Hard News: All right, then – take me to Rio
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So yeah, take me to Rio...
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nine channels of pin-sharp colour
But only on Sky, right?
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Football seems to take a different view of these things.
I've always viewed diving as part of football so a really good acting performance gets rewarded as much as the athleticism. Much like rhythmic gymnastics.
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I kind of like this early phase of the Olympics, sports you don't normally see, a lot less hype and everyone seems to be having fun - exhausting, soul shattering fun but still fun.
Even the (lack of) crowds* that is always the case seem to make it more about the athletes.
*bloody corporates buy all the tickets and then the bastards don't bother going. -
Wandered through the channels looking for Rio for a while before twigging: ah, Sky. Oh well. No Olympics for most of NZ.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Wandered through the channels looking for Rio for a while before twigging: ah, Sky. Oh well. No Olympics for most of NZ.
Most of Prime's schedule for the two weeks is Olympic coverage, so there's plenty to watch free-to-air.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
But only on Sky, right?
No, on Prime too, which Sky has finally upgraded to HD.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I’ve always viewed diving as part of football so a really good acting performance gets rewarded as much as the athleticism. Much like rhythmic gymnastics.
Which is really the only viable explanation for the referee whistling not only a foul, but a red card. That was bonkers.
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Meanwhile, Sky's Olympic coverage website – launched two days late – is a real shambles.
It proved literally impossible to access the women's Sevens live coverage via Sky's "live coverage" page. I was only able to get it by going back out and through Sky Go. But that only worked because the game was on Pop-Up 1. Only Pop-Ups 1 and 2 are accessible via the Sky Go page. Hopeless.
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Rob Stowell, in reply to
Yeah, I was surprised to find nothing on Prime. Then again, I have no idea what time Sunday night here is in Rio.
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Further in keeping with tradition, a young Australian sportsman has been a bit of a dick
I dunno. I kind of agree that if an athlete has been found guilty of doping, then they shouldn't be at the Olympics.
I hate doping. I can't enjoy a performance like Katinka Hosszu's yesterday, breaking the world record by more than 2 seconds, without being very suspicious and that really annoys me.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I dunno. I kind of agree that if an athlete has been found guilty of doping, then they shouldn’t be at the Olympics.
Fair point. And now the Aussie is getting death threats from Chinese fans.
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Nick Russell, in reply to
Which is really the only viable explanation for the referee whistling not only a foul, but a red card. That was bonkers.
When the last defender fouls an attacker who would otherwise have a clear shot at goal, they referee quite often gives a straight red card. The analogy with rugby is the professional foul to stop a try, which results in a penalty try plus a yellow card.
Not saying that happened in the NZ game - but it's clearly what the ref thought happened. Referees can also be goaded into that kind of response by a noisy and partisan crown, which was clearly an issue.
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Tom Ackroyd, in reply to
Worth noting Prime is still only standard def on Freeview.
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It's not really anomalous that they hold the Olympics in a corrupt, semi-dictatorship, it's a requirement. Big Sport is pretty much incompatible with a proper liberal democracy - look at the London Olympics with its Zil lanes, or closer to home the Major Events Act.
Mind you, I'm looking forward to the push scooter racing - will the mighty Czech peloton win out?
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Richard Stemson, in reply to
If there is a mechanism whereby the red can be rescinded, it may be on this point. They may be reluctant to overrule on whether it was a foul or not, but the attacker's trajectory was not towards goal. To get a red card, the defensive player must prevent a clear goal scoring opportunity and the attacker must also be moving towards goal. The ruling body could say the referee clearly erred by in giving a straight red (if it was a foul she should have got a yellow).
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Just when we thought communal toilets in Sochi 2014 set records, along comes #RioProblems.
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Bit of a goose move to bad mouth your opposition, but somewhat predictably that’s the Aussie way (i.e. look at the cricket team) and as such I’ve no sympathy for the young man. Organising committees have been fretting athletes getting themselves into trouble on social media for months, but as this incident shows the plain old microphone, a big mouth and some poorly considered comments which you should worry about !
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George Bennet did well to finish the road race without any bone fractures.
"That was the most brutal day I've been through." says a guy who completed the 3,500km Tour de France just two weeks ago.
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I thought Mack Horton did quite the number on his opponent. I guess he gets to repent at liesure. As the reigning Olympic champion. I play MMO games and get called all sorts of horrid things by Chinese people all the time. Now I can ask them in return if they are all drug cheats like their swimmers.
But it was impossible to dislike Saturday’s opening ceremony.
It was impossible to see with no power in Hawkes Bay, where I am currently on holiday,
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As taxpayers we've paid a good chunk of funding to support the Olympic athletes, plus our patronage of businesses which support those athletes with additional sponsorship funding, and we own a couple of TV stations with employees actually in Rio to cover the Olympics. So I am feeling a bit shortchanged here!
NZ pay TV offers less Olympics coverage than is available on free TV in the other English speaking countries we like to compare ourselves to (UK, Australia, US, Canada).
Coverage on NZ free TV is little more than a summary of the results of NZ competitors.
Legal NZ streaming/on demand options are only marginally better - poor coverage for free options, with terrible performance and only limited coverage on paid options.
Sky seems to have decided that if it can't have my $300 (i.e. minimum 6 months x $50 basic with sports special offer package), then it will only sell me a $56 fan pass which doesn't even provide access to all of Sky's own coverage. Good way to go bankrupt fellas, especially in the change or die era of digital content.
So stuff them all - I don't need any of them.
Bike races were thrilling though! -
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
in Hawkes Bay, where I am currently on holiday,
Which book did Hemingway write in Hawke's Bay?
or should I say welcome back...
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I loved what I saw of the opening ceremony - a real ingenious hands on approach (though gawd knows what those huge on floor screens cost) - a real Creative Junk solution to a low budget but high spectacle - this is before the athletes arrive.
Disappointed that the Herald ran with a real middleaged white guy take on it 'Giselle Bundchen steals the show' fer chrissake!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11688498 -
Which book did Hemingway write in Hawke’s Bay?
Death on a Frozen Taupo Road Afternoon.
II see that it is 38 and sunny in Seville today. -
Bart Janssen, in reply to
When the last defender fouls an attacker who would otherwise have a clear shot at goal, they referee
pfft see now that's what a football fan would say but, we know it's just the ref awarding points for artistic impression.
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