Why cheerleading at the Olympics is a bad idea
February 17, 2010 · 71 Comments
Maelle Ricker faced all kinds of challenges on Tuesday afternoon. They included navigating a treacherous snowboard cross course, enduring a fall on her first run and then recovering, brilliantly, to win the final race and a gold medal – and Jamie Campbell was with her all the way to cheer her on.
Campbell is CTV’s announcer for the freestyle and snowboarding events, but as far as he’s concerned he’s also at the Games to support the Canadians. Objectivity? Well, that’s not a priority for Campbell. He has more ambitious plans – to be the Canadian athletes’ best friend.
What he doesn’t understand is the Canadian stories are compelling by themselves. Boosterism brings a small-time sensibility to the telecast. Cheerleading just diminishes the whole thing.
As Ricker waited for her semi-final, we were told that she puts a bit of ice in her mouth before a run, to which Campbell announced, “Let’s hope it works for her, Canada!”
He could have said, “Canadians will be hoping it works for her,” which would have been fine. But, instead, he had to include himself in the story as one of the fans, something he’s been consistently doing during the Games.
After Ricker won her semi-final, Campbell said, “For those of us from this great country, Maelle Ricker is into the final!”
Jamie utters “this great country,” regularly during his play by play, presumably to inform us that he loves Canada, to remind us it’s a great country and that he is very patriotic. It’s the sort of language you might hear from a hack politician, but not a good sports broadcaster. But it’s all part of the cheerleading package. Nobody at CTV seems to have bothered telling him it’s a bad idea.
Earlier in the snowboard cross event when Ricker’s teammate, Dominique Maltais fell, Campbell announced, “Oh, no, she’s down.”
“Get up,” pleaded analyst Tara Teigen.
When Maltais couldn’t continue, Campbell said, “This is incomprehensible, unbelievable.”
No, it wasn’t. It seemed like half the field was falling in the appalling conditions at Cypress Mountain.
Teigen said she hoped that word of Maltais’s fall hadn’t reached Ricker back at the starting gate. It might throw her off.
But why should she care? She’s supposed to be providing analysis of the races, not support for the Canadians.
But, of course, she doesn’t understand that. As far as she’s concerned — and Campbell too — it’s all about Canada and its athletes.
Earlier in the race, word had leaked out that the second qualifying run might be being cancelled because of the dangerous conditions, thus eliminating Ricker. Campbell reported the information. And when organizers decided not to cancel the second run, believe or not, Campbell felt the need to apologize on the air to Ricker’s family and friends for alarming them.
What’s most unfortunate about Campbell’s act is that he has skills. His voice is strong and he has a sense of the moment. In a spirited, though perhaps scripted, call of Ricker’s triumph, he announced, “Hey Canada, come along for the ride. Here in Vancouver, Maelle Ricker’s Olympic dreams have come true.”
Writer compares Vancouver to Hitler’s Berlin Games
Richard Williams of The Guardian newspaper in Britain takes umbrage to Canada’s aggressive bid to win medals at Vancouver.
Under the headline “Canada commits podium error,” he writes, patronizingly, “For such a gifted and graceful people – think of Leonard Cohen, Robbie Robertson and Mary Margaret O’Hara – the Canadians have committed a grotesque error in their approach to the Winter Games. Quite apart from that lethal luge track, their ‘Own the Podium’ programme constitutes the most egregious show of superfluous aggression by an Olympic host since … well, let’s not cause undue offence. Oh, all right, 1936. Olympic hosts are judged by the warmth of their welcome and the efficiency of their organisation, not by their medal count. London 2012 should take note.”
Hockey announcer/reporter Dan Dunleavy, in Vancouver to cover the Olympics for the Rogers radio network, picks Russia to win the men’s hockey tournament. To use Catriona Le May Doan’s term, it’s a gutsy call, because the Canadian media, generally, are terrified to predict any country but Canada winning hockey gold. They risk being condemned by the xenophobes as twisted, unpatriotic and even seditious. Truth is, Russia, based on its talent up front and its goaltending, should be the favourite.
