Dropping the Torch

As you can image, Olympics are all the rage here in Hong Kong. And while there have been a few well-publicized mishaps, I am not going to discuss the Spanish basketball team, the lip-synching gaff or possible age violations in gymnastics. No, these goofs are by the crack(ed) announcing squad here in Hong Kong. First, I have to say that the two English TV stations in Hong Kong are MISERABLE. It is baffling to see that "Asia's World City" is home of Asia's Amateur Announcers.

They dug up some "characters" to handle the Olympic coverage. Honestly, if I would have known they were going to be this bad and I would have had some time off before school starts, I would have applied for the job. There are about four guys who handle all the announcing. The main duo is made up of one guy that I believe is an Aussie and another that I assume is Canadian, because he sounds like he is from North America, not England or Australia. The other mans the anchor desk back in Hong Kong and isn't on that much. The final guy is an Asian guy who might have been an athlete.

The Aussie is killing me because he keeps calling the US men's basketball team's coach, Krah-ZOO-kee. Apparently they didn't do much prep, because then he would have the correct pronunciation, or his nickname, "Coach K". But he did know that Coach K is the most successful coach in college basketball and that he coaches Duke. Not being from the States he didn't know where Duke was so he asked his partner, who said it was in the East (which it is), but then he added he thought it was close to Boston... uh, wrong. That is why I think the second guy is from Canada, because anyone from the US that speaks English and has any knowledge about sports would know that Duke is in North Carolina.

But my favorite blooper was when the Aussie and the Asian guy were starting the broadcast one morning and the Asian guy got tongue-tied and in a panic, fumbled through words, then raised his hand in a motion signifying 'stop', looked toward his partner and said, "Wait, can we...?", as in "Can we do another take?" His Aussie partner, looked at him and promptly said, "No", then paused for a second to see if the confused guy could regain his composure, which he didn't, then tossed back to the guy at the anchor desk. It was painful and hilarious at the same time. Welcome to LIVE television.


(Note: I originally posted this on my sports blog, but wanted to share it with everyone)