Did anyone catch that the President of Gabon is Ali Bongo?

I laughed a my wife had no idea why.

And Brent Musberger really likes to say it...

London is cool. China had a bunch of slaves dancing. Nice fuzzy opening....hot iraqi gal with the flag

Beautiful and inspiring opening ceremony in my estimation and the BBC commentators were top notch. I liked that London did not flinch and showed a darker side during the ceremony, i.e, the hellish rising of the industrial revolution. The moments of silence really got me and the lighting of the torch was truly, deeply magical.

And on a side note, Phelps who is too big to march in the opening ceremonies with the other athletes BARELY qualified today. LOOOSSSEERRR.

Namaste,
Vlad

That cracked me up. Also, I had no idea that the people of Gabon are called "Gabonians."

That said, I really enjoyed the ceremonies. Well done.

Right.

There was no reason for a moment of silence, whatsoever. For what? For the Blitz? For the victims of 9/11? For what?

The only reason for a moment of silence is this: families of the victims of the Munich massacre asked the IOC for a moment of silence. The IOC refused. What we got was a politically correct "let's not offend the Muslims!" moment of silence.

The Olympic flame was the coolest ever!

But it still kind of disgusts me. They will burn enough fuel for that flame to feed a million Africans (or more) during the same time period. At what point must we realize that the symbols cost more than the cure?

That's a question for Jonathan, of course (since I'm quarreling with him right now in other threads).

I am certainly not trying to get into an argument here, and I'm not speaking against the events of Munich getting recognition.

But you seem to have forgotten (at least you have not mentioned explicitly) the terror attacks in London the day after that city won its Olympic bid. I was in Mexico City at a meeting with a large contingent of folks from London, England, at the time. I remember the one morning at breakfast they were so jazzed that they won the 2012 Olympics.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/front_page/4655555.stm

The very next day, London experienced the July 7 terror attacks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2......ault.stm

Although I am not British, from what I saw I think that sequence of events was pretty traumatic for those in Britain and in London especially.

I'm fully aware of that, but I didn't mention it explicitly because--as far as I am aware of--no one specifically requested to the IOC that there be a moment of silence for the victims of that day.

I could be wrong, of course. For all I know, there were people petitioning the IOC to commemorate Little Big Horn or the Alamo or whatever with a moment of silence.

Opening ceremonies are a celebration. Not sure moment of silence fits. Just an opinion.

As for Phelps. At opening ceremonies they stand for HOURS. Many of the athletes do not participate if they compete the next day. He was nowhere near the only one, it was not ego. It is what it is. One glad bearer turned down the opportunity for this reason.

I do not believe this makes him a loser. Again only an opinion.

Indeed. Lots of athletes skipped the opening ceremony. The British tennis team was told to skip it, apparently half the Australian athletes skipped it, both the British and Canadian swim teams skipped it. So I read in the newspapers anyway. Feel free to fact check this all. Even if the reported specifics are off a bit, the point is that lots of athletes skipped it. Arguably some of the athletes skipping the ceremony are a little more serious about the competition and training than those who attend, if they are all set to compete in the very next day or two I mean.

I agree. At least we can hopefully agree that olympic level athletes certainly have their own process.

I am not one. But if it is up to them at their best to skip it, they have a responsibility to do so technically.

Worst opening ceremonies I have ever seen. I felt embarrassed for the western world.

Well everyone has an opinion. Sorry it was not up to your expectations. Better luck in 4 years.