There was Libby Trickett, still panting heavily after winning the Women’s 100m butterfly, and a Channel 7 hack thrusts a microphone into her face, showing off the television channel’s logo, and asks: “Is it everything you’d thought it would be?”
Even though it early days in the 2008 Beijing Games, this latest variation of the usual stupid question, “How does it feel?”, wins my award for the most stupid question.
However, a close watch will be kept to see if the “Is it everything …” question stands up to the pressure of constant inane questions asked of successful athletes.
It’s already clear from the broadcasts so far that the athletes and their performances save the Olympics from the genial mediocrities, providing commentary and colour for the television broadcasters.
I’m sure that, Sandy Roberts is a fine chap, for instance, but as a broadcaster (or his writers), is he capable of giving us the passion and the tactics and narratives of the competitors and the events that a great broadcaster is able to do?
And where are Roy and H.G. when we need them to amuse and inform us (the boys really know their sport, which is part of the fun) about the inanities of the officials and the marvellous deeds of the athletes?
I have a suspicion that Channel 7 has been so concerned about not offending the Chinese hosts that they have substituted the masters of irony and invective with Kylie Gillies and Andrew Daddo – their program, Yum Cha, as bland as the faux Chinese meal.
Let me finish off this diatribe by praising Phil Leggett as one of the great sports broadcasters.
His calls of the men’s and women’s road races made something essentially boring to non-cyclists like myself about as exciting as any sports event can be.
Television people always think that the medium is about pictures.
That is partly true.
But they need to remember the opening words in the Book of Genesis: “In the beginning was the word …”
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