The way I look at it is fine if an issue gets raised & discussed by the commentators. But it reached the 'beating the dead horse' stage when it was brought up for the gazillionth time & the question that came to my mind was 'Why??'. Why keep discussing it ad nauseum when there was no new information, why keep on asking the athletes about it, why keep going on & on about it to the point where rude & stupid stuff like the half-people remark gets said. My thought in the end was let the governing bodies handle it & stfu about it & move on!!

There are a lot of levels to it, including the fact the races mature at different rates & are of different average sizes.

The bottom line for me is I just can't get past the question why the hell would China do that (if in fact they did), knowing the eyes of the entire world would be on them & subterfuge was bound to be discovered.

I salute all the gymnasts, it takes guts to go full out for that combo of finesse & power. Like Shawn Johnson of the US said, The Chinese girls were just better that day.

The Chinese people must be thrilled with the results of the Olympics, getting that many gold medals is pretty amazing. Erm..sorry for going on & on. I'm known to be a ranter (major understatement hehe).

Just catching up on the blogs...it's hard to watch the games now without me overanalysing the thing they are commenting...takes a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Yeah...NBC ultimately has total control over what gets aired even though the NBC gymnastics commentators do their job for every performer....

I'm kinda spoiled here...I can pick up the Canadian broadcast (CBC) in addition to NBC.  Even though their commentaries are very bland (except for Kyle Shufeld, a gymnast who was added because he failed to qualify to any finals), they do show different gymnasts so ultimately I think I see just about every athlete's performance.  Yeah, I'm definately spoiled!  =D

I haven't noticed any biased comments here, but I would try to ignore it even if I did.  

I love watching gymnastics. =)

I'm not sure why Bela's on board with NBC....just wanted to get that out of the way, first.

Having been involved with the sport of gymnastics for over 15 years and having watched it for over 35 years on television, I must say that I appreciate the commentary from Tim Daggett (1984 Olympic team gold medalist for the US) and Elfie S. (Canadian female gymnast) as well as Al T. (the head commentator...never did gymnastics, though).  This team has been together commentating on several major gymnastics events all over the world for many years.  They are passionate about the sport and they offer so much in terms of the viewer knowing why a score might be lower than the routine looked (mostly because of missed required elements, degree of difficulty being changed, how much of a deduction a fall is, etc.).  It's really hard for people who only watch gymnastics during the Olympics to really appreciate the depth of their knowledge.  I bet if you were to rewatch the current Olympic coverage with an open mind knowing the event outcomes, you might have a different feeling and you might not hear the "China bashing" that you're referring to.  At least, that's my opinion.

These three NBC commentators will be the first ones to pick apart any of the USA teams' shortcomings because they've seen them train, they go to meet after meet where the athletes are, and they interview them constantly.  Tim and Elfie are also very familiar with the other international athletes and their level of skills.  There's a lot we don't see on tv (like the warm-ups, open training sessions...the warm-up gym, etc.) and they do their best to fill in those blanks that the common viewer might have.

And I'm sure that people of Asian decent are particularily sensitive because the Olympics are taking place in Beijing and those athletes are definately trying their hardest to make their countries proud of their achievements.  But, step back...if you've watched any other Olympic gymnastics covereage, you might remember that it use to be all about the USSR powerhouse of gymnastics and how they were on top.  USSR this, USSR that....and Romania...The tide in gymnastics has shifted.  Heck, during the 1980's the major competitors in men's gymnastics were USSR and Japan!  So, when you're on top, you're going to be in the spotlight more on tevelevision and in the commentaries.

Chinese athletes should rejoice that they're getting the television coverage they deserve because their gymnastics is outstanding right now.  It's so wonderful, as a gymnastics lover like me, to be able to see them not implode during competition because I know that they're capable of doing some great gymnastics.

