I have been enjoying sports in which minor nations have done well recently, especially the women's weight lifting where Chinese Taipei and other South East Asian countries seem to be strong.
However, today I did enjoy the 3m mens synchronised diving, partly because Great Britain won Gold.
When I first started watching all the dives just looked brilliant, but I soon learned what problems to look out for with the individual divers' execution and the synchronisation of the two.
There are three scores for the synchro and one each for the two individual divers' executions and 8 or 8.5 is a pretty good score for each of those five but then the difficulty is factored in and eighty-something ends up being a pretty good score for each dive.
Going in to the last round GB were in the lead with China just behind and the USA a little way behind them, The US did a brilliant dive next and got themselves back into it. Then GB did well enough to beat the Americans and the Chinese could only manage third.
The diving itself was exciting, waiting for the scores was tense and we won in the end so it had everything that good Olympic sport should have.
Next time I promise I'll write about something non-Olympic.
Wednesday 10 August 2016
Saturday 6 August 2016
Olympic Women's Fencing Epee BBC Red Button 20:15 Approx
Obviously, the most obscure sports in the Olympics are the best.
I spent half the day watching the men's road race (cycling) and I did enjoy it but I didn't remember what the Olympics was all about until I pressed the red button and selected the the semi finals of the women's epee.
The first match (bout? duel?) was between Italian and Chinese competitors. The Italian was the favourite but the Chinese woman had a two point lead when I joined it just after the start. The Italian was always on the front foot but there was quite a lot of scoring on both sides and she could not catch up until very close to the end. By the end of normal time it was just back to level terms so an additional sudden death minute was played and the Italian got the first hit which meant instant victory. The above is a poor description of a gripping sporting match.
Then there was a phenomenon unique to red button viewing which was that the commentary just ended and for a few minutes and the viewer was left looking at pictures of the inside of the arena (which was very dark with just the playing area illuminated) with no clues given as to what was going to happen next.
Patience was rewarded and two more women competitors appeared and the commentators piped up again and the second semi final got underway. I am always amazed that the BBC can call on experts in every sport to comment over their broadcasts. This seems a bit suspicious and I quietly believe they have a Commentator Bot 1.1 which is programmed with the rules and terminology of all sports. It does always seem to have the same voice which is not especially posh and has no regional accent.
This next match was less high scoring but no less entertaining and featured French and Hungarian players, the Hungarian going through to the final (I can actually now report that she went on to win the gold medal!)
Of course I did what one always does when watching these sports: I became an instant expert and nodded sagely along with the commentator bot's observations.
I am now about to watch the medal ceremony and will then be on the look out for more obscure sports to become emotionally invested in.
Please remember to follow my blog in the left column. Thanks
I spent half the day watching the men's road race (cycling) and I did enjoy it but I didn't remember what the Olympics was all about until I pressed the red button and selected the the semi finals of the women's epee.
The first match (bout? duel?) was between Italian and Chinese competitors. The Italian was the favourite but the Chinese woman had a two point lead when I joined it just after the start. The Italian was always on the front foot but there was quite a lot of scoring on both sides and she could not catch up until very close to the end. By the end of normal time it was just back to level terms so an additional sudden death minute was played and the Italian got the first hit which meant instant victory. The above is a poor description of a gripping sporting match.
Then there was a phenomenon unique to red button viewing which was that the commentary just ended and for a few minutes and the viewer was left looking at pictures of the inside of the arena (which was very dark with just the playing area illuminated) with no clues given as to what was going to happen next.
Patience was rewarded and two more women competitors appeared and the commentators piped up again and the second semi final got underway. I am always amazed that the BBC can call on experts in every sport to comment over their broadcasts. This seems a bit suspicious and I quietly believe they have a Commentator Bot 1.1 which is programmed with the rules and terminology of all sports. It does always seem to have the same voice which is not especially posh and has no regional accent.
This next match was less high scoring but no less entertaining and featured French and Hungarian players, the Hungarian going through to the final (I can actually now report that she went on to win the gold medal!)
Of course I did what one always does when watching these sports: I became an instant expert and nodded sagely along with the commentator bot's observations.
I am now about to watch the medal ceremony and will then be on the look out for more obscure sports to become emotionally invested in.
Please remember to follow my blog in the left column. Thanks
Wednesday 3 August 2016
The One Show 7 pm BBC 1
Today I did something no human has ever done...I watched an entire hour long episode of The One Show.
