Announcers We Love and/or Hate

[JTMacc99]

Your topic to discuss the people calling the Olympic games!

I think the question on everybody's mind is: "Will anyone be getting pink eye this year?"

[legaleagle53]

Otherwise known as "SHUT UP, AL!"

[catlover79]

I'm going to miss Bob Costas. He always brought a sense of gravitas to the proceedings.

ETA: Despite pinkeye!!

😉

Edited July 18, 2021 by catlover79

[legaleagle53]

3 hours ago, catlover79 said:

I'm going to miss Bob Costas. He always brought a sense of gravitas to the proceedings.

ETA: Despite pinkeye!!

😉

And his borderline nauseating mancrush on Michael Phelps!

[KittenPokerCheater]

On 7/1/2021 at 10:36 PM, legaleagle53 said:

Otherwise known as "SHUT UP, AL!"

Thankfully he’s gone.  

 

(He is, right?)

(RIGHT?)

[HartofDixie]

9 hours ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

Thankfully he’s gone.  

 

(He is, right?)

(RIGHT?)

Yes, we’ve got Terry Gannon in his place.

[chitowngirl]

On 7/19/2021 at 9:21 AM, HartofDixie said:

Yes, we’ve got Terry Gannon in his place.

But will anyone call him Terrance as well as Johnny Weir does??

[Harry24]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

But will anyone call him Terrance as well as Johnny Weir does??

I think it’s even funnier when Terry calls Johnny, “John.”  So sober and serious sounding.

[HartofDixie]

Johnny Weir will be there too not sure what he’s covering.
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgXgyYhnZT/

[DesiJF]

16 hours ago, HartofDixie said:

Johnny Weir will be there too not sure what he’s covering.
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgXgyYhnZT/

If I packed every piece of clothing I own I wouldn't have that many suitcases.

[Rootbeer]

17 hours ago, HartofDixie said:

Johnny Weir will be there too not sure what he’s covering.
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgXgyYhnZT/

I think Johnny and Tara covered some gymnastics last time as well as doing their schtick on the late night summary show.

[Frisky Wig]

Tara and Johnny aren't qualified to cover anything other than figure skating. I will happily die on that hill. Do not even get me started on their coverage of dog shows. DOG SHOWS!!!!

[Lady Whistleup]

I always think Nastia Liukin (gymnastics) sounds like that "blah blah blah" teacher from the Peanuts cartoons. 

She also always looks like she's going to the prom.

[Daisy]

1 minute ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I always think Nastia Liukin (gymnastics) sounds like that "blah blah blah" teacher from the Peanuts cartoons. 

She also always looks like she's going to the prom.

Wow. No Al, No Elfie. I am shook. 
Nastia looks really posh for a broadcaster lol

[Lady Whistleup]

2 minutes ago, Daisy said:

Wow. No Al, No Elfie. I am shook. 
Nastia looks really posh for a broadcaster lol

she used to wear a neat polo shirt. But no more.

ETA: you think she brought enough shoes?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRoY8hWD7Bw/

Edited July 23, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[choclatechip45]

1 hour ago, Daisy said:

Wow. No Al, No Elfie. I am shook. 
Nastia looks really posh for a broadcaster lol

Elfie didn't cover gymnastics in Rio. Elfie hasn't done any gymnastics for NBC since London.

[Daisy]

3 minutes ago, choclatechip45 said:

Elfie didn't cover gymnastics in Rio. Elfie hasn't done any gymnastics for NBC since London.

Thanks. (and you know i probably knew that but all i remember was Al being a total jerk). 
 

[emmawoodhouse]

When was Al NOT a jerk? 😁

Nastia adds nothing. Tim provides all the tech. Nastia just adds unnecessary, repetitive comments.

Edited July 23, 2021 by emmawoodhouse

[choclatechip45]

I actually don't mind Tim. I think he is a lot better at explaining things than Nastia. 

