Athletes View on 10 AM competition | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Athletes View on 10 AM competition

SimplyLex

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
I'm just super annoyed that it's literally one TV station that is pandered to here, and everyone else in the world just has to roll with it. It's just not fair, and on a personal level, I am enraged. I am not 20 years old anymore, it does affect me to get up at 2 am every night and then spend the full day at work. I took it in Vancouver, naturally, but in this case it's not natural, it's treating some audiences better than others and I hate it.

Is that what Olympic spirit is all about? Whoever pays more money gets to decide competition times?

I just hope the skaters find a way to adjust to these unusual schedules.

And to everyone who is defending this - how would you feel if you were on the other end of this? It's easy to defend such a move when you're the one enjoying watching the Olympics in prime time.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
Why in the world would anyone be enraged that money is driving this decision? I mean this seriously and not snarkily, what world do you live in?

Sorry, not sorry, to keep using analogies from another sport dear to my heart right now, but is the Super Bowl at 6:30 p.m., with a half time that goes on forever, for the convenience of the *athletes*? Don’t worry, I’ll answer that for you: no. It is for the sponsors paying multiple millions of dollars.

And I have watched enough skating at 2 a.m. my time that I won’t apologize for enjoying the fact that this skating is actually in my time. I’ve paid my dues.:biggrin:
 

SimplyLex

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
I couldn't care less about your American Super Bowl and what drives it, this is different, it's the Olympic Games, something that should go beyond money. It is the competition where athletes are not allowed to advertise the names of their sponsors. That should mean something. Money should NOT drive the Olympics, even if it drives everything else in sports. And if that makes me naive, so be it.

I don't mind watching skating at 2 am if it's actually a result of time zones, like it was in the case of Vancouver Olympics. This is different. This is making sure that Americans have it good while the rest of the world suffers, and I won't just sit here and pretend that it's ok.
 

Arriba627

TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION 🔥
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Country
United-States
I'd love to see the organizers give free tickets to school kids and make it a field trip of sorts, especially if it was a school day, during school hours and there were lots of empty seats.

This is a great idea. At Sk Can, the crowds weren't too big for the SPs, and you could see large groups of kids coming in and sitting in upper level seats. They were having a great ole time. That's a lot better than empty seats!
 

champs

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Tatsuki Machida's take on the situation: https://twitter.com/iguana012/status/963033458313490432

You can't do anything about it, but still I think it's unfortunate. Priority should be the athletes- not the US audience.
igs said:
Machida: "The schedule is made to fit American prime time but if you allow me to express my opinion as a former competitor, such schedule is unacceptable"
Here is the TV footage in which Machida made that remark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPmyAfBuMz8
2:21-3:01 is the relevant part. Machida made the remark in response to one of the MCs asking him what could be the possible reason for Nathan Chen's unexpected flunk in the Team Event. It's unfortunate the female MC cut into his talk as Machida apparently wanted to add his insight to his claim.
 

fishing

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
I am old enough to remember watching decades and decades of figure skating competitions on TV where I thought there were only three skaters in the entire competition because that is all the networks showed us. They were all 'Going for the gold!'. Imagine my surprise - and delight - when internet feeds began. I can now watch each and every skater - dozens of them! - and enjoy every moment of the competition as if I were in the arena. I can also keep up with the scoring with live results - amazing!

I feel that NBC is still thinking 'old school'. They want to show their audience 'the top three'. Yes, usually Americans, but also those with 'a good story'. As such, they think nothing of interrupting live figure skating with 'an American success/ gold' in another sport. Their evening audience of non-figure skating fans who do not follow the live scoring ever realise that several figure skating performances are being Chacked.

The figure skating time alteration made me remember the Beijing Olympics. In swimming, preliminaries are 'always' in the morning and finals 'always' in the evening. For these Olympics, the timing was flipped to accommodate the US tv audience as Michael Phelps was going for 8 gold medals. This New York Times article from 2008 not only explains how they were able to change the traditional times of swimming and gymnastics, but how they were even able to move the Olympic dates by weeks. In essence, money talks - then and now...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/sports/olympics/25nbc.html

However,
“Michael and his coach told them: ‘Anyone who is among the best in the world should be able to swim any time of day."

I feel that this will also be true of these Olympics. The best will show us their best despite this alteration of their norm.

