The Rockwood 2004 Olympic Watch--Saturday, August 14, 2004

Saturday, August 14, 2004

So the Opening Ceremonies went off with almost no fluff. Of course, the ceremonies themselves are pretty much all fluff, so what would you expect? Today, I'm expecting to get buried. Let's see what happens.

Okay, I'm going to state right up front that I'm not counting NBC's opening sequence each night as fluff. Yes, it's slow-motion and pretty, but a title sequence isn't what makes me mad.
Wow. Straight out of the title sequence to Phil Ligget and cycling! Very nice, NBC! You're just trying to get my hopes up so you can crush me later, right?
Who came up with the idea for synchronized diving? Perhaps the same people who devised a giant doobie for Greece's torch cauldron? Anyway, I still love the drop-cam that follows the athletes down as they dive and, in a special effect that would only be effective in synchronized diving, NBC gets high kudos for having a panning, stop-motion photograph showing both divers at various points during their dive. From this picture you can tell exactly whether they're synchronized or not. Also, the commentary was excellent, knowledgeable without screaming at us. I'm still dubious about the event itself, but the coverage was very good.
Ads. Does anybody actually watch "American Dreams?" Aren't we sick of the '60s by now? And if we're not, won't the ads for a "new, explosive American Dreams" make us sick of it by the end of the Olympics?
More diving... more cycling... hey! What's going on? We're 40 minutes into the show and there hasn't been a single moment of fluff? Has NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol been reading the Olympic Watch? You know, if it keeps up like this, there will be no reason to have a 2006 Olympic Watch.
Oh-ho! I spoke too soon. Hey! Michael Phelps has an Escalade because rappers have one! Great. Am I watching "American Dreams" ads so I can see Michael Phelps in a Escalade? No. Swimming please.
Phelps wins the gold! Yay! Also, swimming still has good commentators (Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines) and cool superimposing-graphics! Double-yay! I love, love, looooovve the flags in the lanes, and the addition of the name of the leader popping up as they make the turns is extra-cool. Keep it up, NBC!
Ads. Adidas shows a little girl holding her own with Nadia Comaneci. Nice effect. Good ad. I'm also going to add here that Nadia lives in Norman, OK, now. That's where all the cool people go. Heh.
Back to cycling. Woo-hoo! A cat-and-mouse finish between one and two, with three coming up fast at the end. And the coverage actually showed that! Great helicopter shots showed the racers winding through the streets in a way that shots from the motorcycles couldn't. Seriously, who is running the coverage this year? This is awesome!
ACK! It's my old nemesis, Jimmy Roberts, with his "Chevrolet Olympic Moments" segment. Jimmy wastes five minutes of our time telling us that swimmer Ian Thorpe, the "thorpedo," of Australia is famous. He has people mobbing him like a rock star in Australia. See how I did that in two sentences? Jimmy stretched that out for five agonizing minutes. Damn you, Jimmy Roberts!
On to men's gymnastics. Tim Daggett is thiiiiis close to being a great analyst. He doesn't scream, which is good, and he knows his stuff, also good, but sometimes he doesn't quite convey all of his knowledge. For instance, he said that Blaine Wilson of the United States had to change something on the high bar. What did he change? I don't know, and quite frankly, I'm too ignorant of gymnastics to figure it out. If Tim would just help me out here, he'd be an Olympic-class commentator instead of just a good one.
Want to go to the Olympics? Judging from gymnastics there are plenty of seats available. And if you think it looks bad on TV, know this: From my many years in TV sports, I know that directors spend a lot of time trying to use shots that don't show empty seats. Empty seats make it seem like even the locals are uninterested, so the home viewer thinks that if it's that uninteresting to locals, it must not be worth watching. Therefore, no one in the stands equals lower ratings. And despite this, NBC shows empty seats. That means there are so many empty seats that they can't hide it through creative camera work. Now, I was at plenty of events in Salt Lake City that looked like this, but you never saw that on TV. If you're seeing a lot of empty seats in Athens, that means there are a LOT of empty seats.
Guard Young for the U.S. gymnasts steps in on rings. Oh, Guard? He's from the University of Oklahoma. You know. Where are the cool people are.
Oooo....a Russian gymnast dislocates his finger and NBC gets a slow-mo closeup. Kinda gross, but technically very good.
Ian Thorpe wins the 400-meter Freestyle and then NBC shows his medal ceremony. What? NBC is showing another country's medal ceremony? Who's running this coverage?
A minute-and-a-half of fluff on U.S. gymnast Blaine Wilson and how he tore his bicep back in February. Again, see how I did that in one sentence? Even worse, once they came out of the fluff to show Blaine competing, they restated it in one sentence. They summarized fluff!
Al Trautwig wants to see a gymnast get a 10.0, and thinks the judges are too reluctant to give them out. Again, I'm ignorant in gymnastics, but I know enough to know that everyone I've seen so far has messed up somewhere. I'd like to see a 10.0 too, Al, but you've got to earn it.
Andrea Joyce tells a sad story about the Ukrainian gymnasts, but does so while they're performing their event! But, but... shouldn't we make that into a two-minute fluff piece with slow-motion and blurring cinematography? No! Good job, Andrea!

Okay, I'm at a loss for words. Only 12 minutes of fluff? Color me impressed, NBC. If you could just get rid of Jimmy Roberts, I'd have almost nothing to complain about. Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh, that's probably not true. I'd find something. But still, good job! If you keep this up, I'll be a very happy Olympic viewer.

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