[Frisky Wig]

7 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

she used to wear a neat polo shirt. But no more.

ETA: you think she brought enough shoes?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRoY8hWD7Bw/

Yeah, she didn’t pack nearly enough… https://www.instagram.com/p/CRb2QUrKP41/

I can’t help but think she treating her announcer jobs like they’re the Met Gala or a red carpet event. She looks beautiful in her couture gowns but she’s not dressing for the occasion. IMO. 

[ombelico]

John Roethlisberger and Bridget Sloan seem like perfectly nice people, but their commentary adds absolutely zero insight. If all you can say is "amazing, wow" you are not adding anything of value. The inanity is off the charts.

[Mittengirl]

Oops!

Edited July 24, 2021 by Mittengirl

[Mittengirl]

Does anyone know if all of the announcers are actually in Tokyo?  
 

I am watching a replay of the men’s gymnastics qualifying event and it looks as though we are seeing pool coverage, rather than NBC-specific coverage.  It makes me wonder if the announcers for that (John Roethlisberger & Bridget Sloan) are watching a video feed in a studio in the U.S. somewhere.   Thus far, a haven’t seen a picture of them at the venue.  (I did miss a few minutes at the beginning.)

Edited July 24, 2021 by Mittengirl

[selkie]

Shut Up, Al. 

Wish they'd gone with Elizabeth Beisel for the swimming prelims instead of Amy VanDyken, who doesn't seem to be adding very much useful info. Also bummed that Phill Liggett apparently didn't want to do Olympic cycling coverage this time around. Yeah he's getting up there in age and his heart isn't in ot quite as much since Paul Sherwen died but he's just the voice of big time cycling for me. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Considering watching the climbing events solely for Meagan Martin. In which case darn you NBC. The marketing will have worked.

[legaleagle53]

Who did the anchor coverage for today's afternoon broadcast? I noticed that she had a delightful British accent (and I loved her gorgeous pink dress), but I never got to see or hear her name.

[SnarkShark]

Listening to the Peacock Tokyo Gold channel.  Rich Eisen is hosting. 

I'd forgotten how immensely annoying this man is. 

2 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Does anyone know if all of the announcers are actually in Tokyo?  
 

I am watching a replay of the men’s gymnastics qualifying event and it looks as though we are seeing pool coverage, rather than NBC-specific coverage.  It makes me wonder if the announcers for that (John Roethlisberger & Bridget Sloan) are watching a video feed in a studio in the U.S. somewhere.   Thus far, a haven’t seen a picture of them at the venue.  (I did miss a few minutes at the beginning.)

Annoying Rich Eisen just said he's in Connecticut. 

[SnarkShark]

Okay, this is hilarious. Peacock has an Olympic highlights show starring Kevin Hart and Snoop Dog. 

Not kidding. 

A lot seems to be pre-produced comedy bits, at least in Episode 1.

Al Michaels makes an appearance in Episode 1.

[kittykat]

On 7/23/2021 at 3:52 PM, choclatechip45 said:

I actually don't mind Tim. I think he is a lot better at explaining things than Nastia. 

It's like Al being gone has automatically made Tim better.

[legaleagle53]

That's because Terry Gannon knows that they're the experts and he's not, so he just keeps quiet and lets them do their thing. It's what he's been trained to do after so many decades of covering figure skating. Now, if he were doing basketball, it might be a different story, since that was his sport back in his college days.

[tanyak]

3 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Who did the anchor coverage for today's afternoon broadcast? I noticed that she had a delightful British accent (and I loved her gorgeous pink dress), but I never got to see or hear her name.

Rebecca Lowe. She’s the host of NBC’s Premiere League coverage. She’s wonderful, and I think she got a promotion for these games. She was also in Rio, but I think Al Michaels was host of the daytime coverage in 2016. I know he’s starting to cut back on Sunday night NFL games, so I’m guessing he decided not to come.

