We celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Summer Games of Los Angeles by sampling a lot of the original American coverage on ABC, with a focus on the epic Closing Ceremonies in the Coliseum. This episode has it all: Sports, Eighties geopolitics, and breakdancing!
Anonymous Batty insider says: "I'm a showbiz guy, not a sports guy, not an international affairs guy, but I thought Mike and Rick did a good job of blending all that stuff. But sports-based material doesn't usually clean up at the Battys. Usually they get their noms in the Outstanding Performance as Oneself category and not much else, but there could be some surprises."
Each Olympics I have an informal list of sports I intend to watch but don't really. This year the dissonance is even stronger since it is easier than ever to watch whatever I want. I have no excuse!
this list is not meant to demean the events, but it is based on which sport would beat another sport if they competed in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania:
(Note that there are sports that I somehow do end up watching, like swimming, gymnastics, basketball, and volleyball)
1) Team Handball: I enjoy this sport. I really do. Each time I see it, I wonder why it isn't more popular. So why don't I actually watch it during the Olympics?
2) Water Polo: Shout-out to one of my college roommates, a Water Polo-er who talked about how physical the game was.
3) Badminton: This is an awesome event, but maybe I'd watch more if it were in a backyard.
4) Breaking: I really meant to watch.
5) Rugby: To be fair, this is a fairly recent addition to the Summer Games.
6) Judo: The only combat-related spot I watched for years was boxing, but I think that was because boxing was so common on TV coverage.
7) Table Tennis: See Badminton, but replace "backyard" with "dingy basement."
8) Trampoline: It is kind of cool, but it's not the kind of thing I seek out.
9) Archery: They could be allowing trick arrows like Oliver Queen uses for all I know, and I wouldn't be aware.
Welcome to YouTube Spotlight, where we feature a video from the latest podcast's video playlist. This week, we talk about the glory of the 1984 Summer Olympics, and one related clip that catches my eye is this:
This clip raises so many questions, like the ones the reporters ask: "What charity?"
I hope that Jacko surprised his brothers with that announcement. They are all like, "Hey, we aren't giving anything away!"
All indications were that Jackson was a reluctant participant in this Victory Tour, and I am sure it won't shock anyone to learn that there were allegations of shady business practices in an event with which Don King was involved.
Here's a cool clip from L.A.'s KISS-FM promoting the tour:
*Xu Haifeng of China won the first gold of the Games in the 50-meter pistol event.
*Cathy Rigby emerged on the national stage in the 1968 Olympics, then was hampered by injury in the 1972 edition.
*Konstantin Chernenko was running the Soviets at the time following the death of Yuri Andropov in February 1984.
*One aspect we did not get into: The Eastern Bloc countries held "The Friendship Games" over 2.5 months and 9 countries, starting in early July and ending in early September. The Opening Ceremonies in Moscow took place weeks after the first event.
*Gymakta is a notorious 1985 movie featuring 1976 Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas. Thomas was unable to compete in 1980 due to the boycott.
*"All Night Long (All Night)" is Lionel Richie's 1983 #1 hit from his Can't Slow Down album. We don't have to tell MIKE that, of course, but the rest of you might find the info helpful.
*Somewhat surprisingly, Dunk Tank was not a sport in the 1984 Summer Games.
*I just want to say that I forgot to mention the awesomeness of Summer Games and Summer Games II for Commodore 64.
*Final medal count: USA 174, West Germany 59, Romania 53.
Gold medals: USA 83, Romania 20, West Germany 17.
Note that Romania was the one Soviet Bloc country to show up at the '84 Games, and they got a warm reception from the crowds and other athletes for doing so.
*We're doing something a little different with the playlist this week. While we do have a few extended clips of sporting events we mention on the podcast, we have mostly news clips, promos, commercials, and more, but here we also include a couple of the other big lists we reference. That way you can search for the sporting events that interest you.
First up is our own assembled playlist:
Here is a list with a lot of individual events:
Here is a list with the complete Opening and Closing Ceremonies as broadcast and more:
Do you have Olympic fever? We do...for the 1984 Summer Games in L.A. We can't cover it all, but we try to hit some of the high marks of this peak eighties event: Carl Lewis, Mary Lou Retton, Mary Decker and Zola Budd, Al Michaels, Jim McKay and Peter Jennings, 84 grand pianos playing "Rhapsody in Blue," Lionel Richie, and a flying saucer!
