Letters

Sick of Tit-for-Tat

WITHOUT commenting on either the factual content or tone of recent letters by Robert O’Sullivan and his responders, I must express dissatisfaction with the Irish Voice’s general policy on letters to the editor. 

As with the current volley and others in the past, it seems as if the Irish Voice is available for personal, in-print “flame wars” (as these increasingly personal attacks between letter writers would be deemed — and typically banned — on many Internet forums I frequent). 

Robert O’Sullivan wrote a letter expressing his opinion. Others did the same in response. Now he responds to those responses. 

Next week, responses to those responses will be printed. It is tiresome and frustrating, as the level of debate in each subsequent response tends away from the facts in question and toward the personal. 

I encourage you to avoid this sort of tit-for-tat letter exchanges and print a broader mix of reader responses. 

K.A. Dixon

New York, New York

Likes Stirring it Up

I THANK the Irish Voice for printing the letter “Wake Up America” in its September 1-7 issue from Robert O’Sullivan in Co. Cork. 

It was brave and brilliant and in a way acted as a mirror in how those in other parts of the world see us. It showed facts that some Americans would like to hide, or not to be let out before they can put their spin on it.

In all I was happy to read Mr. O’Sullivan’s letter, but not as happy as I was to see how it got to Jerry Hoosier so again he could rattle his cage with his letter in the same edition. 

Hoosier perceives himself as some kind of Rambo, but indeed sounds more like a Dumbo. He thinks of himself as a genius, when in fact he lingers on the verge of madness. He lives in this world created by his own ego. 

He is well published (used) by the Irish Voice to stir up the pot. Much like the Irish Voice baits the readers with John Spain. The best to you, Mr. O’Sullivan.

Bill Ashe

Corona, California

Cheers Mini Vodka Boycott

I CHEER the Carry-Out chain and the Vinters Federation of Ireland in their boycott of the truly offensive small vodka packets being marketed, as was reported in last week’s “Ireland’s Eye.”

This product seems to be packaged to simulate the appearance of street drugs, which would make it very enticing to teenagers seeking the worst possible kind of forbidden fruit. It is quite obvious to me that this product is not packaged to be appealing to responsible drinkers.

As the Little Drinks Company (Dublin) is considering marketing other alcoholic beverages in this manner, presumably due to the “success” of their vodka product, I applaud the responsible boycott by respectable businesses of this product and this vendor.

As for “Dr. Joe” of the Little Drinks Company, sleep well tonight. A special circle of hell waits for men like you.

Laura Vona

Randolph, Massachusetts

What Was He Watching?

NIALL O’Dowd’s “Periscope” in the August 25-31 issue on NBC’s Olympic coverage was both sloppy and stunningly inaccurate. 

He complained about NBC’s “limited and incredibly parochial coverage” despite the fact that NBC broadcast a record 1,210 hours of Athens programming, more total coverage than the last five Olympics combined. 

For the record, NBC’s Athens’ broadcasts marked the first time ever that every Olympic sport was televised on American television, including many sports where Americans neither won medals nor even qualified. 

Here are some specific and glaring inaccuracies from O’Dowd’s editorial — he complained that viewers “never” saw the “classic Olympic events” (10,000 meters, 5,000-meters and 1,500-meters) except for “a fleeting glimpse” after USA’s Alan Webb failed to qualify. That’s woefully incorrect. 

NBC televised both the men’s and women’s 10,000, 5,000 and 1,500-meter races, which is the first time all of those Olympic events have been televised in their entirety to USA audiences. Obviously, O’Dowd missed those NBC-televised races, particularly Morocco’s Hichem El Guerrouj and his stirring 1,500/5,000 double. 

O’Dowd was critical of NBC’s “about 30 seconds” of high jump coverage. Wrong again. NBC provided between 25-30 minutes of prelims and finals coverage on the men’s and women’s high jumps. 

One of O’Dowd’s biggest problems revolved around “the snippet” of NBC coverage on the women’s marathon and how NBC missed the U.K.’s Paula Radcliffe and the Mongolian runner’s last-place stories. Once again he was incorrect, since NBC devoted nearly three hours of coverage to this race, focusing special attention to the gripping Radcliffe story. 

(Incidentally, O’Dowd’s Mexican Olympic recollections were also historically incorrect. He recalls Abeke Bikila’s marathon victory and Billy Mills’ 10,000-meter triumph as part of those 1968 broadcasts. Neither occurred in 1968. Bikila won in bare feet in Rome, 1960 and in shoes at Tokyo, 1964. Mills’ epic race was also in Tokyo, 1964.) 

On a different note, O’Dowd’s rant against women’s beach volleyball (“two, half-naked beach volleyball ladies”) was both demeaning and sexist. Irish American gold medalist Kerri Walsh is a terrific athlete and one of the best volleyball players of all time. 

The next time the prudish O’Dowd decides to rip this most popular Olympic sport, he should try to compete on sand — well above 100-degrees under a baking sun — while covering the same ground that six players cover in the indoor version. 

As previously mentioned, O’Dowd was very critical of the “insularity” of NBC’s U.S.-slanted broadcasts. Guess he missed the televised Croatian men’s and Hungarian women’s gold medal team handball triumphs; the inspirational Iraqi football and boxing stories; the Dutch men and Australian women’s field hockey championships and the Chinese table tennis domination. 

Suspect he also missed Ireland’s only Olympic gold medal where Cian O’Connor and Waterford Crystal pulled off the stunning upset in equestrian’s individual jumping event. All of these events were showcased by NBC. 

Former New York Yankee broadcaster Phil Rizzuto would playfully mark his baseball box score with “WW” (“Wasn’t Watching”) whenever he missed a play. O’Dowd might think about a giant “WW” on his NBC Athens Olympic critique because it’s obvious he wasn’t watching either. 

Kevin Monaghan 

NBC Sports 

New York, New York

NIALL O’DOWD responds: I thought it was obvious I was referring to prime time presentation in my Olympics piece. I’m sure NBC did show many of the events referred to in your letter, most likely in the overnight coverage for insomniacs or on one of the lesser networks when they weren’t showing the American horses perform dressage, as they seemed to be doing interminably. 

It is my clear recollection that NBC did not show most of the events I referred to during the main evening telecasts. Sorry if I don’t consider 3 a.m. coverage the equivalent of prime time.

I stand by my belief that beach volleyball is not a sport that has a place in the Olympics, apart from showcasing the assets of the ladies concerned. No doubt they are talented athletes, but I would guess that the numbers participating worldwide in their “sport” would hardly qualify it for a minor league medal, let alone an Olympics.

Yes, it is correct that I got the wrong Olympics for Abeke Bikila and Billy Mills, it was indeed Tokyo in 1964. And speaking of the marathon, the failure of NBC to identify the lunatic Irish priest who interfered in the race until well after other news outlets had done so was regrettable also. 

The network seemed much more interested in identifying and interviewing an American who finished 65th or so than covering perhaps the story of the games.