Must NBC's Olympic coverage ALWAYS suck?

Jack_Dawson

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:39 AM
Original message

Must NBC's Olympic coverage ALWAYS suck?

Edited on Mon Aug-16-04 10:40 AM by Jack_Dawson

Would it be asking too much to broadcast events LIVE, to at least give us the OPTION of experiencing drama? That packaged 5-hour crap of events that took place 12 hours ago doesn't do it for me.

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tom_paine

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:41 AM
Response to Original message

1. It sucks for the same reason the rest of the Media are a Global Laughing

Stock.

The tenets of good sports jounralism have been replaced by the Face Time of "Human Interest", like everything else.

The triumph of the trivial.

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Chovexani

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:45 AM
Response to Reply #1

5. Good lord that's an apt description

"The triumph of the trivial".

If that doesn't sum it up, I don't know what does.

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underpants

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:23 AM
Response to Reply #1

11. I have noticed less of the "She overcame the death of her roommate's

95 year old grandmother.........." crap.

They do that because -according to focus groups- WOMEN want to see that and not the actual competition, I have no idea who those women are but that is why they do that. I haven't seen nearly as many as they usually have maybe they got the message that no one wanted them.

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Chovexani

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:25 AM
Response to Reply #11

12. Huh?

Myself and the other women in my house usually tell them to shut up and get on with the competition when they put on those sob stories. We're a house of sports fanatics, but still...

I wonder who they asked?

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underpants

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:28 AM
Response to Reply #12

16. It started (I think) back in the '84 LA games

at least that is when I first noticed it. Like I said I don't know anyone who wants to hear ALL those stories-okay Ruland Gardner coming back to wrestle after losing part of his foot (almost his life) to hypothermia after a snowmobile accident is a good worthwhile story as is the Iraqi soccer team and other athletes (they are throwing in some "ends justify the means" crap-hey this IS NBC) but not every single competitor.

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Chovexani

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:34 AM
Response to Reply #16

17. Hrm, I was too young to remember that

I was 3 at the time. But it has definitely gotten worse over the years.

Some stories are interesting and newsworthy...but most of the time they are clearly reaching for something, ANYTHING. I would rather watch actual competition than hear about how a synchronized swimmer from Timbuktu overcame their cat's hairball to compete.

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skippysmom

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:41 AM
Response to Original message

2. Yes

I wish there was a C-Span for the Olympics so you could watch events as they unfold without commentary.

I was able to catch the first 30 minutes of the women's basketball game this morning on USA, thankfully. Sadly, this awesome team will never be seen on the networks.

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KurtNYC

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:42 AM
Response to Original message

3. If they take a step, that's a tenth of a point off

They seem pretty fond of saying that. Pretty worthless.

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Jack_Dawson

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:43 AM
Response to Reply #3

4. Huh?

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Jack Rabbit

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:46 AM
Response to Original message

6. I saw some of it the other day

The commentary on men's gymnastics was just insipid. It takes effort to reach new lows in coverage of the Olympics, but NBC seems to have achieved it.

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underpants

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:25 AM
Response to Reply #6

13. US women's softball commenators are the WORST

Complete homers.

They went on and on about a ball being called foul when an Aussie hit it (prelim game) and the replay clearly showed the ball hitting in the batter's box-it was a good call. Them mentioned it until the last out of the game and were moaning about strike/ball calls even this morning...US defeated Japan 3-0 in 8 innings (one extra).

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nickinSTL

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Mon Aug-16-04 10:50 AM
Response to Original message

7. parade of nations

I haven't seen much of the competition, but I couldn't believe some of the inane jabber during the parade of nations during the opening ceremonies. Jeez, what a bunch of morons. I realize that finding something to say about each country isn't easy, but some of it was borderline offensive, and none of it really intelligent.

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Chovexani

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:27 AM
Response to Reply #7

15. The absolute worst was Djubooti (sp?)

Katie and Bob were acting like Beavis and Butthead when they marched in. And they do it every. Fucking. Year.

Huh huh. Djubooti. Huh huh.

Asshats.

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Jack_Dawson

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #15

18. Glad I missed it! Lame

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Toby109

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:16 AM
Response to Original message

8. Yes, it's the law now.

:-)

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Lavender Brown

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:18 AM
Response to Original message

9. I really miss John Tesh's commentary

He used to say the most unintentionally hilarious things.

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Jack_Dawson

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:48 AM
Response to Reply #9

19. Like what?

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Lavender Brown

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Mon Aug-16-04 01:36 PM
Response to Reply #19

24. Hard to explain

but here is a parody of his long-winded wordiness...

http://www.soundbitten.com/teshfile.html

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Bertha Venation

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:19 AM
Response to Original message

10. Oh, my. You're in the minority.

Edited on Mon Aug-16-04 11:19 AM by Bertha Venation

Honestly. Doesn't everyone prefer for lameass talking head ramblings to outweigh actual athletic event coverage 3-to-1?

