Comments on: Dear NBC Olympics Anchors: A Little Patriotism Wouldn’t Kill You

By: bill

bill — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:23:41 +0000

I disagree and thought the focus on “we” throughout strained the credibility of the all American commentators – Cris Collinsowrth sitting there holding Momma Phelps’ hand during the final – come on…and the comment in the mens volleyball final after a pivotal point that the American player knew the point should have gone to the other team because he had improperly touched the bsll, but of course he was not going to say anything, end of story…well wasn’t that what James Blake whined about in his match – that a player didn’t self-correct a bad call? And watch out when you go on and on about other countries cheating – not so long go
there was Marion Jones et al

I always hope for a balanced presentation, but always see a bunch of cheerleaders instead…

By: Ditto

Ditto — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:33:56 +0000

It’s an interesting discussion. All in all… I was stunned by the beauty of the opening ceremony and underwhelmed by the closing ceremony… and I still want to know why such a big deal was made of the mural that the dancers painted in the former. We were told it would play a major role throughout the games and it did not. Left me scratching my head.

I remember listening to Simon Cowell (sp?) on American Idol one season as he, in absolute bewilderment, came to the startling realization that we Americans can actually be happy when someone else does well and wins. He couldn’t relate to it at all. I was glad for every athlete who did his or her best, without cheating, and earned a medal.

That said… the Chinese cheating was horrible. The judges who couldn’t tell a stuck landing from a balance check were shameful. I had nightmares in which the little 13 or 14 year old Chinese child who won her gymnastics medal illegally was so ashamed she went out and committed seppuku (sp?) over her loss of face. Terrible to put a child in an ethical position like that. She’ll grow up thinking it was fine to lie, as long as she won and got away with it.

The IOC would have jumped all over American athletes who had been in any way less than qualified to be in the games. I guess we take another one on the chin. Still… as Ms. Clouthier said, “The Olympics is about dreams.” And Harry Golden said, “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” We’ll just have to beat them when they cheat, too.

I do think it’s fine for the American reporters to applaud the athletic achievements of the talented competitors from other countries. But Bolt was literally being cheered on by American broadcasters, which I thought was way over the top. Aren’t reporters there to… report? [scratching head] The one guy was cheering so loud for Bolt he about lost his voice!

In some matches the commentators seemed to have a genuine interest in U.S. Gold… Volleyball… Swimming… I wondered how they arrived at the conclusion that it was fine to cheer for our team in those sports. I loved Bela’s enthusiasm and loved Phelps’ mom. I loved all the athletes who didn’t let the idiocy of the media get to them and didn’t let the cheating stop them from being proud of their own achievements.

When did we, as a culture, get this idea that it’s wrong to compete to the best of our ability and to win with a glad heart?

By: DSH

DSH — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:22:10 +0000

Well, in Collingsworth’s defense on being surprised on how well Olympic athletes are representing the USA, he is used to interviewing football players, so to him it good citizenship would be surprising.

By: Dark Helmet

Dark Helmet — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:50:39 +0000

Hey evan & sara,

when the rest of the world isn’t getting hand outs and freebies, when the rest of the world is the back bone and the final say in the military that protects the rest of the weaklings, when the rest of the world ARE THE FIRST ONES TO SHOW UP WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, then you can blather your anti American dribble. Other wise like the headlines said, STFU.But it would take about 100 years of showing up FIRST JUST TO BE EVEN.

Take a look at all the white crosses in europe and everywhere else that Americans died. , there aren’t any here for the rest of the world coming to our aid. So why don’t you STFU and learn how to respect this country. nbc sh*t eaters are never going to teach you anything other than the crap you put out here.

By: Clay Whitford

Clay Whitford — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:36:56 +0000

“I miss Howard Cosell.”

Yeah, it would have been great to hear “looking at that monkey run” when calling Usain Bolt’s races over and over again.

I don’t think so.

By: Charles Hansing

Charles Hansing — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:33:05 +0000

I enjoy watching Bobaloo Costas. It goes back to the days of the NFL in the 80’s, and definitely the NBA on NBC… the greatest sports telecast ever.
I just hope the hair dye hasn’t gone into his brain and ruined all that great information he has and can say at any moment:
“That was a great play. Do you remember in the 1968 World Series Game 3, which was played under a full moon, that Jimmy hit that pop fly 321.349 feet and it was caught by Billie running at an amazing 3.4 m/s, where no one would have dreamed that Billie would have caught it, but due to the way the grass was cut in the ballpark, it was theoretically possible by only a select few running at the optimum speed, which Billie did”.

By: Granny

Granny — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:33:32 +0000

Good grief! Bush Derangement Syndrome again. I hope you folks who think our country is SO bad are just teenagers so you will have some time to grow up! If you’re older, please move to Canada or France or England or Russia or Cuba or Venezuela. I’m sure they will be happy to have more America bashers there.
The rest of us are busy raising families, working, making things, and donating our money to good causes and working as volunteers in our communities.
We’re happy to live in this country whether it’s perfect or not.
You mean and hateful folks need a change of venue soon!

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:20:39 +0000

What pathetic jingoistic whimpering insufferable dolts you all are. Maybe Costas just didn’t dig being manhandled by Karoli. Would you have rather that Bob joined him in a spectacular wrestling match behind the desk? And I had no problem with the infamous (according to you) VISA spot. It was responding to the *spirit* of the games, even if this spirit is somewhat questionable due to politics. But that’s another rant. If you were jonesing for patriotism, Ford had plenty to spare in its own commercials.

Look, this country has lost much of its moral currency thanks to BushCo, whom you all probably voted for. Twice. This is unfortunate and needs to be corrected quickly. I suppose you all think Big Bad John McSame is just the guy for that job. Yeah, right, and where are those WMDs anyway?

Oh, yeah, you boy Junior Bush did in fact steal himself an election.

By: gymnast

gymnast — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:51:38 +0000

It looks like the US women did win the gymnastics after all, If the rules regarding age requirements for competitors are to be enforced. Rogge, the French head of the IOC has indicated that it is not his problem. This is starting to get interesting as NBC, the “Network of the Olympics” seems to actively ignoring the story and in addition to it’s benign indifference to the human right immorality and active cheating by the host country.

NBC seems to find China to be perfect and everything else flawed in comparison. And the USA especially flawed.

By: nitpicker

nitpicker — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:14:20 +0000

“The NBC reportage brings to mind the tone of Barack Obama, whose take on ignorant Americans not knowing languages has been debunked this Olympics. Kobe Bryant was doing interviews over in China with other countries’ press corps.”

I’m guessing by the fact you think this debunks anything, you’re not a doctor of philosophy.

Less than 10 percent of Americans are bilingual, while half of Europeans are. John McCain himself voted on a “sense of the Senate” resolution which A) included that statistic; B) said “foreign language study makes important contributions to a student’s cognitive development, our national economy, and our national security; and C) passed unanimously.