Did the Paralympics inspire you?

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

joshua — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 03:37:39 GMT

I would like to give my slant on this thread. I live in Israel and the Paralympics did get what I would consider substantial coverage. Not anything like the Olympics, but there was a detailed roundup every evening and the competitions in which Israeli athletes participated were broadcast live, as were the opening and closing ceremonies. These were all on our Channel One which is the Israel Broadcasting Authority (publicly funded, like the BBC). The commercial TV channels also had a daily roundup. The Israelis who won medals were all over the news, especially if they were wounded veterans. The President and PM called them and the team was welcomed back as heroes. As far as the US is concerned, it would seem to me that live coverage was out of the question due to the time difference. I understand that this was an issue even with the Olympics themselves. On the other hand, perhaps NBC could have given more coverage on one of their cable stations (MSNBC,CNBC). There is no doubt in my mind that these were the most successful Paralympics to date and with the most coverage. Kudos to the organizers. I also believe that there is a process going on and the Paralympics will be watched even more in the future. However, to think that Paralympics could or should attain the level of popularity as the Olympics is unrealistic and frankly unjustified. Finally, in the name of full disclosure I would like to state that I myself am a disabled IDF veteran.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Elaine Krugman — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 10:22:12 GMT

Thanks Elaine. Yes, chocolate and chocolate cake is my big weakness. Why are all the nicest things in life so fattening? Well, not all of the nicest things in life are fattening. ;)

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Former Member — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 05:40:39 GMT

Thanks Elaine. Yes, chocolate and chocolate cake is my big weakness. Why are all the nicest things in life so fattening?

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Elaine Krugman — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 01:25:04 GMT

To the O.P., Graham: I responded to your post on my blog- twice. When I realized which "Graham" from "Birmingham" it was, I posted again. :D This one's for you: :cake: (After all, it is chocolate cake!)

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

WPSWIMS — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:10:04 GMT

I had the wonderful opportunity to be a stroke and turn judge during the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta. It was very inspiring and lots of fun.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

That Guy — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 07:35:11 GMT

Criticism of NBC's sports coverage is so last month. This is at least ten times worse: nymag.com/.../today-show-kardashian-interview-instead-of-september-11-moment-of-silence.html

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Former Member — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:36:42 GMT

They are all very inspiring, without doubt. Everyone has a special story. There are also some other interesting technical aspects. For example the freestyle competition reminds one that freestyle is free style, not necessarily front crawl. Also, the other day I was watching one backstroke race, and it showed that kicking alone won over arm strokes alone (admittedly it was dolphin kick, not flutter kick).

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Former Member — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:50:33 GMT

David, please keep it civil. hmmm.... thought i was being civil.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

jethro — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:38:11 GMT

Fortunately I was on a trip to the UK during the paralympics, so I got to see it on television every evening. I enjoyed watching the paralympic games more than I did the olympics. Those athletes are just unbelievable in so many ways. I'm now a big fan of Ellie Simmonds, especially given that I am in the process of adopting a child with dwarfism. And watching the guy (didn't catch his name or country) with no arms swim a 100m BR much faster than I can made me realize that yep, I suck. :bow:

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Former Member — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:15:36 GMT

I agree with Dave. Graham's post was full of negative assumptions. And how about his first sentence -- "Of course, I don’t expect you to take this question seriously." Sounded like he was attempting to give us a scolding when he has no idea how people here regard the Paralympics. Any negatives were aimed at your media organisations, not at Americans in general. Of course, I don't know how the American people regard the Paralympics. I just feel it's a shame that your television channels didn't see fit to make it priority viewing. An opportunity missed.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Former Member — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:06:31 GMT

please provide some statistics of britain's great interest and press coverage in the paralympics of those years not hosting the event... then maybe your little holier than thou rant will carry some weight. A good point. Having the Paralympics in London gave us the opportunity to cover it well. It will be interesting to see if we give it the same media priority when the Games are held in Rio in 2016. I hope so. We'll have to wait and see.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

knelson — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:15:59 GMT

Just in terms of what non-swimmers might want to watch on TV, I doubt blind swimming is any more compelling than old swimming. Exactly. A blind swimmer, a swimmers with no arms, an 80 year breaking a world record for his/her age group are all great achievements, but at the end of the day they are all swimmers swimming significantly slower than someone who wins a gold medal at the Olympics.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Elaine Krugman — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:01:59 GMT

Just in terms of what non-swimmers might want to watch on TV, I doubt blind swimming is any more compelling than old swimming. Would this be compelling enough for you? Swimming - Men's 50m Backstroke - S5 Final - London 2012 Paralympic Games - YouTube

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Former Member — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:47:04 GMT

