what channel are you watching the Olympics on?

Utopia Parkway

mike65 wrote: »

Anyone BS-ing about the BBC commentry should recall Jim Sherwins commentary of drug cheat Michelle Smiths "performances" at Atlanta.

Mike.

In fairness at the time there was no reason to believe that she was on anything even though there was much talk in swimming circles so can't blame Jim Sherwin for that one.

The whiskey flavoured pee didn't appear until two years after Atlanta I believe.

OPENROAD

Eurosport

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

In fairness at the time there was no reason to believe that she was on anything even though there was much talk in swimming circles so can't blame Jim Sherwin for that one.

The whiskey flavoured pee didn't appear until two years after Atlanta I believe.

Think his point might have been that rte are the same as bbc when it comes to their own competitors.

Utopia Parkway

OPENROAD wrote: »

Think his point might have been that rte are the same as bbc when it comes to their own competitors.

Using Jim Sherwin's commentary in Atlanta probably wasn't the best example to us if so.

OPENROAD

Eurosport

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Using Jim Sherwin's commentary in Atlanta probably wasn't the best example to us if so.

I'm only guessing , why did he not praise her at the time

Toto Wolfcastle

BBC

The set for the coverage on RTE 2 is offensive to my eyes. I don't have much choice though, have to watch it on RTE.

murpho999

BBC

I don't know why Irish people complain about RTE, I think their coverage is fantastic.
I like how they have an expert in for each sport
I find with the swimming that Gary O'Toole gives a great insight into the sport and has a good knowledge of the swimmers regardless of where they come from.

When I switch to BBC, all they show are sports concerning British Athletes and they just simply do not show great events happening elsewhere. I lived in Holland for the last 2 Olympics. Couldn't get RTE but had BBC and was driven demented by their biased and jingoistic coverage and now I'm back home I find RTE's to be a delight. BBC just ignore other sports to show someone from 'Team GB' finishing last in a heat.

Also, I find that they show a broader range of sports.
For example yesterday RTE showed highlights of a fantastic Womens Volleyball match between China and Poland. BBC simply don't show things like this.

I do wish people would stop just knocking RTE just for the sake of it. I think they provide great coverage in sport, I also found their Champions League & Euro 2008 coverage to be superior to the British offerings.

I do agree about the studio though, it looks like a Waterford Crystal showhouse!!

Utopia Parkway

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't know why Irish people complain about RTE, I think their coverage is fantastic.
I like how they have an expert in for each sport
I find with the swimming that Gary O'Toole gives a great insight into the sport and has a good knowledge of the swimmers regardless of where they come from.

RTE do a pretty good job overall. Agree that Gary O'Toole is an excellent pundit of a sport most people wouldn't have a clue about. He makes it very interesting.

Jimmy McGee does my head in though. Just saw the replay of the John Joe Nevin fight and he called him John Joe Joyce about 3 times. He then got the score wrong twice.

gordon_gekko

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

In fairness at the time there was no reason to believe that she was on anything even though there was much talk in swimming circles so can't blame Jim Sherwin for that one.

The whiskey flavoured pee didn't appear until two years after Atlanta I believe.

a swimmer with no track record of real success from a country with no track record in the pool wins 3 gold medals , there was a stench of a big rodent right from the get go

kevmy

Rineanna wrote: »

:rolleyes:

I'm sorry, did you prove her Atlanta 'perfomances' were drug-induced? Because I know no one else did, and those three medals still stand, so unless you have proof to back up your comments it might be an idea to keep your accusations off this public forum.

LOL!

But I wouldn't blame Jim Sherwin though he knew little about swimming along with most of the rest of the nation and got carried away in the euphoria.

However there was an interesting thing in the Mad About Sport bit of the Tribune a couple of weeks back where they interviewed Billo and he said that both his daughter (who was a decent swimmer) and Gary O' Toole had serious doubts about Smith's sudden improvement before the Olympics. They went to the head of sport in RTE at the time (Fred Cogley??) and asked would they mention this but where told not to as it was all accusation. Both Billo and Gary O' Toole jumped on American swimmer Janet Evans' comment about Smith at the time (basically implied she was on drugs) as a way of talking about it without accusing her of anything.

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't know why Irish people complain about RTE, I think their coverage is fantastic.
I like how they have an expert in for each sport
I find with the swimming that Gary O'Toole gives a great insight into the sport and has a good knowledge of the swimmers regardless of where they come from.

When I switch to BBC, all they show are sports concerning British Athletes and they just simply do not show great events happening elsewhere. I lived in Holland for the last 2 Olympics. Couldn't get RTE but had BBC and was driven demented by their biased and jingoistic coverage and now I'm back home I find RTE's to be a delight. BBC just ignore other sports to show someone from 'Team GB' finishing last in a heat.

