7 ms·

Women’s Gymnastics Deserves Better TV Coverage

61 points by r-w 10y ago

rdtsc 10y ago
I am guessing traditionally, up until 10 years ago, it was other countries which did better at gymnastics (especially rivals like Soviet Union, Romania, China). It was just not interesting for Americans to watch those who we were told are our enemies win gold medals. Now that our team is doing better, I can see there being an interest in broadcasting it better.
- runako 10y ago
  > up until 10 years ago This made me curious, as it didn't match my recollection. Checking the medal counts, it's apparent that the USA women's gymnastics team has been very competitive for roughly 30 years now. It's fair to wonder why the coverage isn't better by now.
  - rdtsc 10y ago
    Looking there up until 2004 I see mostly SU, Romania, China. There is only a single gold for US in 1984 by Retton and a silver for Miller in 92. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_gymnastics_%28women%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_g... That kind of jives with my recollection how medals were distributed.
    - rangibaby 10y ago
      Also remember that the USSR (and friends) didn't attend the 1984 Olympics.
      - rdtsc 10y ago
        Ah! Makes sense, forgot about that.
    - in_cahoots 10y ago
      You're ignoring the team all-around. The US got silver in 84, bronze in 92, gold in 96, and bronze in 2000. I think it's fair to say that the US as a team was one of the dominant forces in that time period, even if they didn't have the individual medalists.
- adultSwim 10y ago
  Pre-Phelps swimming, women's gymnastics was the focal point of US summer olympic TV coverage. The US women's team was very competitive in the 90's and 00's.
  - evgen 10y ago
    Pure anecdote, but off the top of my head I could name at least ten women's Olympics gymnasts from the past twenty years and not a single swimmer other than Phellps and Lochte. The Bela Karolyi era was very, very good for US gymnasts and TV coverage followed. It seems to be the summer games analogue to figure skating in the winter games, Americans are consistently competitive and attention/coverage follows, particularly given the perceived demographics of Olympics viewers vis a vis other sporting events.
- wiredfool 10y ago
  Mary Lou Retton. `84, LA Olympics. Gynmastics was a Big Deal then.
  - rdtsc 10y ago
    I bet. But it was one gold medal in what 50 years?
    - honkhonkpants 10y ago
      No, there was also Shannon Miller and the other Americans in '96, the first time that the US team won a gold medal in competition with the Russian team. Gymnastics has been hugely popular in the USA during my entire life (more than 40 years, I'm afraid).
- dpeck 10y ago
  Bit longer than 10 years ago. Americans have been very into gymnastics at the Olympics since at least Mary Lou Retton in 84, and the 96 Olympics the womens team was a huge part of the storyline. Same with Beijing and London. Mens generally doesn't get the same attention in the US, but the womens team tend to be some of the most highly recognized and reported on during and after the games.
petewailes 10y ago
A lot of the problem is that it's programmed the same way that something like Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing With the Stars) is - the focus is on the "ooooooh" factor far more than it is on getting people to understand what they're watching. With the best will in the world, most people seeing any sport in the olympics probably aren't actually following that sport. As a result, trying to get people up to speed so they can understand why the judging scores are what they are, at the same time as they're trying to watch the action, is never going to work. This is only further hampered in something like gymnastics, where the scoring is incredibly detailed and complex, and the time someone's doing something is so short. Whilst I wish people were more informed about what they're looking at, I get the impression most people don't really care that much, and just want to look at what olympians do and be astounded at it. And there's nothing wrong with that.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
spiderfarmer 10y ago
Sports coverage in The Netherlands is mostly drama free and during the olympics the commentators take their time to explain things. If foreigners would watch they probably would think we have the most boring sports channels of the world. The olympic games are also covered without commercials. Maybe NBC is spicing things up to make sure people don't go away during commercials?
zakk 10y ago
Is this even mildly related to Hacker News?
- spiderfarmer 10y ago
  "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity." http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Some of the members upvoted it, so I guess it's interesting enough.
  - mbrock 10y ago
    I have a hard time connecting "good hackers would find interesting" with "opinions about gymnastics on television".
    - gregshap 10y ago
      Gender bias is a huge topic in tech, here's an article about arguably gender bias in a different area.
    - scott_s 10y ago
      I upvoted it. One of its points is that the coverage itself is mediocre because it assumes disinterest in the actual thing being covered from its audience. It would be better if it assumed more from its audience. I think that is interesting, and applicable elsewhere.
koolba 10y ago
