Via AwfulAnnouncing on Twitter comes this spoof of Olympic commentary from Irish comedian Francis Higgins:
Link!
If you haven't heard me ranting about it, I've found the NBC coverage of the Olympics insulting and condescending overall. We get an edited version of key events 6 hours late, long after the actual results are in, and the coverage focuses so much time on the American athletes you'd think there weren't that many other countries participating. One thing I've found spending so much time online is that the world seems smaller and smaller to me. I talk to people in different countries every day, and I like seeing athletes from other countries competing. My interest in the Olympics does not focus solely on what Americans are doing at the Olympics.
But alas, NBC has great ratings so they'll probably continue with this crap formula for coverage. Perhaps if they hire Higgins and Samuel L. Jackson to do the commentary it might improve!
Hope your weekend is filled with internationally-recognized awesomeness.
UPDATE! The IOC (Hi IOC! You're almost as corrupt as the NCAA – keep trying!) removed the Vimeo one, but via Kottke.org I found it!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=510_1344196881
Also here:
http://www.thatvideosite.com/v/5852
Aside: I realize that the US laws are different that, say, everyone else, but wouldn't this be a parody and thus allowable? I'm guessing this was made in Ireland or England – isn't satire or parody allowable? If I'm wrong about that, please do let me know.
Well, and haven’t those arseholes at NBC gone and removed the fookin’ video just like they’ve done with everyother one that’s been posted? #nbcfail indeed.
Don’t NBC realise that you have to see these things live, that it’s the communal experience that’s so important?
I’ve heard about the NBC coverage, and thank goodness for the BBC! They have put on 14 extra channels, which are available to everyone (“on the red button”) – the coverage has been fantastic. As a result, I’ve found myself watching the most unlikely things – sailing, for instance, looks lovely. We’re still UK-centric, but that’s not difficult this time, and you do get to see a lot of other countries doing well, too. Loved the gymnastics, especially the mens’!
Mo Farrah is a favorite over here, and we’ve had the wonderful Michael Johnson as part of the BBC team. Here’s the sneaky camera view of the “impartial” commentators on Mo’s race!
Oh yes, and the BBC trail for the Olympics, with music by Elbow, is superb!
Well, *If* you had a son who was a computer nerd, and *if* he came over to help you out (if you don’t have cable or satellite, which we don’t), then you *might* find that there is a way to tap into the BBC broadcasts and videos online for live streaming coverage of the Olympics. I’ll just say that *if* that happened, I really enjoyed seeing the Equestrian events for once. I mean, theoretically, because that wouldn’t be legal and all.
Doo dee dee…
The video you have posted… [untitled Olympics rant]… has been disconnected.
I hate it when that happens.
WE found we liked the coverage on the other channels for the Olympics—NBC prime time was boring and I wish Ryan Seacrest would come back to America. He has the worst interview style.
It is possible to get a live stream of a lot of things from NBC for free, if you subscribe to quite a few cable and satelite systems. I am totally loving it.
I got to see one of the other Christine Merrill run the prelim 440 m hurdles for Sri Lanka. And I watched fencing, and am planning to watch my absolute favorite, the modern pentathlon, which I think is tomorrow.
And some of these feeds are either without commentary or with non US announcers. As far as I know, it is a Ryan Seacrest free zone.
I got to see one of the other Christine Merrills run the 440 hurdle prelim for Sri Lanka. And fencing. And, if I rmember correctly, my favorite sport Modern Penthlon, starts tomorrow. If not, I’m sure they’ll at least have clips on file.
And a lot of this stuff comes either without commentary, or non US announcers.
And I apologize for the mess of that last comment. I had an outbreak of keyboard cat in the middle of it.
That was just Fluffer’s way of saying “Hi, bitches.”
I stopped watching after the women’s gymnastics wrapped up (and most of that I watched online live which was so much better than the prime time coverage). I keep thinking that every time they showed a gymnast breathlessly waiting for their scores or putting chalk on their hands or drinking from a water bottle they could instead show us an actual gymnastic routine from someone in another country. And really NBC, why couldn’t you show us the actual scoreboards for gymnastics? This was hands-down the worst Olympics coverage I’ve ever seen.
This is hilarious:
“Vimeo has removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by International Olympic Committee claiming that this material is infringing: Boats.”
BOATS. BOATS are infringing! Damn boats. Let me see if I can find it elsewhere.
Found it!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i…
Also here:
http://www.thatvideosite.com/v…
I think NBC is just trying to make themselves more money by forcing people to subscribe to cable and MSNBC to see fuller coverage, and just showing highlights of the “popular” sports on prime time network. And while I know it’s traditional to focus mainly on American athletes and the favorites/top contenders from other countries, I think they narrowed the focus a lot this year, maybe out of fear that it would be considered “unamerican” to celebrate the victory of someone from another country. I’m annoyed that sports like equestrian, archery and kayaking got very little coverage, often just a five-minute here’s-who-won-what footnote on primetime, and I wish they would interview the gold medalists from other countries more often. I always felt that ABC did a more even-handed coverage of the Games in years past and I wish they would get the contract back again.