Also, I find that they show a broader range of sports.
For example yesterday RTE showed highlights of a fantastic Womens Volleyball match between China and Poland. BBC simply don't show things like this.

I do wish people would stop just knocking RTE just for the sake of it. I think they provide great coverage in sport, I also found their Champions League & Euro 2008 coverage to be superior to the British offerings.

I do agree about the studio though, it looks like a Waterford Crystal showhouse!!

Yep RTÉ's sports coverage is generally pretty good. They get the best out of what they have and drag up experts in even relatively obscure sports to help the viewer out.
Was impressed with the dedicated camera on the Irish swimmers - thought it was a great idea as they knew few of our swimmers would be in the running and wouldn't get much attention.
Gary O'Toole is very good - not afraid to take a pop at anyone who deserves it and is very knowledgeable as well.
The evening highlights show is the best on the air. In terms of bucks for your bang I'd say RTE are way outperforming BBC who just seem to have spent all there money on sending people to China

OPENROAD

Eurosport

murpho999 wrote: »

I do wish people would stop just knocking RTE just for the sake of it. I think they provide great coverage in sport, I also found their Champions League & Euro 2008 coverage to be superior to the British offerings.

More entertaining certainly but not superior.

lostexpectation

here's the official european olympic broadcasting website

http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics/

did you read over in the radio forum how the have to stop all outside of ireland streaming lest any of ioc's copyright is broken, capitlist asshole's

mike65

murpho999 wrote: »

When I switch to BBC, all they show are sports concerning British Athletes and they just simply do not show great events happening elsewhere. I lived in Holland for the last 2 Olympics. Couldn't get RTE but had BBC and was driven demented by their biased and jingoistic coverage and now I'm back home I find RTE's to be a delight. BBC just ignore other sports to show someone from 'Team GB' finishing last in a heat.

Also, I find that they show a broader range of sports.
For example yesterday RTE showed highlights of a fantastic Womens Volleyball match between China and Poland. BBC simply don't show things like this.

To be fair, if RTE simply showed events in which Irish had a presence, never mind a chance of a medal (however unlikely) there would not be much to show. I expect the full BBC digial coverage via the red button is showing plenty more on top as well.

Mike.

p4poetic

In general, just NBC and occassionally flipping back and forth to the other channels.

Pigletlover

BBC

Mainly watching the Olypics on RTE, admittedly I haven't been able to see as much as I'd like, but from what I have seen I think their coverage is very good. Some of the commentators aren't great, agree with the poster saying Bernard Dunne is terrible. Gary O'Toole on the other hand is excellent, he clearly has in depth knowledge of the sport and participants from all over the world. I thought he was going to lose it with Eamonn Coughlan the other night, but he seemed to just bite his tongue.

Mossy Monk

BBC HD

Personally I am watching very little of it. I see some when I walk into a room for 2 minutes and someone else has it on. I honestly couldn't give a **** about it all. I can't be alone?

Toto Wolfcastle

BBC

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Personally I am watching very little of it. I see some when I walk into a room for 2 minutes and someone else has it on. I honestly couldn't give a **** about it all. I can't be alone?

Of course not, but I have to say that even my sports-hating sister has started watching it.

murpho999

BBC

OPENROAD wrote: »

More entertaining certainly but not superior.

Can't agree with that.

ITV's football coverage is poor.
Take champions league. Come on air 15 mins before kick off, some analysis with Andy Townsend, that is interrupted by ads. Then the match, commentry is ok, but after final whistle there are ads, about 5 mins "analysis" and then finish.

BBC's football coverage is also poor IMO.

Gary Lineker is far too smug and just looks for witticisms and puns.
Alan Hansen is about the best analyst that they have but is not as good as he used to be.
Alan Shearer is terrible, just offers nothing. Half time is often taken up with previews of next game, and if England are in the tournament then they will have an interview of an English manager or player with a report of what the players did in the training camp rather than cover the game they are actually broadcasting.
Everything links back to England and you just don't get the indepth analysis or debate that the lads on RTE provide.

Mossy Monk

BBC HD

janeybabe wrote: »

Of course not, but I have to say that even my sports-hating sister has started watching it.

That's the thing. I watch mainly sport on television.

Toto Wolfcastle

BBC

Mossy Monk wrote: »

That's the thing. I watch mainly sport on television.

So why are you watching very little of it? That's interesting.

I wish they'd show more diving!

kevmy

murpho999 wrote: »

Can't agree with that.

ITV's football coverage is poor.
Take champions league. Come on air 15 mins before kick off, some analysis with Andy Townsend, that is interrupted by ads. Then the match, commentry is ok, but after final whistle there are ads, about 5 mins "analysis" and then finish.

BBC's football coverage is also poor IMO.