please provide some statistics of britain's great interest and press coverage in the paralympics of those years not hosting the event... then maybe your little holier than thou rant will carry some weight. Well, did you, the good people of America, enjoy the coverage of the Paralympics? Wasn’t it fantastic? Wasn’t it inspiring? Wasn’t it awesome! Of course, I don’t expect you to take this question seriously. There was very little interest shown across the pond in this sporting extravaganza. The US television networks were not keen on offering coverage of the Paralympics, and (as I understand) few if any of the major newspapers have had much to say on the subject. Was there full front-page coverage in the major New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas or L.A. papers? I doubt it. There’s a story going around of an American businessman whose disabled son was due to compete in London. He came to the UK late during the Paralympic programme of events and was handed a British newspaper during his flight to Heathrow. He was astonished to see seven pages in a national newspaper dedicated to the Paralympics. He said, “Is this really happening? What’s going on in London?” It is impossible to believe that people who so value courage and sacrifice as Americans do, were not interested in supporting their athletes like gold medal cyclist, Joseph Berenyi or gold medal swimmer, Mallory Weggeman. Many American athletes came to London competing after surviving motorcycle accidents, avalanches, comas and disease, being maimed while fighting in Iraq, and a host of other challenges. Why is your media, unwilling to see these Games as sport - instead of a spectacle? People in the UK (especially the young) now see our Paralympians as a new generation of heroes and role models. 11 million people in Britain watched the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games - exceptionally good viewing figures for Channel 4, and in fact pretty good viewing figures for any TV programme in the modern age of multichannel upon multichannel television. Despite the United States having one of the largest Paralympic teams, it was reported here that there would be less than 6 hours coverage in total of the Paralympics shown on US TV (Channel 4 showed more hours per day of competition) and some of which will not air until after the end of the Paralympic competition. I find it incredible that in the United States the major TV networks didn’t think there was enough of a demand to give extensive coverage to the Paralympics, despite the fact that global viewership of the Paralympics topped 4 billion! Is it too much to ask that we afford disabled sport due respect by giving equivalent coverage to the Paralympics that the Olympics gets? Sadly, the major commercial TV networks in the United States couldn’t find time in their schedules of mundane daytime soap operas and brain-dead quiz shows to air the pinnacle of sporting excellence for people with disabilities. I hope that because there appears to be a lack of interest for the Paralympics by the US media, that people with disabilities are not still marginalised in the United States.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

ourswimmer — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:03:35 GMT

Actually, yes, I think it is too much to ask. The media has an obligation to cover what people are interested in. TV barely ever covers most Olympic/Paralympic sports, regardless of who is doing them or for what glory. They don't cover Masters swimming, for instance. Just in terms of what non-swimmers might want to watch on TV, I doubt blind swimming is any more compelling than old swimming. I did see a number of written news articles about the Paralympics, and good photojournalism. The NYT had an article about a guy who swam a 4:33 400 free one year to the day after losing his sight to an IED in (I think) Afghanistan, and another about the service in the Olympic Village that assisted athletes in repairing or replacing prostheses, wheelchairs, etc. Also a few stories involving Oscar Pistorius that raised (to me) very interesting questions about ability, disability, and technology.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

knelson — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:42:51 GMT

Is it too much to ask that we afford disabled sport due respect by giving equivalent coverage to the Paralympics that the Olympics gets? Actually, yes, I think it is too much to ask. The media has an obligation to cover what people are interested in. At this point in time more people are interested in the Olympics than the Paralympics. There are lots of inspiring stories and performances at the Paralympics, but the bottom line is the athletes at the Olympics are the greatest athletes in the world with no caveats attached (OK, maybe the caveat is that they must test clean). The Paralympic athletes are the greatest disabled athletes in the world--so there's that "disabled" caveat. It's sort of like comparing the NBA and the WNBA. There are plenty of great athletes in both leagues, but there's always going to be much greater interest and coverage of the NBA because these are THE greatest basketball players.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Elaine Krugman — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:23:36 GMT

Any negatives were aimed at your media organisations, not at Americans in general. Of course, I don't know how the American people regard the Paralympics. I just feel it's a shame that your television channels didn't see fit to make it priority viewing. An opportunity missed. I agree 100% about our media. As for your negative comments, I didn't feel you were aiming them at the American public at all; it seems to me as if you were misunderstood. It's too bad the American media didn't give the American public a chance to even form an opinion! :bitching:

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

The Fortress — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:16:37 GMT

please provide some statistics of britain's great interest and press coverage in the paralympics of those years not hosting the event... then maybe your little holier than thou rant will carry some weight. I agree with Dave. Graham's post was full of negative assumptions. And how about his first sentence -- "Of course, I don’t expect you to take this question seriously." Sounded like he was attempting to give us a scolding when he has no idea how people here regard the Paralympics.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

knelson — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:15:51 GMT

One thing that I think affected the interest level here in the U.S. was how long after the Olympics the Paralympics occurred. I thought it was going to follow more or less immediately rather than weeks later.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Rob Copeland — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:07:08 GMT

David, please keep it civil. Graham, as mentioned by other posters, there wasn’t much televised coverage of the Paralympics games, which was unfortunate. I have been blessed with the opportunity to meet a few of the USA Paralympians and these are some amazing people. For example, Curtis Lovejoy of Atlanta was competing at his 5th Paralympics games. And not only is he a world class Paralympian he is an amazing role model and a pleasure to be around. His passion for life, swimming and helping others is truly inspirational.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Elaine Krugman — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:49:43 GMT

please provide some statistics of britain's great interest and press coverage in the paralympics of those years not hosting the event... then maybe your little holier than thou rant will carry some weight. Regardless, Graham has an excellent point about the Paralympics not getting the press and TV coverage it deserves here, in the U.S.A.

RE: Did the Paralympics inspire you?

Elaine Krugman — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:35:35 GMT

Graham, I hear you loud and clear and couldn't agree more! You have no idea how angry it made me to not be able to find TV or live streaming coverage! :bitching: When I was in high school, in 1979, I volunteered at what used to be called "California Communities Pool for the Handicapped" (now "California Aquatic Therapy & Wellness Center"), in Long Beach. It was amazing to see what some of those people could do in the water. For those of us who saw Roderick Sewell, a 19 year old double amputee, compete at Auburn Nationals and at the Auburn meet, last February, we were treated to some amazing swims for someone missing two lower legs. :agree: Thank you, Graham, for a well-written post on a subject that definitely hit a nerve with me. :chug: Edit: Forumites, check out this video: Swimming - Men's 100m Butterfly - S9 Final - London 2012 Paralympic Games - YouTube I don't know about any of you, but I would have loved to have seen this in prime time on TV! And, how about this one? Swimming - Men's 50m Breaststroke - SB2 Heat 1 - London 2012 Paralympic Games - YouTube