[Olympics] Olympic voices should focus on positive to keep viewers

“That was as inglorious as it gets. “¦ He gets
clobbered. A dream-killing 9.137 for Paul Hamm.”

The gold medal-winning gymnast Paul Hamm, that is.

The harsh description given by the American announcers, Elfi
Schlegal and Al Trautwig, at the men’s individual Olympic
gymnastics championships is characteristic of how negatively
commentators can portray the Olympic Games to television
viewers.

Listening to most of the announcers negatively portray the
Olympics is enough to pick up the remote and change the station,
which is exactly what my roommate and I did.

And while flipping through the channels, we came upon a
relieving revelation: Spanish coverage.

At first I was hesitant, but after enduring an earful of overly
critical comments by the American commentators, I realized how much
more entertaining and less stressful it was to watch the Olympic
coverage on Telemundo.

From the network that gave us the infamous
“GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!,” the Telemundo commentary contrasts
greatly with the harsh descriptions given by American announcers
such as Schlegal and Trautwig.

In NBC’s coverage, after Hamm fell off the pommel horse,
the announcers did not give the viewers a chance to believe that
Hamm could even medal in the finals.

Their constant criticisms about how the reigning world champion
would not have a chance at becoming the Olympic all-around champion
were disheartening and annoying.

As I watched Hamm’s performance on the pommel horse,
though, I did not lose hope. I had seen worse performances and even
greater comebacks in sports.

But the announcers’ persistent berating of Hamm’s
performance began to shake my faith in Hamm’s chances to
medal, not to mention that it detracted from the essence of the
2004 Summer Olympics.

Since when did the Olympic motto change from “faster,
higher, stronger” to “If you fall down, don’t get
up: You’re toast”?

The Olympics are heralded as an event where athletes push
themselves to higher levels and accomplish the unimaginable. Though
it is understandable that the announcers are not obligated to take
an overly optimistic point of view, it is their job to keep viewers
watching.

Unlike a true Olympics fan, I’m a person who enjoys
watching America compete, otherwise I have little interest. So when
Schlegal took Hamm out of the running, I had little incentive to
watch the rest of the competition.

It was bad enough that the announcers didn’t give Hamm a
chance to redeem himself. But after he clinched the gold medal with
solid performances on the parallel bars and the high bar, the
announcers could not stop praising his performances. Their remarks
made it seem as though they never doubted him in the first
place.

The Olympics also have made American commentators notorious for
their repetition and exaggeration.

Case in point with Michael Phelps.

I highly doubt that there is one Olympics fan who does not know
that “Michael Phelps is only 19 and can only get
better”.

The announcers’ handling of Phelps’ attempt at
breaking Mark Spitz’s record of winning the most gold medals
at one Olympic Games also signaled a fault in their commentary.

Their excessive commentary of Phelps’ “doomed
quest” for eight gold medals was ridiculous. They failed to
highlight the fact he won six gold and two bronze medals, tying
Spitz’s record of four individual gold medals and the record
for overall medals.

To me, that accomplishment is far from a doomed quest.

But the worst aspect of the commentators at the 2004 Olympics
has been the excessive cheesiness.

Just because they’re in Greece, it doesn’t mean they
can use Greek mythology references constantly.

During the Olympics, the intermittent allusions to the Trojans,
Herculean efforts, Achilles’ heels and oracles have been
unnecessary.

The accumulation of all these attributes has made it much more
apparent that Spanish Olympic coverage and commentary on Telemundo
is an intelligent and more appealing alternative.

You may giggle or scoff at the suggestion, but don’t knock
it ’til you’ve tried it. Whether you understand Spanish
or not, the energy in Telemundo’s announcers’ voices
and their occasional screams are uplifting.

It allows the viewer to smile and really feel what the Olympics
are about: pure fun.

E-mail Palathumpat your thoughts at
[email protected].