I have cable, and I have tried SO many times to access the NBC coverage online. I never get through – an error every time! So I’ve been watching the BBC, and at one point, I watched weightlifting semifinals in German. There is no need for translation when the athletes pick up a barbell the size of my car and say, “UUUUUUUNNNNNGH!”
I wish I could get into the online access, but I can’t. And I wonder, what do people who don’t have cable do? Sucks, sadly!
And Christine, stop lying. I KNOW that was you in the 440 hurdles. STOP being modest yo! 🙂
Oh, yes. It’s definitely me. And the internet has named me one of the 20 hottest
Olympians.
Is there a medal for that?
Other than the fact that hot Christine is doing great things for my blog traffic, that is.
Oh how I miss the good old days when ABC covered the Olympics, and they showed as much of damn near everything it was possible to show – withput live streaming, cable channels or any of this new fangled technology. They had pride in all the competitors and kept the jingoism to a minimum. Who thought I’d come to miss Jim McCay?
Samuel L. Jackson on Twitter has made my Olympics. I have my phone in my hand while watching just to get his commentary.
The daytime feed on MSNBC and NBC Sports doesn’t have as much fluff time as the prime time show, at least. You can catch some of the not-as-popular stuff there. First half hour every evening seems to be a big waste. I don’t mind watching the big stuff on tape-delay so I don’t have to DVR everything and then run through it, but they could pack a wider variety of events, and more of it, in their four hours each night.
Next time around should be easier for live feed since Rio’s closer to US time zones.
That was fookin’ hilarious. Here’s an audio clip of Higgins’s response to the IOC taking down his video (really, really NSFW): http://audioboo.fm/boos/912374…
Be ye warned, the above audio clip has some seriously strong language, including, but not limited to, the c-word. If you’re easily offended, I recommend that you do not click the link.
Yeah, over at ravlery we have already had a run in with the IOC. They made us change the name of the ‘Ravelmpics’. Still super annoyed with them right now.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/fut…
From the video, I quote, “Sailing is a very confusing sport.”
I sail every week and when you’re not actually on the water it doesn’t matter how mush you know about it, you cant tell a damn thing. XD
I used to love watching the Olympics when I lived in England, but NBC has completely destroyed my interest. The tape delay is irritating if you want to watch live, but since I have a job, my main complaint is with the absolutely crap commentary and those nauseating “profile” pieces they seem to bulk out the schedule with (like the sports themselves are too boring or something), and the horrendous interviews. I gave up after the swimming (which I LOVE watching, ‘specially from all those funky angles and the seriously gorgeous bods), when I couldn’t take any more of that stupid Andrea woman (you know, with the hair and who talks about “strategy” during a race – umm, don’t they just try to go faster than everyone else?)
That is a much better commentary than anything NBC can muster up, that’s for sure.
Profane and passionate, but not very articulate, is it?
Mind you, I’d be pissed off as well, but…meh on the audio.
The OIC keeps hamstringing itself with all the corporate sponsors. Sportsmanship? Camaraderie? Friendship across (and among) nations? what’s that?
Can I borrow your son? theoretically speaking, of course.
As a person without cable…we watch a lot of volleyball. And diving. And then more volleyball. and every freakin prelim race of every freakin track and swimming event. And then a volleyball match followed by gymnastics and beach volleyball.
Yes, the commentary on the video was much better.
What’s really frustrating is that NBC (I can’t claim ABC was much better, either – but they were to at least some degree) has never given the audience a chance to prove they’re interested in seeing athletes from other countries. I KNOW there are compelling stories out there that a lot of viewers are dying to hear about and NBC just refuses to even try. It’s the lazy approach to covering something like this and it’s patronizing as hell. I don’t need the greatness of American athletes spoonfed to me. I’d like to know what a few of those other people have had to go through to get there, and what makes them remarkable.
There are moments of ABC’s coverage of past Olympics that have remained with me for more than 30 years. With NBC running the show, it’s only the feats of the athletes that stick. Bob Costas? His shallow, pandering coverage of the London Games fades before the closing credits finish rolling, just like every other Games under NBC rule.
Heh, in third-world, drug war infested, poverty ridden Mexico we had two to four channels on open TV and six to eight on basic cable showing as many events as possible, with little commentary and no fluff during competition hours.
FINE. Just rub it in. ALL THAT and AWESOME BEACHES, too. And Tequila! I’m about to flounce over here. IMMINENT FLOUNCING.