by not naming anyone, which I think is a huge mistake you have now twice made.

 Don’t get all self righteous and throw mud at the fans who frequent these threads.  They/we didnt cause the human rights abuses, the Chinese Government did!

With respect, this isn't about you, and you really overreacted to his initial post.

Maybe it's worth reflecting on the fact that a long-time poster on this board, who's been watching and commenting on ceremonies for decades - since before either of us were born, in fact (sorry Rols) - is choosing to skip this one. Not because he wants to miss it, but because he feels he can't watch it.

I know it's only entertainment at the end of the day, but we all invest a lot of time in it. So feeling like you can't watch is a BIG DEAL. I'm glad he's not keeping quiet about that.

Pointing out certain incongruities on this board that he finds hard to stomach is also more than fair. He said he was "disheartened", not that anyone here is a terrible person. Nobody is on trial here, but if Rols' strength of feeling is such that he feels, after decades of watching every ceremony, that he can't watch this one - do you really think that feeling won't extend to some of the commentary around it? Again, I'm glad he's not keeping quiet about that.

I suggest you step back a second and stop taking things so personally. God knows this board needs new posters like you, enthusiastic about an upcoming Games in your country and posting about each new development for those of us who don't know the host city.  But it also needs posts like Rols' recent ones and, more than that, Gamesbids has always accommodated such posts.

Finally: Yes, he's a mod. That may be because he understands these forums better than you do.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rob.

[Ikarus360]

Anyone is on their own right to choose not to watch something and we should respect that decision. Problem is when said person acts preachy and tries to make the rest feel bad about liking something. That's when there is an issue and in all honesty I also felt like I was being ridiculed, even if I wasn't directly named.

Also, its very awkward to imply that us ceremonies fans only care about the ceremonies when I, at least, watched most of the events of Tokyo 2020 whenever I could. Why i'm not as interested for winter sports as with the SOG is because I'm not from a place on which winter sports are popular at all (my country barely qualified only a couple of times and only to leave with zero medals). But it doesn't means i'm giving the ceremony more relevance than the athletes competing which, at the end of the day, are the real protagonists of the show.

I'm just a sucker for culture in general and enjoy seeing the culture of said country/city being represented, regardless of who's in power. For example, a lot of people in this board praise the Moscow 1980 ceremonies despite the fact the USSR was doing during those years even worse crap than China is doing right now.

Like I said before, watching the opening ceremony won't turn me into a Wumao or make me support the anexxation of Taiwan all of the sudden, because i'm able to separate the showbiz from reality but still being open minded enough to enjoy it. 

[AustralianFan]

18 minutes ago, Rob. said:

With respect, this isn't about you.

Maybe it's worth reflecting on the fact that a long-time poster on this board, who's been watching and commenting on ceremonies for decades - since before either of us were born, in fact (sorry Rols) - is choosing to skip this one. Not because he wants to miss it, but because he feels he can't watch it.

I know it's only entertainment at the end of the day, but we all invest a lot of time in it. So feeling like you can't watch a Games is a BIG DEAL. I'm glad he's not keeping quiet about that.

Pointing out certain incongruities on this board that he finds hard to stomach is also more than fair. Nobody is on trial here, but if Rols' strength of feeling is such that he feels, after decades of watching every ceremony, that he can't watch this one - do you really think that feeling won't extend to some of the commentary around it? Again, I'm glad he's not keeping quiet about that.

I suggest you step back a second and stop taking things so personally. God knows this board needs new posters like you, enthusiastic about an upcoming Games in your country and posting about each new development for those of us who don't know the host city. But it also needs posts like Rols' and, more than that, Gamesbids has always accommodated such posts. Yes, he's a mod. That may be because he understands these forums a lot better than you do.

You don’t get it, do you?   

This is about what Sir Rols did in addition to his boycott.   You should go back and read what happened from the beginning.

He said his piece about boycotting the Opening Ceremony.  That’s fine, that’s his choice, if he doesn’t want to watch the OC that’s fine and his choice.

But ….  no .. Sir Rols didn’t just leave it at that  ….. he then took it much further and chose to go on attack of fans of this Gamesbids website.

He threw mud far and wide at a whole group of Gamesbids fans without naming a single one.

That’s what I have a beef about.    

When you go on a public attack on a group of fans like he did, you better be prepared to back himself up with evidence or examples or names or something concrete.  It’s called being accountable for your own actions.  

 No-one forced Sir Rols to write what he wrote in his attacks on gamesbids fans here.  … and it is truly very very disappointing and outrageous.

These are some of the direct quotes from Sir Rols today about Gamesbids fans:

(Sir Rols):  “The world is NOT ‘starving’ for a ‘good’ (read gigantic) Olympic show - a handful of ceremony enthusiasts on GamesBids.com are starving for one and are gleefully and will fully ignoring and dismissing  basic decency and morality to get their fix.”

