Tomorrow will be worse.
[QUOTE=archieflies;6465123]
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[/QUOTE]
Where was I? I can’t get my friend to stop talking about the women’s swimsuits and how they’re cut in at the chest and the women won’t quit futzing with them…and even though she can’t remember what she ate for breakfast, she remembers the suits weren’t like that in '08. Who cares! I’m sure it has something to do with faster times. Seems like it’s working, world records keep getting broken.
I loved Sally’s commentary at Rolex and even though the commentary was ok, I several times found myself wishing for her pithy comments this weekend. She turned every ride into a dressage lesson. 
There’s another string on commentators on the other Olympic thread.
Melanie is horrible for dressage and eventing. I stated on the other thread it’s like having Greg Louganis do commentary on men’s swimming and synchronized swimming. Just because they’re all performed in a pool, doesn’t that mean he’d be an expert on all of it? :lol:
NBC just doesn’t get it and never has. They think “Equestrian” is a sport not the word for a rider in general.
And Melanie does just fine for the jumping. She is an expert in that. But dressage and eventing? She’s horrible. They need someone who is an Olympic eventing and dressage expert for their respective sports. And someone who is not rude to the other commentators who are clueless. I haven’t heard her this year, but ever since Barcelona, I can’t watch the Olympic coverage for dressage without turning off the sound. Which is awful during the freestyles. :sigh: But she needs to stop counting strides and just making comments that do nothing to promote the sport of dressage.
Oh, and ignore Puffy-Fluffy out here. Fluffie seems to think that Melanie walks on water. Fluff has no clue about dressage and eventing, based on previous comments. :lol:
[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]
I think she sucks as a commentator for eventing.
I just wish I could find it to watch it. So far I’ve only been able to watch it ‘on demand’ which is previously recorded and usually edited. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to turn it on whenever I want but so far all I have been able to watch was 23 minutes of 3 day dressage (us team only- and only 3 riders) with out any commentary… I’m hoping that when the cross country shows up on my ‘on demand’ that there is at least more than just the USA runs…
Melanie is bad enough, but she didn’t even comment when the one Japanese rider fell off, rolled clear, and as his horse was led away totally lame her commentator partner said the horse was fine. The horse wasn’t fine, and that man is an idiot.
Melanie Smith Taylor may have been a talented horsewoman (I don’t know as I am not familiar with her background) but she SUCKS as an eventing commentator. She has made some downright WRONG comments. She is an idiot when it comes to eventing and dressage.
My husband who is non-horsey can explain things much better than she does.
NBC doesn’t care one little bit about doing a better job either. Like someone else said, NBC trots her out for every equestrian event.
[QUOTE=snoopy;6466594]
I think she sucks as a commentator for eventing.[/QUOTE]
Most definitely agree. The commentator online was sooo sooo much better.
[QUOTE=bornfreenowexpensive;6466929]
Most definitely agree. The commentator online was sooo sooo much better.[/QUOTE]
I watched the entire online feed with only a few breaks and I can’t think of one mistake he made…as opposed to MST on the television broadcast which was 45 minutes. She had at least one GLARING error and a number of more minor mistakes.
[QUOTE=Zevida;6465008]
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.[/QUOTE]
Agree with this observation…
THAT would be a note to send MST!!
Does anyone else miss Bill Steinkraus and the Jim McKay - from ABC - I think that was his name. He HAD horses, so there was always plenty of coverage, and always interesting commentary!!! (OK, that was in the dark ages…)
I agree!
[QUOTE=JanM;6466880]
Melanie is bad enough, but she didn’t even comment when the one Japanese rider fell off, rolled clear, and as his horse was led away totally lame her commentator partner said the horse was fine. The horse wasn’t fine, and that man is an idiot.[/QUOTE]
When he said that the horse was fine and I saw the obvious lameness, I thought…how can they not see that? Granted, it wasn’t three-legged lame at that point, but clearly the horse was NOT fine.
Commenting is I suspect a lot harder to do than we realize from our armchairs. There are also some logistics to get a different commenter for each discipline, and as a minor sport, we don’t really rate.
That said, I do prefer when they get Jimmy Wofford for the eventing. None better. 
The thing about broadcasting is . . . it’s a lot like dressage. Very few people realize how difficult it really is, because the really good ones make it look so easy.
It’s really tough to find people who are BOTH experts in a sport and talented and experienced commentators. You’d be surprised how fast the wheels can come off when the little red light comes on.
Wofford is the exception, not the rule. But then he always has been!
i thought the commentator on nbc.com did a wonderful job. didnt watch the commentary on tv with melanie.
[QUOTE=Snugglerug;6467209]
The thing about broadcasting is . . . it’s a lot like dressage. Very few people realize how difficult it really is, because the really good ones make it look so easy.
It’s really tough to find people who are BOTH experts in a sport and talented and experienced commentators. You’d be surprised how fast the wheels can come off when the little red light comes on.
Wofford is the exception, not the rule. But then he always has been![/QUOTE]
On the live feed, the commenter is pretty mellow; he knows he’s got an experienced audience and can target accordingly. I loved when he was trying to coach the camera around, like, “Now where did that nice Japanese rider go?” or “Toddy, where are you?” as the camera is showing the crowd moving towards the exits.
[QUOTE=poltroon;6467242]
On the live feed, the commenter is pretty mellow; he knows he’s got an experienced audience and can target accordingly. I loved when he was trying to coach the camera around, like, “Now where did that nice Japanese rider go?” or “Toddy, where are you?” as the camera is showing the crowd moving towards the exits. :D[/QUOTE]
Loved the online guy. Firm but fair in his assessments. He’d critique an approach and in the next breath say “easy to say from where I’m sitting, though.” :lol:
[QUOTE=poltroon;6467242]
On the live feed, the commenter is pretty mellow; he knows he’s got an experienced audience and can target accordingly. I loved when he was trying to coach the camera around, like, “Now where did that nice Japanese rider go?” or “Toddy, where are you?” as the camera is showing the crowd moving towards the exits. :D[/QUOTE]
I caught that! Don’t know what the heck the director was thinking. But yeah, I got a chuckle.
