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"Shut up, Al!": Announcing Voices We Love and Hate

selkie

By selkie
in 2016 Olympics

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AuntieDiane6

AuntieDiane6

Quote

They just interviewed the U.S. women's team who took silver in one of the swimming relays.

Announcer: "Lead-off swimmer, what was your plan for the race?"

Swimmer: "Get in the water and swim as fast as I could."

Me: "Bahahaha!"

Seriously, what did they expect her to say?"

Well ... I don't blame the announcer, I blame the swimming association for not hiring a media coach for them.

Here's what the swimmer could have said,

"I know that if I got out to a strong lead at the start, I could hold it until the end.  I've spent the past year really working on my start. "

"I know that Suzie Smith in the lane next to me has a fast start, so if I could get the lead by the turn, I could hold on."  

"I felt a lot of pressure being the lead-off swimmer, but I knew if I could give Kerry an advantage, she could really turn it into a big lead."  

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photo fox
photo fox

They just interviewed the U.S. women's team who took silver in one of the swimming relays. Announcer: "Lead-off swimmer, what was your plan for the race?" Swimmer: "Get in the water and swim

KFC
KFC

Not that I ever had a high opinion of Al, but that's SUCH a strange and dickish thing to dig in your heels about. My word, Al, are you really challenging her on who she gets to call her parents? Good

Rick Kitchen
Rick Kitchen

One NBC announcer just said, "Katey Ledecky is considered the most dominant female swimmer in the world today.  Michael Phelps held that position for the past four Olympics."  No, I don't think he has

legaleagle53

legaleagle53

And just in case you need more proof regarding how big an asshole Al Trautwig is, there's this:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbcs-al-trautwig-regrets-tweet-918079

I know the bit about Simone is old news, but evidently his assholishness was in full force yesterday regarding other matters as well:

Quote

 

Judging by some of his other tweets, Trautwig was in a cranky mood Sunday.

To one tweeter who complained about losing five years of his life every time Trautwig explained the gymnastics scoring system, the announcer replied: "Then you should be done by now."

Someone with the Twitter handle "Gym Nerd" wrote to Trautwig that "you may be in Rio but at least I'm passionate about my job, and respected for it."

"Right, and I don't care," Trautwig replied. "Resume treatment."

 

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dcalley

dcalley

On 8/7/2016 at 1:30 AM, Rick Kitchen said:

Flashing to the Hungarian gold medal swimmer's husband and giving him all the credit for her gold medal.  smdh

I watched that race live and then again On Demand, where they cut out parts of the race (because it's so long) but left in Hicks's "there's the man responsible" and the husband's reaction.

We call Al "Al Earwig."

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cocobeans

cocobeans

On August 8, 2016 at 5:27 AM, katisha said:

I didn't see this but it sounds like typical Seven. And speaking of the swimmers, why can't the poolside commentators just let them walk off in peace when they are obviously really upset, like Emma McKeon was after the 100m butterfly? We didn't need to hear her tearfully telling us she was disappointed in her swim. The red eyes and sad face kind of gave that away.

I don't care what country they swim for or who they are; when they lose I want them to be given a few minutes to gather themselves.  They have spent their whole lives training for this moment, and it just crashed, give them space!

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photo fox

photo fox

I was watching women's cycling time trials earlier.  They do this thing where they have seats for whomever is currently in gold, silver, and bronze position, and as they are overtaken, they have to give up their spot.  (Harsh.)

A new competitor took the lead, and the gold and silver people shuffled over to the silver and bronze chairs, while the woman who had been in bronze walked away with a towel over her face, as the camera tracked and zoomed on her.  Awful.

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AuntieDiane6

AuntieDiane6

(edited)
Quote

I don't care what country they swim for or who they are; when they lose I want them to be given a few minutes to gather themselves.  They have spent their whole lives training for this moment, and it just crashed, give them space!

They need to practice quotes for when they lose.  A few minutes is too late for TV.  And your ability to articulate defeat can create a deeply sympathetic response in the audience.  And a TV movie.

Edited by AuntieDiane6
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Valentine

Valentine

(edited)
46 minutes ago, photo fox said:

I was watching women's cycling time trials earlier.  They do this thing where they have seats for whomever is currently in gold, silver, and bronze position, and as they are overtaken, they have to give up their spot.  (Harsh.)

A new competitor took the lead, and the gold and silver people shuffled over to the silver and bronze chairs, while the woman who had been in bronze walked away with a towel over her face, as the camera tracked and zoomed on her.  Awful.

At least the announcer said he didn't blame her for covering her face. He's said over and over how hard it is to come in fourth. I appreciated that he was sympathetic.  Remember in London they sat on three thrones?! I will never forget Bradley Wiggins on that gold throne. 

Edited by Valentine
Quilt Fairy

Quilt Fairy

The team covering gymnastics on livestream is so much better than Trautwig & Co it's ridiculous. Jon Horton is giving the names of all the moves including some of the history, and he and Courtney Kapets were describing the rules of floor routines as well as what goes in to creating one. Nothing you'll hear tonight, I guarantee.  And I even heard Jim Watson say " the gymnast from the Ukraine, excuse me, from Ukraine". Take that Al "They're not really her parents" Trautwig.

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selkie

selkie

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2 hours ago, photo fox said:

I was watching women's cycling time trials earlier.  They do this thing where they have seats for whomever is currently in gold, silver, and bronze position, and as they are overtaken, they have to give up their spot.  (Harsh.)

A new competitor took the lead, and the gold and silver people shuffled over to the silver and bronze chairs, while the woman who had been in bronze walked away with a towel over her face, as the camera tracked and zoomed on her.  Awful.

I've seen them do similar in some winter sports- think it was alpine skiing and some of the sledding sports this past year.