         Really Sir Rols?  Which group of gamesbids fans are you accusing of “dismissing basic decency and morality to get their fix” ?

With no evidence and no-one named that’s a pretty outrageous accusation to make toward a group of unknown Gamesbids fans.

 

(Sir Rols):    “I will make no apologies for bringing up the politics of Beijing 2022 in the GamesBids threads. If I’m raining on anyone’s parade and that makes some people here uncomfortable or forces them to question or defend their choices... Good!”

        Wow, you’re raining in everyone’s parade.   Who are “some people”?    What does “defend their choices” even mean?” 
       We are all just here to chat about the Opening Ceremony as it unfolds.  This is the Opening Ceremony Live Chat thread.

 

(Sir Rols):   “And I do find it very disquieting and troubling to see such gushing and members wetting themselves in anticipation at the thought that the CCP are “finally” going to give a spectacular ceremony and thank God for the CCP. “

    Really?   Gushing and wetting themselves?  Thanking the CCP?   Where and when on Gamesbids.com have you seen anyone at all write this?   

 

(Sir Rols):  “You feel you are being judged, it’s probably because you’re one of a number who’ve made the kind of posts I find disturbing.”

            What exactly do you find disturbs you? Any examples?  Anything?
 

(Sir Rols):  What I have dumped on is what I perceive to be a blindness and insensitivity within many hard-core ceremony fans. I hope to open their eyes to a wider perspective beyond “I hope it’s big and spectacular and better than some of the crap we’ve seen lately”

        Ok, so now you’re dumping on many fans.    You said “you hope to open their eyes”.  That sounds pretty controlling if you ask me. 

       You think because you think many fans on Gamesbids.com are “blind and insensitive”.   Another mass dump on Gamesbids fans.

        Care to give any examples? 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Sir Rols): 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rob2012]

13 minutes ago, AustralianFan said:

But ….  no .. Sir Rols didn’t just leave it at that  ….. he then took it much further and chose to go on attack of fans of this Gamesbids website.

You need to grow a thicker skin.

And frankly, I think many of his responses came from your pompous insistence that he doesn't post what he thinks in this thread, and "names names" if he's going to make a general point. Before that all he'd said was he was disheartened. You could've reflected on why that is, maybe seen that he has a point without taking it to heart, but you took a different tack.

I don't blame Rols for hitting back harder given how you responded to his initial post which was WAY out of proportion to what he wrote. You escalated it because you took everything he said as a personal attack.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rob.

[AustralianFan]

1 minute ago, Rob. said:

You need to grow a thicker skin.

 Sir Rols attacked group of  Gamesbids fans today  -   not just one.

If you had read this thread you would know this.

[Rob2012]

I have read this thread. You're taking things far too personally.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rob.

[Chris_Mex]

For whatever reason, if he doesn't want to watch the ceremony just because they are in china, he have the right to do that. Im an NFL fan, but I also hate the packers, so I don't watch their games, does that make me a hater of the NFL?, no. If we want to watch the olympic ceremonies its fine, lets have fun, if others don't want, fine, he doesn't want. The olympics will take place in whatever context actual world is?, yes they will. No one has the right to make other feel guilty about wanting to watch an event? definitely not. End of story, this is an sporting event, not the elections, we're giving too much weight on someone opinion

[AustralianFan]

5 minutes ago, Rob. said:

I have read this thread. You're so insistent that Rols was "attacking" people, you took things so personally so quickly that you're not willing to go back and see how you overreacted and escalated things.

The only person responsible for Sir Rols’ attacks on many Gamesbids fans today was Sir Rols.

 

[AustralianFan]

7 minutes ago, Chris_Mex said:

For whatever reason, if he doesn't want to watch the ceremony just because they are in china, he have the right to do that. Im an NFL fan, but I also hate the packers, so I don't watch their games, does that make me a hater of the NFL?, no. If we want to watch the olympic ceremonies its fine, lets have fun, if others don't want, fine, he doesn't want. The olympics will take place in whatever context actual world is?, yes they will. No one has the right to make other feel guilty about wanting to watch an event? definitely not. End of story, this is an sporting event, not the elections, we're giving too much weight on someone opinion

Exactly right.   Well said.

This is a Live Chat thread about the 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony on Friday 4 February at 8pm local time.

 

[Rob2012]

And one of the longest-standing members of this board popped in to say that, for the first time in years, he wouldn't be taking part in the live thread and explained why. And you gave him a lecture in response. I'm amazed you can't see how arrogant that was and why an argument ensued.

Given he's said he won't be watching the ceremonies, there's no danger of the live chat being ruined by his "politics" anyway. Which makes your clumsy attempt at cosplaying as a mod even sillier.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rob.

