Okay, human rights violations, smog and algae aside, that was a pretty amazing opening Friday. (The jailed Chinese bloggers sure missed a great show!) Aside from that, it’s nice to see NBC fall right back into its predictable and unremarkable coverage groove: Post-event snoozefest studio interviews, mic problems, the addition of even more “So how does it feel to (insert event record just broken)?” sideline reporter questions.The overall show and networks covering need to change. Sure, you need deep pockets to have a shot at winning TV rights, but why not let Fox, ESPN or TNT have a shot in 2012. Not that I dislike Costas, but this bullshit old school ABC’s Wide World of Sports format that NBC, ABC and CBS still rolls out needs a major kick in the ass—on all fronts.
Thank God they got rid of Bryant Gumbel.
Imagine Ditka recapping the day’s track and field results instead. Charles Barkley covering gymnastics. Jillian Barberie and the smog report. Yeah, you can, can’t you. (It’s also a slap in the face to a network like ESPN to use some of their sideline reporters while putting strict limits on what the network is allowed to recap that night.)
Until things change, good to see at least one of my favorite Olympic traditions is intact though: The Over Enthusiastic Former Athlete and Assistant Play-by-Play Announcer. (OEFAAPPA for short.) It’s like seeing how giddy storm chasers get when they spot a wall cloud forming.
At least with the other major sports, (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL), former players for the most part tend to keep the drama in check, leaving the histrionics for the ‘civilian’ announcer in the booth. Think Joe Buck to Troy Aikman, etc.
But not the Olympics.
It always seems that every event has a former athlete/specialist assigned to it. What would life be without another swimmer shouting at the top of his lungs about the world record pace Michael Phelps is on!!!!??!!! SORRY, I SHOULD HAVE TYPED THAT IN ALL CAPS FOR ADDED EMOTION!!! Surely NBC can afford a booth that blocks out crowd noise so nobody has to shout over the background?
It also wouldn’t be so bad if the announcer didn’t try and fit in every last detail of the athlete’s bio as well as their struggle to make it this far—all during said athlete’s routine on the parallel bars.
Or things only the announcer seems to take great pride in knowing: “And just before today’s event, she told us how her mom had a kidney removed by a concession stand worker during commercial break the day before—but somehow, she will find a way to soldier on.”
The things you didn’t know—go figure.
Or interjecting Big Brother-type drama by wondering nervously out loud how much will be deducted for a so-called flaw on a botched landing: “Oh my, I think that’s gonna cost him! I don’t know, this could really hurt him.”
Not as much as watching two weeks of this.
Tags: Beijing Olympics
1 comment:
You didn't happen to watch Animal Planet's Puppy Games, did you? Because the hokey, corny, cliche-filled play-by-play announcing -- which was probably meant to be funny in a kid-friendly way -- was the perfect send-up of all OEFAAPPAs, and of TV sports coverage in general really. I mean, you could read the whole Puppy Games script and it would sound a lot like what you'd hear during, say, any given Rachel Nichols report.
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