Gold medalist Sven Kramer Meets NBC reporter

The guy was an ass - one more reason to give speed skating a pass.

I liked Sven's answer to that ignorant female : "hell no, I'm not doing that"; we need a bit more of that attitude in every sphere.

Congratulations to Sven on his Gold Medal (for his skating and for his response to crude ignorance and arrogance of 'reporters').

No Bear, that reporter WAS stupid. It is said every television in Holland was tune to his race. Remember, the reporter had just watched him win.

Reminds me of that lunk Steve Armitage of CBC asking Canadian soccer player Christine Sinclair how she felt after hitting the crossbar from point blank in what would have been a tying goal against the USA. Christine quite appropriately answered "how do you think I feel".

Christine was and is a sweetheart. Sometimes the questions are inane and its refreshing to see those dummies taken down.

RCGZ, absolutely right. I have NEVER heard a reporter approach an athlete and ask them to state their name and what medal they'd just won! Weird.
Bear, speedskating is one of the true athletic sports of the Olympics that's really *fun* to watch.

Bear, give your head a shake. The Olympic Speed Skating has been exciting no matter what the results. The Dutch skater was totally correct telling her she was stupid. Perhaps she could have, what, prepared? She was then and remains now brain dead.

Uhm, no he was an ignorant and completely self absorbed ass that I've never heard of 'til today.

Doesn't surprise me that we are considered one in the same with the States. I experienced the same sentiment while living in Ireland. I got the impression that it is not because we are arrogant(stereotypical tripe), but because we are too insignificant.

Of course though, I was the exception.

Sorry. Those were my comments to the Netherlands media, but I give kudos to the athlete.

Yes, Sven, our journalists are (generally) stupid. Sorry that you had to deal with one of them. Congratulations and all the best from a fan in the U.S.

Journalist idiot, athlete rude.

Pray for asteroid?

Gotta agree with Black Mamba. Both behaving like idiots. Idiot meets idiot: knockout.

And Knacker, I experienced the same thing. The only people who think Canada is loved around the world with our flags on our backpacks is us.

The Dutch Skater was, if anything, to polite.
Try that with an American and the Mic would be stuffed up her nose at the same time as she was fired…

NBC production Crew didn't even know his name, but they were tasked with coverage...The lack of background research going into the event is mindbogling...

In defense of the reporter, with a ignorant producer in her ear, she was winging a bad situation...She may have been on an ENG camera without production support

NBC, Dick Ebersol, may need to remind production crews that the “priority” coverage of USA athletes (desirable) must not result in disrespect to Metal winners.

Past Trivia: The NBC prime time show research was not a computer, but a human by the name of "Peter Diamond". He knew the Stat's of every athlete that ever competed...A walking talking data source... VP extraordinaire

Shit Happens…. chill

Um, Canadians and Americans are not "speed skating" minded? Let's see; the Europeans with almost half a billion people have won 6 medals. Canada and the US, with a combined population of just over 350 million, have won 4, and expect to pick up a few more. And of course, South Korea and Japan, with an even smaller population, have 6 medals. So what exactly is so special about Europeans?

I thought the guy was rude AND the reporter was stupid. And his comments about Canadians and Americans were typical Euro-weenie ignorance. Apparently, he's never heard of Eric Heiden, Gatean Boucher, or Cindy Klassen, all of whom dominated speed skating at one Winter Olympics.

And if the Dutch are such great skaters, where's their hockey team? What a classless jerk.

Based on what I remember from my video production days, I kind of wonder if the reason she asked was so that they'd have an embedded means of identifying the clip hours later back at editing. From the angles it looks like they may not have had the option of just pointing the camera at the interviewer while she rattled off the pertinent data.

It was the reporter's job to know who she was interviewing.

If the person being interviewed had to do that for her, why would we need the reporter?

Don't answer that.

"It's the reporter's job to know who she is interviewing."

You'd think.

Kramer should have said:

"I need you to say your name, the news organization you work for, and how you got your job..."

panem et circenses

If that was live feed, she needed Kramer's ID for the viewing audience who wouldn't have known him from Adam's arsehole. Pretty standard procedure.

Wrong, zog. The guy'd just won an Olympic Gold. The reporter should have known and stated his name and what he's won, congratulate him on the medal and then asked her question.

Her approach would be OK for interviewing a kid who'd maybe just won 2nd place in the high school science fair.

Black Mamba is correct: Journalist idiot, athlete rude.

Zog: it wasn't for the viewing audience, it was so her video-editors could identify who she was talking to; She herself said it was for "station identification."

Plus, obviously, you don't begin an on-air interview with, say, the winner of the downhill or the figure skating competition or anyone else by asking them to state their name, their country, and what they won.

Regardless of all that, here's why what the reporter did WAS really, really stupid: she was miked. SHE could have said "Sven Kramer, Netherlands, Gold medal winner in..." etc. for her post-production crew. Why should HE do that for her right after he's won his gold medal?