[StefanMUC]

20 minutes ago, Chris_Mex said:

 End of story, this is an sporting event, not the elections, we're giving too much weight on someone opinion

The ceremonies are not a sporting event, but in this case a propaganda show of currently one of the wirst totalitarian regimes in the world. Rols obviously hit it right in the head, seeing how uncomfortable you and others are being confronted with the reality.

I‘m out of this here, go enjoy that show, you‘re free to do it. And I‘m free to say that that glitzy thing cones at a price I‘m not willing to accept, even if this doesn‘t make any difference. 

[AustralianFan]

 

6 minutes ago, Rob. said:

And one of the longest-standing members of this board popped in to say that, for the first time in years, he wouldn't be taking part in the live thread and explained why. And you gave him a lecture in response. I'm amazed you can't see how arrogant that was and why an argument ensued.

Sir Rols chose to post those attacks on many gamesbids fans.  He is very experienced and very intelligent and is quite capable of explaining himself.

He doesn’t need you to try to explain why he posted several attacks on many unknown gamesbids fans and doubled down down in them.

[AustralianFan]

On 1/26/2022 at 11:33 PM, PikyoK said:

A bit of a late starting time for Eastern Australia

Yes and it’s actually starting at 8pm, so that’s 11pm Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart (10pm Brisbane)

[Chris_Mex]

3 minutes ago, StefanMUC said:

The ceremonies are not a sporting event, but in this case a propaganda show of currently one of the wirst totalitarian regimes in the world. Rols obviously hit it right in the head, seeing how uncomfortable you and others are being confronted with the reality.

I‘m out of this here, go enjoy that show, you‘re free to do it. And I‘m free to say that that glitzy thing cones at a price I‘m not willing to accept, even if this doesn‘t make any difference. 

Im not uncomfortable with the reality, reality is what it is and then what, japan didn't stop killing whales, brazil didn't stop to cut down the amazon, russia didn't stop their attack on ukraine so what, olympics were still a thing, that all im just saying. Again i respect your opinion, I just don't see where does that comment fit in a chat dedicated to the people who are going to watch the ceremony?, or what are we even trying to discuss?

[Chris_Mex]

If you want we can just create a thread called people who are not going to watch opening ceremony and then you can post whatever your opinion is on CCP hosting the games, but come on...

[Chris_Mex]

And again, I acclare i do NOT defend CCP actions against minorities, but if I want to discuss that there's another 1000 forums on the web were you can say whatever you can, even another spaces here in this website, like the canadian guy who wanted these games called off and suddenly dissapeared. But exactly why in this live chat?

[Rob2012]

15 minutes ago, AustralianFan said:

He doesn’t need you to try to explain why he posted several attacks on many unknown gamesbids fans and doubled down down in them.

LOL, so what are you doing defending a group of members? Surely they can speak for themselves? Come on, at least be consistent!

I can see this for what it is though: You telling people what they can and can't post in "your" thread (again).

6 minutes ago, Chris_Mex said:

If you want we can just create a thread called people who are not going to watch opening ceremony and then you can post whatever your opinion is on CCP hosting the games, but come on...

Regulars who always post in these threads are coming here and saying they're not going to for these Games. That's significant and I appreciate their openness. All they've got back in response is glibness and overreactions.

Again, they won't be here during the live chat so don't worry, your fun won't be ruined. No need for a new thread.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rob.

[Rob2012]

17 minutes ago, Chris_Mex said:

or what are we even trying to discuss?

We don't need to discuss anything in here, per se, but I think it's significant people who normally take part are saying they won't this year because they find the whole thing too uncomfortable.

No response is really required. It's depressing for this forum and for the Games in general that hardcore fans are turning off.

But what the response SHOULDN'T have been is  a lecture that politics doesn't belong in this thread.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Rob.

[AustralianFan]

Beijing 2022 Olympic Opening Ceremony can match "iconic" 2008 spectacle, says OBS chief - Inside the Games - 19Jan22

Interesting comments from the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) chief executive Yiannis Exarchos.

He says in this report that:

“he expects the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to match the iconic showpiece event that opened the Summer Games in 2008.”

• "The only thing I can say is that the preparations are very advanced, the ceremony is practically ready and it is a ceremony that nobody should miss for any reason."

• Exarchos said it was a privilege to work alongside Zhang Yimou, considered a major figure in Chinese cinema and the performing arts. Working with Zhang back in 2008 was a highlight in my personal and professional life and this is a second highlight that I never expected to have," added Exarchos.

• “Exarchos claims the event, scheduled to take place on February 4, will be unmissable having witnessed dress rehearsals.
• "Obviously I will not say what is in the Opening Ceremony because I don’t want to spoil the experience for any of you," said Exarchos at a Beijing 2022 technical briefing.”
• "What I can tell you is it is a ceremony which is probably equally impressive as the one in 2008 which we know is one of the most iconic Opening Ceremonies in the history of the Olympic Games.
• "It’s equally impressive, equally moving but completely different and it reflects our times."