Water Polo, etc.

I watched water polo today and have been thinking about why it's not as exciting to watch as it should be. I think that they need: a) better play-by-play, particularly because most of the viewers won't be accustomed to watching the sport on television and b) more instant replay so that we can see the nuance of the game and learn what to watch for c) not just tell us which players are good but why they're good. The play-by-play seems particularly important to me. The best announcers create a narrative and find a way to verbally express the flow of the game. I realize that NBC probably doesn't employ fabulously talented, knowledgeable water polo play-by-play and color guys, but I still feel like a better job could have been done.

That Tony Acevedo clearly rocks though.

On another Olympic note I was delighted when the Latvian men's beach volleyball team beat the top US team yesterday. It's not that I wouldn't be happy to see the US to win eventually, but I thought it was really enjoyable to watch those two young guys who were so enthusiastic play the best game they were capable of playing and get rewarded for it. It's kind of one of those things that you watch the Olympics to see, no?

In other news, I should never have left my apartment today. I wanted to get up to the Mid-Manhattan library because they had a book I need to read for the book discussion group I attend. So I waited forever and a day for the F only to realize when I got off the subway that I had arrived smack in the middle of the Dominican Pride Parade. The people screaming and blowing whistles on the platforms where everything seems to echo and get magnified were particularly unpleasant. I went up at 40th and 6th only to realize that I couldn't cross the street there, so I went back down and went through the tunnels to 42nd and 5th instead. I got the book I needed and just walked to Grand Central and took the 6 downtown instead, but I found the whole experience far more draining than it should have been. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the day on the couch with the cat watching they Olympics.