The Olympic commentary was largely determined by the amount of hype an athlete came in with, along with a desire for them to accurately predict who might win.
If you wanted to see more generous commentating, you should have paid attention to the earlier parts of the programs, where the skaters were not competing for a medal. These were judged on how they met their ability, with some critiquing on what they need to do to improve.
Critiquing examples of less accomplished skaters:
"She used to land quad jumps a couple of years ago, but her body has grown up, and she needs to learn her new body better"
"She is beautiful to watch. She has lovely lines, but she needs someone to coach her, to teach her how to use her power and her grace, and to make a more mature presentation"
"The music doesn't excite me. The skating is very nice, but they have choreographed to the new rules, and not to the music (which is very easy to do under the new rules). They've done well learning the tricks, but now they need to learn to put together a presentation. But they're young, and they have plenty of time"
Also, they were tremendously supportive of Emily, of the Turkish and Italian women. They were very supportive of those trying new things, even if the new things did not always work (and this applies to skating, men's aerials, and at least one other event that escapes me).
On the other hand, they were definitely harsh (Dick in particular) to a few skaters who (in their mind) should have done quite a bit better. The were hard on Bodie, who had tremendous hype coming in. They were tough on the girl who lost the snowboarding downhill because, when she had a huge lead, she tried to style, and wiped out.
The "less mature" Japanese skater? Is less mature. In both age and technique. The older skater, who won the gold, won largely due to a) not screwing up, b) skating a reasonably tough program (but not any where near the toughest), and c) skating the most elegant and graceful program of all the women. This is not surprising - watching many young skaters mature leads to a very different style, and goes from pure athletic ability to a combination of elegance and athleticism.
I think the honesty in the commentating is a good thing, and only felt uncomfortable for one performer. I don't like the costumes, but I have to say that wren13 and I had very different thoughts on which costumes were good, and which were inappropriate. From your post, I suspect that my views are closer to yours. She didn't like the quiet costumes, because they didn't draw enough attention.
I very much enjoyed the women's and the pairs. I enjoyed the ice dancing free skate, but not the compuslories (at all!). I missed the men entirely.
I regret that I only caught the women's long program during this Winter Olympics. I enjoy the ice skating pairs and the ice dancing, but didn't see any of them except for the still photos of the falls many of them took in the newspapers and on the Web.
I am aware the "less mature" Japanese skater was a lot younger than the woman who won the gold. She's all of 16. So what? Younger girls have won gold, even in figure skating--Tara Lipinski leaps to mind. And I have no problem with having the point made. I just didn't appreciate having it continually repeated for no good reason while I was trying to watch the girl skate.
You're welcome to disagree, and it appears you do in part. That's fine.
My point was only that I found the commentary in the short bit of the Olympics I saw condescending and annoying. If they did better in other events, I'm pleased to hear it.
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(no subject)
If you wanted to see more generous commentating, you should have paid attention to the earlier parts of the programs, where the skaters were not competing for a medal. These were judged on how they met their ability, with some critiquing on what they need to do to improve.
Critiquing examples of less accomplished skaters:
"She used to land quad jumps a couple of years ago, but her body has grown up, and she needs to learn her new body better"
"She is beautiful to watch. She has lovely lines, but she needs someone to coach her, to teach her how to use her power and her grace, and to make a more mature presentation"
"The music doesn't excite me. The skating is very nice, but they have choreographed to the new rules, and not to the music (which is very easy to do under the new rules). They've done well learning the tricks, but now they need to learn to put together a presentation. But they're young, and they have plenty of time"
Also, they were tremendously supportive of Emily, of the Turkish and Italian women. They were very supportive of those trying new things, even if the new things did not always work (and this applies to skating, men's aerials, and at least one other event that escapes me).
On the other hand, they were definitely harsh (Dick in particular) to a few skaters who (in their mind) should have done quite a bit better. The were hard on Bodie, who had tremendous hype coming in. They were tough on the girl who lost the snowboarding downhill because, when she had a huge lead, she tried to style, and wiped out.
The "less mature" Japanese skater? Is less mature. In both age and technique. The older skater, who won the gold, won largely due to a) not screwing up, b) skating a reasonably tough program (but not any where near the toughest), and c) skating the most elegant and graceful program of all the women. This is not surprising - watching many young skaters mature leads to a very different style, and goes from pure athletic ability to a combination of elegance and athleticism.
I think the honesty in the commentating is a good thing, and only felt uncomfortable for one performer. I don't like the costumes, but I have to say that
I very much enjoyed the women's and the pairs. I enjoyed the ice dancing free skate, but not the compuslories (at all!). I missed the men entirely.
(no subject)
I am aware the "less mature" Japanese skater was a lot younger than the woman who won the gold. She's all of 16. So what? Younger girls have won gold, even in figure skating--Tara Lipinski leaps to mind. And I have no problem with having the point made. I just didn't appreciate having it continually repeated for no good reason while I was trying to watch the girl skate.
You're welcome to disagree, and it appears you do in part. That's fine.
My point was only that I found the commentary in the short bit of the Olympics I saw condescending and annoying. If they did better in other events, I'm pleased to hear it.