OT: Favorite Olympic Memories
Hey Sports Fans,
Opening ceremonies will be happening tonight in S. Korea (happening live at 6AMEST tomorrow morning) and I am so excited about this.
I just want to hear your guys' favorite Olympic memories -- either summer or winter athletic or not.
The one that takes the cake for me is Muhammad Ali lighting the torch in Atlanta. I was an undergrad at the university and remember sitting with my roommates watching that. Great moment in history.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
got old when they started doing it every time, but the first original Dream Team will always be my lasting image of the Olympics. It was stunning to see how much better that team was than anybody else in the world. The "awe" of how the fans and even the other teams looked at those guys was very memorable. Getting the opportunity to watch Magic Johnson play competitively again, seeing guys like Jordan and Bird play together. The Dream Team was a really cool American moment.
February 8th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^
Memorable but hardly unexpected unlike when the US hockey team beat the Russians with Al Michaels saying "do you believe in miracles?" as the game concluded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYscemhnf88
It was about way more than a hockey game.
February 8th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
asked what my favorite Olympic memory was. I was like six months old at the time of the Miracle on Ice. Obviously I am aware that it happened but it is not a memory of mine.
February 8th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^
What a drunk fest! One of my buddies passed out in the hallway. Some guys took green magic marker and colored his face. He woke up and thought he was poisened.
February 8th, 2018 at 1:58 PM ^
You actually neglected to mention a bunch of them. For example, you didn't even mention the EPIC stadion race of 776 BC when Koroibos (who was just a lowly cook) came out of nowhere to win the gold.
February 8th, 2018 at 3:01 PM ^
Whose fault is it that you were born too late?
February 8th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
was one of the greatest sports moments Olympic or not I have ever witnessed.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:50 PM ^
Either in person or on TV. The hockey arena sat less than 8000 and the game wasn't live here or the USSR. Only in Canada. It was also an odd start time (5 PM EST I think) due to the format of the tournament--better than todays for what it's worth.
February 8th, 2018 at 5:09 PM ^
the other pool play game (Finland v Sweden) actually started at 8:30 ET. ABC wanted to flip flop. The Soviets objected, given it would have been a 3:30 AM start time back in Moscow.
In retrospect - that would have been a better time on the Soviet end. :-)
February 8th, 2018 at 5:13 PM ^
when it wasn't always about money and eyeballs. My guess is where you finished in Pool Play got you locked into a time months in advance. Also the better game was probably expected to be the non-Soviet semifinal.
February 8th, 2018 at 6:07 PM ^
I'm pretty sure FIFA locks in World Cup game times - e.g., C1 vs. C3 WILL be at 2 PM in Sochi, regardless of whether the draw means that game is Germany vs. England or Peru vs. Iraq.
Funny thing - per a book on the event, the International Ice Hockey Federation said they would move the game time, if ABC ponied up $125,000. They were trying to bribe them - now that DOES sound like something FIFA would do!
Pages 46-48:
https://books.google.com/books?id=jO8f1pOTtz8C&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=boys…
February 8th, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^
In all seriousness, I will echo ijohnb. The original Dream Team (albeit sans Isiah) was absolutely ridiculous. So much fricking talent. Also, as a 12 year old at the time, definitely a team that you can't forget given some of the amazing Bad Boys games against everyone on that team.
February 8th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
I was ecstatic when Bruce Jenner won the Decathalon....ya know...back when he was still a dude...
February 8th, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
Miracle on Ice
February 8th, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
To this day, I'm not sure I've ever watched an atheltic event live that rivals that closing leg. The athletic feat alone made it awesome, but to have all the added pressure of Phelp's gold chase, and the French talking about "smashing" the Americans. The fact that the Frenchman who got reeled in on the final leg was the one doing the most talking leading into the showdown was just the cherry on top.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
that was great for so so many reasons. Good one
February 8th, 2018 at 11:59 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 12:48 PM ^
That race was amazing. The whole Phelps chase (every race Phelps swam in every Olympics he entered, really) was electric. And Usain Bolt's races the next week? I used to think that the Olympics were dead, but those two weeks were iconic.
February 8th, 2018 at 4:52 PM ^
The way he dominated those races was just pure awe.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
I will never forget this race.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
there goes the rest of my workday.