I think all the events need better coverage. I've seen more footage of Ryan Seacrest drinking caipirinhas than that of the sports I'd enjoy watching. Is it too much to ask in 2016 for a single web page that lets me filter down to each event and see all the heats leading up to the final? Or how about a single page with all the events happening live so I can put the one I actually want to watch?
- tathougies 10y ago
  You mean this? http://www.nbcolympics.com/live-stream-schedule http://www.nbcolympics.com/live-stream-schedule or do you mean this? http://www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule http://www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule
  - koolba 10y ago
    Thanks! I think that might be what I'm looking for but, try as it might, my browser won't load any of the streams. Not sure if it's plugin related or if the site is simply being hugged to death.
    - fjarlq 10y ago
      By any chance do you use the HTTPS Everywhere browser extension? If so, try disabling it. A friend of mine just figured out (after a few days not understanding the strange errors) that the extension is incompatible with nbcolympics.com.
      - Meegul 10y ago
        Just realized that that's why I couldn't get any of the videos to load. Thanks!
      - koolba 10y ago
        Nope that's not it. Getting the same hanging in both Chrome and Firefox so must be something else. Page loads fine, it's just the video streams that never load.
wiredfool 10y ago
I was watching the Irish (rte sport) coverage of the Men's team, and it was amazing to see the pacing. I saw a bunch of routines, some warmups, some taping and untaping or wrists, Shots of the teams on the sidelines and processing to the next apparatus, occasional commercial breaks. And the Irish weren't in the competition. So, no opportunity for extra rah rah nationalism.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
kqr2 10y ago
Also see : http://gymcastic.com/nbcimprovements/ http://gymcastic.com/nbcimprovements/
hyperliner 10y ago
I don't know if my case has anything to do with this. I (male) really enjoy watching all gymnastics (both female and male competitions). I always sort of admire people who can perform feats that I cannot do (I used to watch Bob Ross for hours, for example. I know, kill me, but I was mesmerized by his works). Anyway, one day I was watching the female competition and a relative told me that it was "creepy to be watching girls." It kind of took me aback. Since then, I avoid it. There has been this sad evolution in our society where adult males interacting with girls or teenagers in a normal way is still considered "creepy." Sadly, I don't hug my nieces anymore, for example. It's sad. I wonder if this has anything to do with the drop in stats.
- jkern 10y ago
  By stopping watching aren't you tacitly agreeing with your relative? Why not just tell them that it isn't and continue watching?
  - hyperliner 10y ago
    You really should meet my relatives.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      You're not making that sound appealing.
    - jazzyk 10y ago
      No, you really should grow a pair :-)
    - Mz 10y ago
      I am a woman who used to do gymnastics. I agree that you should grow a set. The world is not made better by decent men caving to this crap. It is made better by decent men giving push back and helping to set the standard for how to be decent. Tacitly agreeing that the only reason a man might want to watch women's gymnastics is for creepy reasons makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution. It is sort of like that line about "If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns." It is tautological. And it would be really nice if more men connected with women for non creepy reasons instead of decent men bailing because, gosh, WHAT WILL ASSHOLES THINK???? Assholes gonna asshole. You cannot let them set the standard.
dominotw 10y ago
>Not enough drama for you? How about the fact that gymnasts risk their health every time they step onto the mat? >One of the factors preventing Americans from appreciating just how difficult it is to do what an Olympic gymnast does is the fact that competitors are expected to perform their routines without betraying any evidence of effort. I've stopped reading twitter/news due to this constant moral chiding. I don't understand this (recent?) obsession with pointing out how Americans are stupid/ignorant/racists/misogynists/shallow. Wish we could keep this kind of stuff out of HN. Only egomaniacs overestimate their own virtuousness and underestimate everyone else's.
- scott_s 10y ago
  What you quoted is a criticism of American sports-media, not Americans.
  - superuser2 10y ago
    If you subscribe to the theory that the media is in a deliberate conspiracy against the public, that might hold. If you believe (as I do) that the media is mostly in the business of giving people what they want (not what they say they want, but what they actually choose to reward with ad impressions) then they are exactly the same.
    - Retric 10y ago
      That's not how mass media works. 10,010,000 mildly interested people beats 10,000,000 highly interested people. If you care about the sport you're going to watch even if the coverage I crap, thus people who care are ignorable if they can get an extra 0.01% of viewers or just save some money. So yes there are dumb people in the US and NBC wants them to tune in. But, that says little about the rest of the US population.