Gary Lineker is far too smug and just looks for witticisms and puns.
Alan Hansen is about the best analyst that they have but is not as good as he used to be.
Alan Shearer is terrible, just offers nothing. Half time is often taken up with previews of next game, and if England are in the tournament then they will have an interview of an English manager or player with a report of what the players did in the training camp rather than cover the game they are actually broadcasting.
Everything links back to England and you just don't get the indepth analysis or debate that the lads on RTE provide.

I agree with you RTE's analysis is both superior and more entertaining. Some of the commentary is a bit dodgy at times though.
It really goes to show what a good anchor can bring to it. O'Herlihy manages to give everyone a go without them hogging, simultaneously letting them rant while reigning them in.

Mossy Monk

BBC HD

janeybabe wrote: »

So why are you watching very little of it? That's interesting.

I wish they'd show more diving!

Not enough football maybe. When do the track events start?

citytillidie

murpho999 wrote: »

Can't agree with that.

ITV's football coverage is poor.
Take champions league. Come on air 15 mins before kick off, some analysis with Andy Townsend, that is interrupted by ads. Then the match, commentry is ok, but after final whistle there are ads, about 5 mins "analysis" and then finish.

BBC's football coverage is also poor IMO.

Gary Lineker is far too smug and just looks for witticisms and puns.
Alan Hansen is about the best analyst that they have but is not as good as he used to be.
Alan Shearer is terrible, just offers nothing. Half time is often taken up with previews of next game, and if England are in the tournament then they will have an interview of an English manager or player with a report of what the players did in the training camp rather than cover the game they are actually broadcasting.
Everything links back to England and you just don't get the indepth analysis or debate that the lads on RTE provide.

ITV/UTV Champions league buildup always started on ITV 4 at 7 so it gave 30 mins between the two games it was going to show then at 7:30 with on game been on ITV1/UTV then the build up then would be on that game and on ITV 4 the build up would be on the game that is shown there

citytillidie

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Not enough football maybe. When do the track events start?

I think from the Quater Finals there is going to be a highlights program of both football comp on BBC 3 in the evening

Track events start on Friday

thejuggler

Jim Sherwins commentry on the swimming and the opening/closing ceremony is much missed this year on RTE. Has he retired? Jimmy Magee has the right idea - keep going until you drop.

murpho999

BBC

citytillidie wrote: »

ITV/UTV Champions league buildup always started on ITV 4 at 7 so it gave 30 mins between the two games it was going to show then at 7:30 with on game been on ITV1/UTV then the build up then would be on that game and on ITV 4 the build up would be on the game that is shown there

Fair enough, but most people, myself included do not have access to ITV 4 so I don't think that can count as their real coverage. I'm talking about the broadcast that goes out on the main channel.

Utopia Parkway

Pigletlover wrote: »

Mainly watching the Olypics on RTE, admittedly I haven't been able to see as much as I'd like, but from what I have seen I think their coverage is very good. Some of the commentators aren't great, agree with the poster saying Bernard Dunne is terrible. Gary O'Toole on the other hand is excellent, he clearly has in depth knowledge of the sport and participants from all over the world. I thought he was going to lose it with Eamonn Coughlan the other night, but he seemed to just bite his tongue.

What was that over?

Pigletlover

BBC

They were talking about drug cheats back when they were in the olympics. O'Toole said that he knew there were swimmers doping back when he was competing, Coughlan said he had suspicions, but you could never say which athletes were taking them. Then he went on to say something along the lines of how it must have been tough for Gary because he was being beaten under the water by these people whereas he (Eamonn) was doing even better than athletes who were on performance enhancing drugs, basically saying how great he was. The camera went to O'Toole for a minute and he did NOT look happpy!

PurpleBerry

Eh, none?

kevmy

Pigletlover wrote: »

They were talking about drug cheats back when they were in the olympics. O'Toole said that he knew there were swimmers doping back when he was competing, Coughlan said he had suspicions, but you could never say which athletes were taking them. Then he went on to say something along the lines of how it must have been tough for Gary because he was being beaten under the water by these people whereas he (Eamonn) was doing even better than athletes who were on performance enhancing drugs, basically saying how great he was. The camera went to O'Toole for a minute and he did NOT look happpy!

Coughlan also was plugging his book as well.

He also revealed how he contemplated taking drugs towards the end of his career. Went as far to get the prescription but didn't go through with it.

Considering how anti-drugs O'Toole is I'd say Coughlan went down a few pegs in O'Tooles mind the minute he said that. Mind one COughlan can be one annoying twerp. If I was O'Toole I'd give him the odd skhelp to keep him in line

kawaii

Eurosport

lostexpectation wrote: »

here's the official european olympic broadcasting website

http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics/

The colour in the video for that is messed up on my laptop. Anyone know how I might fix that?