Hey, I'm Watching the Olympics!
Lately I've been hearing people complain that watching the Olympics is anti-climatic because here in the US, we know all of the results before NBC broadcasts the events in prime time. We hear the results on the radio, we see them on the evening news, and, of course, we can get them online (even at NBC's own website).
Admittedly, viewership of NBC's broadcast of the games is low, but that does not mean it is useless as Frank Deford seemed to suggest yesterday morning on NPR's Morning Edition. A few days before I heard Deford hold forth on the Olympics, I heard another commentator on NPR say that in the future NBC is going to have to find a way to include the internet in their delivery of Olympic events. In opposition to his opinion that NBC should do some live video streaming (or something), I like the fact that NBC has a link on their website called "Click here to avoid results."
So, in response to these commentators, I have two questions:
Am I the only one patient enough to wait until after dinner to find out who won?
Second, and more important, is my rebuttal to the claim (from the first NPR guy) that once people know the results, there is no reason for them to watch the event. I completely disagree! Part of the joy of the Olympics (or any sporting event, really) is seeing the execution. Yes, I am interested in who won, but I am just as interested in seeing how they won. I want to see the technique and the expressions on the athlete's faces. For example, as I am posting this I am watching the Women's Figure Skating competition. I went onto NPR's website to find the link to the Deford piece; as I was searching for his link, I happened to see the headlines on the main page. One of them was: "Japan wins gold in figure skating." I was disappointed that I had inadvertently seen the results, but I am not about to turn off the broadcast. I want to see what the Japanese skater does to get the gold: does she bust out a quadruple axel? Do the Americans and Russians fall?
Is anybody out there with me on this?
posted by cgabor @ 10:28 PM
3 Comments:
yes. I am with you on this. I think that the internet is good and evil all wrapped into one. With it we can do so many wonderful things. it does however cause problems with the olympics. I feel like people who are complaning are reaching for a reason to explain why the ratings were so low. why 'american idol' beat out the olympics in ratings. Idol had 78 million viewers, a two to one margin over ALL tv, including the olympics and dancing with the stars.some people are calling for real time olympics. would more people watch women's figure skating if it were at 4am? probably not. Four years ago the world cup as in Japan. USA played Germany at 4am. The bars were packed, the ratings were high. but the world cup is not the same as the olympics. a different demogaphic views them. The world cup is in germany this year. we will be watching games live at odd hours. that will not be a sufficient test. The next test will be the summer games, the next winter olympics will be in Vancouver. If ratings are still low, then we might have to come to grips with it; reality tv has ruined tv.
well a tangent- not cohesive or well thought out. i am on the same page as you. i think that the results are only a small part of the competeion. we watch for the spectacle. we watch to see the canadians fall. we watch to see the americans fly. we watch to see the world compete. we watch because we love to see the best be the best. not just so we know who got gold and who did not. the olympics are much more than the results.
gh
Garth, I feel very lucky to get a response to my pictureLESS post!
If i were to write a review of blogger i would complain about the fact that it is hard to respond to someone if they post to your site. i have to post on mine and hope you check back, or post here and hope you know what i am referring to.
although Barthes does have possibly the second coolest name ever (second to garth) i did not include him in this post. a rhetorical choice? or just a 'i am droning on too long' choice. i am not sure. maybe in future posts. i do like thinking in these terms that cannot be defined. that is where i am most comfortable. trying to make sense of things that are not easily captured. maybe that is good, maybe bad. anyways... i look forward to thinking about this stuff some more.
on your other note. yes Saul is the slam poet. he is an interesting artist. he is a great contemporary example of a genre buster. he does slam and poetry and movies and tv and theatre. i am a fan of his mindset. the way he approches life is unique and thought provoking. rambling again...
gh
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