# judo olympic coverage



## bignick (Aug 11, 2004)

i started a similar post in the tkd forum...basically lamenting the poor coverage tkd was getting...and i'd thought see how the judoka feel about it...since our beloved judo is getting even less of coverage than tkd....


----------



## auxprix (Aug 12, 2004)

It doesn't surprise me. Judo doesn't have a very accessible rulebook. Not to mention all comands are given in Japanese. I suppose that most Americans would watch it and give up rather quickly. Someone once wrote on the forums that the networks only want to broadcast the sports that the US has a chance at winning. I think there is definately some truth to this statement.

The market for Olympic Martial Arts is definately a niche one, at least in this country.

I'm going to throw a question back at you. Do you think that the lack of interest of these events may have anything to do with a resistance to cultural exports that the US may or may not have?


----------



## bignick (Aug 12, 2004)

auxprix said:
			
		

> Do you think that the lack of interest of these events may have anything to do with a resistance to cultural exports that the US may or may not have?



I think that for some people it certainly plays a role.  But, if i may be a bit idealistic...i think you probably nailed it on the head when you said it has a lot to do with rules and formalities that aren't familiar to us...same reason why people in america don't watch cricket...nobody here understands it


----------



## auxprix (Aug 14, 2004)

From what I gather from the olympics website (I can't believe how poorly designed it is!) Judo is on Bravo tonight (saturday, 8-14) at 12:00AM. I'm assuming the time was listed in Eastern. I'll be firing up my VCR tonight!

It looks like Pedro is getting some good coverage on Tuesday. I can't wait to see that!


----------



## bignick (Aug 14, 2004)

I know what you're saying about the website...it's not very user friendly...and i don't get bravo here...so i'm stuck with just the two days its on nbc


----------



## Posiview (Aug 15, 2004)

During the BBC coverage of the opening ceremony judo was mentioned a lot.  Also, the judo coverage by the BBC, from what I've watched, is exceptional - much more coverage than previous years.


----------



## auxprix (Aug 15, 2004)

I watched the bravo coverage last night. It was pitiful. They showed the  2 ultra lightweight final matches. They cut half of the men's match out to show comercials.


----------



## auxprix (Aug 15, 2004)

To add on to my last post, if you are going to push something to that late-night time slot, at least show the events in entirity. I mean, they shortend it to show highlights from THE INDUCTION CERIMONY! And I stayed by my TV that late to see 8 minutes of judo (35 minutes of the hour was taken up by sailing). I feel so used.


----------



## Mark Weiser (Aug 15, 2004)

*Here is a News Item related to this Topic.* 

*Olympics Hit by Crisis Over Iran-Israel Contest*
Aug 15, 11:11 AM (ET)

By Douglas Hamilton 

ATHENS (Reuters) - Iran's world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili refused to compete against an Israeli Sunday, triggering a fresh crisis at the Olympic Games where race, creed or color are barred from interfering in sport. 

The International Judo Federation (IJF) failed to agree how to deal with the politically explosive issue at an emergency meeting and said it would hold further talks Monday. 

The burning issue was whether any penalty would hit Miresmaeili alone or the entire Iranian team, as the intrusion of the Middle East's bitter politics threatened to fly in the face of the Olympic ideal. 

"There has been no decision and we are considering this situation very carefully," said IJF spokesman Michel Brousse. 

"This has not been brought to us as an issue and until it is, we would not have any comment," said a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which pledges to uphold the ideal of sport transcending national barriers. 

The official reason at the Games for Miresmaeili's non-appearance was failure to make the weight but judo chiefs questioned how a seasoned athlete, who carried Iran's flag at Friday's opening ceremony, would have made such a basic error. 

REAL REASON 

But in Tehran, the Iranian National Olympic Committee said in a statement: "This is a general policy of our country to refrain from competing against athletes of the Zionist regime and Arash Miresmaeili has observed this policy." 

Iran has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist since Islamic fundamentalists toppled the Shah in 1979. 

Miresmaeili, who had been due to fight Israeli Ehud Vaks, was quoted by Iran's official news agency IRNA as saying he acted in solidarity with the Palestinians. 

"Although I have trained for months and am in shape I refused to face my Israeli rival in sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people," said Miresmaeili, 66 kg world champion in 2001 and 2003. "I am not upset about the decision I have made." 

In a fresh doping case, Slovak shot putter Milan Haborak tested positive for a banned substance and left the Olympics, the Slovak news agency SITA reported. 

"I really am sorry because I was really looking forward to competing. I trained long and hard. But I do not know that I took something that is banned," SITA quoted Haborak as saying. 

Team spokesman Anton Zerer refused to comment on the report. 