    - scott_s 10y ago
      No conspiracy is required. I just think they're doing the easier thing that follows narratives from non-sports programming, instead of doing the harder thing and getting experts who are good at explaining a sport to non-experts.
imsofuture 10y ago
Nevermind all the sports that don't get any TV coverage I guess?
- goatforce5 10y ago
  The annoyance may come from the fact that the various broadcasters pay an ungodly amount of money for the rights to show the Olympics, and then do a poor job of actually showing those sports (unless you're interested in sports where you're country is likely to win medals).
eknight15 10y ago
My issue is with NBC's rights to the coverage. I've seen way too many articles now with entertaining headlines and info, but no video of the actual occurrence because NBC has the rights. If you're lucky you'll find a tweet of somebody filming their TV screen.
mcgrath_sh 10y ago
I agree to an extent. The gymnastics events should be live on one of NBC's various channels. However, the thing to remember is that the women won gold at ~5:30 EST. I would not be happy if they cut away from live swimming to show tape-delayed gymnastics. Gymnastics is getting the short end of the stick partially due to tbe schedules.
exclusiv 10y ago
I have a theory on the popularity of certain sports, and I think it could come down to whether the sport is clear on how performances are ranked. Basically if it requires judges it will be limited in its mass market appeal. Sports that require judges: - Aren't going to appeal as much to men as a whole. Men like clear rules and clear outcomes. Boxing is probably the only popular sport that's often not clear - but it has knockouts and TKOs which help clarify. - Will have a lot of off-putting or repetitive banter because you have to explain how the judges rate things that aren't obvious and sometimes make no sense. The judges and commentators can come across as snooty & pretentious too. - Often leave a bad taste in your mouth if your perception of the winner is different.
taplogger 10y ago
I'm sorry, but this critic is way off base about NBC's gymnastics coverage. NBC should be applauded for letting the performances speak for themselves and having the self-restraint to focus on what the gymnasts do well rather than poisoning the mood by expounding on minor imperfections. Additionally, I didn't get a single hint NBC was characterizing these gymnasts as 'teenage pixies,' or trying to deceive the viewer to ramp up the drama. NBC let the images do the talking, and the US team was a picture of control, power, and intensity. Last night the US had essentially won the competition before the floor exercise, but still, as NBC showed the US gymnasts warm-up, I was overcome with a realization of just how powerful these young American women are and how well they represent the United States to the rest of the world. Tears swelled. After Raisman's transcendent floor routine, NBC showed her parents in the stands. Despite being nervous wrecks in all the previous camera shots, they looked on expressionless, probably coming to an unknowable realization of their own. Raisman eventually walked over to her bag at the side of the arena and the Chinese team basically lined up to pay respect and show their admiration. The crowd started chanting Ali's name, which I've never heard at a gymnastics event. I hope the critic wasn't consumed with the inane chatter of the internet during these moments. Then again, here I am engaging in the same. I just wish journalists would stop treating opinions from the internet as legitimate and representative, particularly from Twitter.
taplogger 10y ago
I'm sorry, but this critic is way off base about NBC's gymnastics coverage. NBC should be applauded for letting the performances speak for themselves and having the self-restraint to focus on what the gymnasts do well rather than poisoning the mood by expounding on minor imperfections. Additionally, I didn't get a single hint NBC was characterizing these gymnasts as 'teenage pixies,' nor trying to deceive the viewer to ramp up the drama. NBC let the images do the talking, and the US team was a picture of control, power, and intensity. Last night the US had essentially won the competition before the floor exercise, but still, as NBC showed the US gymnasts warm-up, I was overcome with a realization of just how powerful these young American women are and how well they represent the United States to the rest of the world. Tears swelled. After a transcendent Raisman floor routine, NBC showed her parents in the stands. Despite being nervous wrecks in all the previous camera shots, they looked on expressionless, probably coming to an unknowable realization of their own. Raisman eventually walked over to her bag at the side of the arena and the Chinese team basically lined up to pay respect and show their admiration. The crowd started chanting Ali's name, which I've never heard at a gymnastics event. It was high Sport and great TV. I hope the critic wasn't consumed with the inane chatter of the internet during these moments. Then again, here I am engaging in the same. I just wish journalists would stop treating opinions from the internet as representative and worth responding to, particularly those from Twitter.
xacaxulu 10y ago
"Why Americans are bad." written by some self-loathing Americans at the New Yorker Department of Puffington Host-Style Clickbait Generation.