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Most of the CTV commentators all think they are the stars of the Olympics……how many times do we have to hear Brian Williams telling us how long he has been doing Olympic coverage,and his interviews always include I was there when….do we care? This is about the Olympians not Brians career! and if he tells us one more time about the time is the Eastern time zone!! I guess we aren't as bright as Atlantic and Central Canada ,they don't need to be told….we live here!! we know what time it is!!! Give us the PST we can take it from there!! Brian isn't the only one however, there seems to be a trend of "look at me" running through the commentators on air time.These Olympians have worked hard can't they be the stars of the show ,and the broadcasters take their place as facilitators of the event?
Oooh, perhaps some of the CTV folks read the criticism about Campbell's less-than-stellar performance and decided to pass along a few notes to him. Just watching the Women's Halfpipe, and he appears to have ramped up on his slang in the past 24-hours, trying to throw down some sick banter, or at least inject the occasional bit of lingo that would be appropo for the setting, but it comes across as being so laughably bad, kinda like your older uncle trying to be hip. <<Note to all budding broadcasters: if you just say the words but have no idea what they mean or their relevancy to the situation, your performance will come across to the audience as shallow and unauthentic..>>
But I do have to say kudos to CTV for managing to snag Maelle Ricker for a few minutes in the booth this afternoon — her commentary on Mercedes Nicoll's run was great, delivered with a knowledge and an enthusiasm that's been so lacking from Mr. Campbell and his co-host.
right on shreader. it tells you something when one of the COMPETITORS – with no broadcast experience – comes in and is better than half the ctv analysts. Maelle's work in the booth was great. it just shows how little practice went into this.
That is just Campbell being Campbell… he did the same things on the Jays broadcasts for years which is why I am thrilled he is gone… William you hit this one square on the head in my eyes!
So, are we all longing for the days of Terry Liebel yet?
I have never read such tripe from so called reporters in all my life. Complaining about Dutchie celebrating a wonderful Olympic accomplishment with champagne is the limit. Get over yourself and look for some really important material on which to report.
And just who is some British reporter to tell Canada how to conduct the winning of medals? It should be highly entertaining to watch the stuffed shirts of Britain attempt to conduct the Summer games of 2012. In case the British have forgotten it was Canada that did all of their dirty work at Vimmy, Paschendale, Dieppe and in Belgium. Find something intelligent to write about.
Pat Bishop1… this blog is about reporting on the sports media. Maybe you should understand the context of what you are reading before slamming the reporting. In your words, get over yourself and look for some really important material to whine about. And what relevance does WW2 have to do with the coverage of the Olympics? Very, very strange connect on your part.
Connecting a Hitler reference to WWII, very strange indeed. Nice one genius
Bill, thanks for keeping us viewers informed on things we miss. I tried to watch the ricker call but they edited it out. i am a little miffed that no other newspapers are taking a more critical look at the coverage. fair is ok, but you are right, we've all had enough cheerleading. as a canadian who watches alot of sports, i feel like ctv has been bitten by the vanoc bad luck. it started with the torch lighting not working; and when ctv went to an empty, disorganized vip box at the opening ceremonies as one of their opening shots. as you've noted- it's been "downhill" ever since.
Relax Shreader. Check out the poster's name. He's connected.
I just saw the ad for the CTV games DVD, 2 discs for $29.99. I'd been more interested in their blooper reel.
It is a blooper reel. Unintentionally.
CTV is doing a world class job! Go Canada go!
Uh, world class? What channel(s) are you watching?
No it's just Lloyd Robertson, Lloyd retire its a recession and your stealing a job from a younger person for your own vanity.
Campbell has always used this style.I think he fell asleep one night listening to John Facenda.
It does help offset his Howdy Doody look.
Why did miller call the first canada game over cuthbert? Is this going to continue?
Anyone know?
I don't think miller holds a candle to cuthbert.
From what I understand, Cuthbert's deal says he must call the Gold Medal game, nothing to do with just the Canada games.