The Games were rocked last Thursday when Greece's top two athletes, Olympic 200 meters champion Costas Kenteris and 100 meters silver medallist Katerina Thanou, missed a dope test. 

They were dropped from the host nation's team Saturday pending an IOC disciplinary hearing Monday.


----------



## auxprix (Aug 15, 2004)

Yeah, I'd heard that. To me, it sounds like Miresmaeili and the Iranian government is affraid to loose to the Israelis.

There was another weird olympic Judo story this year. There was one competitor who jumped off the balcony of her hotel. 2 weeks later, her boyfriend did the same. Last I heard, she was it critical condition in a greek hospital. I can't find any articles on it anymore. Does anyone know anything about this?


----------



## bignick (Aug 15, 2004)

auxprix said:
			
		

> To me, it sounds like Miresmaeili and the Iranian government is affraid to loose to the Israelis.



that's really what it boils down too...if they won it would be great PR for Iran...but if Iranians lost against Isreali athletes...especially with the tension between the two countries...it could cause some problems..


----------



## TKD USA (Aug 15, 2004)

Just a little information here, but I read on the nbcolympics website that they are going to show it on NBC on August 17. This will be the match with jimmy pedro( sorry if incorrect name )


----------



## Mekugi (Aug 16, 2004)

I have been getting coverage of Judo over in Japan, however I haven't seen any US players (imagine that). So far, there isn't anything too spectacular.


----------



## TKD USA (Aug 16, 2004)

Actually I think NBC might show it today at around 11 to 2 at night so you might want to watch out fo it.


----------



## CanuckMA (Aug 16, 2004)

The Iran-Israel thing has nothing to do with winning or losing. Iran does not recognizes Israel's existence. To compete against a representative of that country would be to admit that it exists.


----------



## tshadowchaser (Aug 16, 2004)

I belive that those in Europe and Asia are getting much better coverage of all the events.


----------



## auxprix (Aug 16, 2004)

CanuckMA said:
			
		

> The Iran-Israel thing has nothing to do with winning or losing. Iran does not recognizes Israel's existence. To compete against a representative of that country would be to admit that it exists.



Yes, that is the official reason that was given by the Iranian government. However, I don't think that the fundementals of the statement are true. Iran has competed with Israel in soccer throughout history. I also googled Iran vs Israel sports, and found numorous instances of teams from the two countries competing.

Now, there are two ways to look at this.

#1) Iran is pulling its contestant out now to make a statement. However, this statement has little weight, since they have 'recognized' Israel by competing in other sports where they were the favored team. Which leads me to...

#2)  Iran isn't sure about its competitiveness in Judo, and they would rather not compete at all rather than risk the humiliation of losing to the Israelis.

I'll agree that option #1 is very possible. It could just be that Iran is using this opportunity NOW to state their position. However, I think of the two viewpoints I expressed, #2 is much more plausible. I just don't believe that a country would forgo a chance at a medal just for a political dispute. Winning has always seemed very important for countries ruled by totalitarian regimes. It gives them a success story to exemplify to the country. It gives the rulers a new hero to use like a puppet. It takes the focus away from all the problems that are going on within the borders. I believe, if they were more confident, Iran would jump at the chance to defeat Isreal.


----------



## CanuckMA (Aug 16, 2004)

auxprix said:
			
		

> I just don't believe that a country would forgo a chance at a medal just for a political dispute. Winning has always seemed very important for countries ruled by totalitarian regimes. It gives them a success story to exemplify to the country. It gives the rulers a new hero to use like a puppet. It takes the focus away from all the problems that are going on within the borders. I believe, if they were more confident, Iran would jump at the chance to defeat Isreal.




The boycotts of the 1980s???


----------



## auxprix (Aug 16, 2004)

Can you please be more specific. Are you talking about olympic Boycotts, or some other tournements.


----------



## bignick (Aug 16, 2004)

hey...anybody see or tape the coverage from last night...any better?...i don't get bravo...but i was reading some of the results and evidently someone one by ippon with sumi otoshi...that's not something you see everyday in competition


----------



## Mekugi (Aug 16, 2004)

I think that was Uchishiba against Krnac, Masato won the gold- krnac silver.



			
				bignick said:
			
		

> hey...anybody see or tape the coverage from last night...any better?...i don't get bravo...but i was reading some of the results and evidently someone one by ippon with sumi otoshi...that's not something you see everyday in competition


----------



## bignick (Aug 16, 2004)

yeah...that's what i thought...i'd like to see a vid of that...


----------



## CanuckMA (Aug 17, 2004)

auxprix said:
			
		

> Can you please be more specific. Are you talking about olympic Boycotts, or some other tournements.



Olympic. auxprix stated that he couldn't beleive that a country would forego a chance at a medal over a political dispute. The boycotts of the 80's were about political disputes.


