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Concerning the Olympics: Internet, You Make Me Angry
By Marc | August 19, 2008
This is the first time in my life that I’ve really gotten into the Olympics. I’ve never been into sports, but I’ve been watching the Olympics every night and getting excited.
We root for the Americans, of course, but Julie and I also root for the underdogs and those that have overcome a lot, both in their lives and previous events. There’s a lot of emotion in our house between 7pm and whenever the coverage is over for the evening.
But there’s something that creeps in and ruins everything: the Internet.
This form of media is able to deliver news as soon as it happens. This is great for a lot of things like weather, domestic and international happenings, and keeping up to date with other urgent things. I think it stinks when it gives away outcome of something that is going to be shown much better in another form of media, like the Olympics.
Even if the games aren’t shown live, Julie and I (as well as probably most people) enjoy watching them for ourselves on television (since we can’t see them in person) and the anticipation of the outcomes. As-it-happens coverage from the instant media spoils it all.
Last night’s coverage of the uneven bar finals is a prime example.
As you know, Julie has had some frustration with MSN (don’t click if you enjoy watching the TV coverage) as her main news source, but she still has it as her homepage. Up there, across the top area of the page, is a gold block with Olympics coverage and articles. So, she read yesterday (late morning or early afternoon) that there was a tie on the uneven bars and that is was decided that Liukin would take the silver, behind China’s He Kexin.
But, she thought, how could that be? That event hadn’t even been shown. Did they show it late at night on NBC? It was then, when we saw the events for ourselves on television, that we figured it out.
You may already be keen to how the world works nowadays, but we were crushed. Why would they do this? It’s unfair! Some of us don’t want to read about stuff like that; we want to see it and experience it as close as we can.
Sure, MSN has a little button you can click to hide the results, but it’s not the default. And they’re not the only ones who do it. Everyone does it, but not to the degree that MSN does. This morning, I checked six big-name web news sources: CNN, ESPN, Google News, Fox News, USA Today, and Yahoo! News. I wanted to find out what information they were giving away on their homepage on a certain gymnastics event that NBC is televising tonight, specifically if they reveal the results.
- CNN - They have a tiny little area with short one-line blurbs for the games. The blurbs didn’t give much away and you really have to look to find the area on the page. Concerning the gymnastics event: Tiny blurb at sports section at the bottom.
- ESPN - It’s a sports site. Of course they’re going to have Olympics stuff on the main page. The coverage is littered throughout. Concerning the gymnastics event: Right at the top of the page.
- Google News - If you just choose google.com as your home page (as I do), you don’t get anything except for the Google logo, a few links, and a search box. But their news site has Olympics coverage peppered into their “Top Stories” and “Sports” sections, with no big Olympics gold box to draw your attention. Concerning the gymnastics event: Gave the info away.
- Fox News - They have a gold box on the right hand side of the page that you can click to get Olympics coverage. The box itself has nothing revealing. Concerning the gymnastics event: One in “Latest News” which didn’t reveal the outcome, and a blurb in “World” which gave it away.
- USA Today - Most of the page, especially the top, was devoted to the Olympics. Concerning the gymnastics event: The first thing that tipped me off was a giant photo at the top and the results.
- Yahoo! News - If you have Yahoo.com as your home, it has a box with brief data about the games, such as a medal count, top athletes, and links for the latest results in certain events. The rest of the page’s Olympics links hinted at stories, but gave nothing away. However Yahoo! News has coverage throughout the page. Concerning the gymnastics event: (on Yahoo! News) A big ol’ revealing spot right at the top.
Don’t get me wrong; I still love the Internet. But right now it’s crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed with me.
Internet, please don’t tell me the results of things before I get a chance to see them tonight. It’s like spoiling a movie before it’s released. It kind of makes you feel dejected and a little dirty. The excitement is gone.
You used me, Internet, but you know I’ll still keep coming back. I’ve just got to remember to avert my eyes whenever I see the word “Olympics” until they’re over.
Topics: In the News |
August 19th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Man, I feel your pain. SI.com has the event tonight for Gymnastics as their lead story with a picture of the girl in mid event. Total ruination. And I can’t figure out why the news is starting to let everything out. The first few days of the gymnastics competition I didn’t see anything online before it happened. Almost like all the news media had an agreement with NBC not to let the results out ahead of time.
But in the last few days they are spilling the beans on everything. I didn’t even watch the uneven bars final last night because I already knew what was going to happen. Instead I spent the evening trying to fix my crapped out computer with the competition on the TV for background noise.
I think this is all just a reason for them to not hold the Olympics half a world away again. Well, this and the major cheating going on for the Chinese. But that’s another story.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Yeah, fortunately tonight I have a prior commitment, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out.