Olympic Questions
by Andrea SandkeAug 13, 2008
- 257 Votes
So there you are, settled down in front of your television, checking out the latest Olympics broadcast. And then you notice something, some detail. It gets you to wondering. And the Buzz Log knows from experience that when viewers get to wondering, they also start to search.
We Buzz-watchers have been amused during these Beijing Olympics to see how often the comments we've made to each other at home are the same burning questions that tons of users have brought to the almighty oracle of the Internet.
NBC airs a feature on how Michael Phelps was raised by a divorced mother, and we on our family room couch think, "where is michael phelps' father?" Good question. And we've seen the big Buzz splash searchers made this week on that thought and variations like "who is michael phelps' father" and "does michael phelps have a dad?"
Journalist Mary Carillo presents a piece on some of the biggest, fastest, tallest, and smallest things in China, and she does this while standing in front of one of China's tallest men. Just how tall is the fellow? According to NBC's video, 2.361 meters. But, um… how tall is that? Cue a growth spurt in searches on "meters to feet," "meters to inches," and "2.361 meters to feet."
The devastatingly toned and scantily clad Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Trainor take to the sand in their quest for another gold medal in beach volleyball, but wait… what IS that on Kerri Walsh's shoulder?
Search interest in the oddly shaped black expanse on Walsh's shoulder and back is threatening to become a phenomenon of these Games. "What does Kerri Walsh wear on her right shoulder?" query the more formal among you. Some speculate that it's a kind of body art ("kerri walsh tattoo"). Others call it a patch, a bandage, or a brace. Especially confounded souls simply type "kerri walsh black thing on shoulder" or "kerri walsh black arm."
NBC volleyball commentator Karch Kiraly has kindly clarified the Kerri Walsh mystery, and he would do well to repeat the information each time the dominating duo appears. The "black thing" is kinesio tape, which helps Walsh compete following surgery on her right shoulder last year.
But some puzzles can't be cleared up by NBC's commentators. If you do happen upon incontrovertible proof of Chinese gymnast Deng Linlin's age, give us a holler. We're wondering about that, too.