61 points by r-w 10y ago

rdtsc 10y ago

I am guessing traditionally, up until 10 years ago, it was other countries which did better at gymnastics (especially rivals like Soviet Union, Romania, China). It was just not interesting for Americans to watch those who we were told are our enemies win gold medals. Now that our team is doing better, I can see there being an interest in broadcasting it better.

runako 10y ago
> up until 10 years ago This made me curious, as it didn't match my recollection. Checking the medal counts, it's apparent that the USA women's gymnastics team has been very competitive for roughly 30 years now. It's fair to wonder why the coverage isn't better by now.
- rdtsc 10y ago
  Looking there up until 2004 I see mostly SU, Romania, China. There is only a single gold for US in 1984 by Retton and a silver for Miller in 92. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_gymnastics_%28women%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_g... That kind of jives with my recollection how medals were distributed.
  - rangibaby 10y ago
    Also remember that the USSR (and friends) didn't attend the 1984 Olympics.
    - rdtsc 10y ago
      Ah! Makes sense, forgot about that.
  - in_cahoots 10y ago
    You're ignoring the team all-around. The US got silver in 84, bronze in 92, gold in 96, and bronze in 2000. I think it's fair to say that the US as a team was one of the dominant forces in that time period, even if they didn't have the individual medalists.
adultSwim 10y ago
Pre-Phelps swimming, women's gymnastics was the focal point of US summer olympic TV coverage. The US women's team was very competitive in the 90's and 00's.
- evgen 10y ago
  Pure anecdote, but off the top of my head I could name at least ten women's Olympics gymnasts from the past twenty years and not a single swimmer other than Phellps and Lochte. The Bela Karolyi era was very, very good for US gymnasts and TV coverage followed. It seems to be the summer games analogue to figure skating in the winter games, Americans are consistently competitive and attention/coverage follows, particularly given the perceived demographics of Olympics viewers vis a vis other sporting events.
wiredfool 10y ago
Mary Lou Retton. `84, LA Olympics. Gynmastics was a Big Deal then.
- rdtsc 10y ago
  I bet. But it was one gold medal in what 50 years?
  - honkhonkpants 10y ago
    No, there was also Shannon Miller and the other Americans in '96, the first time that the US team won a gold medal in competition with the Russian team. Gymnastics has been hugely popular in the USA during my entire life (more than 40 years, I'm afraid).
dpeck 10y ago
Bit longer than 10 years ago. Americans have been very into gymnastics at the Olympics since at least Mary Lou Retton in 84, and the 96 Olympics the womens team was a huge part of the storyline. Same with Beijing and London. Mens generally doesn't get the same attention in the US, but the womens team tend to be some of the most highly recognized and reported on during and after the games.

petewailes 10y ago

A lot of the problem is that it's programmed the same way that something like Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing With the Stars) is - the focus is on the "ooooooh" factor far more than it is on getting people to understand what they're watching. With the best will in the world, most people seeing any sport in the olympics probably aren't actually following that sport. As a result, trying to get people up to speed so they can understand why the judging scores are what they are, at the same time as they're trying to watch the action, is never going to work. This is only further hampered in something like gymnastics, where the scoring is incredibly detailed and complex, and the time someone's doing something is so short. Whilst I wish people were more informed about what they're looking at, I get the impression most people don't really care that much, and just want to look at what olympians do and be astounded at it. And there's nothing wrong with that.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

spiderfarmer 10y ago

Sports coverage in The Netherlands is mostly drama free and during the olympics the commentators take their time to explain things. If foreigners would watch they probably would think we have the most boring sports channels of the world. The olympic games are also covered without commercials. Maybe NBC is spicing things up to make sure people don't go away during commercials?

zakk 10y ago

Is this even mildly related to Hacker News?

spiderfarmer 10y ago
"On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity." http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Some of the members upvoted it, so I guess it's interesting enough.
- mbrock 10y ago
  I have a hard time connecting "good hackers would find interesting" with "opinions about gymnastics on television".
  - gregshap 10y ago
    Gender bias is a huge topic in tech, here's an article about arguably gender bias in a different area.
  - scott_s 10y ago
    I upvoted it. One of its points is that the coverage itself is mediocre because it assumes disinterest in the actual thing being covered from its audience. It would be better if it assumed more from its audience. I think that is interesting, and applicable elsewhere.