I will be watching the entire events live - either on my television or a live feed - but I know that if I did miss them, I could 'unplug' from my social media and catch up with YouTube. Sadly, it would not be the same, but it is an option that I was never offered in many, many past games. Thank you so much to the posters here on this forum who update the No Spoilers links, not only for these games but for all the other figure skating events around the world where my time doesn't 'match' the time of the event. Much appreciated!
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
... Is that what Olympic spirit is all about? ...

.... it's the Olympic Games, something that should go beyond money. ...

The IOC has said more than once that its agreements with NBC contribute to the viability of the Olympic Movement as a whole.

For example, see this 2014 announcement from the IOC:

IOC awards Olympic Games broadcast rights to NBCUniversal through to 2032
Agreement ensures the long-term financial security of the Olympic Movement

... The agreement is a major contribution to the long-term financial stability of the entire Olympic Movement.

... IOC President Thomas Bach, who led the negotiations, said: “This agreement is excellent news for the entire Olympic Movement as it helps to ensure its financial security in the long term, in particular future host cities of the Olympic Games, the athletes of the 204 National Olympic Committees and the International Sports Federations. ...


https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-aw...adcast-rights-to-nbcuniversal-through-to-2032

Another example is in this 2011 announcement from the IOC:

IOC awards US broadcast rights for 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games to NBCUniversal

... the long-term nature of this agreement will not only ensure fantastic Olympic broadcast coverage in the US, but also support the long-term financial stability of the Olympic Movement as a whole ....

https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-aw...6-2018-and-2020-olympic-games-to-nbcuniversal

... Money should NOT drive the Olympics, even if it drives everything else in sports. ...

:laugh: Sure is easy for you -- or anyone else who has not paid (or received) on the order of one billion dollars (billion with a B) for 2018 OWG broadcast rights -- to say.

An example of NBC resources devoted to 2018 OWG: at least 2750 employees (2000 on site in Korea + 750 at NBC Sports broadcast center in U.S.).

In other words:
The total number of NBC employees working on 2018 OWG is nearly as high as the total number of athletes competing at 2018 OWG (2952 athletes).​
 

kenboy123

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
I honestly find it funny when people say that athletes should not have to deal with conditions... There are always conditions that you cannot control in every sport whether it is weather, start times etc etc...Part of any sport is the ability to deal with uncontrollable variables... While the start time may not be ideal for many skaters, they had months to prepare for this... If you don't want to deal with uncontrollable conditions, don't be an athlete...
 

Tavi...

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
I couldn't care less about your American Super Bowl and what drives it, this is different, it's the Olympic Games, something that should go beyond money. It is the competition where athletes are not allowed to advertise the names of their sponsors. That should mean something. Money should NOT drive the Olympics, even if it drives everything else in sports. And if that makes me naive, so be it.

I don't mind watching skating at 2 am if it's actually a result of time zones, like it was in the case of Vancouver Olympics. This is different. This is making sure that Americans have it good while the rest of the world suffers, and I won't just sit here and pretend that it's ok.

Frankly, it sounds like you don’t care whether or not the schedule is bad for the athletes, but rather that you, personally, have to “suffer.” So sorry. But it’s a bit silly to think it’s just big bad American television ruining your Olympic experience, and that no other big money is involved in the event. Do you think Eurosport or whoever isnt responsible for the ski jumping schedule being set for the convenience of European audiences, despite the fact that the events end after midnight local time and the athletes and event audiences are freezing outdoors in subzero cold for hours on end?
 

Roast Toast

Medalist
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
I find it funny that people think athletes aren't allowed to comment on the less than ideal conditions caused by NBC's deals. There's a fine line between whining and simply commentating on something that might negatively affect your performance, and not a single skater has crossed it thus far. Though I do love seeing all the comments here from random posters about how in their day, they had to deal with whatever -- sorry, I doubt your fancy ~practices and ~competitions were the Olympics.
 

SimplyLex

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
Frankly, it sounds like you don’t care whether or not the schedule is bad for the athletes, but rather that you, personally, have to “suffer.” So sorry. But it’s a bit silly to think it’s just big bad American television ruining your Olympic experience, and that no other big money is involved in the event. Do you think Eurosport or whoever isnt responsible for the ski jumping schedule being set for the convenience of European audiences, despite the fact that the events end after midnight local time and the athletes and event audiences are freezing outdoors in subzero cold for hours on end?