February 8th, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^
Still can't.
February 8th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
even though it involves my all-time favorite Olympian (Apolo Ohno) wiping out and then crawling across the line to get the silver. Short track is the most exciting Olympic sport.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
That was the only bad part about that competition; the hockey itself was incredible. Every team loaded with talent, every game a brilliant exercise in flowing hockey. I was entranced for two weeks. Still remember people checking the score of the US-Russia game compulsively at Yost while watching a Michigan hockey game.
For the gold medal game, I called all of my Canadian relatives (my Dad was from Toronto, and chose to root for Canada in that game, the only significant event we ever didn't share a rooting interest) and negotiated that if the US won, they would all call me and sing our national anthem to me; and that if Canada won, I would call each of them and do likewise.
I sang a lot of O Canada that afternoon. But it was an awesome tournament.
February 8th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
As an American living in Canada the '02 Olympics were unbearable. Only cool thing was seeing Yzerman, Shanahan, Chelios and Hull all on the ice together after the gold medal game.
February 8th, 2018 at 5:00 PM ^
Ice hockey is the only thing that truly galvanizes that country.
They are the most laid-back, friendly people in the world unless the subject is Team Canada hockey. Then it becomes mgoblog after the 2017 season and 2018 Signing Day.
Too soon?
February 8th, 2018 at 5:31 PM ^
That and the anti-Americanism, of course
February 9th, 2018 at 12:50 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
Jason Lezak catching up to the French guy in the 4x100 free in 2008, saving Phelps' 8 gold. He was a hero for a hot second lol.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
I loved the moment Michael Johnson broke the world record. That was an amazing experience. Also, Phelps winning that super close race to win gold. That was soooo epic!
February 8th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
I'm not usually one to root for the championship hogs, but I really enjoyed watching and rooting for Michael Phelps's chase for eight gold medals in 2008. Especially Jason Lezak's come-from-behind anchor leg in the 4x100 against the world-record holder in the 100 free. I love watching the relays and that may have been the best of all time.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
Or are we not including Epyx's Summer Games?
February 8th, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
I'm obsessed with swimming and gymnastics every Olympics (partly because they're two sports that I could never ever do even though I'm decently athletic) and I want USA swimmers to win every damn race they're in. That relay when USA beat the French by a literal hair is one of the most amazing sports moments ever, so proud of those dudes. I also love the bicycle road race - NBC's coverage of it is amazing and the racers compete so hard and its an amazing way to see the host city and surrounding countryside. I also wish I could be a luger.
Also:
Any and all gold medals won by the USA in Atlanta '96.
Beijing Opening Ceremonies
London Opening Ceremonies when Daniel Craig raced the torch in through a canal on a goddamn speedboat as James Bond
Barcelona '92 when an archer dude lit the torch by shooting a flaming arrow into it
Lillehammer '94 when a ski jumper dude lit the torch via ski jump
Anytime an athlete from the USA (or small country) cries with pride and joy after winning (or even losing) a medal.
'92 Dream Team
Now I'm gonna cry
February 8th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
February 8th, 2018 at 11:53 AM ^
Believe In Miracles?! I have no idea because I wasn't born yet when this happened. The movie was great, though.
February 8th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
Watching a bunch of collegiate hockey players beat a quasi-professional Red Army team. The same Red Army team that beat the crap out of the NHL on its tour the previous year. The same Red Army team that won world championships at a dizzying rate. The same Red Army team that had a handful of hockey Hall of Fame players on it.
That was one awesome hockey game, and I still haven't heard anything like Al Micheals' call...
I went to my 8th grade bball game after it finished. When I told my friend that we won, he ran around the court and told the teachers at the scorers table during the middle of the girls game (JV, girls, then varsity played on Friday nights). At the next whistle the final score was announced, and a (litteral) 5-minute standing-O commenced. The game against Finland was anti-climatic...
February 8th, 2018 at 11:59 AM ^
The Dave vs Dan Reebok commercials in the early 90's
February 8th, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONuQ_CeY2mU
this always made me tear up. Lance Armstrong and Oscar Pistorius makes it lose some of its luster but its still great...
February 8th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
and then one of them didn't even qualify. Classic.