Oh how I long for simpler times like, say, the mid-70's. That's when CTV & CBC used to share the Grey Cup. Too bad mother corp can't swoop in at the mid-point of these games and save us.
The British media is ridiculous. I agree with one commentator I heard, he was saying that the British are extremely anxious about their own games, since London is pretty much always a big cluster****, even on a good day, and they are trying to knock these Olympics down a peg so they don't look so bad in 2012. On the Own the Podium concept being so scandalous, I guess they've completely forgot about Sydney 2000? Are they jealous because they don't even register a blip in the sporting world anymore, and they'll probably be a spectator at their own games?
In reading these comments, maybe some of you should be disclosing if you work for the CBC.
In terms of the coverage, hockey has been better than CBC HNIC and certainly Olympics so far. Curling has been great – but TSN was always better than the CBC.
There has been weak announcing such as by Campbell and your usual too close to the sport analysis by former athletes (but CBC had this issue also). It's bad judgement that a known weak announcer like Campbell was given a high profile assignment. Otherwise, CTV might be a bit over the top but CBC could be viewed as a bit too stodgy and dogmatic. David Pelletier, Rod Smith, Katherine Dolan & hockey analysts have been on their game.
Some of the camera & technical work has been great – slow mo in moguls was quite revealing and curling angles have provided flavour. But it has also been spotty at times – coverage of cross country has been weak and change in luge track has thrown off most of the camera angles.
Showing all events live end to end on at least one of the channels has been the biggest win for me – since I'm a sports fan first and foremost, this outweighs all the other negatives. Plus, since I don't need to endure through a fluff piece or an interview, all of these issues that have been commented on are largely immaterial since there is always some live event going on that I could watch instead.
Hockey better then CBC HNIC and any other Olympics? Maybe you should be disclosing that you work for the consortium.
oui is correct there is some good out there
but using curling and hockey announcers as the example actually supports the earlier comment about covering events prior to the games. the curling and hockey announcers are coming in to the games with momentum. a few events for the others might have helped.
(p-s it is long past the time Russ Howard gets moved to prime time curling as an announcer.. he is good)
i have to agree with the camera work… some great shots in speed skating, moguls and downhill ..there was one downhill shot where you could see the skier was on the corner of his edge… not the edge.. the corner of the edge… and my knees hurt in those camera shots that showed the pounding moguls skiers endure..
maybe the camera folk will save the announcers
Agree with some of the things you say – Curling, Rod Smith, David Pelletier – all good.
Have to disagree with hockey, though. It is not bad but does not compare with HNIC and other Olympics hockey called by Bob Cole.
BTW who was the commentator that sounded like he was laughing when the Swedish(?) downhill skiier took a spectacular fall in the woman's downhill. I had to turn the TV off – could not listen to that guy. He didn't even say he hoped she was OK until much much much later.
that downhill stuff was so bad, i agree that was hard to take listening to someone laugh as if we were watching a blooper reel….
that aside i haven't seen much of lindsey von … but i like her… the shots of her reaction and genuine concern when other skiers were going down hard and her interviews said a lot about the woman, a very likeable champion…
People need to lighten up. I challenge anyone, including Mr. Houston, to say they would not get caught up in the excitement of a home Olympics, cheering on the Canadian athletes. At least the consortium's announcers aren't as sappy as those on NBC.
Actually for the most part they are just as sappy as NBC and thats why we are upset, there is no problem with being excited or a little boosterism but it's as if other countries aren't even at the games.
There IS a silver (green?) lining to some of this. I had CAN/NOR on last night – and didn't even power on the audio system, so I assume my carbon footprint was smaller. I did the opposite for the late game – Ferraro's turning into a good analyst. Maybe he can find a Jeff Gilooly (sp?) to take out McGuire's larynx. And if you're betting that someone will knocks out the Russians, take the over at the same time.
lets declare a moratorium on campbell… he isnt suddenly going to become a professional announcer…..it is a lost cause. and if CTV and consortium cared they would have found a way to reassign him after the opening weekend..
lets start on brian williams… the supposed olympic guru… he is supposed to be the one the others aspire too.. instead he seems to be dumbing down to the hot tub /shooters crowd…. as the host he is supposed to come off like he is in control… instead we seee him bumbling through and every now and then subtly blaming it on others about the confusion in control…
much like paying for that hockey song that everyone still refers to as the other networks show the folks at the top must be asking if he was worth the cost… no wait they dont make those critical thoughts thats why we have this mess in the first place
Agreed with your first point. We all know Campbell is brutal.
