From: jgacker@NEPTUNE.GSFC.NASA.GOV (James G. Acker)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Olympics coverage -- sportscasters
Date: 31 Jul 92 17:14:36 GMT


	I still think criticizing or critiquing Olympic sportscasters
(or sportscasters in general, for that matter) is a waste of time.  But:

	The average American public is a dope.

	A landing mistake in gymnastics costs a tenth or so of a point.
The sportscasters are constantly aware that someone "may have just
tuned in", and must keep stating an obvious trend to explain the final
outcome.  I.e., in the team competition, the main difference between
the gold medal to the Unified team and the bronze medal to the U.S. 
was the fact that the Unified team hit more of their landings, and
the U.S. did some hops.  

	They will play to emotion, because emotion sells.  It seems
that with either disaster or triumph, Zmeskal goes into "stare".  O.K.,
Mr. Director, do you think the audience will be more impressed with a)
a genuine show of emotion after a bitter defeat, displaying how dedicated
these athletes are and how much is personally at stake; b) a Zmeskal
stare, or c) an endless series of replay of back layout handsprings?

	Remember, repetitious perfection is boring.  There would be no
"sport" of gymnastics if there were no deviations from perfection.  At
the high level of the Olympics, a minor bobble is a major mistake.  They
HAVE to emphasize this, and if they don't, they aren't doing their job.

	And I thought the analysis of the Miller and Goutsou vaults
was right on.  It is really difficult to see how Shannon Miller's
vault could have gotten less than a 10 (apparently 4 out of 7 judges 
scored a 10), and Goutsou's was not performed as well.  But the second
was better than the first, so the scoring was consistent.  Should
the scores have been lower?  I don't know, I'm not an expert.  Daggett
and Schlegel, the hired experts, thought it should have been.

	Quote from today's USA Today, Rudy Martzke:  "His (Tesh) touching
commentary is as much a reason for NBC's first-week success with viewers
as the quality production and fellow medal-winner {Martzke gave out
"medals for sportcasters} and main host Bob Costas.
	On his broadcasting performance, Tesh said, "Dick Ebersol (NBC
sports president) comes around every day and says "John, tell us a story,
make us cry."  Well, I've had plenty of material, with Kim Zmeskal and 
the Unified women."

	However, Martzke really doesn't criticize anyone.

	One more for the grist mill:  If you watch football, how many times
have you heard the color man say something like "if they're going to get
back in this game, they're going to have to put a scoring drive together
right now"?  That's the equivalent of the diving analyst saying "if he's
going to get into medal contention, he's going to have to put this dive
in the water".  What else can you say?  They don't have time to say
	"If Shobangi Zluklucewicz is going to get enough points for a 
bronze medal, he'll have to perform his next dive, a 2 1/2 reverse
somersault in the pike position, in the following manner:  His takeoff
will have to derive the maximum height from the springboard, he will have
to perform a flip moving his head backward toward the board and then
revolve two and one-half times in the air with his nose on his knees, his
legs straight and his toes pointed, then open his body from the waist, 
achieve a straight position high above the water, then place his palms
perpendicular to the water surface so that he "rips" a hole in the water
surface, causing him to enter the water without making a large splash.
If he doesn't do all of that, he'll probably stay in fifth place."
	THAT's informed commentary.  Meanwhile, the next three divers
have already gone off the board.

	I said it once, I'll say it again  -- if you don't like it, hit
the MUTE button.  But try it before you blast it.

	However, criticize goofs all you want.  My local radio station
summary yesterday said that the U.S. women had won the gold in the
400 meter freestyle relay in world-record time.  Well, they did, but the
one he was referring to was that day's 400 MEDLEY relay.  Of course,
the Washington Post reported in a _headline_ that Mike Barrowman had set
a new world record (last year) in the 200 backstroke.  Sorry, guys,
Barrowman is a breaststroke specialist.

	Jim Acker
	jgacker@neptune.gsfc.nasa.gov