One week in, reviews of NBC’s Olympics coverage are a mixed bag. The network’s tape delayed broadcasts on the West Coast continue to be a source of criticism, while features by Mary Carillo and Cris Collinsworth are alternatively praised and derided. Gymnastics analyst Bela Karolyi has been blasted for his conflicts of interest, while less high-profile personalities like Dan Hicks and Mike Breen have been generally well-regarded.
Tape Delay.
One of the biggest stories continues to be the tape delayed broadcasts on NBC in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Gwen Knapp asks, “why do we have to wait an entire three hours? Why not scramble the tape a little, so that the best events have aired before 11 p.m.? Or start the telecast two hours behind the East, at 7 p.m. Pacific instead of 8?” Deseret News writer Scott D. Pierce says “[NBC] should remove the “LIVE” logo from the screen. It’s just plain deceptive.” Pro Football Blogger.com comments on the “surreal experience of having msnbc.com?s homepage up on my computer trumpeting the U.S. women taking gold and silver in the gymnastics all-around while at the same time my TV sat in the background with the ?live? telecast of the floor exercise ? the final and deciding event. Needless to say I didn?t exactly hold my breath on each of Nastia Liuken?s tumbling passes.”
San Diego Union Tribune writer Jay Posner points out that prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics, “NBC Sports boss Dick Ebersol wanted to show the Olympics live from Salt Lake City at 5 p.m. PT. But local affiliates, such as KNSD Channel 7/39 in San Diego, pressured the network to air the shows on delay because they knew their audiences would be larger at 7:30 or 8 p.m. than at 5.” Posner: “[This year’s] Olympics would not be averaging a 24 rating in San Diego if they started at 5 p.m. And, the thing is, I haven’t heard anyone (other than media members) really complaining, perhaps because most people have jobs that don’t allow them to be in front of the TV at 5 or 6.”
Roving reporters.
Critics have taken notice of NBC’s two roving reporters, Mary Carillo and Cris Collinsworth. The Washington Post‘s Paul Fahri says Carillo “has presented two of the glossiest travelogues imaginable. On Monday, she breathlessly reported on China’s wonders: Maglev trains! World’s tallest man! … She even oohed and aahed over the massive Three Gorges Dam, offering some astounding statistics about its construction but not a word on the 1.5 million people forcibly removed from their homes to build it.” Fahri did change his tune somewhat when talking about Carillo’s feature on the man who designed the Beijing Olympics logo, noting “Carillo’s piece was sensitive and thoughtful and — here’s the really good news — not the least bit embarrassing to Carillo or NBC.” The Los Angeles Times‘ Steve Springer is more complimentary: “Whether it’s inspecting a stud panda or visiting a restaurant in business for 600 years, or sampling native delicacies ranging from scorpion to goose lips to rabbit’s head, [Carillo] commands your interest.”
The Washington Times’ Tim Lemke thinks segments with Collinsworth “felt a little out of place. … it is valid to wonder why a former NFL receiver was narrating feature stories when NBC has a roster of actual journalists on staff. … Collinsworth’s feature on swimmer Dara Torres showed he’s a capable interviewer, but it’s worth wondering why the task couldn’t have been handled by a veteran reporter like Andrea Kremer or Melissa Stark.” The Sports Business Daily says Collinsworth’s “assignments in Beijing have been baffling. Watching Dara Torres doing her workout and then trying some of her routines? Then sitting with Michael Phelps? mother and high-fiving and cheering during her son?s race? Egad, all enough to make one squirm.”
Gymnastics.
Philly Burbs.com writer Kevin Cooney says of NBC gymnastics analyst Bela Karolyi, “[his] work for NBC as an in-studio gymnastics analyst … has been nothing short of reprehensible. … Throughout the first three events of the women’s competition, Karolyi seemed to see a conspiracy at every turn.” On Karolyi’s complaints of underage Chinese gymnasts, Cooney writes, “Karolyi carrying the argument on after the women’s team final sounded like sour grapes from a man who just saw his wife Marta’s team lose the biggest meet in the world. That’s exactly why NBC should have passed on hiring him.” Dallas Morning News writer Barry Horn notes, “The issue no longer is whether Karolyi is wrong or right, it’s how he is obsessed by the notion that the Chinese are cheating. Calling them “half people” has become his mantra. … Sooner or later, Costas is going to have to challenge Karolyi and ask for proof.” Associated Press writer David Bauder thinks “NBC also needs to let viewers know every time they see him that Karolyi?s wife coaches the American team.”
