TV Commentary

[archieflies]

For those watching on NBC (TV not live stream) with Melanie Smith Taylor doing the commentary, what are your thoughts?

All of her comments, from what I watched, revolved around the horse’s movement and demeanor. This is, of course, what we as horse people like to hear and what we would be commenting on ourselves… and what the ride is being scored on, after all… but seeing how this is the Olympics (a celebration of human athletes, watched by people from outside the horse world), I’d really like to hear her tell the audience a little about what the rider is having to do to accomplish all of this. It’s easy to say, “Oh, this was tucked between badminton and weight lifting… no one but us was watching…” But, then, I watched the badminton and weight lifting, and hubby was live streaming table tennis last night… people who know nothing about our sport are watching, and they’re wondering how on Earth this is an Olympic sport. Obviously, the idea of “the horse does all the work” has always been there, and I don’t suppose it’s the commentator’s job to win those folks over… but when every comment is about how hard it is for the horse to do this or that, how the horse really has to be an athlete to excel at all three phases… it’s all true, but I feel like we need to be throwing a little more focus onto the rider’s hard work to help the audience a bit. When mentioning excelling at all three phases, maybe mention how difficult that is for the rider as well. When they talked about the Japanese guy training in Europe, maybe mention how many hours a day a rider at that level “trains,” and how many years of training are required to get to that level. When mentioning how calm a horse seems (she kept pointing out one horse’s flopping ears at the walk), maybe discuss how the rider’s ability to keep calm and focused projects to the horse.

Before my first dressage lesson, despite having ridden for 13 years, I didn’t have a clue just how many muscle groups had to be used independently yet at the same time, coordinated in ways that just plain aren’t natural. I know NBC’s not going to do any special segments with animation and such going into the details of muscle use for riders like they would for gymnasts or swimmers… but it would be nice if our commentator could throw in some props to the rider now and then.

[FlightCheck]

perhaps having a real eventer would help.

There are many, many charismatic people involved in our sport who could talk about the difficulties of an obedient horse for dressage whilst keeping the bravery and spirit required of the jumping phases.

Brian O’Connor would do a great job. So would Jimmy Wofford, to name just two.

[TBROCKS]

[QUOTE=archieflies;6464638]
When mentioning how calm a horse seems (she kept pointing out one horse’s flopping ears at the walk), maybe discuss how the rider’s ability to keep calm and focused projects to the horse. [/QUOTE]

She said exactly this when commentating on Karen O’s ride this morning.

[Laurierace]

I have been in the car for two days straight so haven’t seen any tv coverage. I did hear them talking about events that used to be in the Olympics but aren’t anymore on a sport’s station in Chicago. One of the sports they mentioned that was no longer included was horse long jumping. Did they mean puissance? Anyway, they went on to mention that the Olympics did include dressage which is where the horses jump over high bars! I gave them partial credit for pronouncing it correctly. Then they talked about Rafalka who apparently jumps over high bars in addition to her other talents.

[Fluffie]

@FlightCheck;6464735

There are many, many charismatic people involved in our sport who could talk about the difficulties of an obedient horse for dressage whilst keeping the bravery and spirit required of the jumping phases.

Yeah, because as an extremely talented equestrian she has no idea about any of this. :rolleyes:

And she has made a lot of comments about the rider’s role in the Olympic partnership. She’s mentioned many times about the riders’ jobs of keeping the horses calm and focused as well as what they do to physically prepare for riding at this event.

[FlightCheck]

Please re-read my post.

Melanie Smith Taylor is not an eventer, she was/is a show jumper. I am pretty sure she never had to ride a fit event horse at an Olympic competition.

Would we ask Steffan Peters to do the commentary on a show jumpers round? I think not.

Personally, I loved watching the live feed with NO commentary.

[Fluffie]

@FlightCheck;6464824

Please re-read my post.

Melanie Smith Taylor is not an eventer, she was/is a show jumper. I am pretty sure she never had to ride a fit event horse at an Olympic competition.

Would we ask Steffan Peters to do the commentary on a show jumpers round? I think not.

Personally, I loved watching the live feed with NO commentary.

But why does that mean she doesn’t understand what it’s like to ride a revved up, nervous, highly-tuned horse in international competition? Strip away the labels (this discipline versus that one) and it’s the same basic concept: walking a thin line between brilliance and disaster.

As far as having Stephen Peters comment on show jumping–I don’t know enough of his background to rule it out. Keep in mind Taylor is from the old school where tippy-top riders cross-trained (meaning lessons at Gladstone with top dressage trainers, not just messing around) extensively. Also keep in mind that the commentators’ job is to offer insight into the sport in a way that most people can understand. If the idea was to have minute dissection of performances for a highly-educated audience, than Taylor would be a little over her head, but that’s not the goal of broadcast TV.

(As an aside, it would be neat to have someone like Peters comment–show jumping is all about the training; the fences just get in the way ;)).

[dghunter]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;6464769]
I have been in the car for two days straight so haven’t seen any tv coverage. I did hear them talking about events that used to be in the Olympics but aren’t anymore on a sport’s station in Chicago. One of the sports they mentioned that was no longer included was horse long jumping. Did they mean puissance? Anyway, they went on to mention that the Olympics did include dressage which is where the horses jump over high bars! I gave them partial credit for pronouncing it correctly. Then they talked about Rafalka who apparently jumps over high bars in addition to her other talents.[/QUOTE]

:no::no:

[Madeline]

@Laurierace;6464769

… One of the sports they mentioned that was no longer included was horse long jumping. Did they mean puissance?
.

