Didn’t seem to be a problem for a lot of the people here who were watching and typing on this board at the same time for hours on end! :lol:
There was absolutely nothing malicious about this guy making a tongue in cheek remark about a particular breed of horse. We are ALL capable of that, and the only reason a person responds is because of the breed they happen to support.
[QUOTE=snoopy;3431928]
He riders for India and is an event rider.[/QUOTE]
http://www.useventing.com/competitions.php?section=Olympics&id=1635
“imtiaz is currently based in Georgia and trains horses and riders at his privately owned farm, Springtown Stables located in Moreland, Georgia.”
[QUOTE=Equibrit;3433501]
There was absolutely nothing malicious about this guy making a tongue in cheek remark about a particular breed of horse. We are ALL capable of that, and the only reason a person responds is because of the breed they happen to support.[/QUOTE]
Actually I have yet to meet an Arab I really like. I just thought it could have been worded differently, given the audience.
He also made a few remarks to the effect of, “Not bad, for Poland” and so on. Maybe it didn’t come out the way he intended it, but still, not really the time or place.
His commentary kind of had the effect of reading a dressage score sheet that had been written by a slow, sloppy-handed scribe, that’s all. 
Can we write to NBC
And ask to have the commentator, Imtiaz, fired? 1) For lack of cultural sensitivity - there is a very international audience watching online, not just Americans; 2) for uncalled for breed bias, and 3) for making no truly educational or interesting comments?
When the ISH and TBs had their tense moments during dressage, it was because they are fit horses ready for cross country. When the anglo arabs had tense moments, it was due to their Arab heritage.
When riders from less traditional countries had a good ride, especially in the cross country phase, he was condescending. Giv’ me a break!
So how do you turn off the written commentary??
I don’t think his comments added much, and on the XC feed he was crabbing about how difficult it was to watch and type, and asked where the scribe was. I think even his commentary would have been significantly better if they’d had a scribe, though.
And regarding the “international audience”, AFAIK, the nbcolympics.com videos aren’t available outside the US.
[QUOTE=NowThatsATrot;3433766]
Actually I have yet to meet an Arab I really like. I just thought it could have been worded differently, given the audience.
He also made a few remarks to the effect of, “Not bad, for Poland” and so on. Maybe it didn’t come out the way he intended it, but still, not really the time or place.
His commentary kind of had the effect of reading a dressage score sheet that had been written by a slow, sloppy-handed scribe, that’s all. ;)[/QUOTE]
An Anglo-Arabian is NOT an Arab, or even necessarily a Half Arabian. Anglos can be bred to Anglos, especially as is the case in France. Maybe I’ll email a link of the history of the breed to his website.
One thing that ticks me off about so much equine commentary is how much it’s dumbed down. Probably 95% of the audience rides and/ or owns horses!
[QUOTE=clm08;3434821]
And ask to have the commentator, Imtiaz, fired? 1) For lack of cultural sensitivity - there is a very international audience watching online, not just Americans; 2) for uncalled for breed bias, and 3) for making no truly educational or interesting comments?
When the ISH and TBs had their tense moments during dressage, it was because they are fit horses ready for cross country. When the anglo arabs had tense moments, it was due to their Arab heritage.
When riders from less traditional countries had a good ride, especially in the cross country phase, he was condescending. Giv’ me a break!
So how do you turn off the written commentary??[/QUOTE]
You can turn off the written commentary by hitting Enhanced Video below the video screen; the video screen enlarges and the commentary disappears.
citydog,
you know, there is a large international community within the US, myself included, that happens to follow equestrian sports from nbcolympics. I am Brazilian just for clarification, and show jumping is big in my country, with eventing not as popular, but in my humble opinion Jeferson Moreira’s cross country and SJ rounds looked pretty good on his Anglo Arab (only 9yrs old if I am not mistaken). His dressage test was pretty relaxed too and caused Imtiaz’ comment that for an Anglo Arab he did a good test…
grayarabpony,
thanks for the tip on how to turn off the commentary.
Hilarious
Oh am I ever going to rag him about this. He loves my mare and though she’s registered Trak. she’s really Anglo-Arab. Ha. The next time he wants to borrow her for a ride, I’ll have to remind him that he couldn’t possibly want her. :lol::lol:
Reach through the TV and…
strangle someone…
I recorded the show jumping and watched it last night.
I know there are a couple threads here on ‘commentaries’ but seriously it’s soooo bad it’s making me turn off the sound.
The show jumping- if (what’s her name) said ‘delicate (tight) course’ or 'flat/ shallow cups" one more time I was going to throw up.
Can they just hand them some pages on rider information so that they can talk about that between jumps rather then repeating the same lame quotes over and over and over. There is absolutely no life in the broadcasting.