[SophiaD]

I prefer Nastia to Tim, especially for the women's events.  Tim sounds a bit like a know-it-all for women and his commentary is a bit cringey.  I did prefer Nastia's prior look (i.e. the polo shirts) to the high-fashion looks and am wondering if Tara and Johnny's over-the-top apparel for the skating events has something to do with it.  I can't believe she'd start wearing that look on her own.

[tanyak]

Maybe this should go over in the fashion thread, but good point that the gymnastics crew wore polos in Rio. That seems to be the standard issue uniform at the Olympics. Rowdy Gaines and Dan Hicks are wearing them now, and I know the track and field team wears them. 
 

Maybe the NBC powers-that-be decided gymnastics is the “glamour” event and decided to allow the commentators to dress up a bit. I have no idea what she had on tonight. Those sleeves!

[Frisky Wig]

32 minutes ago, tanyak said:

Maybe this should go over in the fashion thread, but good point that the gymnastics crew wore polos in Rio. That seems to be the standard issue uniform at the Olympics. Rowdy Gaines and Dan Hicks are wearing them now, and I know the track and field team wears them. 
 

Maybe the NBC powers-that-be decided gymnastics is the “glamour” event and decided to allow the commentators to dress up a bit. I have no idea what she had on tonight. Those sleeves!

That’s an interesting theory. I must argue though, that RHYTHMIC is THE glamour event. The leotards, elegance, grace and artistry in rhythmic vs artistic is night and day. 
 

Speaking of, is there a way to find out who will commentate on events before they air? 
 

And, that puffy shirt thing that Nastia was wearing was not attractive. 

[katisha]

To any Australians out there, I want to give a shout out to Thorpey. He's a brilliant commentator - thoughtful, intelligent, knowledgeable.

[Frisky Wig]

6 minutes ago, Frisky Wig said:

That’s an interesting theory. I must argue though, that RHYTHMIC is THE glamour event. The leotards, elegance, grace and artistry in rhythmic vs artistic is night and day. 
 

Speaking of, is there a way to find out who will commentate on events before they air? 
 

And, that puffy shirt thing that Nastia was wearing was not attractive. 

I googled and answered my own question: https://www.google.com/amp/s/nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2021/06/23/record-178-commentators-join-nbc-olympics-coverage-of-the-games-of-the-xxxii-olympiad-from-tokyo-japan/amp/ Nastia and Andrea Joyce will be commentating on rhythmic in the US. I’m disappointed they couldn’t/wouldn’t get a former rhythmic gymnast to do the job. Andrea has been covering RG since the 2008 Games and Nastia’s mother was a world champion in RG in the 80’s. Hopefully Nastia knows her stuff. 

[emma675]

35 minutes ago, katisha said:

To any Australians out there, I want to give a shout out to Thorpey. He's a brilliant commentator - thoughtful, intelligent, knowledgeable.

Aw, the Thorpedo. I loved watching him swim.

[SnideAsides]

Also, he's a perennial figure in the Olympics Hotties thread.

I'm loving the Aussie skateboarding commentators, despite their understandable awkwardness. Clearly experts in the field (a nice change from many of Seven's commentators) but not beating us over the head with it.

[choclatechip45]

8 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Does anyone know if all of the announcers are actually in Tokyo?  
 

I am watching a replay of the men’s gymnastics qualifying event and it looks as though we are seeing pool coverage, rather than NBC-specific coverage.  It makes me wonder if the announcers for that (John Roethlisberger & Bridget Sloan) are watching a video feed in a studio in the U.S. somewhere.   Thus far, a haven’t seen a picture of them at the venue.  (I did miss a few minutes at the beginning.)

No. There a bunch broadcasting out of Stamford CT since NBC Sports have it's HQ.

[Lady Whistleup]

Nastia is an influencer and if you look on her IG she's often paid to plug the clothes she wears. It costs money to look as fashionably hideous as she does.

