It seems as if the Olympics can make anyone a professional commentator at any sport. Just from sitting on your couch, you can learn a lot about a sport you'd never seen until today. In fact, just from watching 10 minutes of a sport, you can be an expert on anything from synchronized diving to beach volleyball. My parents have noticed themselves commenting on swimmers' form, and I can attest to making remarks about gymnasts.
Want to know why this phenomenon is happening? Announcers and the multiple instant replays they show after every swim/dive/bar routine/hurdle/etc. You could have no knowledge about the balance beam when you sit down to watch the Olympics, but by the time you've watched a few rounds, you too, will be sitting there, making comments on step size after landing, or how much they wobbled on their full pirouette. In fact, I feel more knowledgeable about many sports that I've only watched than sports I've actually participated in.
Ever see one of those instant replays where they freeze the person in mid-air, leaving multiple imprints of them on the screen? Kinda freaky in my opinion, but by doing this, they are showing the minuscule points of what they are getting at, and how deductions are taken. The commentators pick out every detail (whether or not they know what an arabian double twist is), and by doing so, teach the viewers quite a bit about sports many of them would never dream about participating in.
I enjoy learning about, and commenting on, many of these Olympic sports, but sometimes, I just enjoy watching the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. And a lot of the time, no commentators are necessary for such a simple pleasure as watching an ordinary athlete become an amazing Olympian.
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