From the opening theme tune (which is not a tune, just a noise), it was obvious that I was going to be fascinated throughout. The program was based in the the Herefordshire village of Weobley (pronounced webly) and featured the following, riveting topics.
The whole thing was as unbearable as it sounds. Every feature consisted of the local people being patronised and looking awkward on the tele or doing their turn like a deaf child being allowed to sing on comic relief which no-one wants to hear but they are indulged because they are kids and it's nice for them. The residents of Weobley are not kids and do not need to be condescended to in this way.
Even in the absence of this source of embarrassment the features seemed not to have had much thought or research put into them. The only possible exception being the history feature.
Jon Sergeant always looks as if he's just turned up to collect his cheque and his appearances here were no exception. His reading of a mythological tale was the quintessence of everything that was awful about the show. At the end of every sentence a member of the community would hobble on representing a character from the story, do their piece and drag themselves off again. It was as poorly rehearsed as a nativity play (except for some kids who did some dancing and did it quite well but no person with an IQ above 60 would have actually wanted to watch even them) and I wish to God I'd never seen any of it.
I am a real fan of Squeeze and it was a shame they appeared looking very out of place on this otherwise amateurish debacle.
From the opening theme tune (which is not a tune, just a noise), it was obvious that I was going to be fascinated throughout. The program was based in the the Herefordshire village of Weobley (pronounced webly) and featured the following, riveting topics.
- The meals on wheels service (featuring the woman who won bake off)
- Rural Transport
- The Local Economy (feat. Jon Sergeant)
- Then Squeeze played a song (Take Me I'm Yours)
- The show's resident hairdresser (yes it does have one) took us on a pretty directionless journey round the village
- The History of the Village (with Dan Snow)
- Weobley's mythology (Jon Sergeant again)
- Then Squeeze played the show out (with Cradle to Grave)
The whole thing was as unbearable as it sounds. Every feature consisted of the local people being patronised and looking awkward on the tele or doing their turn like a deaf child being allowed to sing on comic relief which no-one wants to hear but they are indulged because they are kids and it's nice for them. The residents of Weobley are not kids and do not need to be condescended to in this way.
Even in the absence of this source of embarrassment the features seemed not to have had much thought or research put into them. The only possible exception being the history feature.
Jon Sergeant always looks as if he's just turned up to collect his cheque and his appearances here were no exception. His reading of a mythological tale was the quintessence of everything that was awful about the show. At the end of every sentence a member of the community would hobble on representing a character from the story, do their piece and drag themselves off again. It was as poorly rehearsed as a nativity play (except for some kids who did some dancing and did it quite well but no person with an IQ above 60 would have actually wanted to watch even them) and I wish to God I'd never seen any of it.
I am a real fan of Squeeze and it was a shame they appeared looking very out of place on this otherwise amateurish debacle.
Monday 1 August 2016
WRC Finland Channel 5, 7pm
Tonight's coverage of the WRC Finland rally was obviously done on a shoestring. The commentator couldn't afford a side-kick and there were not many camera placements on the road. Most of stage coverage was seen from in car cameras with very occasional backup from camera phone footage.
Nevertheless it was engaging if you like that sort of thing - which I found that I did.
The event was won brilliantly by Northern Irish dirver Kris Meeke but the star of the show for me was the young Irishman Craig Breen who came third in only his fourth ever full WRC event and broke out in floods of tears at the finish line.
The rally as a whole was full of action including brilliant ragged edge driving and occasional serious looking accidents none of which proved too serious for the drivers or co-drivers involved.
The hour's broadcast was only very heavily edited highlights of several days action (I would like to have seen more) but it made for gripping viewing and I'll be looking forward to the German WRC rally which takes place on 18-21 August and will hopefully be broadcast on the 22nd. Well done Channel 5.
Nevertheless it was engaging if you like that sort of thing - which I found that I did.
The event was won brilliantly by Northern Irish dirver Kris Meeke but the star of the show for me was the young Irishman Craig Breen who came third in only his fourth ever full WRC event and broke out in floods of tears at the finish line.
The rally as a whole was full of action including brilliant ragged edge driving and occasional serious looking accidents none of which proved too serious for the drivers or co-drivers involved.
The hour's broadcast was only very heavily edited highlights of several days action (I would like to have seen more) but it made for gripping viewing and I'll be looking forward to the German WRC rally which takes place on 18-21 August and will hopefully be broadcast on the 22nd. Well done Channel 5.
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