Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Friday, August 19, 2016
Why NBC Needs to Do Better
NBC's
monopoly over the broadcasting rights dates back to 1988, and have had the
privilege to exclusively air the Games since the beginning of the millennium,
and will continue to do so until 2032. While this might not be an issue
for sports like swimming, that has every single qualifying heat, semifinal, and
final broadcast live, some of the most popular sports of the Games do not get
half that treatment. It is not secret that gymnastics is one of the most
popular sports in the Olympics, those that excel become over night sensations.
If this is the case and gymnastics does pull in some of the best ratings,
why is it given such lackluster coverage?
Last week, the United State's "Final Five" won the team competition by a margin of over eight points, an unheard of margin. Simone Biles, Gabrielle Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman followed in the footsteps of 1996's Magnificent Seven and 2012's Fierce Five to be the third American Team in history to win gold. This team is already going down in history, and still has four more days of competition ahead of them.
If this team is so historic, then why is it given such a second class treatment by the broadcasting team at NBC. None of the gymnastics competitions are broadcast live on television; fans who want to see the action unfold have to find a live stream online or on the NBC Sports App. Every competition in Rio is tape delayed during Primetime, and to an average fan that should not be a problem. Who could blame NBC for wanting to have one of the most popular sports to be shown when the most people are watching?
The problem lies when gymnastics is shown on Primetime. The coverage is fragmented, with fans seeing a routine or two, then being bombarded with ads. This procedure is repeated two or three more times until NBC cuts away to another sport. The coverage of last night's historic competition did not wrap up until 11:45 EST, and even then, viewers were not shown routines of every country in the final. The teams competing were the eight best teams in the world, yet NBC showed only five of these teams. Of those five, two teams had just one routine shown on television.
The coverage is worse for the men, who have not had the same international success that the U.S. women have had. After not broadcasting the men's team final live with the promise of showing it on Primetime, NBC did not begin showing footage of the men's team final until 11:45 EST, and then paused coverage because of time constraints. If you wanted to watch the conclusion of the event, you had to wait until 12:30 EST.
The Olympics are supposed to encourage the spread of the sport, but how are you supposed to increase interest for the future if the next generation is asleep by the time it comes on television? As a recreational gymnastics coach, I was so excited to talk to my young gymnasts about the Olympics and spread my love of the sport. But when I asked my gymnasts, aged seven to eleven, if they were enjoying watching their sport at the Olympics, they all said they were not allowed to watch it because it was on too late.
How are the next generation of Olympic superstars supposed to be inspired to chase their dreams when they are not able to stay awake long enough to witness the history being made? Imagine if Tom Brady was not able to stay awake late enough to watch the Super Bowl. Would he have been inspired to play football? Probably not. He would not see the hard work pay off, probably become dejected, and most likely would have left the sport. The reality is that representation matters. How are young gymnasts supposed to dream big when they do not even know what they are dreaming of?
When gymnastics does get coverage on NBC, viewers listen to the commentary of 1984 Olympic Champion Tim Daggett, 2008 Olympic Champion Nastia Liukin, and Al Trautwig. While two members of this trio do not lack accolades, they do not always share their knowledge in a beneficial way. Reeves Wiedeman from the New Yorker recently shared his thoughts on the idea of "dumbing down" the commentary to the average viewer, "every bit I've learned has made the sport wildly more
interesting to watch..."
Not
only do the commentators fail to explain what the viewers are watching, they are
incredibly problematic. Al Trautwig
recently was the focus of a controversy when he proclaimed that Simone Biles’
mom and dad were not her parents because they adopted Biles at age six. Never mind the fact that these Tweets are
extremely insulting to adoptive children and families everywhere, but they also
came in the middle of the Olympic Games.
This is incredibly distracting to Biles in the middle of the most
important meet of her life, and lead to her coach defending her on twitter, a
day before the Olympic Team Final.
In
addition to taking it upon himself to define Biles’ home life, Trautwig had
issues with some fans of the sport. He
told one fan “listen beech”, while also insulting the class and intelligence of
others. Is this the man that NBC wants
to be the voice of the sport? When the
commentators insult fans of the sport and the best gymnast in the sport, casual
fans turn away.
Beech, seriously what's you point? https://t.co/XAc1EjQZFd— Al Trautwig (@AlTrautwig) May 13, 2016
— Al Trautwig (@AlTrautwig) August 7, 2016
It is time for NBC to fix their coverage of one of the most popular sports of the Games, or it is time to step down completely. The sport, the athletes, and the fans deserve better. How is a sport supposed to grow if the pinnacle of the sport does not get coverage? NBC would not dare to give swimming, track and field, or any other professional sport the same treatment it gives gymnastics, so why is it okay for our sport to get second tier treatment?
Friday, January 29, 2016
Catching Up With Sam Mikulak
2016 is a pivotal year, as the world turns towards Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. And the "baby" of the 2012 Men's Olympic Team, Sam Mikulak, hopes to be the main attraction.
Mikulak, no longer the underdog after winning every National All Around Title this quadrennium, is still recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, but is not letting that slow him down, "I'm probably at like 90%. I'm doing hard landings on all my events except for vault."
