topic Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary in Wellness

Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

grandma r — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 03:48:04 GMT

Why is Bob Costas discussing politics ??? We tune in to watch the events , not listen to people discussing Putin's political agenda. The Olympic committee chose to give these games to Russia. It's a little late to second guess the decision!

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

lovesrecess — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 03:51:26 GMT

Bob Costas inserts his political/personal opinions whenever he likes....can't stand to watch him....he is the one who stirred up the controversy regarding team mascot names......the Olympics in Sochi is obviously an ego trip for Putin....the IOC should never have put the games there......but that ship has sailed and now they must make the best of it.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

JeanLouiseFinch — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 10:09:30 GMT

Plain and simple, Bob Costas has an agenda.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Cyndog — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 22:21:10 GMT

I thought it was just me that thought that was weird, I recorded it and then fast forwarded when I saw what they were talking about. Don't remember Olympic commentators going that into politics. I actually thought it was even more odd when he started talking about why he was wearing glasses and that he woke up with an eye infection, then described it further and said the doctor said it would be gone in a couple days, etc., etc. I guess he was embarrassed about wearing glasses or something to go into all that explanation. It was strange.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

bikerbabe — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 23:51:00 GMT

Considering it's an obvious issue affecting the games, the quality of the facilities, SECURITY, it would be like ignoring the elephant in the room if it wasn't mentioned at all!

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

chessylady — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 00:01:45 GMT

Bikerbabe, ITA. Also the extensive coverage of the Olympics requires a lot time to fill. I wish we had more real time coverage. Unless you watch online realtime, by the time it is on TV you already know who won.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Sooner — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 00:24:14 GMT

On 2/7/2014 bikerbabe said:
Considering it's an obvious issue affecting the games, the quality of the facilities, SECURITY, it would be like ignoring the elephant in the room if it wasn't mentioned at all!

You can't separate the two this time.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Little Way — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:19:23 GMT

It is difficult to separate the host country's politics and the athletic event. It is informative to listen to, though, and I don't have anything against commentator's mentioning it.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

sfnative — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:55:18 GMT

On 2/7/2014 Dilemma Meringue said:
It is difficult to separate the host country's politics and the athletic event. It is informative to listen to, though, and I don't have anything against commentator's mentioning it.

It's not difficult at all!!! You just don't cave! Oh, but I forget - it's the NBC agenda!

When I tune in to sports, I want sports. I don't want political commentary. I don't want someone explaining their eye ouchie to me, nor do I want some lady sitting on a couch, once again, yammering about this that and the other thing. Before we know it, they'll be sharing recipes!

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Reepicheepers — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 02:05:45 GMT

On 2/7/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:
Plain and simple, Bob Costas has an agenda.

He sure does and he wants us all to know it! Plus, he is more intelligent than all of us too! I refuse to listen to him and the eye infection just made me laugh.

Sad that reporters have strayed so far from reporting!

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Little Way — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 02:15:31 GMT

On 2/7/2014 sfnative said:
On 2/7/2014 Dilemma Meringue said:
It is difficult to separate the host country's politics and the athletic event. It is informative to listen to, though, and I don't have anything against commentator's mentioning it.

It's not difficult at all!!! You just don't cave! Oh, but I forget - it's the NBC agenda!

When I tune in to sports, I want sports. I don't want political commentary. I don't want someone explaining their eye ouchie to me, nor do I want some lady sitting on a couch, once again, yammering about this that and the other thing. Before we know it, they'll be sharing recipes!

I think it's difficult, let me clarify, with the Olympics. The host nation always spends billions of dollars to get the facilities ready - it sometimes is a coming-out party to the world - you HAVE to talk about the host country during the Olympics. If there is an agenda, though, and the commentators are pushing it - then that's not cool. Otherwise, I do like to hear information about the host country - its history, political climate and maybe the challenges it is having with security, getting the Olympic Village up and running and so forth. Growing up and watching the Olympics was a great way to learn some history.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Cyndog — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 03:13:07 GMT

Everything Dilemma said is absolutely right, but I think Bob Costas went beyond that. I was kinda surprised.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Little Way — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 03:28:09 GMT

On 2/7/2014 cyndog said: Everything Dilemma said is absolutely right, but I think Bob Costas went beyond that. I was kinda surprised.

I am watching right now - opening ceremonies - and I missed Bob on the couch. I caught a brief interview he had with Maria Sharapova. His eye ouchie looked worse. I was hoping for an update on that, in his pompous tone. I miss Jim McKay! Anyone remember him?

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

dmod nj — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 05:00:24 GMT

On 2/7/2014 Reepicheepers said:
On 2/7/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:
Plain and simple, Bob Costas has an agenda.

He sure does and he wants us all to know it! Plus, he is more intelligent than all of us too! I refuse to listen to him and the eye infection just made me laugh.

Sad that reporters have strayed so far from reporting!

Wow, that tells me a lot about you.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

lovesrecess — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 05:04:56 GMT

after seeing Bob Costa's eye I wondered if he was roughed up by someone who was sick of hearing him put politics into every discussion of the Olympics!

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Cyndog — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 06:23:36 GMT

I remember Jim McKay, not incredibly well, but I can still picture his face.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

haddon9 — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 06:28:34 GMT

On 2/7/2014 cyndog said: I remember Jim McKay, not incredibly well, but I can still picture his face.

I remember him . He was the voice of the Olympics to me.

I did really enjoy the opening ceremonies and thought they were done very well!

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Sooner — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 06:49:23 GMT

EVERYTHING about the opening ceremony was geared toward propaganda by the host country. If you don't want to mix sports and world politics then you need to find another thing to watch and you won't have a problem because it seems sports of some sort is on 24/7. Did you like the outfits the US team wore tonight? I thought they were busy and off the mark a little.

Do you think sports isn't political? The WHOLE point of Russia hosting these games is political. Everything is geared and staged to show a repressive society as something it is not. They are passing out the Kool Aid and to not comment on it would be censorship in the worst way of anyone on tv or in print or internet media.

Also, I'm sure Bob and the others covering these events know a lot more about what is going on than we do, and I for one, and glad someone IS talking about it. Also, you can learn an awful lot from people you don't like. It is important on the world stage and we all live there now thanks to the internet.

Politics has always been a major factor in the Olympics. It is part of the package.

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

Lucky Charm — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 07:34:18 GMT

On 2/7/2014 upsidedown said:
after seeing Bob Costa's eye I wondered if he was roughed up by someone who was sick of hearing him put politics into every discussion of the Olympics!

omgosh that could be!

Re: Olympic Coverage vs Political Commentary

sparklestar — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 07:44:36 GMT

On 2/7/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:
Plain and simple, Bob Costas has an agenda.

I heard a recorded statement he made on the radio this morning. Something about how he woke up with an eye infection so he had to wear dark glasses and he felt he needed to give some long explanation about it. The local DJ's were commenting about him and laughing. He made absolutely no sense and an explanation was not even needed. He did sound much like a babbling fool.