Good to know.

anyone got a link to USA basketball schedule?

Seems to be a far number of ABC/ESPN talent.

And... NO JUDO?

For anyone who cares about the hosting breakdown:

• Bob Costas (NBC Primetime)
• Jim Lampley (NBC Afternoon)
• Mary Carillo (NBC Late-Night)
• Alex Flanagan (CNBC/USA)
• Matt Vasgersian (Baseball and Softball)
• Melissa Stark (MSNBC)
• Bill Patrick (MSNBC)
• Fred Roggin (CNBC Boxing)
• Lindsay Czarniak (Oxygen)

Why even bring Vasgersian over if you're just going to use him as a host for baseball and softball? Why not just have him do PBP then?

thats a lot of people for no reason....LOL and vasgersian should not be a host for baseball or softball games, he should be doing PBP!

I love that they need three people to cover the race walk event.

Would it hurt them to move Costas out of the studio to call baseball, at least for the championship? That would be a perfect fit.

bill clement as an *analyst* in badminton...can't wait for that. is he going to try and relate back to his playing days?

The Chinese are going to be pumped to see Sager and his delightful suits.

They brought Jim Gray, Marcelo Balboa, Shep Messing, Glenn Davis, JIM GRAY!!!!!



The 5 I just mentioned means this is going to be an interesting Olympics.


AA, looks like Healey has made it big time with the Euro 2008 final and now the Olympics.

Yes! Adrian Healey on soccer.

thought Cris Collinsworth had an "all-access" pass.
so he's not working? just mooching when he should be preparing for upcoming NFL season?

Mary Carillo.... late night. Niiice.

Marcelo Balboa is a trainwreck doing analysis for soccer matches. No thank you on that one.

Not to get all Feminazi on everyone, but only one chick doing play-by-play? That's kind of ridiculous.

NBC's official release:

http://nbcumv.com/release_detail.nbc/sports-20080716000000-nbcannouncestalent.html

Vasgersian will be the USA anchor. Hopefully we get to see him on more than just baseball/softball. For some reason, Steve 'Snapper' Jones was not listed in the huge release of announcers, but he'll be a basketball analyst.

Here are the leads for sports with more than one listed PBP/Analyst

Basketball
PBP: Mike Breen
Men's Lead: Doug Collins
Women's Lead: Ann Meyers

Soccer:
PBP: JP Dellacamera
Men's Lead: Marcelo Balboa
Women's Lead: Brandi Chastain

what the hell is race walking??

They're not going to just put Phil Legget and Paul Sherwin together for cycling? Come on, how do you screw that up?

Ugh. I cannot BELIEVE they're using JP Dellacamera and Marcelo Balboa for soccer. TERRIBLE work out them.

Bill Clement did Badminton back in 2004. He was actually quite good. Apparently, Bill won age-group provincial Badminton championships in Quebec when he was high-school age.

As an Olympics nut, all the ones I like are back....Cynthia Potter on diving and Rowdy Gaines at swimming are top notch...but, damn, can't they *ever* get rid of Al Trautwig? Between first Tesh and then Trautwig with Elfie Schlegel, the gymnastics coverage on NBC has been a train wreck (Tim Daggett is actually pretty good, if you get past the squeaky little voice).

are the basketball analysts actually going to be over there or are they broadcasting from NBC studios back in NYC

Here are some Marcelo Balboa quotes, making me think he is the worst soccer announcer ever:



"That's what a great goal-keeper does, he makes big saves."



"He BURIED it in the back of the post!"


No, it would be the net.




Not a quote, but in the World Cup, he talked about an Italian player Daniele De Rossi not playing in 4 matches due to his red card, and called him fresh.


A few seconds later, De Rossi gave away the ball, and claimed he had tired legs.



Go to this thread to read more.


And of course, Shep Messing when Australia went 3-1 up against Japan:


"And it's heartbreak for Australia!"

Is anyone else disappointed that Al Michaels is not on this roster? I was excited when he moved to nbc cuz i thought it meant he would be back at the olympics.

I expected Michaels not to be in Bejeing. It is dissapointing that Marv Alberts is doing basketball again.

All of the announcers and analysts and hosts and EVERYONE will be in China. Have to give props to NBC for actually spending the cash and putting everyone on scene.

Race walking is that funny shit where the people look like they're walking like penguins.

Craig Hummer....lol.

And what's with some of those basketball announcers? I swear some of those names are made up!

Try again Matt Maisel.



http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=717002

I must confess that I was hoping Mike Emrick might get a crack at some soccer action. JP is serviceable, however, so I'm not too disappointed. I do remember Emrick doing water polo 4 yrs ago, though.

AA, do you have any idea how many of these commentators are actually going to *BE* in Beijing? I know for a fact that all softball games are being called from studios in New York. It would be interesting to note how many are actually making the flight.

I will wait up until the early morning hours to see Kozimor doing Badminton.

Kozimor is a local Sacramento announcer and he is AWESOME!

ANONYMOUS SAID

"They're not going to just put Phil Legget and Paul Sherwin together for cycling? Come on, how do you screw that up?"

