NBC Pushes Too Far in Bringing Bode Miller to Tears

NY Times ^ | 2/17/14 | RICHARD SANDOMIR

[tips up]

Bode Miller had just tied for a bronze medal in the men’s super-G at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, on Sunday and it was time to be interviewed. NBC had already established Miller’s quest as an emotional story line, putting a microphone on his wife, Morgan, to hear her reactions to his races, and having the couple sit for an interview with Tom Brokaw. He was being humanized — as the changed man, the family man, the mature 36-year-old whose brother had died last year.

[tips up]

This reporter went way over the line. Question about his brother asked and answered. But the reporter kept asking, until finally Bode broke down, while the camera zoomed in on his face. Disgusting.

[laconic]

The zoom on an openly crying and upset Bode Miller continued for a good minute; either the camera crew was confused or the reporter simply lacked decency; they should have gone to a new location immediately and avoided this and the inane questions Christin Cooper asked him on tv.

[bray]

Is anybody even watching the Olympics?

[pepsionice]

For the first time ever...I’ve not watched a single minute of the Olympics. I have zero interest.

[OKSooner]

Yeah it was a disgrace alright.

I hope the chick loses her job over it, she had zero respect for the guy's dignity and totally ruined an important moment of his life for him.

If there was some producer egging her on the same goes for them too.

NBC are scum.

[LibertyOh]

I was disgusted at the persistent questioning in an obvious attempt to get him to break down and turned the channel, hoping they would end it and give the man some privacy regarding his ultimately private life. Turned back a bit later and the camera must have been near the ground trying to look into his face with his body bent over in grief. Having lost a brother to an untimely death, it sickened me - the man needed some space, respect and privacy, particularly when it was so apparent how far across the line they had gone.

[Pit1]

VERY POOR TASTE. But what does anyone expect from that useless network.

[lacrew]

The whole thing was very uncomfortable to watch.

[Mygirlsmom]

I hope the chick loses her job over it, she had zero respect for the guy's dignity and totally ruined an important moment of his life for him.

I only wish the media worked that way, but they have absolutely no shame. Instead, look for her as a monitor in a Republican debate soon.

[LibertyOh]

Several heads should roll on this one. This was not live. This was part of a post-event edited report of the days events. Plenty of people had plenty of time deciding what they would spend precious broadcast time on - decisions were made not just by the reporter and camera crew, but all the way up the line through editors and producers and ultimately the host.

[mmichaels1970]

NBC has pushed several athletes to tears throughout this Olympics. This is a bit more extreme, but you can tell that it's what they're going for.

Saw a young lady who missed a medal by .02 seconds (can't remember the sport), they wouldn't let up until they brought her to tears.

Saw another man who's skeleton sled slipped out of the tracks on his final run, knocking him out of medal contention. They were right there all up in his face. The interview dragged on until he started crying.

NBC are a bunch of commie scumbags.

[mlizzy]

Despicable..... but winners always find a way to win (turn lemons into lemonade), so possibly Bode can find a way to use this footage/situation for the benefit of his brother. (Maybe he already has.)

[jdub]

The answer is simple: The winter Olympics has turned into the chick Olympics. Crying makes for more eyeballs waiting to see what happens next.

[Blueflag]

My wife and I saw that too. My wife just exclaimed “ENOUGH already!” and changed the channel.

Dirty Laundry - Don Henly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0xr31XbSOU&feature=kp

[Blueflag]

autocorrect - H E N L E Y not Hendly.

[alarm rider]

I tried to watch some of the ice skating, but this Johnny Weir person who wears women’s jewlery is just too much to take. Really, it’s past disgusting. They are putting people like this in our faces just because they can.

[wally_bert]

I’ve been watching DVD runs of time trax, untouchables, streets of San Francisco, producing stock footage with the recent ice and snow, and recovered a CJ7 project jeep to play with.

My spouse is the addict on sports. I ignore as much as possible.

[txrefugee]

This is typical for NBC, the worst network ever. Even its sports reporting is repulsive.

[Blueflag]

Scary day. I agree with the NYT.

[usconservative]

Couldn't agree more. Wife and I were yelling at the TV for the reporter to just shut the hell up. She deliberately went after him to bring back a still hard emotional moment to make him cry.

Have to say, I felt for Bode Miller. I lost my younger brother in August 2012 quite suddenly from a massive brain aneurysm and there are still times (like yesterday, watching that "interview") that I get emotional about it.

My heart really went out to Bode. The "reporter" though -- I hope she burns in hell.

One last comment: I really wish they'd have left the camera off Bode's wife consoling him as he remembered his brother. On the one hand it was very touching and it's so crystal clear that she loves him dearly. On the other hand -- NBC should've respected that as a private moment for them and left the camera elsewhere.

NBC's just a bunch of bastards IMO.