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Culture

by Zachary Knight

Fri, Aug 17th 2012 5:45am




Filed Under:
commentary, olympics, takedown


Olympic Buzzkills Take Down Viewer Commentary

from the you-will-not-have-fun-at-the-olympics dept

We are all very much aware that it is an Olympic tradition to make sure that no one enjoys watching the games. The IOC and its sponsors take additional steps to avoid commentary that is not completely controlled by them, even if its own commentary is completely ignorant. With that in mind, it shouldn't come as any surprise to hear that the IOC has taken it upon itself to seek and destroy any viewer sourced commentary that brings laughter and greater exposure to the Olympic games.

This is where one amatuer commentator, Francis Higgins, finds himself. Francis had taken the time to watch the Olympic Radial event and provide a play by play commentary of his own as he tried to make sense of it all. His commentary is pretty funny and introduced me to a sport that I did not know existed. Apparently that is not something that the IOC wants anyone to experience. It has decided to takedown the video in an effort to kill everyone's buzz.

Of course this being the internet where nothing ever disappears, the video has made it back online in various places. You can watch it embedded here.


No one really understands the state of mind behind those sending the takedown. This video is actually bringing in new viewers and interest in an event that doesn't get as much attention as events like Gymnastics, Soccer (Football for those outside the US) and Dressage. But, since it isn't "official" commentary it simply can't be allowed. Or it could just be that the IOC has no sense of humor and felt humiliated and/or offended that someone would have anything but the nicest flattery to say about one of its events. 

Either way, the fact remains that such remixing and satire is a very powerful tool in promoting the original product. Francis's video had received 500,000 views prior to being taken down. That is a lot of people who may have not known about the Radial event. If the IOC really wanted to spread the message of the Olympics and bring in new viewers, this is the type of video that would accomplish that goal. Sadly, I don't see it changing its policies anytime soon.


27 Comments | Leave a Comment

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    hfbs (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 5:58am

    Bloody hell that was funny.. If only more commentary like this was produced/allowed, I might've actually watched the Olympics, but there you are.

     

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    Anonymous Coward, Aug 17th, 2012 @ 6:02am

    same old story. no one else is allowed to do anything, particularly when it turns out better than the official version, because those in charge are shit scared of losing their pathetic control. biggest problem is those in charge are, in the main, far too old, have never known anything other than to keep getting a cheque every month and have no clue what it's like to have to earn a living, much like the execs at the entertainment industries, really

     

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      Anonymous Coward, Aug 17th, 2012 @ 1:13pm

      Re:

      The problem is the same as in everything with any relation to the legacy industry. The true problems are: exclusivity deals, regional locking, sponsor-exposure and recording-rights. All of these makes sense in yesteryears world, but on the internet only over-exposure of a sponsor is anything resembling a problem.

      As long as we see exclusive deals (and particularly NDA'ed ones), the legacy industry will have a way of making a living. As long as we see regional locking, they will have allies among politicians. Make away with those two seemingly less significant factors and suddenly the internet will be a far better place to invent.

       

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    fairuse (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 6:42am

    So, IOC is a prick. Not News

    I thought the commentary was so funny I made sure I could watch it again from my [ you don't want to know ] : in 720p to boot.

     

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    Dark Helmet (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 6:55am

    Do you remember?

    Remember when the Olympics were actually about sports? Back when the Miracle On Ice happened? Or when the 1988 Russian team managed to sneak their way to basketball gold?

    Wait...maybe the solution to a better Olympics is to simply rekindle the Cold War....

     

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    Anonymous Coward, Aug 17th, 2012 @ 7:06am

    I love sailing Lasers. So easy, so fun, and its even fun when they capsize!

     

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    ltlw0lf (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 7:09am

    What, NBC Worried?

    Somebody better hire that guy to replace Matt Lauer at NBC.

    Then again, for most of us, we have Jon Stewart who does a better job in covering the news than NBC, so maybe Comedy Central could just cover the Olympics in two years and have this guy as one of the hosts.

     

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      John Fenderson (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 9:52am

      Re: What, NBC Worried?

      If Jon Stewart was the Olympics commentator, I'd watch the Olympics despite being otherwise disinterested in them. It would be hilarious!

       

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    Spaceman Spiff (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 7:59am

    fascist asshats

    In my opinion, the IOC are a bunch of fascist asshats, trying to control all aspect of the Olympic Games, or anything connected to them. This is not just stupid, it is going to devalue the event (hence, stupid - QED). Time to throw the bums out and get a new bunch of bums to run the Games...

     

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    GMacGuffin (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 7:59am

    MWM?

    Hilarious. I would totally watch more. Is anyone going to make a "Mick with Mic" joke, or is that offensive? (I can't tell anymore.)

     

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      GMacGuffin (profile), Aug 17th, 2012 @ 8:27am

      Re: MWM?

      In hindsight, it probably was offensive out of context. I was thinking of NWA, and how cool it would be to drop a beat in there and sync the commentary. Anyway, I reported myself.

       

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    Anonymous Coward, Aug 17th, 2012 @ 8:22am

    I spent most of the thing as confused as the guy commentating, wondering why the hell people were going every which way. When that one boat cut the others off I just thought 'Ramming speed!' and started laughing. Then he says 'Oh wait, the race just started!' and I cracked RIGHT up.

    Its a shame we can't have more free-form commentators. Heck its worked for games , why not sporting events?

     

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    Anonymous Coward, Aug 17th, 2012 @ 9:30am

    trololol

     

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    Anonymous Coward, Aug 17th, 2012 @ 12:04pm

    Did you ever stop to consider that maybe he hadn't properly paid the IOC for the right to provide "commentary that brings laughter and greater exposure to the Olympic games?" Of course not, because you love piracy so much you want to marry it.

     

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    Anonymous Coward, Aug 19th, 2012 @ 8:12am

    Ironically, I would never have seen this video if the IOC didn't take explicit action to prevent me from seeing it.

     

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    Ninja (profile), Aug 20th, 2012 @ 6:44am

    Good thing you can always count on the interwebz to find something that was taken down due to douchebaggery.

     

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