Mens Gymnastics

[RealtorGal]

I don't understand what happened with Blaine Wilson & Jason Gatson--something about the head judge making them change their routines for some reason???

 

[thisthingcalledlove]

I don't understand what happened with Blaine Wilson & Jason Gatson--something about the head judge making them change their routines for some reason???

Blaine was told that a move in his routine (I forget which routine) was no longer worth what he thought it was worth...

 

[RealtorGal]

So he and Jason Gatson change their routines to accommodate this supposed change in scoring values and end up scoring less than they would have had they stayed with their original routines. ??? Why didn't they know about the change in scoring values prior to arriving in Athens?

 

[Kasey]

So he and Jason Gatson change their routines to accommodate this supposed change in scoring values and end up scoring less than they would have had they stayed with their original routines. ??? Why didn't they know about the change in scoring values prior to arriving in Athens?

Ahhh, the perplexity of (possible) Olympic politics hits the Summer Games!

Yeah, apparantly some release move in their H-bar routines was downgraded in difficulty...TWO DAYS AGO!!! Um, that did seem kind of hurried! I just felt really bad for Blaine Wilson, on that nasty fall and the afteraffects....and then that other dude, (Guard something or other, I hadn't heard of hiim before), who got thrown off HIS routine by having to do the P-horse when Blaine couldn't....not having even practiced that event. Truly a comedy of errors. But hey, if you are going to hit snags, it is better to do it in qualifying than in the team competition itself. Maybe it will all have worked it's way through by then.

Kasey

P.S....Just in case tho, we'd better keep an eye on the French judge!

 

[dmr65]

I wish they'd show all the teams... I apprecaite they showed the Romanians, some of the Italians and some of the Greeks, USA, Japan and China. I'm watching my own tape delayed of mens gymnastics from last night... But.. I would have loved to still see more of the Russians as well. Not just show Bondarenko and Nemov making a few errors and the one teammate dislocating his finger and being told the team was not so on.. So what, let us still watch.. It's the Olympics... :\

 

[dmr65]

I have to say Romanians are incredible and some of those Japanese men on the high bars were out of this world..


I like that one Romanian guy with the diamond earring... I don't know his name, but he seems to be a bit lively and balanced hot dog...

 

[mpal2]

But hey, if you are going to hit snags, it is better to do it in qualifying than in the team competition itself. Maybe it will all have worked it's way through by then.

But isn't this where they also qualify to compete for the individual medals or is that during the team competition?

 

[Vash01]

I don't understand what happened with Blaine Wilson & Jason Gatson--something about the head judge making them change their routines for some reason???

Why must our networks make a big issue everytime a hyped US athlete has to face a tough situation? The Japanese judge told the US team that their routines were not hard enough. If I were an athlete, I would stick with what I had prepared. Making changes in the routines at the last minute may have cost a couple of the US gymnasts some points. Isn't it also the athletes responsibility to find out what is 'current' and not rely on what was done in the past? Why must our networks put the blame on a judge, and not look at what else may have happened? I would not just say it's politics. Yes, there are politics in the Olympics, but they did not seem to affect the perfomances of the Hamm twins. They performed perfectly. May be Blaine has had just too many injuries and too much wear and tear? May be he just had one bad moment when he could not hold on to the bar? It happens to every great gymnast. Now if the US men don't win the title, guess who is going to be blamed....? The Japanese judge of course. In the eyes of our networks we are never wrong. It's always someone else.

Vash

 

[Vash01]

I was extremely disappointed that NBC did not show the Russian gymnasts. Just one full routine by Alexei Nemov??? There was a partial where another Russian gymnast had a problem and injury, but we did not get to see anyone else. The team was still in 3rd place overall and had qualified for the team competition. Russians used to be cream of the crop. Even if they have fallen, they still are worth watching. What disappointed me the most was that I had watched the US men during primetime. I turned the TV on shortly before 3am and NBC was showing a rerun of the same US mens routines. I would much rather they show more of the athletes from other countries. That's what the Olympics are about- the world, and not just the USA.

Thank goodness they showed a few Greek gymnasts and some Romanians. The couple of Japanese guys on the high bars were spectacular. The major omission was about the Russian gymnasts.

On the plus side, at least the US men were worth watching, particularly the Hamm twins.

Vash

 

[Piel]

Vash,

Do you know what kind of coverage Russian TV provides? Are they totally unbiased giving equal coverage to each participating nation? IMO it's not unreasonable for U.S.A. television to focus on U.S.A. athletes. They seem to be doing a pretty good job of covering the top athletes in each sport regardless of their nationality, as well as throwing in the various human interest stories.

 

[tdnuva]

They seem to be doing a pretty good job of covering the top athletes in each sport regardless of their nationality, as well as throwing in the various human interest stories.

