My daughter isn’t the only one to chortle about Bob Costas’ pathetic hairpiece. Practically everyone I’ve talked to has commented. But trust a ten-year old girl to observe that men who are bald should admit it. [Does that mean they shouldn't wear hats?-ed. Wisenheimer.]
But that’s not the worst of Costas who has spent a great deal of time excoriating George Bush, but has devoted nary a word – at least when I’ve been listening – to the activities of the Chinese government, which – even though some self-described progressives at MoveOn, etc. feel otherwise – is nowhere in the ballpark of the CCP. In fact, if Bush were, MoveOn et al would already be in jail.
Of course this is not the world of Bob Costas, which seems to revolve in great degree around women’s beach volley ball. [Maybe that's the reason for the rug.-ed. I told you what my daughter said.] NBC’s coverage is notably chauvinistic, focusing almost exclusively on American events, so that viewers miss entire sports, some of which would be interesting to see. Oh, well. I’m sure this has been focus grouped to death.
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20 Comments
1. tim maguire:I couldn’t believe it the other night when he compared people who think the Chinese gymnasts look too young to people who look at 18 or 20 year olds and think “they look just like kids”. It was an outrageous remark and a totally unnecessary covering for the Chinese
Aug 14, 2008 - 11:24 am 2. Daniel O'Brien:Last Saturday I had his radio program on while driving. He was interviewing Jackie Robinson’s widow. The conversation tracked to how Jackie was independent and had supported GOP candidates. To make a long story short, Costas intoned that was when there were “progressive” Republicans. What a pamphlet reading idiot!
Aug 14, 2008 - 11:48 am 3. Mareyel:Bob Costas is one of the reasons a mute button on the remote is a good idea. NBC is a leader in the Bush Derangement Syndrome.
Aug 14, 2008 - 12:37 pm 4. Lem:Costas couldn’t carry McKay’s mostas briefcase
Aug 14, 2008 - 1:10 pm 5. George Crosley:Even The New York Times, in a “Styles” article today by Guy Trebay, cites Costas’s “jaw-dropping impertinence,” citing his telling the president after concluding an interview that he was “dismissed.”
Aug 14, 2008 - 1:43 pm 6. srlucado:I was pleased that at least Bela Karolyi wasn’t afraid to speak up, though of course Costas wasn’t about to agree. (As I said on the Powerline forum, the only way those Chinese gymnasts were 16 would be in dog years.)
My wife has been watching the Olympics, and I’ve sat through some of it. To NBC, it’s as though political oppression, pollution, more-blood-than-oil in Darfur, and systematic cheating don’t even exist, not in the tacky-bright utopia of Beijing…Gotta sell that Coca Cola. (Ah, go bite the wax tadpole.)
Scott
Aug 14, 2008 - 1:44 pm 7. Lawrence Kellogg:Winston Churchill didn’t wear a rug. Dwight D. Eisenhower didn’t, either. We now live in an age of $400 haircuts when that which is underneath the hair, as well as the scalp, is no longer the main event. I salute your daughter for her prescience and for having had the good luck to have you for a father. Whether you’re wearing your fedora or not, you’ve got the goods.
Aug 14, 2008 - 2:07 pm 8. steve:Regarding the particular coverage, being Canadian, I have also watched a lot of CBC’s coverage and found myself turning to NBC’s coverage in order to see non-Canadian athletes and events that I cared about. I actually thought that NBC’s coverage has been better. I guess this is just another case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence.
On an aside, my girlfriend is from Shanghai and I have never seen her as excited or as proud of her former homeland (she is now a Canadian citizen) than this past week.
Cheers
Aug 14, 2008 - 2:36 pm 9. Lightnin' Hopkins:What is it with sports anchors and writers who gain some popularity and then become insufferable “progressive” jackasses? I mean in the media in general, only even moreso? Olby and the Napoleonic Mitch Albom (he has the ego of ten men and a small boy — paraphrased h/t: “The Larry Sanders Show”) come to mind immediately. Yeah yeah, I get it, you hate Bush. How about giving us the scores, Chomsky?
Steve: That’s funny because being in Detroit (with Windsor’s Channel 9 for years), I always prefer the CBC coverage (certainly for the Winter Games). NBC is usually too overwraught for me, in addition to the aforementioned BDS.
Aug 14, 2008 - 3:40 pm 10. LSD:NBC has done Phelps and the combo of May and Walsh a great disservice by droning on about every possible detail of their experiences. It is, after all, an interesting event with lots of stories to tell. -I find myself resenting these really likeable atheletes because of the stupid NBC coverage.
