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.
Filed Under: commentary, olympics, takedown
Comments on “Olympic Buzzkills Take Down Viewer Commentary”
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.
Re: Re:
I still wouldn’t have watched it.
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
Re: 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.
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.
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….
Re: Do you remember?
How do you re-kindle a cold war?
Re: Re: Do you remember?
Fix global warming. That should lower the temperature on any ongoing tepid war enough to make it cold again.
Re: Re: Do you remember?
You use the new Kindle, it not only does e-books but cold wars too. Coming 2015 from Amazon.
Re: Re: Re: Do you remember?
Exactly, since they already took away all your Cold War titles that you paid for, you will now have to re-kindle them.
Re: Re: Do you remember?
Easy, find people with sniffly, runny noses, load them up on your catapult and launch them over the castle walls at each other.
Re: Re: Do you remember?
Rub it with Icy Hot.
Re: Re: Re: Do you remember?
Antecedent?
Re: Do you remember?
Wait…maybe the solution to a better Olympics is to simply rekindle the Cold War….
Well stated… comrade.
Re: Re: Do you remember?
Apparently Russia has taken this idea and run with it:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120817/08080520082/russia-confirms-to-world-that-its-not-fan-free-speech-pussy-riot-gets-two-years-jail.shtml
Re: Do you remember?
Ohhh Yeahh … Cold War Olympic AWESOMESAUCE!!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Summer_Olympics_boycott
The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott of the Moscow Olympics was a part of a package of actions initiated by the United States to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan.[1] It preceded the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott carried out by the Soviet Union and other Communist-friendly countries….
😉
I love sailing Lasers. So easy, so fun, and its even fun when they capsize!
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.
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!
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…
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.)
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.
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?
trololol
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.
Ironically, I would never have seen this video if the IOC didn’t take explicit action to prevent me from seeing it.
Good thing you can always count on the interwebz to find something that was taken down due to douchebaggery.