[Frisky Wig]

20 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Nastia is an influencer and if you look on her IG she's often paid to plug the clothes she wears. It costs money to look as fashionably hideous as she does.

True. Her IG is glamour shots interspersed with pics of her dog and beautiful vacay photos (both of which, often, funnily enough, ALSO contain her looking glam) and pics of her with a product that she says she loves and can’t live without, most of which I’m sure she only started using because the brand asked her to use and plug their product. Said products are nearly always hair/skin care or something else that helps her look as glam as she does. Oh, and her shots tend to be taken with the camera seemingly on the ground, lens gazing up at her and lengthening her already-long-and-lean legs. I can’t hate on her too much because all influencers do this (with varying camera angles). 
 

@Lady Whistleup your “fashionably hideous” comment made me chuckle but I like a good percentage of what she wears and often think she looks beautiful, despite also looking overdressed, over-spray-tanned and unprofessional. 

[Rootbeer]

On 7/23/2021 at 10:55 PM, Frisky Wig said:

Yeah, she didn’t pack nearly enough… https://www.instagram.com/p/CRb2QUrKP41/

I can’t help but think she treating her announcer jobs like they’re the Met Gala or a red carpet event. She looks beautiful in her couture gowns but she’s not dressing for the occasion. IMO. 

I think she looks ridiculous.  Meanwhile,  Lori Hernandez was providing commentary on the gymnastics recap this morning wearing black pants and a white tailored shirt and looked adorable and professional.

[galaxygirl76]

Just saw Nastia on NBC and both me and my husband's response to her outfit was 'oh honey, no'.

[Jenniferbug]

22 hours ago, emma675 said:

Aw, the Thorpedo. I loved watching him swim.

My 17 year old self fell instantly in love with him back in the 2000 Olympics 😆

[Lady Whistleup]

His commentating is fine but Michael Phelps is aging in dog years. Wow.

[SnarkShark]

They've really botched the hosting of these Peacock Olympics shows. 

Rich Eisen hosting the Tokyo Gold show is bad enough.  The cheese is relentless.  But Kenny Mayne is co-hosting the Tokyo Tonight show, and at least in the one I just saw the guy seems outright senile.  Which since he's only 61, is odd.  He and cohost Cari Champion were doing a remote to Tokyo, for example, speaking to Amber Ruffin, who's there for God knows what reason. It could be for Peacock, who also employ her, but a bunch of turds flowed out of Mayne's mouth instead of a real interview, so I still have no real idea why she's there. 

[Danny Franks]

The BBC seems to be grooming their next set of presenters with these Olympics - Sam Quek has been almost ever-present in the studio discussions and Alex Scott has clearly impressed enough with her soccer punditry that she's being moved into a more general presenting role as well.

Nice to see new blood instead of the same old faces. But we'd better still have Michael Johnson for the Track and Field.

[mojoween]

The swimming announcers on USA (I didn’t catch their names) are very pleasant, and the lady gives good information, but swimmers keep getting disqualified and they aren’t saying why.  Don’t they know that nosy people are watching the Olympics at seven o’clock in the morning?

[Harry24]

I’ve enjoyed and respected Cynthia Potter’s diving commentary for decades now.  

HOWEVER, she really needs to stop referring to, for instance, the British divers by their last names and the Chinese divers as “the Chinese,” as she did in the men’s synchronized 10 meter competition.  I find it hard to believe that someone as plugged in as she is in the diving world isn’t fully aware of the names of all the leading divers in the world, much less two divers who have each won multiple Olympic gold medals.  Do better, Cynthia!!!!!  You’re too good for that BS.

I should also point out that Ted Robinson used the individual last names a good 80% of the time, so kudos to him.  Although I wish there was no need for kudos on this subject.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Harry24

[legaleagle53]

I don't know where else to ask this, but have we been getting any of the segments on Japanese culture and history?  I don't remember seeing any in Rio, and i haven't see any for Tokyo. i think I have to go all the way back to London for the last time I saw those reports.