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Slamming Bode.
Completely uncalled for.
I just watched the NBC coverage kicking Bode Miller when he was down.
You don't do that. You don't slam an athelete because he's not winning, you don't say in your wrap-up that he didn't try, and suggest he's a hypocrite.
This isn't done.
So NBC's pissed because Bode blew off the post-ski "How do you feel about losing so badly?" interviews.
So NBC's pissed that they built him up as the story, and hung their ratings on him (and Michelle Kwan). They even had Bode Miller vs. the Herminator cartoons -- assuming that Bodie Miller and Herman Maier would be the big story.
NBC had their heads up their collective asses and were stuck in 2002: Bode's been performing badly all year. Also 1) Bode has always been erratic, 2) Bode has always been a loose cannon who skips inspections and doesn't do what the coaches say, 3) Bode has been out of shape after taking a break, and 4) Bode has an alcohol problem.
Only one thing has changed from 2002: Bode isn't winning.
They didn't do their homework, and now they're mad at him, lashing out inappropriately because their ratings have tanked. But NBC's ratings mostly stink because the Olympics are happening in Italy and there are 10 gazillion ways to hear the results of the games before NBC has a chance to broadcast them. There's no reason to watch when you already know your favorite didn't win, or you're just watching the performance where you know they did.
They'll be fine come 2010 when the games are in Vancouver, Canada, and they can broadcast them live. They're screwed for the summer games.
In the meantime, Bode's obviously miserable. Have some dignity and honor and leave him alone.
ETA: I note that Nike, the biggest advertiser for the Olympics, built their ad campaign around Bode and then had to pull all but one of their spots. NBC lost money because of this.
That's Nike's dumb move, and NBC had to pay. There's no call to take it out on Bode. It's not his responsibility to ask "what happens to your ad campaign if I don't win?"
I just watched the NBC coverage kicking Bode Miller when he was down.
You don't do that. You don't slam an athelete because he's not winning, you don't say in your wrap-up that he didn't try, and suggest he's a hypocrite.
This isn't done.
So NBC's pissed because Bode blew off the post-ski "How do you feel about losing so badly?" interviews.
So NBC's pissed that they built him up as the story, and hung their ratings on him (and Michelle Kwan). They even had Bode Miller vs. the Herminator cartoons -- assuming that Bodie Miller and Herman Maier would be the big story.
NBC had their heads up their collective asses and were stuck in 2002: Bode's been performing badly all year. Also 1) Bode has always been erratic, 2) Bode has always been a loose cannon who skips inspections and doesn't do what the coaches say, 3) Bode has been out of shape after taking a break, and 4) Bode has an alcohol problem.
Only one thing has changed from 2002: Bode isn't winning.
They didn't do their homework, and now they're mad at him, lashing out inappropriately because their ratings have tanked. But NBC's ratings mostly stink because the Olympics are happening in Italy and there are 10 gazillion ways to hear the results of the games before NBC has a chance to broadcast them. There's no reason to watch when you already know your favorite didn't win, or you're just watching the performance where you know they did.
They'll be fine come 2010 when the games are in Vancouver, Canada, and they can broadcast them live. They're screwed for the summer games.
In the meantime, Bode's obviously miserable. Have some dignity and honor and leave him alone.
ETA: I note that Nike, the biggest advertiser for the Olympics, built their ad campaign around Bode and then had to pull all but one of their spots. NBC lost money because of this.
That's Nike's dumb move, and NBC had to pay. There's no call to take it out on Bode. It's not his responsibility to ask "what happens to your ad campaign if I don't win?"
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I agree with you about jingoistic celebrity-driven coverage, and I think it's doomed to failure. People compete in the Olympics because you don't know who's going to win. So chances are your jingoistic celebrities are going to crash and burn.
I also think NBC is pissed at Bode because Nike withdrew a lot of their ads, since Nike's entire ad campaign was built around Bode. NBC lost lots and lots of money. But again, that's Nike's screw up, not Bode's. You build your entire ad campaign around one person, it's a crap-shoot -- not to mention stupid.
None of this is Bode's fault. Just because he's in the center of the media circle doesn't he's responsible for the hype. I suppose he could say no, but he didn't know what he was letting himself in for.
I guess I feel for Bode because I've been the middle of this sort of thing myself, in fandom. I've had someone rec my stories a lot because that person was a fan and happened to become really important as a story resource (because she was hard-working).
It got really weird for a while. I stopped reviewing stories because people would squee bizarrely that I reviewed their story. It was very uncomfortable to have my review considered more worthwhile than someone else's, especially when it was just a one-liner.
I had someone attempt to use me -- or rather the name 'Icarus' -- to bilk the fandom out of some money, using the fact that they hosted an archive of mine to advertise for more people, and then asking me to ask my f-list for money to help them "keep their archive afloat." When I refused, I got slammed as an "arrogant BNF" who didn't care. Eventually it was all exposed as a scam, but hell.
Then I've been slammed by people that I don't know and have no interaction with. There was an initial phase where I was a new writer and people wanted to encourage me. Then there was this phase where no matter what crap I wrote someone recced it, what I called the "shits gold" period. Now I'm in the phase where it's fashionable to rip my stories.
The only way I could control this process is to not write. But that's what I love to do. So I really feel for Bode. He just loves to ski.
Icarus
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I don't believe for a second that he doesn't want to win. :) People don't compete when they don't want to win.
I just think he's trying to come up with a way to deal with the rise and fall of his fortunes that's more personal and real than the usual canned PR spin skiers learn to give. It kills me to see him hurting because he doesn't hide what he's feeling -- he's miserable, not a politician which is part of his charm, but they're eating him for lunch.
Icarus