Ranty Olympic rantness

[herveus]

While I am studiously not watching the Olympics on TV, nor actively seeking information on them, I can't avoid hearing about it. Right now, Michael Phelps is getting a lot of mention on the airwaves. All of the reportage I've heard keeps mentioning that he's surpassed Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis in lifetime gold medals. I guess Larysa Latynina (gymnast) and Paavo Nurmi (track and field) are chopped liver. They, too, earned nine gold medals in their Olympic careers, but there has been nary a mention of them. I guess, not being Americans, they are not worthy of mention. *mutter*

...and WTOP could do without the faux "warning" that they are about to broadcast "spoilers" -- that is, report "news", being results that have occurred but that have not yet been aired by NBC in the US on television. If you want to call yourself "news radio", then just bleeping give us the news. The NBC "delayed telecast" "suspense" is just so much BS. Hell, to hear it from others, the actual sports content in an hour is far less than the time dedicated to commercials.

*sigh*

Comments

[meradudd.livejournal.com]

As someone who doesn't care for the Olympics, my largest problem is trying to avoid the whole spectacle. As for Larysa Latynina and Paavo Nurmi, I think that the age of their achievements is as much a factor as anything. Both Nurmi and Latynina won gold in the time between the Wars, when the media was very different. In truth, I think you would find most people hard pressed to name any Olympic athlete from the 1920's or 1930's off the top of their head.