Hm. In soulseek's iceroom we exchange these days what everyone sees on their tv channel round the world (no russian there atm afaik) - and it seems that US tv does NOT cover the top athletes in EACH sport. They leave out many sports where no US athletes are top of the game - and those sports they cover it really seems very biased. Not that other national channels don't do that to a certain extent, but NBC seems to be the worst - judging from what the people who talk on soulseek and other boards report.

 

[chuckm]

NBC is broadcasting for a US audience and commercials shown (which are paying the bill for the costs of production) are directed to a US audience. That being the case, the sponsors expect the broadcast to feature the athletes that the US audience wants to see, which is the TOP athletes (not always from the US). In the swimming coverage last night, there was an up close and personal on Ian Thorpe, the Aussie swimmer.

The gymnastics shown last night was focusing on the teams that would be in the final Team championships---the top 8. Some of the breathtaking moves from top athletes from Japan and China were shown, and it was mentioned that these 3 teams were the top medal contenders. We saw lots of bad moves on the part of the US men, and some of the off-moves of the other top 8 teams were shown. I think the message was meant to be that ALL the teams had some off-moments, not just the US. But after the top 8 teams for the team championship are identified, all the scores get washed out and everyone, including the individual athletes, start over from zero.

 

[show 42]

I can't believe that the coaches didn't try to discourage Wilson from changing his routine, one that he's worked on for nearly a year. Bad judgement call. He should have tried to nail his routine the way it was...42

 

[dmr65]

I have to agree with some of what Vash stated.. I am speaking only from my American point of views, as I do believe was Vash.. (not saing we are naive and feel other countries don't whine and say they are being picked on) But, again, as American point of view... NBC is not doing a good balanced job in some areas.. Yes I was a bit pissed at how I heard from the commentators this affected the two USA men, and to see two failed because of this change.. I was looking at the judge with an evil eye, thinking we were being picked on. But as someone here mentioned, and I thank you for explaining what NBC did not, this did not affect the Ham brothers.... So now I am looking at the situation a bit different. I feel they did try to make it sound like only just our USA team were victims..

I don't know what other countries besides my own in the USA is showing, from going into other chat boards and forum, it seems our USA coverage is not showing what the other fans over seas are getting.

 

[Piel]

As to NBC not showing what is being shown in other countries NBC's broadcast is geared to what it thinks the U.S. audience wants to see. For the average viewer who only tunes in for the Olympics what they want to see is U.S. athletes winning at sports they at least can recognize. Although most sports fans would like to see more competition your average viewer loves the fluff pieces. Those who follow the sport have heard the stories ad nauseum but for the casual viewer it's new information. For example, for most folks I spoke with today abouty last night's coverage the thing that they remembered most was the story about Ukrainian gymnist who died and the Russian who dislocated his finger but could not tell you what teams made the finals.

I am surprised that there is not some pay per view of the Olympics offered. It must not be cost effective because we know that if there was a way to make a profit from it someone would be doing it.

 

[mpal2]

I read a post on Skatefans where someone pointed out that the point values of the moves were changed after the World Championships. At that point it is the job of the coaches and athletes to pay attention. The Japanese judge could have been doing them a favor by giving them a heads up to an obvious oversight in point values.

I don't think the announcers made it very clear, but I did mention to my sister that the US team should have been aware of the changes before showing up. If the rules had only changed two days before then everyone would be suffering. I kind of have to blame the US team more than the judge. Everyone else seems to have figured out the point values.

 

[Kasey]

I think another thing is that here in the US, I think the ladies gymnastics has always been a bigger draw as a televised event than the men's. (Similar to figure skating recently). I am wondering if NBC tonight will have more complete coverage of all of the teams to watch in the ladies event.

As to the PPV question, didn't they offer that a few Olympics ago? I have never done anything PPV, so I don't know.

Kasey

 

[dmr65]

Tonight they showed us USA and Romanian ladies.. I would have loved to seen Russia, and not just a few of them. :\

 

[Vash01]

For some unknown reason NBC is avoiding showing any Russian gymnasts. They are not as good as they used to be, but NBC is acting as if the match up is only between the USA and Romanian ladies, and may be the Chinese. All they could show was the high bar routines by Khorkina and another Russian, plus two routines from Ukraine. Why must we see only athletes from the USA?

 

[Vash01]

Vash,

Do you know what kind of coverage Russian TV provides? Are they totally unbiased giving equal coverage to each participating nation? IMO it's not unreasonable for U.S.A. television to focus on U.S.A. athletes. They seem to be doing a pretty good job of covering the top athletes in each sport regardless of their nationality, as well as throwing in the various human interest stories.

I have never watched Russian TV. All I can do is comment on what I am seeing. As a viewer I am disappointed that I am not getting a full picture of the Olympics. It is not enough to just show 1 or 2 top athletes... not for me, anyway.