Nope. They really did have equine long jumping. However, unless they changed the rules this week, dressage does not include jumping.

Give them a score of 50%.

[Zevida]

I don’t care for her at all. She may have been a great rider in her day, but she brings nothing of value to the commentary and frequently makes mistakes and inane comments. NBC trots her out for every equestrian sport they cover and I wish they’d dump her, at least for dressage and evening.

It’d be like having a diver commenting on the synchronized swimming. Yeah, both are in a pool and need good swimmers, but they are very different sports.

[Beenthere]

If you knew anything about MST’s background you would know that she has the training and education for commentating on all equine events. Maybe you should try doing it live in the milliseconds they give you and restrictions of what can be commented on. But if you want to share with her your comments or thoughts you can leave her a message on her Facebook pages. She takes constructive criticism well.

[Carol_Ames]

my nominations!

I nominate Jimmy, Sally, Brian/ David O’Connor.

[Carol_Ames]

make headsets available?

Maybe NBC could offer headsets of sally Os’ commentary as they did at Rolex Isn’t she an O :yes:judge? even if not judging here:no:

[archieflies]

[QUOTE=beenthere;6465039]
If you knew anything about MST’s background you would know that she has the training and education for commentating on all equine events. Maybe you should try doing it live in the milliseconds they give you and restrictions of what can be commented on. But if you want to share with her your comments or thoughts you can leave her a message on her Facebook pages. She takes constructive criticism well.[/QUOTE]

Just to be clear, in my original post I wasn’t trying to criticize MST. No need to defend her. Her commentary is accurate, and I’m sure she’s plenty knowledgeable. It would just be nice if, for the sake of non-horsey audiences, there was a little more focus on the rider (though, as a horse person, it’s perfectly normal for us to gush over the horse). Others have said that she has done some rider commentary… I didn’t notice any in today’s broadcast, but perhaps there was more in Saturday’s show, which I didn’t see. Would’t it be nice if NBC, as a network, made an effort to show off the difficulty of equestrian sports as much as they do with sports like gymnastics and swimming and such. I don’t knwo how many special features I’ve seen in the last week on how swimsuits were developed, and how the swimmers used naval technology to study drag and improve technique, and how long gymnasts spend training. BUT… I know that we’re a “marginal” sport and not their big money-maker. So it’s not going to happen and MST can’t really control that.

[Electrikk]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;6464769]
they went on to mention that the Olympics did include dressage which is where the horses jump over high bars! [/QUOTE]

I heard a reporter/host on one of those early morning talk shows say, “dressage is just a fancy word for horseback riding.” :lol:

[chunky_munky]

Interestingly enough if memory serves me well, I believe that Melanie was an eventer before specializing in showjumping. Again if if my recall ia any good, she may have even been an A Pony Clubber. Maybe someone w/ a better memory than mine can verify.

[DLee]

I wouldn’t have thought it was a big deal to comment on the rider and the dedication and time it takes to reach such a level as an Olympic athlete… until I heard more than one person assume Ann Romney was riding in the Olympics.:eek:

I was REALLY surprised, I just thought everybody GOT that she owned the horse (and only part of the horse at that), she’s not an Olympian, she has a horse IN the Olympics. Big difference!

So maybe there is a point to discuss these riders more, maybe how most of them do not own their horses, that they are athletes along with the horses, that this is a professional job for most.
Good point OP.

[archieflies]

[QUOTE=Carol Ames;6465088]
I nominate Jimmy, Sally, Brian/ David O’Connor.[/QUOTE]

I don’t think it even has to be somebody at that level… just somebody who’d ridden enough to know how difficult it is, and who is good enough with words to convey the idea… by being all technical about it, you alienate the Olympic [non-horsey] audience. Simple speech can get the point across. Something along the lines of: “See how smoothly that horse is moving forward and sideways at the same time? The rider makes it look easy, but he has to contort every muscle in his body so that his legs basically push the horse in that direction. One leg that’s not quite stretched far enough or pushing hard enough, and the horse does something else entirely. See, look how the horse just threw his head? The rider probably breathed funny!” Heck, it doesn’t have to be quick thinking even… some prepared comments that you pull out when you see a particular movement/error wouldn’t hurt. I don’t know. Maybe MST has been doing this and I just didn’t notice today… but I sure heard a lot of “Look at the elasticity!” Boy, that’s a way to make people get it! I get a feeling that any big name rider would make similar comments, though. It’s what we know.

[archieflies]

@DLee;6465148

that this is a professional job for most.

Yes, this too. Would be nice to let the audience know that, while most of these riders are “pro’s,” their not making their money off competing like a tennis player or someone might… they make their money off training the horses, coaching riders, and mucking stalls and fixing fences! But I guess not everything we’d like to hear can get squeezed into the 15 minutes allocated to our sport.

I do remember last Olympics, though, watching what seemed like endless dressage one Saturday, and commentary good enough that even my mother-in-law could figure out basically what they were doing and how it was scored. Heck, I think they had a caption at the bottom of the screen showing what move came next and what score the last movement had gotten. It didn’t necessarily highlight the riders, but did make dressage seem more viewer-friendly. Did MST do the Beijing Olympics? Of course, I could be making up those memories.

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=Electrikk;6465137]
I heard a reporter/host on one of those early morning talk shows say, “dressage is just a fancy word for horseback riding.” :lol:[/QUOTE]

Well, it’s hard to argue with that!