434 replies to this topic

[SnideAsides]

Exactly what it says on the tin.

I'm really enjoying most of the Australian commentary. Unfortunately, aside from the Opening Ceremony the only commentary I've hated so far is the swimming, which the local networks always spend an inordinate amount of time on in the first week. In the second week, we have Daley Thompson calling athletics, which will no doubt result in hours upon hours of Nine fawning about him selecting one of the cauldron lighters.

[emma675]

I would also add, shut up, Seacrest.

[catray]

I have to say, I hate the addition of Meredith Viera and Ryan Seacrest. Seriously, I have to mute the tv every time of their stupid segments comes on.

[Cuppiediva]

Shut up BOB COSTAS..and Meredith and Seacrest! Ugh

[Matt K]

I'm not sure who the commentators are for the gymnastics but the guy with the higher pitch voice is bugging me.

[Actionmage]

Matt K, I believe that's Tim Daggett, an Olympic gymnast. I guess since I've heard him as a competitor and commentator, I'm used to it. It's Al Trautwig that annoys me. He sounds like a Dallas news anchor in addition.

[Matt K]

That said, Tim is easily the least annoying thing about this broadcast (the Mom thing they showed was weird and of course there's Al).

[SnideAsides]

So much hate from the Australian media right now (not just the official commentators, although they're a huge part of the problem). Our relay swimmers finished FOURTH. In the WORLD. And yet they're making out like it's the end of the world. Give me a fucking break.

[Dee Clutter]

I believe that's Tim Daggett, an Olympic gymnast.

Yes. He's earned his chops, so I don't mind him. I do resent the fact that we have all these U.S. champions, yet we continue to use a Canadian who never won a single Olympic medal of any color. Nothing against Canadians or Elfi who is a nice person, but it's a shame that the biggest U.S. networks continue to hire Canadians rather than give U.S. GOLD MEDALISTS an opportunity. Of course, Eli doesn't bother me as much as Sandra Bezic in figure skating. Why are we outsourcing our glamour jobs?

[sienna gold]

Isn't Elfi a naturalized American?
(I'm not arguing with you, I think she's useless - but still).

[selkie]

Shut up, Rowdy.

And c'mon, granted I've been fast-forwarding the DVR quite a bit, but there really should have been a feature on the late Alex Dale Oen before the men's 100 Breast, and I didn't even hear a mention of his name.

[kenyaj]

And c'mon, granted I've been fast-forwarding the DVR quite a bit, but there really should have been a feature on the late Alex Dale Oen before the men's 100 Breast, and I didn't even hear a mention of his name.

The British commentators on NBC's online swimming coverage this afternoon talked about him at length. Too bad they don't do NBC's primetime coverage as well.

[Dee Clutter]

Isn't Elfi a naturalized American?
(I'm not arguing with you, I think she's useless - but still).

Perhaps, but she competed for CANADA and never lived here until she got the job. Now listen to your granny, kids: Elfi was one of the first North Americans to make an impact on the world gym scene. At the time gymnastics exploded on the TV scene, ABC nabbed Cathy Rigby and so Elfi's appointment made sense. I just never realized it would be a lifetime appointment.

[JohnnySunshine9]

I miss Kathy Johnson!!! She and Bart Conner were an excellent commentating team, aka you actually learned things and they talked about skills and coaching and deductions not stuck landings and faux drama. Kathy Johnson is my favorite female commentator and Bart Conner my favorite male commentator for gymnastics, but I think ABC/ESPN owns them.

Al Trautwig has been ruining gymnastics ever since I can remember. Elfi and Tim are dreadful but Al manages to out-suck them. It's amazing how consistently low they can keep setting the bar. NBC sucks.

[sandrajane]

WHY ARE THEY ALL YELLING?!! Do they not understand that they are talking into microphones to begin with?

[kenyaj]

Listing to Tim, Elfi, and Al's commentary tonight, knowing in advance what happened, is both hilarious and horrifying. Hilarious, because I always enjoy laughing at them, and horrifying because they are so over-dramatic and wrong. They sound like the biggest fools tonight.

[AimingforYoko]

Al Trautwig has been ruining gymnastics ever since I can remember. Elfi and Tim are dreadful but Al manages to out-suck them.

Ah, you're too young to remember the suckitude of the legendary John Tesh.

[VeronicaNC]

I keep thinking Al is John Tesh. They look and sound alike to me. I was bitching about the music they used as the 'background' on that piece they did on John Orozco last night. I told somebody, "It would have been lovely if I had actually been able to hear anything anyone named Orozco said over the John Tesh music they had blaring. For all I know they all said that one of them was dying but I don't know because I couldn't hear anything they said because of the loudness of the damn John Tesh music!"