Phil works for Australian tv coverage of the cycling.

I was hoping Emrick would return to Water Polo too. But I wouldn't be shocked if Emrick and Michaels went tag team on hockey in Vancouver.

To address a couple of questions I have seen here:
*As far as I know, all the announcers, analysts, reporters, and hosts will be on-site. Brian, if you have any different information, please let us know.
*Chris Collinsworth either had his name left out by accident or has opted to stay in the U.S. to call NFL preseason games. That would be strange, though; the logical explanation for that is to work with a new partner for the NFL Network broadcasts, but Bob Papa is going to Beijing for much of the preseason.

And speaking of which, no, I don't know why Al Michaels is also staying home. Is it a secret part of the NBC/ESPN deal struck a few years back? Was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit not enough?[ROTFL]

Bizarre, I just read that Andrew Catalon will be doing handball..from New York. They're announcing off a monitor.

Unreal

And I coached him in little league!

I'm not sure if anyone else caught it, but Costas is beginning to sound a tad judgemental about some of the other cultures. He said something about the only women competing for a certain African country being the "Prime Minister's daughters...but I'm sure that's just a coincidence..."
Maybe he has jet-lag, but it sounded kind of rude to me.

I don't know who's worse on the gymnastics commentating, John Tesh or Al Trautwig, but both of their inane rabid blathering makes my head ache and ears bleed! I with Al would just shut the hell up and let us watch!!!!

Rowdy and Costas are terrible! Not just judgemental but know-it-all teenage comments and behavior! Please NBC clean them up or get rid of them so we can enjoy the '08 Beijing Olympics!

Mom of five

Tim Daggett should keep quiet - such comments as "that's impossible" and "you never see her do that" show what an idiot he is - billions of people of people are watching and see it with their own eyes so how is that it can be "impossible or never"?

NBC should silence Rowdy Gaines as he is proving to be a miserable commentator, well deserving of the mute button.
We don't care how he used to swim, his comments are neither accurate nor complementary.
He would be much better as a syncronized swimming critic.

The woman who is doing the analysis of the synchronized diving right now, Potter, almost has us turning the channel. Her commentary ranges from the ridiculously obvious to the irrelevant. She is apparently trying to fill the air time - silence can be golden as well.

Totally agree with you. Cynthia Potter, that woman is really annoying !

Every time I watch diving I have to mute her out !


Isn't she in her 70's or something? Do everybody a favor, retire already !

Tim Daggett is a moron. I am sorry but to say that the Japan gymnast should not have laughed at the end of his routine when he messed up...is uncalled for. I am not Japanese but maybe that is how he handles stress. I muted the TV the last two events for USA because I was tired of hearing his criticism. This guy needs to get a life!!!! I just hope he never announces again...of my mute button will used the most it has been in the past 10 years.

I totally agree with the comment about the lady (Potter?) who announched the synchronized diving!! My three-year-old daugther actually said "Mom, i want that lady to stop talking about them!" I mean, how many times can you say that the chinese have ugly tucks without ever admitting that they are the best?

I was shocked to find out that Al Trautwig was not John Tesh announcing for gymnastics. They sound so much alike and have the same inane comments about what the gymnasts are thinking and feeling.
....and no matter what sport I'm watching all the announcers feel that they need to fill the dead air, it gets so redundant. Silence is golden sometimes!!

Eyee Hsu is hot!

Does anyone else think Cynthia Potter from synchronized diving sounds like Nancy Grace? I keep expecting that woman to start yelling at the divers when they don't point their toes or if they splash too much b/c she sounds so much like Grace!

Yes, I definitely think that CP sounds like Nancy Grace, but even more annoying.

Also ... Lindsay Czarniak (Oxygen) --- she is our local sports reporter on NBC4 in Washington DC. She pretty much took over for George Michael.

I cannot stand the gymnastics announcers. They sit there and point out every little mistake, and that is it. Unless they are announcing on the Chinese, who they obviously think are God's gift to the sport. If I have to listen to 30 seconds of breathing and then, "oh no, I cannot believe she did that, that was a HUGE mistake, .8 deduction." I've had to mute all gymnastics, and even Potter with the diving last night. It's AWFUL. It's almost not worth watching because of the commentating. I give NBC an "F" for this aspect.

The equestrian announcing by Melanie Smith-Taylor seems to be suffering the same issue as many of the other sports announcers. If you can't think of anything better to say than to repeat yourself over and over (such as "the cups are shallow" on the fences, so it's easy to knock them down), just be quite! Seriously, even people who don't know the sport grasped that after the fifth time it was mentioned! Definitely one to mute.

Also, why has NBC chosen to have so few reporters on scene? It seemed hard on the equestrian cross country to not have the announcers on-site and with no team-work for the camera work.

Also, a good Washington Post article about how few announcers are actually in China covering the games:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081202367_pf.html

Um... did anyone watch the syncro diving on Tuesday night? A not-so-thin Canadian girl was jumping and made a splash and instead of just saying "oh she made a splash" CHARMING cynthis says "OH NO- IT'S A TIDAL WAVE!". I turned the channel right there.