What I would love to see is a competition where everybody is at their best....where everybody gives their best performance, the judging is correct (ouch!), and everybody is just excited about seeing great gymnastics.  I can dream, right?  haha!

i havent seen such a rude case here, however
sometimes commentater(former athletes) run down our team with anger. disagreeable

I don't think the UK commentary is as bad, but you can definitely see the anti-China in some of their comments. I honestly think it's pure jealousy and fear of China's growing power. I've started muting the commentators now while watching the olympics.

wow, what a jerk, its sounds like bitter jealously to me
wtf is "half people" that is such a rude thing to say.  

*sigh \*   I wiish I could watch the gymnastics, I like watching that

I was really disappointed with NBC's coverage of the opening ceremony so I basically just drowned out all the commentaries when I was watching the competitions. I was born and raised in the US, but really...the US needs to get over themselves.

You don't see the Chinese media accuse Phelps of taking a performance enhancer do you?

The American media is NOT going to spoil my Olympics!!!

That's too bad that the commentating was so biased in your view.  I only have watched on-line and most of those repeats have NO commentary so you're watching as if sitting in the stands.  Karolyi is just a blowhard.  He was when he coached Romania---maybe they just have him on for "color".  The few gymnastic videos I watched WITH commentary only very briefly mentioned the controversy about the ages and then moved on to appropriate analysis, and commending ALL the athletes.  How can you not?  They're amazing.  On the diving videos they literally salivated over Gao's perfection.   

With respect to the age controversy I think it warrants investigation and future regulation.  From what I've read the younger girls are lighter (don't need as much muscle), more flexible,and less mature but more fearless.  I understand it's not healthy for girls that young with growing bones.  I don't know, but a rule's a rule.  

Mr. B's dislikes are understandable - I think there were a lot of injuries on the vault and yeah they used to use the horse.  I was so very impressed with the Chinese men's team (no age controversy there because the men have to be really strong to do things like the rings and pommel horse).  They're upper bodies are so, so....gorgeous.  Give me a hug baby boys!  

No one can really separate national pride from  their appreciation for the games.  It's not like I want the US to win it all but I admit I'm happy when they do.  But I'm thrilled to see all these amateur athletes excel.  And I love Gao as much as the commentators.  

So Jia You USA, China, Jamaica, Australia, South Korea, .....  I guess Jia You Athletes!

The commentators can go overboard.  I usually off the sound to watch the games.  Listening to them makes my heart palpitates beyond a safe range.

I am concerned that China fielded 3 under age gymnasts and the IOC accepted the faulty paperwork on this girls with no questions asked.  They instituted the age limit for a reason.  If it was a good reason (I haven't heard what the reason was), then the IOC should investigate the serious and widespread allegations that the Chinese presented falsified paperwork on these children to have them pass as 16 year olds.  If the IOC is going to institute rules, then everyone should be held to the same rules, host country or not.

Yikes... it always sucks when people focus on anything but the sport itself :(

Good thoughts. I think that Bela's commentary has some good aspects--but I am diappointed to hear the negative stuff from his former team members, and the "half-people" comment was out of line. Thanks for the add, BTW.

To peachey--Mary Lou Retton currently works as a motivational speaker. I don't see why they couldn't get her as a commentator!

I totally agree... i was just complaing to my co worker about that

Write to NBC! I hope enough people have complained about Bela for them to axe him. He adds nothing but negativity with his emotional, studio comments. And! I can barely understand him. lol. Couldn't NBC get someone with gymnastic knowledge, like Marylou Retton (she's in broadcasting, isn't she?) or __?

Haven’t been following the Olympics, but I know where you coming from.
This kind of event should promote friendship & being united, yet why does someone like this dude have to tarnish its good intentions.

Let's just cheer & be happy for the athletes.
Go go go!

yes, I was actually very very upset with the comments about the events final last night (as I vented thru blogging) Karolyi's comments are so disrespectful to the athletes. =(

I have the same question as Blueamrub... What does Mr. B think of the comments? BTW it's cool that Mr. B used to do gymnastics... but ouch on the fall... =( When I saw the Japanese guy fall from the rings during the all around finals, I screamed... *eek*

BTW, this was very interesting for me to read, and it's cool that your hubby did gymnastics before.