Well, NBC lied. Showing 4-5 partial rides is not covering dressage. Sadly, the coverage was better for the last olympics. Oxygen thinks that Tori Spelling is vastly more interesting than the olympics. Why did NBC even bother? If it wasn’t for the online viewing, I’d be totally P-Oed.
I am trying to be thankful for what we got, but it was certainly less than I was hoping for. I would probably be more satisfied if my work didn’t block me from watching online at work. Darned work.:lol:
Ya, they won’t be getting a a thank you from me now that they’ve chosen to show basically no dressage. Why not give it to BRAVO to show. Jerks!!!
The problem is that, to the ordinary person who’s never been around a horse, dressage is very boring. You have to understand it to enjoy it. Jumping is exciting to them because there is the chance of seeing crazy mistakes but… I even thought the jumping was a bit too extensive. Seeing the same thing over and over can be boring. Even in gymnastics we only had to watch 6 girls do the same apparatus at one time, not all 18 [girls]…
Equestrian sports are just not big enough over here to warrant the tv coverage we would like. I think it’s huge that they are showing live streaming for the entire equestrian events and other sports that also don’t get a lot of coverage. That’s at least a step in the right direction.
The online coverage is most excellent-- a treat-- and so easy to stop and start and look at the next day. I never could figure out the tv remotes anyway.:lol:
On line converage is not available to me. When I click on the videos it asks for my zip code and then my carrier. and then I get a “Sorry, your carrier did not subscribe to this service”.
gee, that’s disappointing. are you sure you weren’t trying to see the hot ticket videos (ie they’re really tough to see if they’re also going to show them on tv that night.) I remember typing in the zip code and getting nowhere at first.
I had to install the plugin, silverlight, and am on time warner, not the fastest provider in town.
Chall,
some people seem to be able to get around that issue by just picking a carrier on the list – you don’t even have to be a subscriber, as long as they offer service in your area. This does not work for everyone, though. Good luck!
But there’s more beach volleyball tonight
But here in prime time there is more beach volleyball!!! I can’t believe that there really are people who are interested in this. I just wish the Athenians and Spartans could have realized what they were starting.
I realize that dressage is not accessible to many but I think that it’s the job of the presenters to make it more interesting. The closest thing we got about the equestrian sports was a short silly thing on NBC with one of their personalities on a horse for the first time. Jeeeezzz. No back stories about the riders, or the incredible journey they have to get where they are.
I also can’t see anything like the skill level of a top level jumper or dressage rider in many of the other sports. The rowing and canoe stuff requires a lot of muscle but you can’t tell me that it takes that long to learn.
[QUOTE=redhorse5;3441524]
But here in prime time there is more beach volleyball!!! I can’t believe that there really are people who are interested in this. I just wish the Athenians and Spartans could have realized what they were starting.[/QUOTE]
Umm, hot chicks and hot guys wearing next to nothing. That would be why we’re seeing so much beach volleyball. Maybe the dressage riders should give up the shadbellies and put on bikini tops. 
Portia’s right. Expressionless riders in top hats & tails sitting perfectly still atop a horse over & over again OR hot guys in swimsuits & beautiful-bodied girls almost totally naked leaping, running, and falling in the sand…hmmm, what shall we show, what shall we show? :D:D:D:D:D Why would anyone be surprised at the choice?
(and hey, I know they’re not sitting perfectly still but non-horsey people don’t).
Just tell them you have DirecTV
[QUOTE=redhorse5;3441524]
But here in prime time there is more beach volleyball!!! I can’t believe that there really are people who are interested in this. I just wish the Athenians and Spartans could have realized what they were starting.
I realize that dressage is not accessible to many but I think that it’s the job of the presenters to make it more interesting. The closest thing we got about the equestrian sports was a short silly thing on NBC with one of their personalities on a horse for the first time. Jeeeezzz. No back stories about the riders, or the incredible journey they have to get where they are.