[Dee Clutter]

Ah, you're too young to remember the suckitude of the legendary John Tesh.

Oh yes ... Mr. Hair. He actually did compose some nice theme music for the Tour de France on ABC.

[JohnnySunshine9]

Ah, you're too young to remember the suckitude of the legendary John Tesh.

Au contraire, "Little Girls Dancing, Dancing for Gold..." from the 1992 Olympics is one of my favorite epic fluff pieces ever. And I can't find it online!!!

[catray]

The British commentators on NBC's online swimming coverage this afternoon talked about him at length.

Basically, all the people doing the commentary for the online feeds should replace the people who are actually doing the primetime feeds (on NBC). For swimming and gymnastics, the online commentary is so much better and a lot less shouty.

[kenyaj]

I think that's the best suggestion I've seen yet, catray.

[MarenAte]

Adding in a SU to Ted Robinson doing diving. He has no other tone than shock mixed with gleeful surprise. He's Mr. Inappropriately Peppy. I'll take drunk Mary Carrillo over him.

[Peace_47]

I tend to grade my NBC Olympic commentators on a curve, since I know almost nothing about 99% of all of these sports. And they're generally likable enough to me. For example, I've seen some shots at Bob Costas in some of the Olympics threads, but I think I would have to find out he, like, killed puppies to hate on that guy.

But I agree with everyone about Al Trautwig: I'm failing to see what he possibly adds to the gymnastics proceedings. He's always asking Elfie and Tim whether something counts as a stuck landing, whether something will be a deduction, etc. He never even seems to have a working knowledge of the rules of scoring, always questioning whether something is good or not. You'd think some gymnastics knowledge would have sunk in by now.

I keep thinking Al is John Tesh. They look and sound alike to me.

Get out of my head. I think that it took me years to find out that my regular coffee had been switched with Folgers.

Edited by Peace_47, Jul 29, 2012 @ 11:21 PM.

[Crs97]

The only way I can stand Al is to remind myself that at least he isn't Tesh. But it's starting not to work.

And shut up, Rowdy, please. I beg you. Please stop telling me how you "had a feeling" or "said this morning" that the result would happen the way it did when I listened to you before the race and you called it the opposite way. Or (my personal favorite) you called it all variations of ways so that when the results are final you can say, "See, I told you!" Even my 8 year old is starting to catch on. Stop it!

My favorite thing about the NBC London Live app on my iphone is that there was no commentary at all! Just the sport in all its glory.

[sib5]

Is there no way to block out some of the crowd sounds so I can actually hear the announcers (thinking of swimming)? Or maybe I'm just old. I have to keep raising the volume on my TV, but then I just get more crowd sounds too.

[WindSprints]

Au contraire, "Little Girls Dancing, Dancing for Gold..." from the 1992 Olympics is one of my favorite epic fluff pieces ever. And I can't find it online!!!

You can't find it because I'm pretty sure its from 1996. Check this and see if its it.

I cannot believe I remembered enough to recall it was from 96. I remember this crap and forget important things.

Tesh v Al is a toss up. Either way, Tim and Elfie were annoying regardless of who is with them.

Edited by WindSprints, Jul 30, 2012 @ 12:18 AM.

[inny]

Au contraire, "Little Girls Dancing, Dancing for Gold..." from the 1992 Olympics is one of my favorite epic fluff pieces ever. And I can't find it online!!!

This has to be one of my fondest/most horrific memories of the Olympics. A true WTF moment. However, I recall it as 'Little girls twirling...', which make it just a little more bizarre.

Ahhh... good times.

ETA: WindSprints, you magnificent bastard! That is indeed the clip. I am heartened to know that my 'twirling' memory is faulty. Still, Tesh should win a gold medal for particularly bad fluff pieces. Just wow.

Edited by inny, Jul 30, 2012 @ 12:25 AM.

[Super Mateo]

The biggest problem I have with the gymnastics announcers is their failure to teach me about the sport. I am not an expert on it. I can see if she falls off the beam, for example. i know it's a penalty. I got that. But then I have other questions: How much is the deduction? How will it affect the judges' scores? What was the move she was trying to do? How do they determine the difficulty value? What elements must be in the routine? You get the idea. If they're going to have commentary, they should attempt to educate those of us that don't fully understand all of the sport's rules and nuances. I guess I could just look it up, but if they go to another routine, I end up missing it. The graphics department doesn't help, either.

Edited by Super Mateo, Jul 30, 2012 @ 12:50 AM.

[kwantasy]

The graphics department doesn't help, either.

Especially since Tim seems to contradict every other "yellow" designation ("actually, that's still a great score for her!").