After graduating from the University of Michigan and spending one year as an Undergraduate Assistant Coach, Mikuak moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to the United States Olympic Training Center, where he trains with fellow Olympian John Orozco, 2014 and 2015 World Team member Donell Whittenburg, 2015 World Team members Paul Ruggeri and Brandon Wynn, among others, allowing Sam to be "a little more selfish."
"Moving to the Olympic Training Center has given me a lot more resources that comes with recovery and coaches. I just get a lot more attention to try and take care of my body, there is a lot less distractions outside the gym. It's just a lot of people training for the same goal."
While training to compete in the biggest athletic event in the world, Mikulak relies on MateBros, a tea made from Yerba Mate from Argentina, to stay energized, focused, and motivated.
Mikulak, along with former gymnasts Jordan Gaarenstroom and Alex Anunciation, have been dreaming of MateBros for "a long time," before making this dream a reality in November 2014. Since then, drinking MateBros has become a tradition before every practice- and not just for Mikulak.
"I've been battle testing this with the entire National Team now that I live in the Olympic Training Center, and guys come into my room and are like 'Hey, can I have a Mate?'"
With MateBros aiding his focus, motivation, and energy levels in practice, Mikulak is hoping to clean up his execution in the months leading up to the Olympic Games, "it's all about being under pressure and
performing the routines as cleanly as possible. So right now we're all
trying to cut down on our execution deductions and build confidence". By doing so, the US men hope to improve on a fifth place finish in London four years ago, and at the Glasgow World Championships last October.
MateBros is an all natural, low sugar, "green tea-like drink with a little more caffeine, but not too much that's gonna give you the jitters like coffee". Mikulak adds that elite athletes should be putting only the best in their bodies if they want their bodies to be their best. That's the MateBros difference, "It's something that I honestly and passionately think that is going to change the game of gymnastics".
What's next for MateBros? Along with a huge website revamping, the MateBros team is cutting prices by 50%, in order to get their product to a larger audience. "We want to
give back to the sport that has given me so much. You know what has helped me reach my goals? Yerba Mate, and I want everyone else to have the same edge that I have when it comes to their gymnastics goals." Mikulak and his team are willing to make a huge "cut down on profits, but I honestly understand how great this product is for you, and I just want to share it with the entire world".
As the three time National All Around Champion, Mikulak realizes that there are more expectations on him this year, but he refuses to let it affect him, stating "I like to keep the same mindset in competition,
the goal is to hit your 6 routines as best as you can, and that's my way of
battling any nerves or expected pressures that could come from winning the past
3 national championships". With these added pressures, Mikulak thinks he can rise to them.
"The goal for myself is to win the Olympic All Around gold medal and the goal for the team is to win the Team gold medal".
And after? "After [The Post Olympic Tour], I will still be doing gymnastics, I don't plan on stopping at 23 years old. I wanna go to the 2020 Olympics".
How does he plan on doing that? By drinking MateBros.
 |
| Heather Maynez |
Mikulak, no longer the underdog after winning every National All Around Title this quadrennium, is still recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, but is not letting that slow him down, "I'm probably at like 90%. I'm doing hard landings on all my events except for vault."
After graduating from the University of Michigan and spending one year as an Undergraduate Assistant Coach, Mikuak moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to the United States Olympic Training Center, where he trains with fellow Olympian John Orozco, 2014 and 2015 World Team member Donell Whittenburg, 2015 World Team members Paul Ruggeri and Brandon Wynn, among others, allowing Sam to be "a little more selfish."
"Moving to the Olympic Training Center has given me a lot more resources that comes with recovery and coaches. I just get a lot more attention to try and take care of my body, there is a lot less distractions outside the gym. It's just a lot of people training for the same goal."
 |
| TeamUSA |
Mikulak, along with former gymnasts Jordan Gaarenstroom and Alex Anunciation, have been dreaming of MateBros for "a long time," before making this dream a reality in November 2014. Since then, drinking MateBros has become a tradition before every practice- and not just for Mikulak.
"I've been battle testing this with the entire National Team now that I live in the Olympic Training Center, and guys come into my room and are like 'Hey, can I have a Mate?'"
 |
| MateBros |
MateBros is an all natural, low sugar, "green tea-like drink with a little more caffeine, but not too much that's gonna give you the jitters like coffee". Mikulak adds that elite athletes should be putting only the best in their bodies if they want their bodies to be their best. That's the MateBros difference, "It's something that I honestly and passionately think that is going to change the game of gymnastics".
What's next for MateBros? Along with a huge website revamping, the MateBros team is cutting prices by 50%, in order to get their product to a larger audience. "We want to
give back to the sport that has given me so much. You know what has helped me reach my goals? Yerba Mate, and I want everyone else to have the same edge that I have when it comes to their gymnastics goals." Mikulak and his team are willing to make a huge "cut down on profits, but I honestly understand how great this product is for you, and I just want to share it with the entire world".
 |
| MateBros |
"The goal for myself is to win the Olympic All Around gold medal and the goal for the team is to win the Team gold medal".
And after? "After [The Post Olympic Tour], I will still be doing gymnastics, I don't plan on stopping at 23 years old. I wanna go to the 2020 Olympics".
How does he plan on doing that? By drinking MateBros.
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