Of course I care about the athletes, I did say that I don't mind it being at night my local time if it makes sense from time zones point of view, didn't I? It's not about me, it's about the whole world being condemned to whatever suits America best. I'm sorry but discussing this with so many Americans here is pointless. Of course you're going to defend it.
And yes, it exactly is the big bad American television ruining my Olympic experience. But I do care about the athletes too. They're not used to competing this early and quite frankly I am surprised that so many people here are basically saying "well, if they want a medal, they have to get over it". Why should they have to get over it in the first place? The schedule should first and foremost be comfortable for the skaters.

As for ski jumping, yes, starting that late is a bad choice too. But here's a couple things that differ here:
- ski jumpers are actually used to competing in the evening, it's not new for them
- the event went so late into the night because of the weather, not because Eurosport wanted it like that
- European audience is basically the only audience ski jumping has, whereas figure skating is watched worldwide
- the main ski jumping events (men's individuals) are on Saturday anyway, so it really wouldn't make a difference for the audience if those events were held even up to 4 hours earlier. So quite frankly I am not sure where those schedules come from.

But yes, I am hereby admitting that the ski jumping schedule at these Olympics is a mess. Now I'm wondering if you can say the same about figure skating.
 

Tavi...

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Of course I care about the athletes, I did say that I don't mind it being at night my local time if it makes sense from time zones point of view, didn't I? It's not about me, it's about the whole world being condemned to whatever suits America best. I'm sorry but discussing this with so many Americans here is pointless. Of course you're going to defend it.
And yes, it exactly is the big bad American television ruining my Olympic experience. But I do care about the athletes too. They're not used to competing this early and quite frankly I am surprised that so many people here are basically saying "well, if they want a medal, they have to get over it". Why should they have to get over it in the first place? The schedule should first and foremost be comfortable for the skaters.

As for ski jumping, yes, starting that late is a bad choice too. But here's a couple things that differ here:
- ski jumpers are actually used to competing in the evening, it's not new for them
- the event went so late into the night because of the weather, not because Eurosport wanted it like that
- European audience is basically the only audience ski jumping has, whereas figure skating is watched worldwide
- the main ski jumping events (men's individuals) are on Saturday anyway, so it really wouldn't make a difference for the audience if those events were held even up to 4 hours earlier. So quite frankly I am not sure where those schedules come from.

But yes, I am hereby admitting that the ski jumping schedule at these Olympics is a mess. Now I'm wondering if you can say the same about figure skating.

If you go back and read post 90 of this thread, you can see what I wrote about the competition schedule. Beyond that, I think most of us “Americans” would appreciate being looked at as individuals with our own thoughts and opinions and not as apologists for NBC, Trump, or anything else that’s “wrong” with American culture. It really does get tiresome, and I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if I tried to do the same with you and Eurosport. You might also bear in mind that the US spans 6 time zones - 4 on the mainland + Alaska + Hawaii - so in fact, the NBC schedule isn’t particularly convenient for many of us who don’t live on the east coast, including me. For the record, I happen to love ski jumping, but accept the schedule for what it is, just as I have to do with the majority of international figure skating competitions, which are generally held in Europe and Asia, and which frequently require me to get up in the middle of the night (Asia) or sneak a peak while I’m at work (Europe).
 

3dsushi

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Oh please 🙄 don’t justify this nonsense just because you all lived in the US. Please
 

Yatagarasu

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 29, 2015
Why in the world would anyone be enraged that money is driving this decision? I mean this seriously and not snarkily, what world do you live in?

I live in a world where I find statements like this "hilarious".

Yes, we should all bow down to American money and the skaters should have anything but optimal conditions for skating ... or no, not really. What takes precedence is not your tushy being comfortable, but the athletes being comfortable because they're flinging themselves into the air for four revolution jumps and landing on narrow blades in a sport where concussions and various serious injuries are par for the course, in ideal conditions. Never mind in those that aren't.

So I do find it "hilarious" money, and your comfort matter, but they do not.
 

Barb

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
I'm just super annoyed that it's literally one TV station that is pandered to here, and everyone else in the world just has to roll with it. It's just not fair, and on a personal level, I am enraged. I am not 20 years old anymore, it does affect me to get up at 2 am every night and then spend the full day at work. I took it in Vancouver, naturally, but in this case it's not natural, it's treating some audiences better than others and I hate it.

