CHANNEL SURFING
THE GOOD: Although American sprinter Sanya Richards appeared to be on her way to a gold medal in the 400 metres yesterday, CBC analyst Michael Smith wasn't buying it. "She may have gone out too fast," he told viewers. Sure enough, Richards faded late in the race. ... NBC beach volleyball analyst Karch Kiraly noted that the American women's team was `shellacking the Brazilians." How he avoided the urge to say "waxing the Brazilians" is a mystery. ... CBC gave significant air time yesterday to the Olympic Right To Play charity, which deserves notoriety for its work with children in poverty-stricken countries. ... CBC analyst Clara Hughes did a great job yesterday of explaining the strategy and intricacies of sprint cycling, truly one of the strangest events at the Games.
THE BAD: CBC triathlon analyst Barry Shepley was off the mark in estimating Simon Whitfield's chances Monday night, saying he was out of medal contention and criticizing his tactics. `He is not making the moves he needs to make if he wants to be a medal threat," he said not long before Whitfield won the silver. ... During the 1,500-metre final yesterday, CBC track analyst Dave Moorcroft told viewers favourite Rashid Ramzi "is looking quite comfortable. Actually, he looks quite frustrated." Maybe he was comfortably frustrated. ... So far, the Games have featured Russians competing for Spain, Moroccans for Bahrain and Americans for Russia among a slew of citizens by convenience. When do countries start trading athletes and, if they do, when can we trade for a good sprinter?
THE UGLY: CBC reporter Elliotte Friedman greeted hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, who had just won a surprise bronze medal, by wondering what obscenity she had let fly upon learning that she had finished third. The startled athlete said she didn't remember saying anything, which was certainly what the cameras showed.
Viewers benefit from CBC's medal juggling act
August 20, 2008
Comments on this story
Chris Zelkovich
In many ways, the Beijing Games haven't been among the most compelling Olympics – and not just because the hockey players here don't fight.
Because of the time difference and the scheduling, there are often huge gaps between competitions of interest. And by the time the evening events get going, half the country is getting ready for bed.
But the past day, Beijing-wise, was one of those incredible days in which the entire Games seem to have been fast-forwarded. Event after event rolled by on the TV screen, with Canadians vying for medals in almost every one.
And as good a day as it was for Canadian athletes, it was a great day for the CBC. The network jumped seamlessly from event to event and, when conflicts occurred, made all the right calls.
A bunch of Canadian medals didn't hurt, either.
It started with the men's triathlon, which the CBC wisely chose to stick with even though Alexandre Despatie was competing in the springboard semifinals at the same time. That paid off, as CBC scored its biggest audience of the Games: 2,574,000.
About six hours later, CBC faced another tough decision: the diving final collided with the trampoline final involving Canadian Jason Burnett.
Again, the network made the right call. It stuck with diving until Burnett's turn came up and hopped over to the gym in time to catch his routine.
Viewers then got to see the rest of that event, which resulted in a silver medal before heading back to diving. After showing the key missed dives on tape, CBC stayed with that long enough to see Despatie win silver.
In between, it got an interview with Burnett before heading to the track in time to catch the women's 400 metres, which didn't feature any Canadians but did end in a shocker as favourite Sanya Richards barely hung on for bronze.
Before moving to the women's hurdles, which featured Canadian medal hope Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, it had time to show sprinter Jared Connaughton's unsuccessful semifinal race on tape.
Then came the hurdles, which was one of the CBC's few bobbles on the day. The track crew focused on favourite Lolo Jones' stumble, which was a significant story, but took too long to tell viewers that the silver and bronze medals were too close to call.
Those wondering how Lopes-Schliep had finished were in the dark for more than a minute before being told it was a photo finish (she won bronze).
The other bobble was that neither Despatie's medal ceremony nor an interview with him made it to air.
But despite that it was a masterful job of juggling events.
Toronto Star