koolba 10y ago

I think all the events need better coverage. I've seen more footage of Ryan Seacrest drinking caipirinhas than that of the sports I'd enjoy watching. Is it too much to ask in 2016 for a single web page that lets me filter down to each event and see all the heats leading up to the final? Or how about a single page with all the events happening live so I can put the one I actually want to watch?

tathougies 10y ago
You mean this? http://www.nbcolympics.com/live-stream-schedule http://www.nbcolympics.com/live-stream-schedule or do you mean this? http://www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule http://www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule
- koolba 10y ago
  Thanks! I think that might be what I'm looking for but, try as it might, my browser won't load any of the streams. Not sure if it's plugin related or if the site is simply being hugged to death.
  - fjarlq 10y ago
    By any chance do you use the HTTPS Everywhere browser extension? If so, try disabling it. A friend of mine just figured out (after a few days not understanding the strange errors) that the extension is incompatible with nbcolympics.com.
    - Meegul 10y ago
      Just realized that that's why I couldn't get any of the videos to load. Thanks!
    - koolba 10y ago
      Nope that's not it. Getting the same hanging in both Chrome and Firefox so must be something else. Page loads fine, it's just the video streams that never load.

wiredfool 10y ago

I was watching the Irish (rte sport) coverage of the Men's team, and it was amazing to see the pacing. I saw a bunch of routines, some warmups, some taping and untaping or wrists, Shots of the teams on the sidelines and processing to the next apparatus, occasional commercial breaks. And the Irish weren't in the competition. So, no opportunity for extra rah rah nationalism.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

kqr2 10y ago

Also see : http://gymcastic.com/nbcimprovements/ http://gymcastic.com/nbcimprovements/

hyperliner 10y ago

I don't know if my case has anything to do with this. I (male) really enjoy watching all gymnastics (both female and male competitions). I always sort of admire people who can perform feats that I cannot do (I used to watch Bob Ross for hours, for example. I know, kill me, but I was mesmerized by his works). Anyway, one day I was watching the female competition and a relative told me that it was "creepy to be watching girls." It kind of took me aback. Since then, I avoid it. There has been this sad evolution in our society where adult males interacting with girls or teenagers in a normal way is still considered "creepy." Sadly, I don't hug my nieces anymore, for example. It's sad. I wonder if this has anything to do with the drop in stats.

jkern 10y ago
By stopping watching aren't you tacitly agreeing with your relative? Why not just tell them that it isn't and continue watching?
- hyperliner 10y ago
  You really should meet my relatives.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    You're not making that sound appealing.
  - jazzyk 10y ago
    No, you really should grow a pair :-)
  - Mz 10y ago
    I am a woman who used to do gymnastics. I agree that you should grow a set. The world is not made better by decent men caving to this crap. It is made better by decent men giving push back and helping to set the standard for how to be decent. Tacitly agreeing that the only reason a man might want to watch women's gymnastics is for creepy reasons makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution. It is sort of like that line about "If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns." It is tautological. And it would be really nice if more men connected with women for non creepy reasons instead of decent men bailing because, gosh, WHAT WILL ASSHOLES THINK???? Assholes gonna asshole. You cannot let them set the standard.

dominotw 10y ago

>Not enough drama for you? How about the fact that gymnasts risk their health every time they step onto the mat? >One of the factors preventing Americans from appreciating just how difficult it is to do what an Olympic gymnast does is the fact that competitors are expected to perform their routines without betraying any evidence of effort. I've stopped reading twitter/news due to this constant moral chiding. I don't understand this (recent?) obsession with pointing out how Americans are stupid/ignorant/racists/misogynists/shallow. Wish we could keep this kind of stuff out of HN. Only egomaniacs overestimate their own virtuousness and underestimate everyone else's.

scott_s 10y ago
What you quoted is a criticism of American sports-media, not Americans.
- superuser2 10y ago
  If you subscribe to the theory that the media is in a deliberate conspiracy against the public, that might hold. If you believe (as I do) that the media is mostly in the business of giving people what they want (not what they say they want, but what they actually choose to reward with ad impressions) then they are exactly the same.
  - Retric 10y ago
    That's not how mass media works. 10,010,000 mildly interested people beats 10,000,000 highly interested people. If you care about the sport you're going to watch even if the coverage I crap, thus people who care are ignorable if they can get an extra 0.01% of viewers or just save some money. So yes there are dumb people in the US and NBC wants them to tune in. But, that says little about the rest of the US population.
  - scott_s 10y ago
    No conspiracy is required. I just think they're doing the easier thing that follows narratives from non-sports programming, instead of doing the harder thing and getting experts who are good at explaining a sport to non-experts.