And you don't truly mean to tell me that you'd actually prefer to watch an entire athletic event from start to finish?! Why, think of all the boring crap they've edited out for you! It's like watching five hours of highlight reels and jingoistic idiocy! :eyes:

/sarcasm

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Jack_Dawson

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:26 AM
Response to Reply #10

14. The coverage sucks!

Worse than I could've possibly imagined. Thanks for your sarcasm cause you were worrying me there for a second...

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slappypan

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Mon Aug-16-04 11:59 AM
Response to Original message

20. I sure wish ABC would get the Olympics

They are the best at it, in my opinion. Right now I am watching CBC on cable, they are doing a nice job.

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Jack_Dawson

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Mon Aug-16-04 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #20

21. Canadian?

Do they carry events LIVE?

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slappypan

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Mon Aug-16-04 12:07 PM
Response to Reply #21

23. yes, they were just covering swimming

so they have at least some live coverage. And nice non-vapid commentary.

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Chovexani

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Mon Aug-16-04 12:06 PM
Response to Reply #20

22. I miss ABC's coverage!

The first Olympics I was old enough to remember were the '88s (Calgary and Seoul), and ABC did such a good job! They showed some compelling human interest stories (like the Jamaican bobsled team--love those guys!) but didn't go overboard with the sobfests, and they had some really good commentary on the sports.

Doesn't NBC have them for like the next 500 years? That's a depressing thought. :(

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Lydia Leftcoast

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Mon Aug-16-04 01:49 PM
Response to Reply #22

27. ABC had the Olympics for years and years, all the way back to

the first ones I remember, which is 1960.

They did an excellent, professional job.

Good Lord, can you imagine NBC would have covered the murder of the Israeli athletes in 1972? The skin crawls to think of how they would have sensationalized and milked an already upsetting situation.

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DS1

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Mon Aug-16-04 01:38 PM
Response to Original message

25. NBC always sucks

:shrug:

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mrboba1

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Mon Aug-16-04 01:44 PM
Response to Original message

26. speaking of sucking coverage:

I went into the break room at noon (edt) to catch some olympics only to see:
A fuckin' half hour show on what lame-ass new shows NBC was going to bring on this fall! :wtf:

WTF do these people think we are?! They deserve their license revoked for that one... I've never seen anything like this before - if I want info on their new shows, I go to their GD website, not have my lunch wasted on such trivial shit!
:grr:

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tilsammans

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Mon Aug-16-04 01:53 PM
Response to Original message

28. I agree; ABC's coverage was far superior!

Even after all the practice they've had in recent Olympics, NBC just cannot get it right.

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KamaAina

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Mon Aug-16-04 02:22 PM
Response to Original message

29. Yes. It must always suck. It's the law.

NBC's coverage of anything pretty much sucks these days.

From the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremonies:

jingoism: "...and here comes Kuwait. George H.W. Bush is said to be in attendance tonight; he put together a coalition to liberate Kuwait..." :puke: :puke: :puke:

and outright ignorance: "Mauritania is located in west Africa; its northern neighbor is Morocco". BZZZZZZZT! North of Mauritania is Western Sahara, which while it may be occupied by Morocco is certainly not a part thereof. Costas might as well have said, "Kuwait's northern neighbor is the United States."

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Jack_Dawson

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Mon Aug-16-04 03:27 PM
Response to Reply #29

30. You are so right! Who can I write a letter to?

It's so bad. It's so slickly packaged and about 12 hours too late. Awful.

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Sequoia

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Mon Aug-16-04 04:09 PM
Response to Original message

31. That lame torch is a giant fountain pen

and stupid. Why couldn't they have a REAL torch considering it's in Greece, the original site. But, no...they had to be "clever" and come up with a fountain pen instead. LAME!!!

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Kellanved

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Mon Aug-16-04 04:36 PM
Response to Original message

32. Beyond NBC: I have yet to see coverage that doesn't suck.

OK, the event situation is better, as we have five Channels dedicated to the Olympics (commercial free) and EuroSport. However the commentators are worse than those I've heard in any other country. it is hard to describe, but they never shut up, tell a lot of BS and take sides - IMHO they should be impartial.

My high point was the BBC during the opening ceremony, calling the German President "Some official from Parliament" - priceless.

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Ducks In A Row

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Mon Aug-16-04 04:43 PM
Response to Original message

33. I'm loving the empty stands

no one cares about these games. it's all a joke.

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