| |
Sort of like the 2000
Rockwood Olympic Watch, only colder.
February 11
February 12
February 13
February 14
February 15
February 16
February 19
February 20
March 5
March 8
March 14
March 17
March 26
| |
Saturday, February 16, 2002
Okay, one last time before I leave for Utah...
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:52 AM
Ever notice how they don't put fluff pieces in the hockey coverage? That's because hockey fans would
kill anyone who did anything so stupid. Too bad figure skating fans aren't that passionate.
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:52 AM
Ice dancing is not a sport. There. I said it. Now, having said that, I have to admit that the
commentators for NBC's coverage of ice dancing were excellent. Even though I have no interest in the "sport" whatsoever, I found myself watching as
the analyst described in detail what the judges are looking for. If we could just get this kind of professionalism on snowboarding, we'd have
something big.
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:52 AM
AlphaDeltaEpsilon#196 writes...
"Seems you were wrong about the Gold medal."
Boy, was I ever.
I will give myself a little credit in that everyone is calling this unprecedented, but nonetheless, I missed the call. But while I agree with
the outcome, I can't help but wonder if this won't just cause more problems in the future.
In any case, maybe now NBC can cut back on the
"skaters robbed" news and bring us some more events. Although, given the number of times they had to interview the skaters on tonight's coverage, I'm
not real hopeful.
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:52 AM
The flying cable camera on the snowboarding hill rocks, rocks, ROCKS! The sense of speed you get from
shooting down the mountain with the snowboarders is breathtaking. I can't say enough positive things about this. It's the best part of any of the
skiing sports.
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:52 AM
Finally, since I'm about to leave, how could I not post one more rant about my most-hated aspect
of NBC's Olympic coverage? Yes, it's "Slam Jimmy Roberts" time.
Once again, it was Roberts versus McKay in my unofficial battle of the
untalented versus the talented. Tonight, since they both had stories about the same topic (guess who?), McKay was the clear winner.
Roberts
tried to make a point that the change in the Olympic medal for the Canadian figure skaters was just one more "change" in the history of the Olympics.
He cited the change Jesse Owens brought to Germany in "Hitler's" Olympics, and the change that two black American sprinters brought with their fists-up
protest during the Mexico City Olympics. There was just one problem... neither of these resulted in change at all.
These, of course, are both
great moments in Olympic history, but they didn't change anything. The Germany Olympics were in 1936, and Jesse Owens winning a slew of medals didn't
stop Hitler from invading Poland or starting the Holocaust. The Mexico City sprinters caused quite a stir with their protest, but they didn't change
any laws by sticking their hands in the air.
Roberts built his entire segment around a false premise. If he wanted to cite things that
needed to be changed, he could have told about Roy Jones, who in the '88 Seoul games was robbed of a gold medal in boxing. Or of the 1972 U.S.
basketball team, who refused a silver medal after losing to the Soviet Union when the Soviets were given three chances to convert a last-second inbound
pass and finally won, 51-50. These are events that are much closer in spirit to anything that Jimmy Roberts cited, but of course, he missed
them.
Oh yeah...McKay's piece? Perfect as usual. I will actually miss hearing Jim McKay when I go to Salt Lake City. But it will be offset by
the fact that I won't have to listen to Jimmy Roberts for another two years.
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:52 AM
| | |