I wonder if NBC will cover or comment if Taiwan wins gold and the chinese anthem plays.
Aug 14, 2008 - 3:50 pm 11. Dave S:Re: Costas, regardless of what political, non-sports related drivel he speaks, he represents something that is very tiresome in sports announcers. He speaks in long-winded, adjective filled, run-on sentences. His use of multiple parenthetic phrases, seemingly without breathing, and ultimately saying nothing comes off as just one constant drone. Long, sentences, filled with multi-syllable words does not convey some sort of mental power onto these jocks. (To Joe Morgan, et al: “velocity” is not the same as “speed” and is improperly used in describing how fast a pitch is moving.) Moreover, they mistakenly think that sports fans truly want to sit and listen to guys posing for Pulitzers. No! we want to see sports performances.
Re: NBC, they have may Carillo touring China giving propaganda messages. She gave a glowing review of the Three Gorges Dam and hydroelectric project. Any American enterprise which would cause such widespread environmental, social and anthropological destruction would be rightly excoriated by NBC. But, let the ChiComs do it, and it shows how progressive they are!
Aug 15, 2008 - 10:06 am 12. Banjo:The world is full of tiny, fast-talking men. But they’re usually found on used car lots. Now that Costas finds himself a World Figure, we can expect him to venture into geo-political affairs when the Cubs and Indians are knotted in a 1 to 1 snorer in the seventh.
Aug 16, 2008 - 6:11 am 13. IraW:Your daughter’s got shit for brains. Costas doesn’t wear a piece. And, he’s no progressive. He’s right of center on most issues. But, to neocon Jews like you – anyone who has qualms about enslaving exterminating every Muslim in the world is a “progressive.”
Aug 16, 2008 - 12:59 pm 14. pappy:costas and collingsworth, two of the biggest jerks in broadcasting.now there is a sty dweller who makes them both look like pikers as he began spewing his political views on night time football. i heard his name, it’s something like…teeth cyborbung, or leech overbite. never seen any thing like it.
Aug 16, 2008 - 3:33 pm 15. Lightnin' Hopkins:IraW: You’re a people person, aren’t you? I can tell. I’m sure most folks find your winning charm positively irresistible in person, because I’ve gotta tell you — just from my brief exposure to your character on this thread — that I am bowled over by your dignified grace.
Oh yeah, hey, how about that Bush, huh? You must have some interesting thoughts on him, I’m sure. It sure would be fun to hear your take. Then again, you probably prefer to keep things classy — wouldn’t want to cheapen the debate with ad hominem attacks or anything — I understand. Prudent *and* dignified. Color me impressed.
Aug 16, 2008 - 7:52 pm 16. srlucado:Is Costas’s hair (real or fake) scaring people away? Is that why the stadiums are so devoid of spectators?
In a country with 1,200,000,000 people, can’t they sell tickets to these events? Or does the government not want the proles mixing with foreigners?
Whatever the reason, it’s weird to see so many empty seats for these events. And it must be weird for the competitors, I’d think.
Scott
Aug 17, 2008 - 9:26 am 17. Pastorius:Costas has not seemed himself during these Olympics.
The other night, during the opening ceremonies I could have sworn I heard him saying the Chinese drummers got the ceremony off to a bad start. At other times, he just seems confused, and as you note, doesn’t seem to know what to say about China.
I have wondered if he was under the influence.
And then, last night I didn’t see him during 9-11 PM time slot.
Was he there? Where did he disappear to?
Aug 17, 2008 - 11:15 am 18. Doc:The chauvinism you decry is everywhere… or at least everywhere I’ve watched the Olympics, which is the US and China. Watching the 2004 games in Beijing, I was shocked to discover that the games weren’t limited to basketball, track, gymnastics, volleyball, and swimming. Everybody plays to the hometown crowd – if you want to see extensive coverage of judo, ping pong, and badminton, watch Chinese coverage.
I’m also surprised at the empty seats. I expected them to bus in spectators for any event that wasn’t sold out. Not the ones that they are bringing in, but schools and the like. That’s fairly common here – I’ve been to many events that way. It’s possible that all the prelims pose too great a logistical challenge.
Aug 17, 2008 - 7:19 pm 19. Scott:Roger,you should have mentioned the best sportscaster’s rug ever…HOWARD COSELL’s!
Aug 21, 2008 - 7:04 am 20. Pat:Costas was probably just frustrated he couldn’t find a way to work Mickey Mantle into the Olympics coverage
Aug 26, 2008 - 2:05 am