That man does not have to automatically obey orders of some stranger with a microphone. My intitial reaction was pure admiration. I also reserve the right to be as rude as I want to with any stranger confronting me in public.

Learn from him. Do not mindlessly do as you are told. Push back at any stupid people who get in your face. STUPID PEOPLE TRYING TO GIVE US ORDERS is probably our greatest social and political problem in a nutshell.

Yup, Its what I always thought. The Europeans lump us in with Americans. There just to polite to mention it.
There is a difference though. While we bitch & moan they do something about Outlaw politicians.
JMO

Stating your name and how to spell it and title and what not is what television reporters do so that they have the info on tape for later. Especially if they are sending the tape to a post-production crew who doesn't know all the players.

It's pretty standard.
It's also better when the person themselves say it so there is no confusion when the tape changes hands.

He misunderstood the conventions of television production as an ignorant insult to him as an athlete.

How the tape got out is a big question.

Jeff, where did you get the information that it's standard practice that a reporter interviewing someone who just won an Olympic gold makes the athlete spell his/her name and describe what medal he/she just won?

If some bureaucrat or the head of some minor organization or something like that is being interviewed, you might want to have something on tape indicating who is being interviewed, but that's the reporter's job. The reporter, or the cameraman, can just say "Interview with (X), the vice-President of (Y)", etc.

Look, the NBC reporter was in a venue where someone won a gold medal moments before. To ask the winner who's celebrating his medal to state his name and what medal he won for the benefit of some network's post-production crew is just...dumb. NBC spent $300 million dollars on the Olympics; the reporters should obviously have the names of all the competitors on hand, and how to spell their names.

Maybe the post-production crew doesn't know who won what medals in what sports, but is it the athletes' job to provide video-notes to the post-production crew?

It's the OLYMPICS. NBC spent $300m for the rights to the Olympics; surely they can find out the athletes' names, and how to spell them. In a pinch, they could always look up at the big electronic scoreboards that are plastered all over the place at all the venues.

EBD,
This story is weird...Film production lingo (slates, station ID etc)...& a NBC local "affiliate" reporter not identified...

CTV covered the Olympics in Calgary using Affiliates and maybe it's the same in Vancouver..

NBC Olympic Employees are ALL under one tent; they use electronic identification...Why would NBC be using 1980's technology to move video...

We need the name of that Reporter, something doesn't fit...false id????

EBD, it probably has to do with the inane babbling that is endemic in sports commentary these days.

There is media space to fill, so it gets filled.

If there is one thing I really hate about hockey commentary, it is the "one-timer" description of a shot taken. It makes me cringe every time I hear it.

Why? Because someone, somewhere used it in an appropriate context and then others glommed onto it to mean any shot because it sounded cool to say.

"Well, PiperPaul has one-timed a shot at moronic hockey commentators! Let's see if in his next shift he can overcome the other meaningless cliches uttered by verbally-challenged sports media personalities!"

I can only imagine what the response would have been if it had been an American athlete and a European reporter.

You guys are a bunch of hypocrites.

The athlete was an ass and needs to be stripped of his medal. There's no call for his attitude under no CIRCUMSTANCE!

Sven asked a simple question; you'd think the reporter would have known the answer.

You sure it was NBC? That was "pulling an Ormiston."

This is about the same as asking Gretzky to identify himself and what he just did after winning the Stanley Cup.
You are an elite athlete in your sport and have just won Olympic Gold and someone asks "Who are you?", please give me a break.

The skater was ungracious and totally lacking in class. "Stupidity", if you want to style it as such, that does not serve malicious intent and that does not harm anyone, should ideally be dealt with gracefully. Many of us, myself included, have fallen short of the ideal from time to time, but that remains the ideal nonetheless.

Bear, calm down and get off your high horse. Stripping the skater of his medal because he was short with a reporter would be absurd.

Since when did White House reporters start covering the Olympics?While Mr. skater was pretty self absorbed,and I've forgotten his name already,one would think that NBC staff might want to at least put in a little effort and find out Mr. skater's name,they are getting paid aren't they?

Needs to be stripped of his medal? For being rude? You work for the HRC bear?

Ol' Sven has to ask himself - "is the "Sven Kramer" endorsement worth more or less now?"

Love this athlete's response to the moronic reporter.

People, people. We're looking at this the wrong way. Here is a great chance to learn new technique from the American greats. Some examples of this new style:

Reporter in the White House Press Briefing Room: OK, Mr. Gibbs, before you answer my question, for my post-production crew could you state your name and position here in Washington.

Interview with Barak Obama after winning the US Presidency: Before I ask the first question, could you give us your name, party affiliation, and perhaps mention that you're black, in case the post-production crew wants to use this interview for radio.

And an NBC interview with Bill Clinton: Before we get started, please state your name, what position it was that you held, and why you think our viewers might want to be interested in anything you have to say.

"Hell no, I'm not gonna do that."
Needs to be said more often.