----------



## Shogun (Aug 17, 2004)

Jimmy Pedro's Bronze win should give Judo more coverage next time around. it was a little pitiful this time though.


----------



## auxprix (Aug 17, 2004)

CanuckMA said:
			
		

> Olympic. auxprix stated that he couldn't beleive that a country would forego a chance at a medal over a political dispute. The boycotts of the 80's were about political disputes.



Oh, so you're talking about the U.S. and Russian refusals to compete in each other's country. I thought it was a reference to Iran and some boycott that I didn't know about. Sorry for the confusion

I believe the situations to be different. The U.S. and Russia were protesting the games being in the other's country, and less about refusing to compete against them. I don't know a ton about Olympic history, but I don't remember any instance where Russia or the U.S. refused to compete in an event in a neutral country. That would be more similar to the current situation. Correct me if I'm wrong.

What I'm saying is that I believe that if Iran was confident in it's ability to win, it would take the opportunity to do so. I think that much of the decision was based around the fear of the humiliation of losing to the Israelis.

I realize that I can't prove this in anyway, and that is why I can only call it opinion. It's just my worldview that egos play a large part in decisions, even when it's in high levels of government.

Moving on...

BigNick, Pedro's bronze match was on NBC. Did you miss that one?


----------



## Shogun (Aug 17, 2004)

> Pedro's bronze match was on NBC.


I've noticed that he loves grappling. His match was great though.


----------



## CanuckMA (Aug 17, 2004)

auxprix said:
			
		

> Oh, so you're talking about the U.S. and Russian refusals to compete in each other's country. I thought it was a reference to Iran and some boycott that I didn't know about. Sorry for the confusion
> 
> I believe the situations to be different. The U.S. and Russia were protesting the games being in the other's country, and less about refusing to compete against them. I don't know a ton about Olympic history, but I don't remember any instance where Russia or the U.S. refused to compete in an event in a neutral country. That would be more similar to the current situation. Correct me if I'm wrong.



If I remember correctly, The US boycotted Moscow to protest the USSR's involvement in Afghaninstan. USSR boycotted LA as retaliation for Moscow.



> What I'm saying is that I believe that if Iran was confident in it's ability to win, it would take the opportunity to do so. I think that much of the decision was based around the fear of the humiliation of losing to the Israelis.
> 
> I realize that I can't prove this in anyway, and that is why I can only call it opinion. It's just my worldview that egos play a large part in decisions, even when it's in high levels of government.



It was just a convinient time to make a statement about the condition of a people they care nothing about other than to keep them in ****** conditions to make political hay out of it.


----------



## bignick (Aug 17, 2004)

auxprix said:
			
		

> BigNick, Pedro's bronze match was on NBC. Did you miss that one?



nope...made sure i caught that one...

by the way who was commentating those matches....no offense...but i thought they were horrible

i paraphrase a bit..."well, he wanted to throw him there...but he just didn't have enough juice"..


----------



## auxprix (Aug 18, 2004)

bignick said:
			
		

> nope...made sure i caught that one...
> 
> by the way who was commentating those matches....no offense...but i thought they were horrible
> 
> i paraphrase a bit..."well, he wanted to throw him there...but he just didn't have enough juice"..



No kidding. I haven't heard them say the actual name of a single technique, in either Japanese OR English. There's no talk about strategies or relitive strengths of the competitors. It sounds alot like they taught two people the basic rules, the scoring system, and gave them a microphone and said "Go Nuts!"

they're even worse when the fight goes to the mat.

Competitor was going for the choke:
"She's attempting some sort of ground technique."

"He can either go for the hold-down or the choke" (what about the armbar?)

I'm paraphrasing a bit. Does anyone know who's calling these matches and what their qualifications are.


----------



## howard (Aug 20, 2004)

bignick said:
			
		

> ...same reason why people in america don't watch cricket...nobody here understands it


...unless you've spent some time in a country where they play cricket regularly, as i have (england). i liked cricket the first time i saw it, and watched it on tv all the time... pestered my cricket-loving friends to explain the rules to me until i could understand the game pretty well.  as an american, i actually saw lots of similarities to baseball (which is my favorite sport) - slow pace of play, arcane rules, knocking a small ball, judgment calls by the umpires (the lbw rule is really pretty similar to the called 3rd strike in baseball)... i'm really surprised that more americans don't like cricket, especially considering how popular baseball is in much of the US.

as for judo in the olympics, i've been trying to find out about any coverage on tv here in the states, but so far no luck... if they put it on at all, it will probably be at 4 in the morning.

as for the complex rules, do people think they're really any more complex than gymnastics? i mean, as a non-gymnast, how do i know all the detailed technical stuff the judges are looking for? yet, gymnastics seems to be pretty popular here.

can't explain it, really.


----------

