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My other car is a Yugo
BETA is Betta!
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Follow me to Jonestown!
If you can read this…let me know because I can’t
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Don’t Blame Me…Okay, Blame Me.
Drawing of Calvin peeing on himself
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
From Winning to Whining
If the Olympics were to give out a medal for watching the Olympics I believe I’d be in the running. I’ve watched more of the Summer Games this week than any Olympics before and possibly more than all previous Olympics combined. This may be because I am extremely patriotic and love the Games. Then again, it may be because I’ve been couch-ridden with a nasty cold/flu for three days – forced to choose between this or other daytime TV. It’s really not important. What is important is something I’ve noticed while watching the festivities in Beijing.
No, it’s not that China has been kicking our collective butt – unless we want to adopt, “We’re numbers 2 and 3!” as our official motto. No one can touch us in silver and bronze.
No, it’s not that is entirely possible to have, dare I say, too much coverage of one person, even if he has done the miraculous.
And no, it’s not that rowing can be pretty entertaining.
It’s that, somewhere along the way, the commentators at NBC (Bob Costas, Al Trautwig, Bela Karolyi, etc.), the media in general and even some American athletes have become the biggest bunch of whiners on the planet.
Of course, the most notable example of this would be the outcry after all-around gold medalist Nastia Liukin finished tied with a Chinese gymnast in the parallel bars and then received the silver after the Olympic tie-breaker was put into effect. Who could forget the images of an upset Nastia and her father/coach as the rule – which I believe was set in advance – was explained to them, while NBC’s crack team of announcers repeatedly decried the judges’ marks?
Not even one day earlier a similar situation developed with another American gymnast on the vault. As with the parallel bars the conversation wasn’t how wow – she was one of the three best in the world but rather how she was robbed.
Hey, here’s a newsflash – gymnastics scores are subjective. That’s why there are multiple judges involved and not, say, just two guys from one country watching the events on a monitor and scoring the participants.
Earlier in the Games an American tennis player lost and cried foul. One of our women’s volleyball teams lost and it wasn’t to a better team necessarily but rather because they made so many unforced errors. And lest we forget that when Michael Phelps won his seventh gold by 1/100th of a second it was ‘remarkable’ but when his 41-year old counterpart lost by that exact micronugget of time it was ‘tragic’.
Look, I expect a certain amount of bias when watching the Games. It’s an American network, broadcast to Americans. I get it. If I truly wanted something different I’d find a satellite and watch foreign coverage. But is it too much to ask our commentators to focus on the good, to praise finishing among the best in the world – if not the best, and to not set an example for the young athletes out there that if you don’t win, the best thing to do is bitch and moan about it?
It makes the U.S. seem petty, self-centered and small. And we’ve had enough of that over the last eight years.
P.S. Kudos to Shawn Johnson – throughout the Games she always smiled, seemingly thrilled just to be there despite finishing first, second, third, etc. If only those that covered her had as much class as this 16-year old.
No, it’s not that China has been kicking our collective butt – unless we want to adopt, “We’re numbers 2 and 3!” as our official motto. No one can touch us in silver and bronze.
No, it’s not that is entirely possible to have, dare I say, too much coverage of one person, even if he has done the miraculous.
And no, it’s not that rowing can be pretty entertaining.
It’s that, somewhere along the way, the commentators at NBC (Bob Costas, Al Trautwig, Bela Karolyi, etc.), the media in general and even some American athletes have become the biggest bunch of whiners on the planet.
Of course, the most notable example of this would be the outcry after all-around gold medalist Nastia Liukin finished tied with a Chinese gymnast in the parallel bars and then received the silver after the Olympic tie-breaker was put into effect. Who could forget the images of an upset Nastia and her father/coach as the rule – which I believe was set in advance – was explained to them, while NBC’s crack team of announcers repeatedly decried the judges’ marks?
Not even one day earlier a similar situation developed with another American gymnast on the vault. As with the parallel bars the conversation wasn’t how wow – she was one of the three best in the world but rather how she was robbed.
Hey, here’s a newsflash – gymnastics scores are subjective. That’s why there are multiple judges involved and not, say, just two guys from one country watching the events on a monitor and scoring the participants.
Earlier in the Games an American tennis player lost and cried foul. One of our women’s volleyball teams lost and it wasn’t to a better team necessarily but rather because they made so many unforced errors. And lest we forget that when Michael Phelps won his seventh gold by 1/100th of a second it was ‘remarkable’ but when his 41-year old counterpart lost by that exact micronugget of time it was ‘tragic’.
Look, I expect a certain amount of bias when watching the Games. It’s an American network, broadcast to Americans. I get it. If I truly wanted something different I’d find a satellite and watch foreign coverage. But is it too much to ask our commentators to focus on the good, to praise finishing among the best in the world – if not the best, and to not set an example for the young athletes out there that if you don’t win, the best thing to do is bitch and moan about it?
It makes the U.S. seem petty, self-centered and small. And we’ve had enough of that over the last eight years.
P.S. Kudos to Shawn Johnson – throughout the Games she always smiled, seemingly thrilled just to be there despite finishing first, second, third, etc. If only those that covered her had as much class as this 16-year old.
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