- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
I am watching the coverage now. I am bemused and to be frank, a bit peeved that Tim Daggett pronounced Kohei Uchimura's name as "Ko-hee". Daggett used to be a gymnast, comments on gymnastics events constantly, how can he not know how to pronounce the name of the most relevant gymnast of the last few years? And shouldn't he know how to pronounce a bit of Japanese names, given that so many gymnastics moves are named after Japanese gymnasts? Al Trautwig is the one who got his name right.
And oh god, ANOTHER fluff piece? With basically the same theme as the first one? When you're trimming the coverage of an entire event of 168 routines to an hour + 45 minutes (provided the rest of the night is all gymnastics) of coverage, do we really have time for fluff?
Regarding fluff, this is what USA Today's live blog http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olym...-08-01/Hiestand-Wednesday-Olympics/56668478/1 said tonight:
Pretty touching featurette on U.S. gymnast John Orozco. Says NBC's Al Trautwig, as NBC cuts back to Orozco: "He's a kind and caring soul."
I know I'm being manipulated, but I'm an instant fan of the guy. And that's the point of primetime Olympic TV. [Emphasis added.]
NBC's Trautwig as Orozco gets a not-good score: "His Olympics is over."
And that's why they ran the feature before that declaration.
I know I'm being manipulated, but I'm an instant fan of the guy. And that's the point of primetime Olympic TV. [Emphasis added.]
NBC's Trautwig as Orozco gets a not-good score: "His Olympics is over."
And that's why they ran the feature before that declaration.
Fluff is in the eye of the beholder. For the casual viewer, fluff that has good storytelling can make the difference between remaining disinterested and becoming a new fan of a sport or athlete.
And regarding the pronunciation issue:
Was it at Four Continents this year that the announcer mispronounced Scott Moir's last name? Two wrongs don't make a right, but such mistakes happen.
And to my ear, Trautwig and Costas seem to be saying, "ko-hay", vs. Daggett saying, "ko-hee." But isn't the proper pronunciation in between, more like "ko-heh-ee"? I'm half-Japanese, although English is my first language. I defer to native speakers of Japanese - and am not aware whether or not you fit that description, Serious Business.