Is that what Olympic spirit is all about? Whoever pays more money gets to decide competition times?

I just hope the skaters find a way to adjust to these unusual schedules.

And to everyone who is defending this - how would you feel if you were on the other end of this? It's easy to defend such a move when you're the one enjoying watching the Olympics in prime time.

I would feel great if the competition was at 2am because I would not be at my job, I am missing half of the competitions :(
 

tzazu

Medalist
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
I would feel great if the competition was at 2am because I would not be at my job, I am missing half of the competitions :(

:thumbsup:same here, when it's during the night I can watch it (except when I'm on duty, bad luck then), during the day it's more difficult with work :biggrin:
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
I live in a world where I find statements like this "hilarious".

Yes, we should all bow down to American money and the skaters should have anything but optimal conditions for skating ... or no, not really. What takes precedence is not your tushy being comfortable, but the athletes being comfortable because they're flinging themselves into the air for four revolution jumps and landing on narrow blades in a sport where concussions and various serious injuries are par for the course, in ideal conditions. Never mind in those that aren't.

So I do find it "hilarious" money, and your comfort matter, but they do not.

But that’s not the point:scratch2:

The point is, which I do apologize if I did make clearly enough, is that *money* talks. Period. Has Jackson B. Squat to with the color or nationality or origin of the money.

If Tongan companies poured billions into the IOC, and bought all the TV rights, then the games would be shown at Tongan audiences convenience. And I would be saying the same thing, and not blaming the Tongans, or their companies, or their TV networks.

I said I wouldn’t apologize for being a beneficiary of the sponsors’ decisions, because I had nothing to do with it, but I wouldn’t blame if it went the other way, it’s just the world we live in. And that’s what I mean. Perhaps in an ideal world, money *shouldnt* talk, but I don’t live in that world, and it does:confused2:

Maybe it will change for the next cycle, and this discussion will be irrelevant ....
 

Amei

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
I'm just super annoyed that it's literally one TV station that is pandered to here, and everyone else in the world just has to roll with it. It's just not fair, and on a personal level, I am enraged. I am not 20 years old anymore, it does affect me to get up at 2 am every night and then spend the full day at work. I took it in Vancouver, naturally, but in this case it's not natural, it's treating some audiences better than others and I hate it.

Is that what Olympic spirit is all about? Whoever pays more money gets to decide competition times?

I just hope the skaters find a way to adjust to these unusual schedules.

And to everyone who is defending this - how would you feel if you were on the other end of this? It's easy to defend such a move when you're the one enjoying watching the Olympics in prime time.

It's not treating 1 audience better than another, it's treating the hand that feeds it more better which is the recipe for keeping the business alive. And it's not like this is 'the norm', the Sochi Olympics were not altered time-wise for the US TV audience.

And to everyone who is defending this - how would you feel if you were on the other end of this? It's easy to defend such a move when you're the one enjoying watching the Olympics in prime time.

Yeah, that's not ringing a sympathy note from me, any competition outside of North America which is probably 95% of the competitions every single year, happen at extremely inconvenient times and figure skating fans in North America have to adapt.
 

Amei

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Tatsuki Machida's take on the situation: https://twitter.com/iguana012/status/963033458313490432

You can't do anything about it, but still I think it's unfortunate. Priority should be the athletes- not the US audience.

Tatsuki is wrong, the IOC's priority is making money not the athletes and not US audience. If the British audience was biggest revenue generating market for the IOC the IOC would be bending to put the premiere event during that market's primetime. This isn't an American created problem, but an IOC created problem.
 

Bcash

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 18, 2017
I couldn't care less about your American Super Bowl and what drives it, this is different, it's the Olympic Games, something that should go beyond money. It is the competition where athletes are not allowed to advertise the names of their sponsors. That should mean something. Money should NOT drive the Olympics, even if it drives everything else in sports. And if that makes me naive, so be it.

I don't mind watching skating at 2 am if it's actually a result of time zones, like it was in the case of Vancouver Olympics. This is different. This is making sure that Americans have it good while the rest of the world suffers, and I won't just sit here and pretend that it's ok.


Then we might not even have the Olympics. It's how things work now.
 
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