Gymnastics: Great night for China, U.S. teams

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The US men accomplished a bronze medal in men's gymnastics with 2 alternates and no returning Olympians.  The Chinese men, held their breath for the first half of the competition then went into high gear and demolished the field.  It, as in any sport, would have been considered a rout.  The difference between the Chinese and the second place Japanese was enormous, both in quality and in spirit.  It was a great night for China and the U.S. men's gymnastics teams.

I wished it had been covered differently. 

I live on the US-Canadian border. As a result, I get television channels from both countries. Watching Olympic coverage in the United States and watching it in Canada are completely different events.  Both countries can be nationalistic in their coverage (just watch figure skating on a Canadian channel), but I suspect had I watched the Olympics tonight on Canadian TV (I'm in Boston and didn't have access), I would have seen more of the Japanese team, and more of pretty much any other team besides the US and China.  We really only saw the German team on the pommel horse.

For the most part, I think NBC does a good job on gymnastics.  The commentators, Al Trautwig, Elfi Schegel, Tim Daggett, and Andrea Joyce, are easy to listen to, cringe and applaud at the right moments and know what's going on.  But they also aren't the Dick Buttons and Jim McKay of commentating.

Dick Buttons, who my friends often find annoying, is perhaps the only sports commentator I've found who holds the athletes to the test of time, to a standard higher than who will win or lose.  He doesn't focus on the nationality of the skater nearly as much as he does quality of the skater.  I have a sense of history and how an evening's performance will stand against it when Dick Buttons is commentating.

I'm not sure I know from the commentators and, particularly the coverage, how tonight will stand up.  By watching, the Chinese men were brilliant and their disappointing finish in Athens and being at home clearly spurred them on to new heights.  I have no idea how well the silver medalist Japanese men did by their performances, other than to watch their faces when they weren't performing. Perhaps in Canada I might have seen and better understood how they finished second.  And known their names without relying on the internet.

The U.S. team, a plucky bunch of men were led by Jonathan Horton, who overachieved every time he stepped up to an event.  They were resilient in the face of losing two team members, one days before the Games began, and consistent (mostly.)  I was very proud of all of them for pulling together and going for it.  (And I now have to decide how to juggle 6 crushes at the same time.)  Horton's encouraging words of "No fear. No regrets," were a reminder of what it takes to be a winner in any sport.  The team lived up to it.

I did wish the coverage included more routines from other gymnasts, and less waiting and watching while judges reviewed tape and pondered scores. It felt like wasted time.  We might have seen more of the Japanese and German teams in particular. Perhaps they did in Canada. 

But what also would have been useful to have heard was knowing that scores on the pommel horse tended to be lower and that rotation of events mattered. The Chinese finished on events where they shined.  The US could really only hold on ending with the pommel horse.  I could have been reminded of this a couple of times throughout the evening, as opposed to actually being suggested to that the US might pull of a huge upset.  Granted I am sure it was good for improved ratings in the US, but it didn't do the sport any favors. 

It felt like an important moment for men's gymnastics. The Chinese men seemed to establish themselves this evening in the what could be the same way that the Russians owned pairs figure skating for 3 decades beginning with the Protopopovs.  The gauntlet was thrown down.  The Chinese men were spectacular.  Their levels of difficulty and performance at times was transcendent.  They have now set the bar very high.

I'm just not sure, we Americans, as well celebrate a great effort by the US team, also know how historic this evening was.    We certainly don't know how the Japanese felt about their performance (or the Germans or any of the others who made the finals which is an accomplishment).  Next week, I'll set my DVR to record both countries version of the Olympics to compare.  I'm sure it won't be the same.

I think we witnessed history tonight. Chinese men are now the standard bearers in men's gymnastics. With a little more focus on the sport, I think we would know that for sure.

Comments

[gordo]

Al Trautwig didn't make an intelligent comment the whole night. Everything he said was sentimental and incoherent.

[Me]

The Germans don't seem to be upset with the Americans. They seem to be very pleased with themselves. Fabi keeps saying that four years ago they were eight and now they are fourth, if that continues, then it is clear where they stand in four years. Fabi's optimism must have resulted from him falling off the high bar too many times shaking some screws loose in his head!