Paralympics special airs today on NBC
For Americans who didn't have access to what happened at the Beijing Paralympics this summer (and that would be all of us who don't have easy cable access to foreign TV where coverage did exist), there's a 90-minute special on NBC this afternoon that has gotten some good reviews.
If you want more of the same four years from now, the network needs to know:
It will be aired the (NBC) National Broadcasting Company on Sunday at 2:30 P.M. Eastern Standard time.
And also the Universal Sports Television Network on beginning Monday, Nov. 10th though the 16, at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
It is important that you tune in to these games because it is perceived as a test by these networks. It will be a test to see if Americans will watch disabled athletes compete in the same events as non disabled athletes.
Those reviews above are positive and supportive of better Paralympic coverage. They also try to be self-aware about the "inspirational" stereotype of disability, with varying success.
If you catch the show, post your thoughts on it in comments. Or, if you had access to coverage back in August and recall your favorite moment or athlete, post that and we can compare notes.
7 comments:
Thanks for the timely post, otherwise I would have missed my first opportunity to see the Paralympics.
Hi Kay,
Your doing a great job here! Keep it up, unfortunately I get neither of those channels, but if all my plans go well I'll be working in Vancouver next go around. Fancy a link trade?
Argh, I missed it.
90 minutes. Grrrr.
I thought maybe I could watch it online, but I haven't been able to locate it yet. A search for "paralympics" from the NBC front page only brought up a link to The Bionic Woman and then some episodes of Friday Night Lights. Kind of funny that their fiction shows spend more time on the Paralympics than NBC actually seems able to spend covering 'em in real life.
I have also tried to find it online. I want to show it to my sports medicine students. If anyone finds it, let me know!
Try googling it using 'Paraolympics 2008'. I got NBC results near the top.
I caught some with the family. They spent time telling the stories of the athelites, and what happened after the competition. IMHO, it was nicely done. But since I'm temporarily abled I may be biased.
Ralph: What's your url? Blogger won't even let me see your profile.
Sara: Karen is right that you can access various clips of the Paralympics -- YouTube would be one way to go, though you have to wade through many and choose. If you saw the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, the Paralympics opening also had a guy who flew into the air to light the torch. He hoisted himself and his wheelchair, which had a holder for the torch, hundreds of feet with a rope and pulley system. Admittedly, given the things we've learned we're faked about the main ceremony in Beijing, I wonder if he actually did any of the hoisting. Still, it's something to see.
Oh, isn't it though! Thank you so much for showing me that. :)
I don't know why I didn't think of YouTube. Or Google. Thanks for that, too, Kay and Karen.
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