Can someone please inform Cynthia Potter that sentences can also be simply declarative? I'm new to synchro diving but had to flip the channel. OMG she is unbelievably annoying. Even if she doesn't stop saying mean and inane things, if she can stop exclaiming everything it will be SO MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not the lead annoucer, but the second annoucer (i think the analyst) was so so so horrible for the Gymnastic all around event. He sucked in so many ways possible. Firsrt of all he bagged on the U.S. team so bad! That was not cool at all. Then every thing he said was so damn stupid, he made no sense at all! Bob Costas is so great, but this fucking guy that thinks he knows so much about gymnastics is an idiot! He was so horrible I dont want to watch that sport anymore because I know he will annouce some stupid shit. I cant say anymore, he is HORRIBLE!

Cyntia Potter is the worst announcer of the games. The divers take showers "to have fun"?! Seriuosly?! She is overly-critical, ill-informed, and quite frankly, irritating.

I like Cynthia(Nancy Grace) Potter. Keep waiting to hear her famous "my friend" saying

Can the announcers stop saying "settled for a silver" Like being second in the whole world is a bad thing? Come on! That person "won" the silver. I just cringe everytime I hear the word "settle".

The only awful thing here is NBC coverage of the Olympics . What a disgrace. Just 3 sports including that "thing" they call beach volleyball. It seems there are only 2 countries in these games: the USA and China. Too much very very stupid EPIC, silly side stories, too many faces we don't care to watch and very very little time for real games.

Albanian TV is providing much better coverage than this garbage from NBC.

Does anyone know the name of the male announcer who does the voiceovers for Olympic sponsers as the coverage goes to commercial? He also voices the promos for some upcoming events, and the commercials guiding viewers to various NBC web sites. I just heard him promoting the DVD of the opening ceremony.

I'm from Massachusetts, and I swear that this voice belongs to a local media talent named Adam Wright. Does anyone know for sure?

Tim Daggett is a complete disgrace. He is extremely critical of the performances by the Americans and it seems no matter what the Chinese do, it is "wonderful", or it "has never been seen before", or it "cannot be done". What a complete and utter moron. Get him off the air or leave him in China when you return. He is WORTHLESS...and Elfi Schlegel is not much better. Bring Back John Tesh to play the piano so the gymnastics events can be watched with some nice music in the background rather than two babbling idiots that think they need to make a comment about everything, and be extremely critical of the men and women representing the USA.

I just have to vent and since I know no one at NBC I will just say it here.
Cynthia Potter's commentary for diving is irritating and tiresome. I watch the dives and then fast forward to the scores just to keep from hearing her any more than absolutely necessary.

Tim Daggett is announcing gymnastics tonight, and is driving me utterly insane tonight by repeatedly saying "heighth" instead of "height". It's not a word! One of those other two needs to slap him, but I guess they just don't know any better, either.

The synchronized swimming announcers need to shut the f- up and let us watch in peace. My god, the talking is obnoxious!!!

Tonight is the first time I've listened long enough to Cynthia Potter's commentary to learn her name is NOT Nancy Grace. Her voice is so grating, I have to MUTE when I know there is "NOTHING ELSE I CAN DO WHEN I CAN DO NOTHING MORE." Her own words. Nails on a chalk board. . . speaking of bad announcing -- anyone remember last week when a swimming announcer talked about all the "lactaid" buildup in the swimmers? All the... milk for the lactose intolerant? After a good workout, I like a little lactaid myself. I am so clearly underpaid at work....
Elizabeth

Recovering from surgery the Thursday before the games began, I have had the honor of watching our athletes compete on the International stage. While I understand the announcers have to be objective, I am very disappointed in the work of Elfi Schlegel (gymnastics)and Cynthia Potter (diving. Perhaps this is my issue, but I think they should have taken a positive vein with our athletes.

All the announcers are pretty good. But Cynthia Potter for diving needs to just shut up! She can only point out the negative even in great dives!

"She stoowd on the pl-yeatform for tooooo lawng!

u know the synchronized swimming announcer person??? she is actually the stanford head coach i just want to tell her to shut her little a hole cuz i kinda want to watch and listen to the music ughhhh i hate her lol

Some of D-Bag Tim Daggett at his best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

Cynthia Potter is so annoying. I love watching the diving but her voice is so irritating that I find myself yelling at the TV for her to SHUT UP! She is so negative and sounds just like Nancy Grace.

Craig Sager gave away the result to the women's volleyball gold medal match on the Basketball Channel. Let's see if they edit it out for the local feed.

NBC is retarded! They also released scores ON THEIR OWN LOCAL NEWS before they went back to Olympic coverage.

Absolutely the worst announcing ever was the female diving announcer, C. Potter I believe. My 16 year old daughter thought she was mean and nasty and had nothing positive to say. It was most irritating to listen to her. Please anyone with any connections see what can be done about never ever having her back in any capacity. My ears still burn.