nepenthe: (Default)
[personal profile] nepenthe

It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I thoroughly enjoy the Olympic Games.  I love them so much for so many reasons I cannot adequately convey. Is it the joy of seeing human beings astounding us with sweeping demonstrations of heights of power, endurance, and beauty the human mind and body can achieve? Yes! Is it the joy I experience when the superficial boundaries of geography are overcome and athletes are drawn into one place at one time so they can do what they have prepared their whole lives for? Yes! Do I drool a little over the sculpted abs and tight, tight bums? YOU BETCHA!

I look forward to this every two years. I plan my schedule around viewing events. At my shitty job, I say to myself, ‘Hey, this sucks, but tonight I’m gonna break out the Bailey’s and watch Misty and Kerri slaughter their opposition on the beach!’ or ‘I want Gabby to show how AWESOME gymnasts from middle-of-nowhere Iowa can be!’

These games should be relatively easy to cover. Obviously, I don’t mean from a logistics standpoint. Logistically, I’m sure it is un-fucking-believably difficult to organize and on that front, NBC has been champs. I’m talking about from a commentator’s standpoint; the events are so amazing, the feats so astounding, the heart-break of losing so pure agony and triumph of achievement so human, you really don’t have to say much of anything.

Actually, you SHOULDN'T say much of anything.

You shouldn’t cut out entire sets of volleyball. You shouldn’t cut out entire sets of the most-anticipated game in volleyball that only comes once every 4 years. You shouldn’t cut out a set where the most-decorated athletes FROM THE COUNTRY YOU ARE COVERING THIS EVENT FOR, who have never lost a single Olympic set let alone game have just LOST THEIR FIRST SET EVER and we the audience are now in agony, biting our nails to find out if they might *audible GASP* lose their first-ever game, and when Misty and Kerri rally together and pull out an astounding come-back, of 21-8, what fucktard at NBC thinks: ‘Cut it’.

Let’s cut that.

Let’s not show what must have whipped that crowd into a frenzy.

What must have been amazing.

Nobody wants to see how these women, who’d just suffered one of the biggest disappointments in their ENTIRE CAREERS UP TO THIS MOMENT overcame whatever had been holding them back and CRUSHED THEIR OPPOANTS.

Who could possibly want to see THAT?

I DID. I so very, very, very much wanted to see that for myself

I’d thought it was my mistake. Maybe I’d gone too far fast-forwarding my DVR. I literally started shouting, ‘NO, NO, NO, GO BACK YOU STUPID RECORDING, I DON’T WANT TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE END’ and after fiddling with my remote for 10 minutes, with shock and horror, realized NBC had skipped the middle of the game to the (still nail-biting) tie-breaker.

FUCK YOU.

FUCK YOU.

FUCK YOU.

I then had the pleasure of watching a 16 year old swimmer demonstrate the maturity and discipline of people who are four times her age by winning a gold medal in the Olympics. This was followed by overhearing two insecure middle aged while males acting with all the maturity of school-yard bullies who didn’t get their own way by spreading 100% unsubstantiated rumors about her behind her back in a desperate ploy to undercut her achievement.

How dare you? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?

Edit: (No, I will not repeat what those assholes said about her. You know why? Because I am a mature adult and you know what? MATURE ADULTS DO NOT REPEAT UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS)

All of this was topped off by the commentators during the woman’s gymnastics team games.

I think it’s safe to say that one of the most highly-anticipated matches of the summer games is women’s gymnastics. It is truly an enthralling thing to watch. Throw in the fact I was in gymnastics for 4 summers growing up in Iowa and there is/was an Iowan-trained gymnast on the team this year (GO GABBY!!!!!!!!<3<3<3 !!!!!!!!! I root for you!!!!!!!!!!)  it’s one of the few sports I have an actual understanding of all the rules and a true, personal understanding of the depth of difficulty, time, pain, WORK that goes into this level of performance. I was SUPER excited to watch! I informed every single one of my coworkers that if they so much as BREATHED a spoiler to me I would hate them for all eternity. I had a no-chatty-about-the-Olympics-zone around my desk. My twin called me, excited, knowing I was looking forward to the time I when I’d be at home, capable of seeing what I’d been waiting for and I told her not to tell me or I would got out to DC and eviscerate her.

Then it was time and I was watching and it was everything I could hope for! And by that, I mean the athletes were brilliant and everything I could have hoped for and it was super fun to cheer them on.  The commentary was minimally irritating and mindless, which I’d come to expect and I refused to let it bother me.

Right up until the NBC commentators were ranting during one of the Romanian’s balance beam routines. It wasn’t going well for the girl, not at all and the asshole commenting then remarks, casually, ‘Don’t worry, after this they’re going to rally later’.

