By PHK
(Not that they’ll ever read it.)
The nice thing about blogging is that it is a license to write about anything and everything. So I’m going to write about the 2006 Olympics, not foreign affairs for a change – or, oh, well, just maybe a little.
I’ve spent parts of the last couple of weeks watching – or more accurately attempting to watch – the Twentieth Olympic Winter Games in Torino. That is, through the fog of inordinate number of commercials and, for the most part, the incessant blather of NBC’s sports commentators. The saving grace? The mute button on my television’s remote.
Given an option, I’d rather watch the games almost anywhere else in the world than the U.S. even if I have to get up at 3 in the morning to do so. Sure, tell me how new scoring systems work; explain the intricacies of any new sport, but for heaven’s sake, just show the performances and keep chatter to a minimum. As for the personal interviews that seem so popular with American viewers – they’re certainly better than commercials, but focus on the competitions, please.
My view: more live footage, fewer commercials and minimum personality profiles. Might also be nice to know the name of the music a skater is skating to – not every skater is fixated on replaying Katerina Witt’s show-stopping rendition of Bizet’s Carmen. Did I hear Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” at some point? Actually, this was one of the few times NBC announcers identified the music - so I’m sure I did. But what about the others?
Given the intersection of the web and the MSM today, why not just put the personality profiles on the NBC website – and let people click on them if they want to know more about a favorite – or unfavorite - athlete’s personal habits, family, trials and tribulations. Actually, some bloggers are doing this quite well with their behind the scenes Olympics looks - and the Olympians often have their own websites.
Also, forget about holding live footage for prime time. With the 24/7 news cycle, just show the competitions as they occur, then the excerpts which pass as Olympics coverage in these United States in the 7-10 pm slot. And if this is not cost effective for commercial television - why not let PBS do it - at least show the unadulterated, real time competition?
Let’s get this straight: we already know the results. Let’s also get this straight, it might be useful for the American public to see the many terrific athletes from other countries also competing in the games, and learn that the competition is far from just the 15 year old buried history of the Cold War US vs. Soviets head-to-head. In fact, why shouldn’t Americans be exposed to sports Americans do not excel in – might be an incentive to improve U.S. performances in those lesser known sports in the future.
Personally, I’m delighted that the Finns and the Swedes are vying for Gold in men’s hockey. There is nothing like a Finnish-Swedish competition to bring out the best – and the worst - from both national teams. Why the US men behaved so badly in their match against the Finns escapes me. I suppose the most likely reason was that they were outclassed and outplayed. No one should be surprised: Finnish kids are on skates from the time they take their first steps. And they train seriously.
Since the Finnish-Swedish match is a contest for the Gold, I assume this game will make NBC’s cut, at least I hope so. I remember being in Helsinki in 1980 watching Finnish TV coverage when the upstart U.S. team first beat the Soviets and the Finns at Lake Placid. That was pretty neat – and let me tell you, the Finns and Soviets were extremely gracious at the time. The Finns also showed both games from start to finish (no pun intended) even though they had been eliminated from the final match.
Rethinking the rules?
One of the things that struck me as I’ve been watching what I could of the Olympics - given the lousy coverage here - was how far parts of the world have come from petty national squabbles – the divisions upon which the modern Olympic Games are based.
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