Mon 11 Aug 2008 @21:09
I like watching the Olympics. I’ll often watch sports that I would not watch at any other time (if they’re even broadcast) just because they are Olympic games. [Becky made a similar statement in her recent post.] And this year I’ve found a new twist.
It turns out that in addition to the coverage on NBC, MS-NBC, and USA my cable company has an Olympic Korean channel and an Olympic Mandarin Chinese channel. [There are other premium and HD Olympic channels that I'm not willing to pay for....] So over the weekend I channel-hopped mercilessly and watched a good bit on the Korean channel. [I'm not sure why, but the Chinese channel only broadcasts 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm or I probably would have watched more of it.]
Let me be clear, other than hello, thank you, and a few other odd words [most of them food-related] I do not read, speak, or understand the Chinese or Korean languages. But it matters little. Most of the Olympic games are not very complicated. If it’s a race — whether on foot, on a bike, in or on the water — they’re all trying to get from point A to point B first. If it’s a game — basketball, tennis, soccer, badminton, etc. — I already know the basics. Archery or pistols? Aim. Shoot. Add up the points. Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Wrestling, Fencing — all battles of a sort. Weightlifting — they’re gonna try and pick that thing up. And then they’re gonna try and pick up a bigger one….
I don’t really like watching sports on TV much as a rule. The drivel of the commentators drives me nuts. And I’ve discovered that it’s easier to ignore commentators that are speaking a language I don’t understand anyway! I can read the scores [maybe math really is a universal language]. The names of the athletes and countries are usually recognizable if I’m listening. Besides, they’re often displayed on the screen in English. Plus, the Korean channel has far fewer commercials!
August 11th, 2008 at 22:38
how very cool is that! i am betting the foreign channels give you coverage of athletes you might not otherwise see too. bonus! ( i get annoyed that NBC doesn’t always cover far beyond the americans)
You’re right, each channel usually covers events in which athletes from their country tend to excel so I saw some events that were not on NBC at all. On the other hand, it was also kind of cool to watch part of the USA-China basketball game in English and part of it in Chinese. ~Tim
August 18th, 2008 at 11:42
I think I mentioned that we’ve been watching a lot on the Canadian network since they aren’t delaying the West Coast playback. I have noticed, though, that the coverage doesn’t seem to be as cheesy as it has been in year’s past. I don’t mind it when someone has broken some records or won races, but it seemed like with Sydney and Athens, every single athlete had this extended story attached to each competition. It drove me crazy.