I agree with the previous sentiments thinking the reporter was (benignly) stupid, and the athlete was a royal ass.

"Dutch manner of speaking

Despite being basically reserved, the Dutch have a manner of speaking that may startle you with its directness. They look you straight in the eye and can sound very abrupt, especially when they are speaking English or another foreign language and cannot express all the shades of meaning they would be able to express in their own language. They do not mean to be impolite, and their habit of coming to the point quickly can actually make things easier for the foreigner.

The Dutch are seldom deferential in their speech simply on the basis of the other person’s age or station in life. Younger people, in particular, say what they think without cloaking their words in a mantle of respect. If you could understand Dutch, you would probably be astonished to hear how the prime minister is interviewed for television every week. The interviewer addresses him as an equal, posing direct, tough questions, which are often answered with equal directness.

The Dutch avoid superlatives and tend to be negative, even about themselves. Compliments are offered sparingly, and to say that something is ‘not bad’ is to praise it. For the foreigner, this has the advantage that you do not need to worry too much about saying something that will hurt people’s feelings. The Dutch will argue, but seldom take offence."

http://tinyurl.com/yj7ma3n

My take is that American reportage at any olympics is concerned almost wholly with coverage of USA athletes, and theirs alone.

NBC reporters know that their viewers have been fully informed via their media outlets (the inane SI & even dumber daily newspapers), about every one of their athletes, but when a foreign competitor takes gold, the reporter wants American viewers to be provided with the winner's bio straight from the horse's mouth, because it's so... unexpected, like.

Look at the coverage on NBC, as I do occasionally
and all you'll find is coverage of Americans competing, and their wins are constantly on. Try watching a hockey game between Czechs v. Slovaks, or Norway v. Switzerland on NBC, for example.

To be fair, other countries do the same. I had my family in Perth, Australia in 96 during the Atlanta olympics, and their coverage of events was so bad the first week that even Aussies were complaining loudly that they wanted to see major events their athletes weren't placing in, and not just those Aussies were winning. The two networks did a much better job the second week, and altered their coverage to include most other events. They actually apologized on air to their viewers after the first week.

But the Yanks? Nope. Most view the world as one big land-mass, the USA, and a whole bunch of little insignificant, meaningless countries surrounding the US mainland.

"Are you stupid? Hell, no, I'm not going to do that!"...
Love it. Sometimes the only civil response to blatant, deliberate ignorance is mockery.
Sven Kramer strikes a blow for every soul that has had a microphone thrust in their face by a jumped-up moron.

A Dutch athlete tells an American reporter to go pound salt, in Canada.
Perfect.
Being a proud Canadian of Dutch heritage who distrusts almost all Americans, this is a hatrick for me!

And for those of you who think Sven's attitude was, well, disrespectful (or worse... Mr. Bear), he reacted just as most Dutch would when confronted by such obvious stupidity.
These people are masters of stating the obvious.

b_c, 1:41 pm hits the nail right on the head.

Pretty much describes every dutchman I know.

Myself included.

Now go get stuffed, all you stomme dwazen.

It's not just the athlete who was a royal ass. His colleague at the table was one, too. In fact, I think he was a bit uncomfortable with the full on attack against both Canadians and Americans by the ditz who was interviewing him.

There is good news out of The Netherlands, today, though. The government has fallen and there will have to be new elections. Maybe Geert Wilders will win from his jail cell.

Not withstanding the proper protocols that the NBC reporter did NOT follow and having read all the responses I'm going with: "STUPID PEOPLE TRYING TO GIVE US ORDERS is probably our greatest social and political problem in a nutshell. "
That can be said for ALL levels of governments, large corporations (oil, banks, insurance) and especially our education system. Of course it is all a lot easier for stupid people to give orders when the people have been dumbed down to the point of being even stupider.

b_C:
Interesting post. I'd be interested in hearing your take on the Geert Wilder's prosecution and the apparent willingness of the Dutch to censor speech in the interest of social harmony. In a way, that willingness to censor would seem to conflict with the directness that you attribute to the Dutch, though not necessarily. Care to comment?

Perhaps the athlete came off as abrasive but the journalist from NBC came off as her other media brethren did- uninformed and blissfully ignorant.

If North American woodenheads don't know who Euro-trash celebs are, this is good, no?

There's something troubling about this post outside the obvious ignorant reporter having her face washed in her inexperience by another young ignorant person who just happened to prove that he was be really really fast on a pair of blades over a particular distance on one particular day in his life. It shows a lack of class in our young people. If that was my son being willfully crass back in the face of unintentional stupidity it would tarnish the memory of the victory a tiny bit.

It just shows that being a winner in sport doesn't necessarily translate to being a winner in life (right Tiger?). The kid didn't get anywhere near the podium in the areas of empathy and wit. Those two things will take someone much further in life than a pair of skates.

http://rjjago.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/video-from-stephen-colbert-taping-at-the-vancouver-olympics/#respond

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