I like the summer games the most and enjoy the men's soccer tournament the most. I do enjoy watching bobsledding though.
I have a soft spot for the winter games, mainly because A) I am amazed by winter sports- I can't skate, ski, or for that matter spend 10 minutes in snowy conditions without falling ~ 3 times and getting sick. and B) unlike the marquis sports of the Summer Games (soccer, basketball, Tennis) the Winter Olympics hockey actually seems to be the highest quality/most entertaining entertaining competition in the sport.
Personally I prefer the winter olympics because they involve sports that I actually do myself and are also exciting to watch. Every sport in the winter games seems so different from the next. The summer games OTOH seem so bloated (over 11,000 athletes in Beijing). Something like 35-40 competitions for swimming alone. Enough with the swimming already. We get it. I'd rather watch people moving at 100 km/h than 5 km/h.
only watch basketball , hockey and some track in the olympics. for hockey and basketball those are their best nt competitions. don't care about any of the other sports and don't want to watch them just because they put the olympic label on them . which are those?
Skiing mostly. But also some ice hockey. Used to play curling as I love the strategy involved in it. Only problem is you have to be good at it or else the strategy doesn't really come in to the play (and its an extremely difficult sport to get good at) .
I love them both, but if forced to choose... -Speed skating is more exciting than watching a foot race or swimmers. -Having attended them both, I'll take a ticket to a hockey game over a basketball game in a second. Fast but low scoring -- and not a freak show. -Figure skating brings a beauty and artistry to the Winter Games that the Summer's gymnastics can't match. -The Summer Games has no comparable sport to Winter's skiing events. Sounds like I'm blowing off the Summer Games, which isn't my intention. But those are four differences for me that give the Winter Games the nod.
My bad for not adding a "both" answer in the poll. Anyway, I have tried to watch the winter games and the only thing I have been able to get a little bit interested in is ice hockey. I have never been a big fan of watching skiing or ping pong. I still like watching the sports that people care about year round every year the most when watching the Olympics. The good news is that the summer games is adding rugby 7's in the future. While it isn't union, it will still be better than watching figure skating and gymnastics. The Olympic soccer tournament may not be the World Cup, but I still enjoy it. A lot of the U-23 teams feature players that have already played in the World Cup, or will play in the World Cup 2 years later. For example, in 2004 the USA failed to make it to the Olympics, but Beasley and Donovan did compete in Olympic qualifying 2 years after playing in their first World Cup and 2 years before playing in their second World Cup. It is a nice preview of the future.
I don't think either the winter or summer games has many sports like that. Figure skating, basketball and ice hockey are 3 that come to mind. But that's about it I think (unless you count sports where the best players aren't used).
I know soccer doesn't use the nations best 11 on the men's side, but that is what was referring to. I would rather watch soccer, basketball, and ice hockey over ping pong and ice skating.
but that's not possible. look more carefully. here's what you do: a) make a list of all the Olympic sports from each season. b) give each sport a grade, how much you enjoy watching that sport. if you don't watch that sport, don't grade it, but keep tally of the total number of sports in each season. c) total the points. d) divide the total by the number of sports. the higher "average" is the Olympic season you prefer. glad to have been able to help...
ECU-UNC-Hater I have been following Wolfpack sports since I moved to Raleigh and graduated from NC State.
Summer. Nothing else compares to this: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qslbf8L9nl0"]YouTube- Usain Bolt 100m 9.69 ( LIVE VIDEO ) Beijing Olympic Gold & WR[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaGsBo_Ia0c"]YouTube- Usain Bolt Olympic Record (19.30sec) at Beijing Olympics 200m Final (High Quality Video)[/ame]
That's a bunch of crap. Was it dominating? Was there hype (Bolt vs. Gay vs. Powell)? Was there tension? Was history on the line?
I don't see what domination or hype has to do with how exciting the event was. Personally the tactics, nuance, fluctuating strengths and nailbiting finish involved in a race like today's beats a bunch of roided-up guys who spend 99% of their time posturing any day.
You think athletes in Vancouver are clean? Dominance and hype make an event more memorable...more significant. It's all about the biggest stage and the bright lights. Whoever won today's race faded into obscurity hours later while Bolts performances will remain for decades. BTW, sprints have their own tactics, nuances, fluctuating strengths, and uncertainties of finish (usually )
Tell that to the Swedes who just won their first gold in Cross Country ever. I watched Bolt win and I watched the CC today - it's the latter that I will remember as the more exciting event. The 100m is overrated.
Nobody knows and nobody cares... outside of Sweden The 100m is the most pure and universal athletic competition.
You're kind of missing the point. As a sporting spectacle the finish to the cross country was far more engrossing than Bolt becoming the latest Ben Johnson. Of course, if all you care about is hype and world records then the Beijing final was great.