Karolyi has gained Gus Johnson-esque approval in some corners. Critical Fanatic writes on his FanIQ blog, “imagine Dick Vitale’s passion for Duke hoops, but then not letting Dick go to a game against UNC and sticking him in the studio. Then imagine him not being nearly as annoying. That’s Bela Karolyi …” Awful Announcing says, “I still don’t understand all the flak that Bela is getting. The guy was an ex-USA Gymnastics Coach, he works for an American station and he’s genuinely proud of his favorite Sport. I don’t expect NBC’s Olympic announcers to root against other countries, but getting excited when their own country does good? Give me a break.” L.A. Daily News writer Tom Hoffarth opines, “Aside from the huge conflict of interest in the fact that his wife runs the U.S. women’s gymnastics program, Bela Karolyi’s appearances in the studio of NBC’s prime-time coverage this week have been far more entertaining than anticipated.”
Barry Jackson credits the on-site gymnastics broadcast team of Al Trautwig, Tim Daggett and Elfi Schlegel for “not talking excessively over routines“, but criticises Trautwig for his “overwritten and excessively melodramatic” comments, such as “‘there’s bad karma from somewhere out there’ and ‘for seven years they’ve known the date of the Olympics’ and ‘there are only 26 characters in the English alphabet to make us understand’ and blah, blah, blah.” Philly Burbs’ Cooney: “Somebody has to tell gymnastics play-by-play guy Al Trautwig to take it down a notch. He makes William Shatner look subtle.”
NBC sideline reporter Andrea Joyce is getting the Jim Gray treatment after a tough interview with Alicia Sacramone following her relatively disastrous performance during the women’s team finals. On his blog, radio host Jorge Sedano says “Andrea Joyce has been a round a [long time]. And, has done gymnastics plenty over the years (including interviews w/ Sacramone). She should know better.” Sports By Brooks counters, “But Joyce is only interviewing Sacramone like she would Kobe Bryant if the Redeem Team were to suffer a shocking loss. Aren?t they both high-profile Olympians?” Referencing a YouTube video claiming to show Sacramone punching a man in the face, Deadspin suggests “Joyce was about three seconds from having her lights turned out.”
Swimming.
Outsports.com says the “incessant yakking” of NBC swimming commentators Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines “is [detracting] from what has been a great swimming session so far. … For example, in Tuesday coverage of Michael Phelps dominating gold-medal performance in the 200-meter butterfly, Gaines told us just to watch the last 50 meters as Phelps made the turn … But we couldn?t ?just watch? because the blabbermouths kept talking about Phelps? place in history, chance at a world record, blah, blah, blah.” By contrast, Awful Announcing writes “Hicks is really making a name for himself. I personally didn’t think he was impressive during Tiger’s U.S. Open overtime win, but I’m definitely enjoying him during these Olympics.”
The L.A. Times’ Springer notes that during the men’s 4X100 relay, which saw U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak complete a dramatic comeback against France’s Alan Bernard, “Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines, handling the stroke-by-stroke of the relay, and Andrea Kremer in the post-race interview with the victorious Americans lapsed into a bit of homerism by mocking the French swimmers who had belittled the U.S. squad with a wave of trash talk.”
Basketball.
On the Sports Business Daily Beijing Olympics site, Jim Williams says of NBC’s basketball team of Mike Breen, Doug Collins and Craig Sager, “NBC could not find a better or more prepared announcing team. Together, Breen, Collins and Sager have a vast working knowledge, not only of the NBA players that make up the USA Basketball roster, but also of the Olympic teams that the U.S. faces.” Williams also points out the difficulty of piecing together a broadcast team of non-NBC employees: “It took some good, old-fashioned teamwork between networks and the NBA in order to pull them together for Beijing. NBC Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol and NBA Commissioner David Stern reached out to these rival networks for their cooperation. … Now the viewers are the clear winners in this show of Olympic unity.”
Meanwhile, the L.A. Times’ Springer calls Collins a “prime example of professionalism behind the mike“, noting “he doesn’t lapse into self-indulgence over his moments on the court or openly root for the red, white and blue.”