Can anyone tell me if Iginla scored two or three goals in the opener? I'm getting conflicting reports on several websites. And why was Corey Perry credited with the goal that Ryan Getzlaf clearly jammed in during a scramble?
You know things are going bad when the hockey coverage is sub-standard.
Jarius: according to the boxscore on CBC.ca Iginla scored three – the first, sixth and eighth goals. Perry scored the seventh goal. Staal’s initial shot landed on the goal line. The Norwegian defenseman’s clearing attempt went right onto Perry’s stick and Perry fired it in. Getzlaf was in the crease area and did not touch it. That is how I saw it on the replay; the net cam angle seemed conclusive. Too bad; it could have been a great play by the defenseman.
Then why does the report on the front page of the Globe, "Canada Opens With A Rout', say that Iggy potted two? And I could clearly hear the PA at the venue state that Rick Nash scored that goal.
If you're hoping to get ANY kind of balanced coverage from any media outlet associated with the Consortium, forget it. I drove in this morning, hoping to hear a report on the hockey game, which I didn't see due to work. Tuned into 680 News. The report from Carl Hansky was laughable….just a whole lot of fans saying "Yay, we're going to win the gold." I suspect the TV panel with Hodge, Pang, Kypreos and Mackenzie are decent, only because of the fact they've been around for a thousand years and wouldn't be subject to somebody telling them what to say. But hey people….it's OK to say "Canada got off to a lousy start—probably because the Norwegians have been playing together for months and are a cohesive unit. The Canadians started to gel in the second and it was game over for Canada." But no—all we get is "Yay. We're great." It's laughable, really.
the Campbell call of the Ricker race was embarrassing. he is so far removed from professionalism, it feels like i'm listening to a high school announcer.
the explanation is simple: the consortium was too cheap to hire professionals and thought they could just shuffle people who were already on the payroll into action. this was a major mistake and as a Canadian i'm ashamed to be associated with the product they are selling.
Mike, you hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what is happening before our eyes. The consortium likely made it sound like it was going to be one big party for the staff they jettisoned to Vancouver/Whistler and their performances were not an issue, as long as they did not have to pay for any additional talent. What is sad is how this is taking away my enjoyment of the games. We may not see another Olympics in Canada for 20 + years, and that is the worst part, to have these buffoons ruin it for us like this.
But where are you going to find a professional snowboard play-by-play guy? There aren't many around.
they have lots of people at the pro events doing it live outside……
I'm curious as well, 4×4 Time. Ivan Fecan, Keith Pelley, Rick Chisholm and Rick Brace should be held accountable for this mediocre, at best, product. Especially when we were promised revolutionary coverage. I've noticed on other websites that some folks are calling up the advertisers on CTV to complain. Does anyone on the inside have any knowledge they could share?
If revoltionary coverage includes video not playing on your laptop, then CTV is the Mark Spitz of broascasters.
By the way, all except Pelley worked for CBC at some point in time. None were ever an integral part of the Olympic coverage. Perhaps they should have been paying a little more attention when they were there. Williams is showing his age and utter lack of sensibility when not surrounded and coddled by people who actually know what they are doing.
If there any folks on this board who are actually working on the Olympics, or affliated with media outlets that are owned by the Consortium group, it would be interesting to here an "inside" perspective on how things are going.
There is a lot of negativety on this board about the quality of the presentation of the games, but I was just wondering what the morale is like in these companies, particularily with CTV/TSN production workers.
In previous posts there has been a lot of bashing of Pelley and Fecal. How are they holding up and what do they troops think of their leaders?