I also can’t see anything like the skill level of a top level jumper or dressage rider in many of the other sports. The rowing and canoe stuff requires a lot of muscle but you can’t tell me that it takes that long to learn.[/QUOTE]
Thank you- I’m glad someone else recognizes the obsurdity of beach volleyball and bikini clad girls being made an olympic sport. I have a feeling in Germany beach volleyball isn’t dominating the televised Olympics. Tell me if I’m wrong, but I have a feeling I’m not
This isn’t new, they do that everytime.
But I do find it hard to believe that there is more interest in water polo than horse stuff.
It’s probably best to wait for the DVD that is usually produced. IIRC, it’s produced in the UK, and has a predictable UK slant, but atleast you get to see what happened.
It was nice to see that 16 yo from Brazil. Rode rather well for her age and an Olympic debut together.
ANd, sorry, interested and educated in the subject as I am, dressage is bloody booring after a while.
I was waiting patiently at 6 for horses to appear, and got tennis instead. I walked out to turn out Beamer and missed a couple of tests. Oh well, right?
I dunno what everyone else is watching, but I’ve been watching a solid 45 minutes of dressage on TV … and as a hunter/jumper person, I’m about satisfied. :lol: So, it may be whichever feed your cable provider has of Oxygen; I’m at work, where I can see a “good” version of it. At home, there’s no coverage on Oxygen. Go figure.
There is simply no pleasing everyone, folks. The soccer people are up in arms because they’ve never gotten much coverage (the first year women’s soccer was in and the U.S. won, it got zip, zero, zilch attention), so NBC “created” soccer channels to appease the millions of U.S. fans of the world’s most popular game. But a lot of cable companies didn’t pick those channels up, so soccer fans are still screwed.
You think equestrian gets no coverage? Try the people who want to watch cycling, judo, fencing, kayaking, taekwondo, handball, table tennis, shooting … all of those folks are complaining about having to watch the dumb people on horses! 
The coverage isn’t perfect, but it’s far better than nothing – which is usually what we’ve gotten in the past. And while the online service doesn’t work for everyone (but it does for the huge, overwhelming majority), NBC is to be commended for doing as much as it has, up to and including the lovely non-competition videos of horses at home. I cannot imagine the amount of work it took to develop, design, maintain and update each and every page for each and every sport.
And no, I am not an employee of NBC. I just think that sometimes, we tend to complain just because we can, whether it’s justified or not.
We have millions of TV stations full of… well crap… the olympics are and should be treated as a rare treat. There should be ample coverage for EVERYONE to see their favorite sport whether it be gymnastics, water polo, badmitton, or dressage.
Equestrian events DO appeal to those who don’t ride or own horses. If it’s presented well- it’s appealling to watch.
The problem is, STB, the vast majority of those stations are not owned or affiliated with NBC, so they cannot show the coverage. Which is why the online option is fantastic.
Until the Olympic Organizing Committee changes the way it solicits bids for and negotiates the sale of coverage, there will be one major broadcasting unit per country. That unit gets to decide what and how much it shows, and it does so based on demographics.
Everyone on this site is passionate about horses, no doubt. But I imagine that even here, you will find a fair number of people who are not all that interested in the equestrian competition in Beijing. And it’s a sure bet that the average horse owner isn’t clamoring to see it, particularly if they are not “into” the disciplines included in the Games. I mean, rodeo is an enormous sport in this country, but I highly doubt that a championship roper gives two figs whether or not dressage or show jumping is in the Olympics, let alone on TV.
For whoever asked, yes, water polo is likely more popular than equestrian, simply because more people have access to it and play it. Why beach volleyball? Because it is a HUGE sport in many areas of the world, with incredible sponsor backing. (And the outfits – and lack thereof – sure don’t hurt. )
I know, I know- but I still want to stomp my feet and pout like I’m 6 
CBC’s Bold TV is doing excellent coverage of all the horsey events.
Don’t know if you can get it, though.
I have to say I enjoyed Cara Whitman’s commentary on the dressage - she explained it in an authoratative manner that would have been easy for a non-horsey persons to understand, but was enjoyable too. She had some personal knowledge of the horses and riders that she told us about. In the x-country, it seemed short on research. Of course, the commentators never give enough about the bloodlines, or careers of the riders and horses to suit us guys, but if any of her buds are reading this, tell her well done.
