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Daily Commentary for 2022-05-14
Why I Need My Remote Control by Sally Solomon
With every home team but one holding serve in basketball, and a lackluster pair of hockey semifinals, this is as good a time as any to vent about things that annoy me when I watch (too many) games on television. These are more or less arranged from mildly irritating to things that really drive me crazy.
1. Mary Jo Fernandez. Not sure if it's her voice or what she says or the sameness of the stuff that happens during a tennis match. Maybe it just shows how little I know about the game, but I much prefer the more entertaining, less predictable analysis from McEnroe (either one) and Carillo.
2. Delayed replays in baseball. I love baseball, including its relatively leisurely pace, but must confess that I don't always give every game my full attention. Many times I find myself attracted by excited commentary, look up and happily see that Utley just hit another home run. Or at least I thought that's what it was, when in fact they were replaying the one that left the park four innings ago.
3. Kornheiser and MNF. PTI is my favorite sports show. Wilbon and Kornheiser are in my opinion, an entertaining duo, a perfect example of how the whole can be better than the sum of its parts. But without his partner on Monday night Tony seems lost. When he does get something right he reminds us over and over and over…
4. Olympic coverage. In recent years, the games seem to have become little more than a highlight show where only medal winners and Americans get air time. If this weren't bad enough, we have tape delay and ever-present rumors of performance enhancing substances.
5. North Carolina and Duke; Duke and North Carolina. No wonder my brackets are ready for the fireplace by Saturday ---I never get to see most of the teams.
6. WIP. Why can't they be more like The FAN?
7. Athletic vs. smart athlete. You've heard announcers talk about the “athletic” player versus the other guy who really understands the game. Enough said. Doesn't anyone in charge notice this?
8. Sideline reporters. Usually it goes something like this: Male announcer says “Let's go to [female sideline reporter]” who starts off with, “I spoke to coach X this morning and he said that the team had great practices all week”, and after a few more meaningless remarks ends with a perky “Back to you, guys”. Has someone ordered women to be boring and never under any circumstances to say something outrageous or even slightly funny?
Prediction: I'm going way out on a limb on this one. Detroit and Pittsburgh will meet in the Stanley cup finals.
Comments- I agree with most of these. I disagree a bit on point 4, though. I don't think it is just recently that this has been an issue. Except for certain star athletes from other countries in specific sports (think Olga and Nadia in the '70s), Olympic coverage has been American centric since I started watching in '72. It's actually gotten a bit better with the proliferation of partner networks covering the games. If you want to watch none Americans, go to MSNBC, CNBC, and other networks rather than NBC.
Regarding point 8, I think that is the case with most sideline reporters regardless of gender (although I did hear one recently misspeak and ask a coach about the penalty for too many men on the bench)
Posted by andymuenz - I agree with Andy (scary thought) -- TV coverage of the Olympics has always been that way. (Or, at least since 1968 the first I remember watching.)
Posted by mdh88
Past Commentaries
Why I Need My Remote Control by Sally Solomon
THE MAGIC OF JOE MORGAN, THE PRICE OF MEDIOCRITY, AND MORE by LUKE CAVANAGH
Time to Get Rid of the Flop in Basketball by Mark D. Hauser
LAY OFF MANUEL by Joe Miegoc
D'ANTONI FIRST STEP IN LEBRON SWEEPSTAKES? by Chris Marlow
WE'RE GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET by Steven Lienert
O.K., SO I WAS WRONG -- SORRY KOBE BRYANT by Donald Chisholm, II
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