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Olympics

The Daily Looks Back At Top Quotes, Tweets Of London Games

With final thoughts and comments around the XXXth Olympiad in London, THE DAILY looks back at some of the best quotes, comments, tweets and headlines from our issues during the fortnight:

MONDAY, JULY 30

NBC’s Matt Lauer, on Queen Elizabeth II’s role at the Opening Ceremony: “Tonight, she’s a Bond girl.”
 
Beijing '08 Olympic Opening Ceremony co-Dir Wang Chaoge, on the Opening Ceremony: "On one hand, I didn't want it to exceed my work; on the other hand, I hoped to see another show that amazes the world. Now, both my wishes are fulfilled. Objectively speaking, there's no way that you can compare the two ceremonies. We each had what the other didn't.”
 
Kuwaiti swimmer Faye Sultan tweeted, "Empty seats at the Olympics?!! And my parents can't get tickets to watch me swim?! Ridiculous."
 
Time magazine’s James Poniewozik: “NBC time-delay coverage is like the airlines: its interest is in giving you the least satisfactory service you will still come back for.”

TUESDAY, JULY 31

NBC Sports Chair Mark Lazarus: “I think what we’ve proven is that the American viewing public likes the way we tell the story and wants to gather in front of the television with their friends and family -- even if they have the ability to watch it live either on television or digitally.”
 
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Dejan Kovacevic: “NBC’s executives think people will willfully tune out everything just to better enjoy their prime-time programming? That rates somewhere between arrogant and astoundingly stupid.”
 
Newark Star-Ledger’s Steve Politi, on Missy Franklin: "Get ready, America: The London Games are about to feel a whole lot like a Justin Bieber concert, with energy and giggles and something so often missing from what is supposed to be a three-week celebration of the world’s best amateur athletes. Innocence."
 
U.S. high jumper Jamie Nieto, on Rule 40: "We're professional athletes, and we don't like being treated like we're amateur athletes."
 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1

Dick Franklin, on his daughter, Missy, passing up sponsorship deals: "If there were to be some horrendous amount of corporate money thrown at her, then you'd have to sit down with her and say, 'Honey, I don't know that you understand what $1 million or $2 million is but that could be your children's education. That could be your house when you get married.'”
 
London Independent’s Guy Adams: "My Twitter account appears to have been un-suspended. Did I miss much while I was away?"
 
Andy Roddick on Wimbledon: “It’s different. It’s weird for us. We have a history at this venue that’s not quite this.”
 
The AP's Paul Haven wrote under the header, "Olympics Awash In Twitter, For Better Or Worse."
 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2

SPORTS ON EARTH's Will Leitch wrote, "NBC isn't doing a disservice to its viewers. It's just ignoring the ones who don't matter."
 
CNBC’s Kelly Evans said, “If anyone has won the Olympics, I would say it’s Boris Johnson.
 
Goodwin Sports Management’s Nate Jones: "Why do these Olympics feel like one giant SNL skit? Maybe it's the announcers?"
 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3

K.C. Star’s Sam Mellinger, on Gabby Douglas: "The face you're going to see everywhere now features a smile that can win over a crowd and an exuberance they might put on a Wheaties box."
 
espnW’s Beau Dure: "Could someone please write about beach volleyball as a sport? Not just as a fun time and the incongruity of it next to 10 Downing Street?
 
SI’s Steve Rushin: “If you don't think the Olympics inspire children then tell me why I'm driving around trying to buy a volleyball net.”
 

MONDAY, AUGUST 6

NBC’s Bob Papa, on Olympic boxing: “Everybody here should look at themselves and realize why this sport is considered a joke.”
 
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, on not being able to bring some accessories onto the track with him: "It has been different from Beijing. There are lots of rules, weird, silly rules that don't make any sense to me."
 
DEADSPIN.com headline to Jere Longman’s piece on Lolo Jones: “What Did Lolo Jones Ever Do To The New York Times?”
 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7

Newsday’s Glenn Gamboa: "No matter what the reality is, it's pretty clear what story the NBC editors want to tell about 17-year-old Mustafina and her competitiveness with America's newest sweetheart, 16-year-old Douglas. ... There's already plenty of drama in the competition, NBC. No need to manufacture more and, FYI, The Cold War ended a while ago."
 
Michael Phelps: “The biggest thing is I can look back at my career and say I’ve done everything exactly the way I wanted to and if you can say that, I’m satisfied.”
 
USA TODAY's Robert Bianco reviews NBC London Live Extra mobile app under the header, "NBC Makes Big Strides With Its Mobile Games."
 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8

BDA Sports Management COO Bill Sanders: "Best thing about the Olympics? Athletes go out on top. Swan songs for May/Walsh, Phelps etc. Hate to see stars compete past their prime."
 
Lolo Jones, on the verge of breaking down, said on the “Today” show, “The fact that they just tore me apart was just heartbreaking. They didn’t even do their research. They called me the ‘Anna Kournikova of track.’ I am the American record-holder indoors. I have two world indoor titles, and just because I don’t boast about these things, I don’t think I should be ripped apart by media. I laid it out there. I fought hard for my country and it’s just a shame I have to deal with so much backlash when I’m already so brokenhearted as it is.”
 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9

Former NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol: "People talk about how we should treat this like sports. You know, we're getting an 18 rating some nights. Do you know what rating we would get if this was not under the banner of the Olympics? We'd be lucky to get a 1 rating for some of these sports. ... We're in the television business. We're here to make great television."
 
IOC President Jacques Rogge: "All in all I would say these are very good Games and I am a very happy man."
 
L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke: "Sitting in Wembley Stadium for first time...congrats, Brits...this place is spectacular...most majestic super-stadium I've ever seen."
 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10

NBC broadcaster Mike Gorman, on announcing handball: “I looked at that and said, ‘This is a crazy sport. I’d love to do this.’ So the first team handball game I ever saw that was unfinished was the first one I broadcast.”
 
U.S. MF Carli Lloyd said of the attendance at the Gold Medal match, "Eighty-thousand people for a women's final? That says a lot for women's soccer. The whole thing is a dream come true."
 
CBS’ Mark Phillips said, “These have become the women’s emancipation Games. It’s the first time every country has women on its team.”
 
Bolt: “I'm a legend now."
 

MONDAY, AUGUST 13

LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe: “We know more now, as individuals and as a nation, just what we are capable of.”
 
The London INDEPENDENT’s James Lawton: “These were the Games you couldn’t fail to love. The Games that seduced cold-headed calculation of cost and reward with their sheer vitality. The Games that took on astonishing life.”
 
USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said, "We're disappointed in boxing. We want to do better, particularly in men's boxing. By saying disappointed in boxing, I don't mean the people. I mean, we're disappointed that we didn't do better in boxing, because I know that we can do better and we have to focus on how we do that."
 
USOC Chair Larry Probst said, "The American public has high expectations for our Olympic team. There was a lot of opinion about where we would finish. ... We are extremely proud of what our athletes accomplished. We like to come in first, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
 

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