{"id":78261,"date":"2016-06-13T17:42:57","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T17:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78261"},"modified":"2023-04-11T19:00:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T19:00:05","slug":"sportstalk-shop-olympic-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-olympic-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"The SportsTalk Shop: Olympic Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The advertisements for this year\u2019s Summer Olympics<\/a> in Rio have kicked into high gear, and people who traditionally don\u2019t follow sports like handball<\/a>, judo<\/a>, table tennis<\/a> and equestrian events<\/a> will suddenly become experts (or at least show a passing interest) if and when these events are on television.<\/p>\n

It is a special time, and while I admit to knowing very little about the canoe sprint<\/a>, rhythmic gymnastics<\/a> and the modern pentathlon<\/a>, I will sit and watch almost any sport or activity that\u2019s available to watch.\u00a0 I think the Games build a spirit of unity and give people a common issue to discuss for 17 days without worry or concern of getting into a nasty debate, as politics, news events or even professional sports issues sometimes do.<\/p>\n

(I hate to admit this, but I even enjoy the many \u201cfeel-good stories\u201d that the broadcasting networks produce\u2014even if it often interrupts a sport\u2019s natural rhythm of the broadcast when they playback events on a tape-delayed basis).<\/p>\n

We have the benefit of having some special former Olympic athletes in the RCN viewing area, and I had the absolute pleasure recently to sit down with a couple of them.\u00a0 Former cycling gold medalist Marty Nothstein<\/a> and four-time Olympic track star Joetta Clark-Diggs<\/a> joined us on \u201cRCN SportsTalk\u201d to talk about many different issues (the entire show is available on RCN On-Demand and on our podcast, here<\/a>).<\/p>\n