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The Opening Ceremony: Let's Party!!

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in 2016 Olympics

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chitowngirl
chitowngirl

Sigh, I'm old, I remember Mark Spitz swimming and Bruce Jenner winning the decathlon.

ExplainItAgain
ExplainItAgain

I guess I'm weird, but we (US) see enough of our athletes, I watch the parade to see the athletes from all the other nations!

Shaynaa
Shaynaa

Wow, how big of NBC to not overlook Micronesia.  They should get a medal.  Just ask them.

ExplainItAgain

ExplainItAgain

1 minute ago, Daisy said:

Hi Refugees!

(but I am still confused. Why is there a Refugee team - when there's an Independent Team. especially because both will be underneath the Olympic flag, and have the Olympic theme). this would be something important for Team Today to explain. 

The refugee athletes have fled their country, but their country still has an Olympic committee and can send athletes. The independent team is for athletes whose country does not have an IOC or it is suspended.

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Daisy

Daisy

2 minutes ago, ExplainItAgain said:

The refugee athletes have fled their country, but their country still has an Olympic committee and can send athletes. The independent team is for athletes whose country does not have an IOC or it is suspended.

thanks very much :) 

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Ohwell

Ohwell

3 minutes ago, ExplainItAgain said:

NBC sucks for tape delaying this. The cauldron lightning after midnight?! I'm nodding off here...

Same here.  I'm just glad I don't have to get up and go to work in the morning.

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Kromm

Kromm

(edited)
21 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

Yes, but Nauru is an island (which was part of my question) a long way from anything else; doesn't it pretty much have to be self-sufficient much of the time? People in Monaco or Liechtenstein or San Marino can drive into surrounding areas to work or shop, and vice versa. It's a long way from Nauru to anything else. I mean, obviously it makes it work, I'm not disputing that, but it just reminds me what a variety of ways of life we have on the planet.

Well that's the thing. I imagine it perhaps could be self-sufficient only in primitive civilization mode, but the moment you put modern obligations on it then you have to fly things in and out all of the time.

If you look on a map it's about 700 miles from the Marshall Islands.  Maybe half that from a few other really tiny islands to the east of it. Those are long distances in some ancient canoe, so if an island didn't have sufficient food and water, then nobody would be able to live there for long.   As long as all they cared about was food and water, it worked out. Now?  Well if you want metal to build something, you have to fly it in. If you want any kind of wood other than the few types that grow there, you have to fly it in. If you want manufactured products of ANY kind, you have to fly it in. Etc. etc.

Balancing that out, things like refrigeration and electricity kind of help eliminate most of the stress of the primitive survival aspects though. It's a trade off.

Work in places like that is likely still in primitive mode a lot of the time. The only retail work you're likely to have is servicing tourists. The only office work, likely for the government itself.  Manufacturing jobs won't exist. If the island grows crops, either people work that sharecropper style for their own use, or they're organized enough that they get paid by a leader and there's exporting (thus a monetary system that goes beyond the Islanders).  Or perhaps the whole Island operates for nothing BUT tourism's sake (but that's doubtful when they are about a few thousand miles from anyplace that would have a tourist base to send there (that would be Australia). 

Edited by Kromm
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tanyak

tanyak

(edited)

Yeah, I'm sorry. But this has struggled to hold my attention. Beijing was crazy and over the top but no doubt, I was locked in. Get on with it!

Edited by tanyak
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Daisy

Daisy

1 minute ago, camussie said:

I would imagine it would be a security issue for some of the athletes who are world famous to take up residence in the village.  Not just in Rio but really in any Olympics.  

in the winter Olympics, the NHL players stay in the Village (and have since 1998) and I know some tennis players are there too. the NBA players as far as i know - have never stayed in the Village since they were allowed (1992)

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KenyaJ

KenyaJ

(edited)
5 minutes ago, camussie said:

I would imagine it would be a security issue for some of the athletes who are world famous to take up residence in the village.  Not just in Rio but really in any Olympics.  

Yep. Not to mention that the players can't fit in the beds in the village. All things considered, it's probably best for everyone that they're not staying in the village.

Edited by KenyaJ
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mightysparrow

mightysparrow

The late great Jim McKay called Kip Kanoh 'Kip Kanoh, the cop from Kenya'.  In the 1970s, the Africans dominated distance running and so many of them had stories like Kip Kanoh.  They were from poor countries but they managed to train the best they could.  It wasn't like it is today with all the big money and sponsors.  Back then it was about love of sport.  It's good to see Mr. Kanoh keeps that spirit alive.

I don't know why NBC decided to air an hour behind.  CBC has been over for ages.  And NBC cut the speech of the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee.  He was shaking like a leaf, probably from both nerves and emotion.  

It was fun chatting with all of you but I'm out.  

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Ohwell

Ohwell

I admit that I've never thought that much about Brazil other than things like it being the largest country in South America and "The Girl from Ipanema," Rio, bossa nova, favelas.  I've had this notion of it being a laid back country with a lot of poverty.  I think the laid backness is reflected in the opening ceremony.  It just didn't "pop" with me, whereas I still remember those Chinese drummers.

Matt just mentioned a samba party so hopefully things will liven up at the end.

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Daisy

Daisy

4 minutes ago, KenyaJ said:

Yep. Not to mention that the players can't fit in the beds in the village. All things considered, it's probably best for everyone that they're not staying in the village.

i suppose so. I think though - again just using the NHL players as a clear cut example - while some aren't 7'0 tall - there were a lot of players who couldn't fit in the beds (Zedeno Chara comes to mind automatically) - and just as popular, but they've never not stayed in the village. even in Sochi while some players cited concerns  (for their families) they felt that the village was the safest place for them to be. And that's been the case since 98. I guess it just.. I don't know. everyone wants to go we're all together, global village, etc, not being apart - and some choose to be. I get it, i understand it, but it's still like, "insert eyebrow raise here." especially when the Olympic President, (and chef d'missions etc) talk about it throughout the olympics. 

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camussie

camussie

I would disagree that the hockey players are just as popular worldwide.  A few here and there (Gretsky to name one)  but on the whole, it isn't even close.   Like that article linked to said, they get mobbed.  

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Rick Kitchen

Rick Kitchen

Man, my mother, who is hard of hearing, has a problem hearing the country names that the stadium announcers are saying, and the NBC announcers are not announcing all of the countries.

Also, didn't they used to tell us who each of the flag bearers are?

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