Over the past couple of years, numerous World Cup and world championship events have been held in Canada in these Olympic sports, many of which were at the Olympic venues. It was a golden opportunity for CTV and TSN to cover these events and perhaps fine tune their coverage for the Games, but they chose to show poker and NASCAR instead.
That is an excellent point day tripper. Did they have the rights to cover the events though? Did CBC have them? If nobody was covering them, then why didn't they acquire the rights to do so. i imagine it could have been gotten for next to nothing, if not nothing, as it would be great exposure for those sports that they would otherwise not seen.
Stop and think now…of course, having trial runs at these big events made perfect sense to fine tune. But that's all water under the bridge now…the reason that didn't happen is $$$$$…nothing more nothing less. They overpaid for these games, followed that up by spending more millions to steal away the HNIC tune to settle some personal score, then thought they could bring in scores of inexperienced production/technical personel and then expect they could pull it off, Quite the gamble, I would say. They better hope that the athletes bring home many more medals, or the legacy of this group of TV types will be laughable.
A Jamie Campbell love in is happening again this Wednesday morning on the FAN590 Toronto hosted by the lame Mike Hogan. Unbelievable as it sounds but Campbell is getting nothing but praise from the host and callers, but since the FAN is a Rogers property is a total sham trying to prop up the beleaguered Campbell. Wonder what Campbell's next job will be? Should be parking Ivan Fecan's cars, but probably will get more X-gmae type sports now that he has been fired from Blue Jays baseball.
Wolfgang perhaps you could hire Campbell as a proof-reader; or better yet, try it yourself. Are you typing with your toes?
Nope Ziggy I am typing with my penis. Why should I hire Campbell when I have you for free to act as my fact and spell checker? You seem to know everything, except how to spell defense. Here in Canada the proper spelling is defenCe, but I guess your bosses at one of the Consortium networks must dictate you use American spellings. Keep up the fight trying to defend your pals with the CTV-Rogers experiment gone wrong.
The others have spoken… blah, blah blah is all I hear from you!
The defence of Campbell and every other gaffe by other inexperienced, way out over their skiis, commentators is bordering on Communist. Don't say nothing bad against the state.
Who do you work for Ziggy? TSN, CTV, Sportsnet, Globe & Mail? Also, in Canada the correct spelling is defenCe.
Don S.
Actually either spelling is correct in North America. If I lived in Great Briton I would agree with you but; I don’t.
Is it your contention that if a poster asks for accountability from a constant complainer on this site (who appears to be a disgruntled former employee or member of a CTV competitor) the poster must be defending globemedia as an employee?
If the intention is to belittle or insult someone for incompetence, in public; shouldn’t one actually have their facts straight and present them in a legible competent fashion. Or is the use of rumour and conjecture to promote ones negative view considered acceptable?
A Briton is a person who lives in Britain. It's a good idea to proof read when you take others to task for it. And defence is with a C or is that Ziggy with a Zee?
Ziggy your pomposity on this site is really quite funny especially when defence is spelt with a C (with an S is incorrect) and it is Great BritAIn. Your credibility in my eyes is very low, and it seems like you are the one with an axe to grind, not the other way around as you attack people whom question the actions of the CTVgobemedia-Rogers and the handling of the Olympic broadcast.
Amateur Talk may be right for a moratorium on Campbell, as we have beaten it to death. I do feel violated though at the same time, as here we had our first gold medal awarded on home soil, followed by another one, and to date our only two gold in the Olympics, and somehow I feel like they have been tarnished by the frustrations of watching amateur hour, or days, by Campbell and his cohort. It is not like the CTV consortium did not know that our first gold medal on home soil could easily come from these events, and to put a broadcast team together like we are getting is an insult to all Canadians subjected to it. I am amazed that a Facebook Page to get Jamie Campbell off the Olympics has not started up yet. I will not start it, but would join. As far as the odds go, Canada is the clear favourite to win the Gold medal. Russia is next, but clearly, Canada is deemed to be the favourite.
