Olympic Skating Idol?

Was it just me, or were the skating commentators on NBC really nasty
last night for the ladies' free skate? I thought they were particularly
cruel to that one Japanese skater, I think her name was Miko Ando. They
were mercilessly tearing her routine apart, and Dick Button referred to
her as a 'rhinocerous' at one point (to the agreeing laughter of Peggy
Fleming). I was a bit disgusted. I mean, I know she wasn't having her

Nancy1...

Peggy Fleming isn't commenting, at least at the same time as Button,

Susan Bartholomew...

Hmm, maybe it was Sandra...

Hamilton and Sandra.

I watched and heard the whole evening, and didn't hear any
"rhinocerous" comment - maybe I missed it, but I did hear Dick say "Oh,
oh, oh, how unfortunate, oh, there's something terribly wrong here...."
etc. He was right. If you don't like the way he comments, hit the
mute button.

Susan Bartholomew...

It was during the playback when they were reviewing her routine; one of
them said something about how she was jumping and Button said the move
looked 'more like a rhinocerous'. If someone has the exact quote, I'd
like to see it, as I was in the other room and only heard that part of
the comment, and the woman's laughter that came after it.

And believe me, if the CBC had been showing it at the time, I would have
watched them instead of NBC.

I didn't see anything particularly nasty about their comments other
than they were shocked by some of the skaters who, after all, are in an
OLYMPIC competition and should have been better or should have been
trying harder. Some of the programs were snoozers, some of the skaters
were worse than the amateurs at the local shopping mall rink, and they
tell it like it is.

I certainly doubt that NBC told them to be nasty. After all, the games
aren't over yet, and the U.S. is only 3 medals behind the leader,
Germany. What's so bad about that?

Susan Bartholomew...

Nothing at all, but it's the ratings I was thinking of. Idol has beaten
the Olympics every time they've gone up against each other; NBC has to
be worried about that.

I don't think NBC actually told them to be nasty either; it just seemed
to me that it seemed as if they had. I don't mind criticism, and many of
the skaters could certainly have done better, but it sounded like they
were being unduly hard.

best skate, but since they were all skaters once, you'd think they'd
have at least a little understanding of how difficult it is out there.
Even Scott Hamilton, for whom I had a lot of respect, seemed eager to
berate the skaters.

It seemed to me that NBC, realizing that they're getting clobbered in
the ratings by American Idol, told the commentators to be extra nasty
because that's what they do on Idol and it seems to get viewers...

Lava...

I normally love the commentating, but they could be a little more subtle
about it.