Hey, Olympics Blog!/The Good and Bad of the Opening Ceremonies

It's baaaaack. Four years after an Olympics defined by the emergence of a world superpower, it all starts anew in a former one. The world’s biggest sports extravaganza returns to London for the third time, with stars, story-lines and rivalries that are sure to entertain the world in ways only sport can. London will not be like Beijing, because nothing will ever be like an Olympics that featured an Opening Ceremony, so unbelievable, that many believed it rendered future opening ceremonies obsolete. One that showcased perhaps the two greatest athletic performances of this century, Phelps’ ridiculous and perhaps under appreciated 8 gold medals and Usain Bolt’s demolition of both his opponents and the limits that we had set on how fast a man could run. London will counter this with the presence of raw emotion, that always seemed to be lacking in a country that was so in control, they almost sucked it out at times. The venues will be more raucous, the support for the home team (known as, “Team GB” which I love saying)  more genuine and a surprising lightness, that was already present in the Opening Ceremony. The two main stars from Beijing are back, but may be eclipsed by names like Ryan, Yohan, Jordyn, Gabby, Neymar, Kōhei and Missy among countless others.  London’s excited, the world’s excited, I am way too excited, lets get this thing going.   


I’ve never blogged before, but if I was ever gonna start, it was going to be about the Olympics. I plan to review each day of the games, along with giving previews to the next day. They're also certain athletes in these games that fascinate me (McKayla Maroney's swag will play a big role) and I will highlight them. I'm going to identify these people with a TFA (Taylor's Favorite Athlete) and people I really don't like with a PGA (personal grudge alert). I also hope to delve, potentially a little self indulgently, into my own obsessive love of the Olympics. Its something that many people do not understand, and I hope to try and explain why the this occurrence every four years has driven me to do weird things before, during and after the games. I woke up at 4 am to watch gymnastics in the middle of October! Seriously, it was awesome! A lot of people much more professional and seasoned than me are writing about these games, but I hope to bring a unique perspective to whoever chooses to read this. Well the Opening Ceremonies and day one are already in the books, so lets get this thing going!

The Good and the Bad the 2012 Opening Ceremonies.

Good

The Opening Intro: NBC does some things wrong in its coverage of the Olympics. They mainly revolve around decisions that just piss people off, such as tape delay (in some ways explainable), Lots of annoying and many times uninformative fluff pieces (understandable) and at least for me, going to commercial during the middle of soccer games (just crazy).  However, they somewhat make up for it with these consistently incredible opening ceremony intro pieces. Last nights was no different, perfectly highlighting the athletes, host nation and Olympic themes that are important to every games. Bravo, NBC, never change the person who produces these. The one from Friday night is not on Youtube yet, but here's the intro from Athens.

The Music: Opening Ceremony director Danny Boyle had a plethora of great music at his disposal and he left no bullets in the chamber. The music throughout the ceremony was fantastic, from that odd but entertaining information era segment, the parade of nations and finally the much ballyhooed Paul McCartney performance, which exceeded my expectations. The only things missing? Something either involving Liam and Noel Gallagher, Sir Elton, or this New Order gem.

The Costas: I’ll get to my thoughts on Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera’s performance later (spoiler alert, they aren’t positive), but man the entire tone of NBC’s OC presentation changed when Costas showed up for the Parade of Nations. Like Bob or hate him, the guy brings it. Even when the jokes are stale (that thing about Gabon is like six Olympics old) and the comments sometimes controversial, he’s the voice I want to hear the whole time, not just for the back half. Hopefully, that’s fixed two years from now in Sochi.

The Coe Speech: Give Sebastian some props, normally these things are really boring and when combined with the terrible Jacques Rogge (major PGA), almost unwatchable. This was heartfelt and hit all the right notes. Solid work.

Bad

Torch Lighting: I’m all for sticking to this “Inspire a Generation” message, but I want a legend lighting the torch every time. The organizing committee missed a chance to create a lasting image featuring someone like Roger Bannister or even a Jessica Ennis. Its a shame, because that copper pedals idea was a really cool and interesting. Missed opportunity

Health Segment: Children’s literature and the National Health Service? Really? Maybe I just didn’t get this, but it was easily the worst segment of the Ceremony and it wasn’t even close. It really made me wonder why Boyle and the organizers focused this much time on a period of decline for Britain (the last century), instead of doing even more on their days as the world’s preeminent superpower. This segment’s failure was also exacerbated by how great the rest of the ceremony was.

Viera/Lauer: The former, "Today Show" pairing was just horrible. I know they are essentially reading from a script, but damn, say something interesting! I don’t watch a ton of the, “Today Show” so I’m not totally aware of what makes both of them entertaining and I’m sure they do a very fine job waking up America. What I do know is that it does not translate to this format. Lauer wasn’t good four years ago, and he was worse Friday. Half the time, I forgot Viera was even in the booth. Give me Brokaw, Michaels, or Patrick, anybody else will do. Hell throw Ryan Seacrest, Bela Karolyi and John McEnroe in there and let them do their thing. Just please don’t ever give me, “The Today Show presents: The Opening Ceremonies” ever again.


Overall, this was a great Opening Ceremony, and a worthy answer to the brilliance in Beijing. I connected to it more than previous ones The Queen and Bond Segment was awesome, as was Rowan Atkinson. Well done, London.

That brings this first post to a close. I'll have a recap of day one/preview of day two up tonight or tomorrow morning. Comment if you want, I'd really appreciate it. Man, I'm so excited. The Olympics are upon us!!!