Her name is Melanie Smith Taylor…
[QUOTE=SuperSTB;3439712]
strangle someone…
I recorded the show jumping and watched it last night.
I know there are a couple threads here on ‘commentaries’ but seriously it’s soooo bad it’s making me turn off the sound.
The show jumping- if (what’s her name) said ‘delicate (tight) course’ or 'flat/ shallow cups" one more time I was going to throw up.
Can they just hand them some pages on rider information so that they can talk about that between jumps rather then repeating the same lame quotes over and over and over. There is absolutely no life in the broadcasting.[/QUOTE]
I haven’t been watching so I haven’t heard the commentary.
“What’s her name” is Melanie Smith Taylor, a member of the US show jumping team that won the team gold in the 1984 Olympics. The first issue of Practical Horseman that I ever read featured Melanie on the cover with the fabulous Calypso. While you may not care for her delivery, she is a knowledgeable and well-respected horseperson.
She is not reporting live from China but rather from New York due to a mandate (cost cutting?) by NBC. So she doesn’t have the opportunity to walk the course, interview riders, etc. but has to depend on others to give her the little details. Not the easiest way to report IMO.
Here’s a link to an article by Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post that explains this. Maybe after reading it, you’ll cut her some slack.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081202367_pf.html
[QUOTE=red mare;3439955]
I haven’t been watching so I haven’t heard the commentary.
“What’s her name” is Melanie Smith Taylor, a member of the US show jumping team that won the team gold in the 1984 Olympics. The first issue of Practical Horseman that I ever read featured Melanie on the cover with the fabulous Calypso. While you may not care for her delivery, she is a knowledgeable and well-respected horseperson.
She is not reporting live from China but rather from New York due to a mandate (cost cutting?) by NBC. So she doesn’t have the opportunity to walk the course, interview riders, etc. but has to depend on others to give her the little details. Not the easiest way to report IMO.
Here’s a link to an article by Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post that explains this. Maybe after reading it, you’ll cut her some slack.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081202367_pf.html[/QUOTE]
I know who she is- just couldn’t think of her name at the moment. I also know how great of a rider she is… BUT… doesn’t matter how knowledgable or spectacular of a person if you’re going to suck at being a commentary don’t agree to do it.
It’s also ridiculous that they couldn’t do this from bejing. WTF? It’s not like we didn’t have ample warning that the Olympics were going to happen.
Edited to add: read the article after this initial posting. Hmmm I’m writing NBC a letter. Sounds like a bunch of excuses by them.
Or even better, Bill Steinkraus. He was one of the commentators at Seoul in 1988. I still have a tape of the cross country and despite the fact he is a showjumper he is such a superb all around horseman he knew exactly what he was seeing and able to comment so knowledgeably about it. Jimmy Wofford is much the same.
I know exactly who Melanie is but despite her impressive riding credentials television commentator is not one of her strong points IMHO. I always groan when I hear her voice. Anyone remember her meltdown at Sydney when Baloubet quit 3 times and was eliminated? This was shortly after her comment that “all Rodrigo had to do was go clean and the gold medal was his.” I’m sure she is a very nice person but I wish they would replace her.
Eh, I far prefer her to, say, Joan Rivers’ daughter. :dead:
I imagine that Melanie is under long-term contract to NBC. Robert Ridland has his own events production company (think the Vegas World Cup, Oaks-Blenheim), so he is likely contractually obligated elsewhere. The others mentioned are also likely similarly situated. But the bottom line is, whoever the commentator was, he/she would be handicapped by the same long-distance issues as Melanie.
To play devil’s advocate: Network officials can only contact people they know or who are shopped to them by their agents. And as important as the equestrian events are to us, to the network the sport is small potatoes and NBC folks aren’t going to expend a lot of time and energy looking elsewhere when they have someone they know and like already working for them.
I do have to say, however, that this board does like to complain a lot about everything! :lol: :lol:
Well we could do an entire thread on that, couldn’t we?
Melanie is not going to win an Emmy. Neither are the ones on Animal Planet’s sporthorse thing.
[QUOTE=Beezer;3440419]
I do have to say, however, that this board does like to complain a lot about everything! :lol: :lol:[/QUOTE]
It’s just whiney time for me 
I completely missed out on the Olympics in 2004 so now I’m making up for it and I’m SO impatient to see it every night.
Hmmm maybe I need to go read some horsie stick art…
[QUOTE=clm08;3436154]
citydog,
you know, there is a large international community within the US, myself included, that happens to follow equestrian sports from nbcolympics.[/QUOTE]
Oh I know! I didn’t mean it that way. I was just coming from another board where folks were bemoaning not being able to get the feed when they were located outside the US. That’s what I meant by “international”.