I personally don’t mind the cheerleading – it’s the bad announcing that I hate. I find the Cdn announcers will leave viewers in the dark on a lot of things. The NBC announcers will be give you info – even if it’s trivial info. At least you’re informed when watching a sport for the first time.
As for Williams, I wish someone would rip that cheap Bick pen out of his hand. I cant watch him.
Anyone else notice the sudden absence of "The Usual Suspects" from the Globe? I mean, why would you want your sports media columnist to write anything during the most-watched two weeks of sports television in this country's history? Oh, wait, the Globe is owned by who?
While I love your take on the media coverage of the games, your hockey analysis leaves a lot to be desired. Canada clearly has a superior team to Russia on paper, and thus should be considered the favourite in anyones eyes (not just the glazed-over Canadian ones). Russia may have a ton of talent up front and in net, but Canada has this too, with a world-class defensive core to boot. I know you strive to knock those who support the home team unduly, but when the best team in the tournament (in theory) just happens to be Canadian, hailing them as the favourites shouldn't be considered mere patriotism.
Rich; you along with me must not know the game of hockey according to amatuer talk (but then again he has problems spelling his pseudonym)
On paper the Russians defense pales in comparison to Canada, they have two premier defensemen (one broken) and two more very good ones. Canada left equal talents off the roster as not good enough. The Russians have one premier goaltender, that can’t win in the playoffs. Canada has three of the best in the world.two Stanley Cup winners The Russians have two powerful forward lines while Canada has four.
The biggest knock against the World Junior tournament in Canada is the home ice advantage of the crowd. On this paper at least, it appears Canada is the favorite. There is no shame in reporting that. I am hopeful the gold medal is between Canada and Russia and I think Canada should win on the ice.
I agree with Houston on Campbell except for one thing: he has a terrible voice. He "pulls it" to try to make it sound lower but that doesn't work. And Williams is a pompous knob.
i agree………i find his voice monotone
What bothers me the most is when there is some glitch happening at a venue (we've had lots this Olympics) the commentators will get giddy with excitement if they think this glitch is going to somehow benefit the Canadian athlete. That is poor sportsmanship and not at all classy for the host nation.
I actually think Brian Williams is getting back to himself now and seems more in control. His greatest strength to me was always being able to balance the excitement of the Olympics while also being willing to bring up the problems. He has been mentioning the problems in a no-nonsense way and then moving on … glad to see he is maintaining some of his integrity.
I agree, love him or hate him Brian does well. His surrounding cast could be better balanced both On Air and Production wise. Confusion in the Control Room is quite apparent on air as basic technical gaffes have been the norm.
Eventually this circus will hit its stride and smooth out to a mediocre product.
uh, i think the problem, bryan, is that ctv's announcers are getting as pathetic, hackneyed, and sappy as nbc, with all the provincialism and boosterism. it's embarrassing to watch this. the guardian can go to hell, but ctv's behaviour is decidedly un-canadian to watch.
dan dunleavy picking russia… didnt he get the script he is supposed to cheerlead like the rest.
reality is russia is the on paper winner in the books of anyone who knows the game
p-s someone must be reading blogs because have you noticed all of a sudden we are getting information of what is on other channels?
The Consortium has gone into major damage control.
William's blog is causing quite a stir up at Agincourt and in Lotus Land.
We should be thankful for freedom of the Net. Had this still been with the Globe, these would have been the "Best Olympics and Broadcasting ever"
The '1936' comment, while strong, is not too far off base. As TV viewers, we've had to endure countless months of Olympic propaganda. It's as if they had Leni Riefenstahl on the payroll. Who can forget getting seemingly endless CTV Olympic ads crammed down our throats during the Super Bowl?
Let's face it, they sold us a Porsche and then delivered a recalled Toyota.
Maybe they delivered a Porsche but it's a Tiger tank instead of a 911. Let's keep the Hitler metaphors going!
slovakia over russia…. hmmm well the good thing is .. when people ask what happened to "the on paper winner" i can always blame the dog for chewing up the paper….. of course this is one i dont mind end up being wron about
Who does Campbell think he is..cheerleading like that…Don Cherry?????l