imsofuture 10y ago

Nevermind all the sports that don't get any TV coverage I guess?

goatforce5 10y ago
The annoyance may come from the fact that the various broadcasters pay an ungodly amount of money for the rights to show the Olympics, and then do a poor job of actually showing those sports (unless you're interested in sports where you're country is likely to win medals).

eknight15 10y ago

My issue is with NBC's rights to the coverage. I've seen way too many articles now with entertaining headlines and info, but no video of the actual occurrence because NBC has the rights. If you're lucky you'll find a tweet of somebody filming their TV screen.

mcgrath_sh 10y ago

I agree to an extent. The gymnastics events should be live on one of NBC's various channels. However, the thing to remember is that the women won gold at ~5:30 EST. I would not be happy if they cut away from live swimming to show tape-delayed gymnastics. Gymnastics is getting the short end of the stick partially due to tbe schedules.

exclusiv 10y ago

I have a theory on the popularity of certain sports, and I think it could come down to whether the sport is clear on how performances are ranked. Basically if it requires judges it will be limited in its mass market appeal. Sports that require judges: - Aren't going to appeal as much to men as a whole. Men like clear rules and clear outcomes. Boxing is probably the only popular sport that's often not clear - but it has knockouts and TKOs which help clarify. - Will have a lot of off-putting or repetitive banter because you have to explain how the judges rate things that aren't obvious and sometimes make no sense. The judges and commentators can come across as snooty & pretentious too. - Often leave a bad taste in your mouth if your perception of the winner is different.

taplogger 10y ago

I'm sorry, but this critic is way off base about NBC's gymnastics coverage. NBC should be applauded for letting the performances speak for themselves and having the self-restraint to focus on what the gymnasts do well rather than poisoning the mood by expounding on minor imperfections. Additionally, I didn't get a single hint NBC was characterizing these gymnasts as 'teenage pixies,' or trying to deceive the viewer to ramp up the drama. NBC let the images do the talking, and the US team was a picture of control, power, and intensity. Last night the US had essentially won the competition before the floor exercise, but still, as NBC showed the US gymnasts warm-up, I was overcome with a realization of just how powerful these young American women are and how well they represent the United States to the rest of the world. Tears swelled. After Raisman's transcendent floor routine, NBC showed her parents in the stands. Despite being nervous wrecks in all the previous camera shots, they looked on expressionless, probably coming to an unknowable realization of their own. Raisman eventually walked over to her bag at the side of the arena and the Chinese team basically lined up to pay respect and show their admiration. The crowd started chanting Ali's name, which I've never heard at a gymnastics event. I hope the critic wasn't consumed with the inane chatter of the internet during these moments. Then again, here I am engaging in the same. I just wish journalists would stop treating opinions from the internet as legitimate and representative, particularly from Twitter.

taplogger 10y ago

I'm sorry, but this critic is way off base about NBC's gymnastics coverage. NBC should be applauded for letting the performances speak for themselves and having the self-restraint to focus on what the gymnasts do well rather than poisoning the mood by expounding on minor imperfections. Additionally, I didn't get a single hint NBC was characterizing these gymnasts as 'teenage pixies,' nor trying to deceive the viewer to ramp up the drama. NBC let the images do the talking, and the US team was a picture of control, power, and intensity. Last night the US had essentially won the competition before the floor exercise, but still, as NBC showed the US gymnasts warm-up, I was overcome with a realization of just how powerful these young American women are and how well they represent the United States to the rest of the world. Tears swelled. After a transcendent Raisman floor routine, NBC showed her parents in the stands. Despite being nervous wrecks in all the previous camera shots, they looked on expressionless, probably coming to an unknowable realization of their own. Raisman eventually walked over to her bag at the side of the arena and the Chinese team basically lined up to pay respect and show their admiration. The crowd started chanting Ali's name, which I've never heard at a gymnastics event. It was high Sport and great TV. I hope the critic wasn't consumed with the inane chatter of the internet during these moments. Then again, here I am engaging in the same. I just wish journalists would stop treating opinions from the internet as representative and worth responding to, particularly those from Twitter.

xacaxulu 10y ago

"Why Americans are bad." written by some self-loathing Americans at the New Yorker Department of Puffington Host-Style Clickbait Generation.