I had to stop the DVR.

I FUMED. I stormed around my apartment, frightening Ampersand with my stomping and shouting at the TV. How could they?! HOW COULD THEY???!!!!!! I know these assholes had the privilege and joy of seeing the events live. I know they already know who wins. I know they’re excited. But you know what? SOME OF US (the millions watching this at home) DID NOT HAVE THAT JOY AND PRIVLEDGE. We have to watch it at home, after the fact. The LEAST these assholes can do is fucking PRETEND they don’t already know the outcome, don’t already know who wins and loses. With that fucking statement, they gave away that Romania was going to medal and THAT WAS SOMETHING I WANTED TO SEE FOR MYSELF, not hear from self-satisfied, self-absorbed, asshole who gets his rocks off by RUINING THE OLYMPICS FOR THE MILLIONS TRYING TO WATCH.

Al; hnasdfnadvfn; vadfn; asdvhui awerqhui agdfbjkfvbhuipfaipfaihaehipdxviohu abjkafsdvafh fdvbdsh

If there is one thing, ONE THING, I’d like to say to the commentators at NBC it’s this:

I am watching this to see and hear the athletes. NO ONE IS WATCHING ANY OF THIS BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE LEAST DESIRE TO HEAR YOUR VOICE OR SEE YOUR FACE. WE DON’T GIVE A FLYING FUCK WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP. AND LET US ENJOY THE OLYMPICS.

I called effex and fumed to her. She can attest to how angry I was and how much that broke my heart. After all I did to avoid spoilers, it was the NBC commentators who’ve made active decisions to ruin the game for the rest of us. What makes me even more furious is that while the message of these egalitarian London Games has been, “This is for everyone” NBC’s monopoly over how those of us in the US can watch the games has ensured that isn’t true. They jealously guard access to the games, trying to force us to watch them and their corporate-sponsored money-making babies. 

No more. NEVER AGAIN. This is as bad as, if not worse than the invasions of privacy NBC committed sneaking up on and recording and broadcasting what athletes and coaches thought were their privet conversations and pep talks and emotional breakdowns last winter (I was positively gleeful when NBC was fined a few hundred thousand for broadcasting a few ‘fucks’ because they snuck up on snowboarders and their coaches who didn’t realize they were being recorded live).

*Deep breath*

Needed to get that out.

I am not one to write official letters, but I am going to do so about this matter. I am going to write NBC and the Olympic Committee. Not that I expect they will give a shit or make any changes because of one tiny woman, but I want to formally lodge complaints against NBC’s childish behavior and abysmal coverage (well, their total lack thereof).

I will continue to watch the Games, but never, ever will I do so through NBC. Thanks to the Internet (This is for Everyone. Yes. Yes, it truly is.) I don’t have to put up with being bullied by NBC when all I want to do is enjoy the Olympics from the comfort of my own home, and I’m not going to.

All my love to woman’s gymnastics! 

Date: 2012-08-02 11:05 pm (UTC)
finch: (Default)
From: [personal profile] finch
The thing where they cannot show an entire event without cutting away is driving me insane. "Let's show one floor routine! Now a swimming semi-final! Now something else!" I just do not understand what they think this is accomplishing other than making half the country learn how to spoof a British IP so they can watch the BBC coverage.

(Also kind of tired of the fact that half the teams don't exist - I didn't even see the GERMAN GUY WHO WON THE FUCKING SILVER MEDAL until he was doing his very last event. What is that?)

Date: 2012-08-03 12:15 am (UTC)
finch: (Default)
From: [personal profile] finch
It sort of makes me long for Vancouver, when it was pretty much live, or even Beijing, when I was staying up all night and watching the live coverage. XD

Date: 2012-08-03 01:08 am (UTC)
ambersweet: Ramona with hammer (Ramona - banhammer)
From: [personal profile] ambersweet
"Let's show one floor routine! Now three swimming semi-finals! Now the medal ceremony of something we didn't get to watch! Now more swimming! Now thirty seconds of cycling! Ooh, and you know what would be exciting? MORE SWIMMING!" If I didn't know better, I'd think that there were only two full teams of gymnasts competing - US and Russia for the women, US and China for the men - and one lone male from Japan, the UK, and Germany. And while you can hypothetically watch streaming coverage online, you can only do it live, afaik.

I have also dissolved into incoherently screaming at the commentators to SHUT UP. Starting during the fucking OPENING CEREMONIES, because it's not like anybody wants to actually LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM THEY'VE SPENT THE PAST WEEK HYPING US UP OVER. Oh, or WATCH THE WHOLE THING. In hindsight, cutting the tribute to the bombing victims should've been a major red flag.

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