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meep.meep

meep.meep

If I hear one more commentator commentate about how someone is "xx years of age" I will throw my beverage at the TV!  You can just say 16 or 24 or 41 occasionally.  We have all figured out the years part, presumably there are no toddlers competing.  And the "of age" thing is just filler.  They all do it!

I haven't watched much of the gymnastics that wasn't USA! USA! all the time.  But I did see a little of the Chinese team last night.  Has there been any speculation on how many years of age those girls have attained?  Cause they look like the younger sisters of the 10 year olds from the last Olympics.

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ElDosEquis

ElDosEquis

I dunno who was doing the voice over recap on the Today show - I know they have copy written FOR them - but I had to laugh when they reported the first ever gold medal being won by an athlete competing as an Independent Competitor.

I believe the guy was from Kuwait?

They showed a clip of him getting his medal and cut to him kneeling down - you can see his prayer rug on the sand under him - and the TH says something like, "he was so overcome with joy, he had to bend over and kiss the ground".

Uh huh......Yea, right.

purist

purist

(edited)
On 09/08/2016 at 10:56 AM, SnideAsides said:

Australia has Liz Chetkovich doing commentary for both men and women, and she seems to do it fine.

Is she the gymnastics commentator with the horrible voice? I have to mute her every time!

On 09/08/2016 at 10:56 AM, SnideAsides said:

It was the awful, awful Hamish Maclachlan, who I am about 85% sure is only managing to keep his job at Seven/get all the good gigs because his brother runs the AFL and Seven don't want to piss him off.

Hamish isn't that bad. I've heard far worse poolside interviews. What pisses you off so much about him?

 

ETA: And it's Hamish Templeton, not Hamish McLachlan. :)

Edited by purist
SnideAsides

SnideAsides

11 hours ago, purist said:

Is she the gymnastics commentator with the horrible voice? I have to mute her every time!

Hamish isn't that bad. I've heard far worse poolside interviews. What pisses you off so much about him?

 

ETA: And it's Hamish Templeton, not Hamish McLachlan. :)

Yes, she's that gymnastics commentator with the horrible voice. And like I get it, but also: she knows her shit.

I agree that Hamish Templeton isn't that bad (especially compared to when, like, Johanna Griggs was doing it at one of the old Olympics, but I actually was talking about Hamish McLachlan interviewing the archers after their medal.

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Quilt Fairy

Quilt Fairy

(edited)
On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 7:54 PM, meep.meep said:

I haven't watched much of the gymnastics that wasn't USA! USA! all the time.  But I did see a little of the Chinese team last night.  Has there been any speculation on how many years of age those girls have attained?  Cause they look like the younger sisters of the 10 year olds from the last Olympics

I almost spit out my drink when Trautwig said "The Chinese are bringing a younger team to this Olympics".  I think he really meant less experienced, because if they were any younger they'd still be a glint in someone's eye.

I bailed on the live stream of the Women's AA this afternoon because I got very nervous when Simone was behind after the UB.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find that tonight's on-air coverage was actually tolerable. Tim and Nastia were on-point and informative and Al didn't say anything to embarrass himself.  Too bad they weren't like this on Day 1, it's not like they haven't worked together before.

Edited by Quilt Fairy
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KenyaJ

KenyaJ

On 8/11/2016 at 4:12 PM, FanOfTheFans said:

I have to say that Rowdy Gaines does a great job.  He has an incredible mind for the stats and the times that the swimmers are putting up plus he is enthusiastic.  I can't help but like him for being genuine. 

I love him too. I adore his enthusiasm, but it's also obvious how much he deeply cares about growing the sport. His reaction to Simone Manuel's win was touching, and he said during today's prelims coverage that her race was his favorite of all the races thus far because of the potential it had to broaden the sport and make it inclusive. And that's a "smart" thing to say, but the emotion in his voice conveyed how much he meant it. He's great.

10 minutes ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Sanya is a wonderful addition to this team, and of course there's also my beloved Lewis Johnson as the sideline reporter.

I was devastated when Sanya got injured and failed to make the Olympic team, but I'm so happy NBC scooped her up. I loved the Tom & Ato team already, and adding her to it is like the cherry on top of the sundae.

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Kromm

Kromm

Man, Costas showed what a horrible interviewer he can be with that Katie Ledecky interview tonight (late Friday night).  Ugh. It was a combination of a tongue bath (that she had to work hard to roll with to not sound conceited) and tons of trite moments.

I used to like Costas, but as he ages... color me no longer impressed.

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Scovies

Scovies

I'm loving Ato Bolden as per usual, and Sanya Richards-Ross was a great addition to the commentary team as well. For the "non-expert" commentators, I do enjoy Tom Hammond for track and Dan Hicks in swimming; they're always prepared with relevant stats/info on the athletes and defer to the experts on the technical stuff. That's more than I can say for other people *coughTrautwigcough*.

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renatae

renatae

On 8/8/2016 at 10:09 PM, legaleagle53 said:

And just in case you need more proof regarding how big an asshole Al Trautwig is, there's this:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbcs-al-trautwig-regrets-tweet-918079

I know the bit about Simone is old news, but evidently his assholishness was in full force yesterday regarding other matters as well:

I saw those tweets, too, and I couldn't believe how rude he is. He apparently thinks he is made of iron and has some sort of immunity idol. And they keep him on, so apparently he is right.  Which makes me lose respect for them all.

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SnideAsides

SnideAsides

Australia update: Channel Seven was doing so well at keeping the filler packages to a minimum... but then they had to go and make Phil Liggett (THE Phil Liggett) do one about how he really loves covering cycling but the job he really wants is commentary on beach volleyball because of The Sexy Ladies. Urgh.

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