After a totally not-an-apology, the USOC has apologized for its language. Which was what most of us were upset about.
And, honestly, I totally understand their defense of the trademark. Trademark law is bizarre. If you don’t ALWAYS defend it (or appear to) then you are not allowed to EVER defend it. Which is bizarre, but true. So I understand that, especially now that Ravelry is so large.
And apparently the horrible language really is their boilerplate for a cease and desist. Which is… stupid. And saps still more respect for the organization. But it means they probably really weren’t trying to be so insulting to knitters, they’re just always that insulting and crude.
So, yeah. We got more than anyone probably ever has. Yay!
So we have a real apology. For the most part. The problem is, of course, that it’s coerced. Not just coerced like the first not-apology, but even more so. And will any of it change their behavior in the future? Probably not. If I was a devotee of the Olympics, this would likely be enough. If it had been the *first* apology, instead of the second, it probably still would be enough for me now.
But I was already drifting away from the olympics. And the USOC is largely responsible for this. When I was a kid, I watched avidly. But it was shown constantly on multiple networks. They showed the whole of all the events, not just what they thought would get ratings. They didn’t hold it all until they knew who won so they could spoon feed us only the winning athletes. I miss that olympics. This new one was already uninspiring.
I watched sculling for hours once when it was possible. It was fascinating. When they had to fill all that time they would get experts and former athletes and they’d talk about the actual sport. The terminology and the methods, the ways the boats were built or the difficulty of performing a Shushunova. But that’s gone, and has been for a while.
So I was already drifting. The Ravelympics was almost the only thing still holding me to the event. A social reason to get my stuff together, get some projects done, and watch the games.
So yeah, we’ve finally got a real apology, but given that it only came after rudeness followed by dismissal… I think my last ties have finally been cut. Which is sad. But that’s part of wise PR. Apologies cannot feel coerced or they’re ineffective. And the USOC has made it clear that they have completely lost the spirit of the Olympics by showing that that rudeness is boilerplate.
And since they’re the only lens through which to view them from here… I think it’s time for me personally to say, “So long Olympics. It’s been real.” Best of luck to the athletes, especially the ones lacking multimillion dollar training and equipment budgets. I’m rooting for you. Really.
This is by no means an encouragement for others to do the same, or a call to arms to boycott anything or anyone. As the Yarn Harlot so eloquently points out, whether you like the USOC or not, they are the ones that allow U.S. athletes to go to the Olympics.
So, yeah. I didn’t feel like I could leave it open as if nothing had changed. I know my readership isn’t near that of the Yarn Harlot, but I nonetheless felt like I had to acknowledge that they had apologized, if under duress, and I understand the legal point they’re coming from.
Now, back to knitting. I’m 44 rows from finishing the second (and by second I mean sixth) sleeve for the sweater I’ve been designing for a year. Holy crap, I might have a sweater by spring 2020!
That’s all for now!
~The Gnome
You know what’s funny is that the USOC has absolutely NOTHING to do with the US TV coverage. Funny, right? But it’s the International Olympic Committee that determines who has access to the TV rights. The USOC has absolutely no say in the matter. They did want to start their own cable network showing Olympic sports year-round, the kind of stuff you’d never see on ESPN, but the IOC pitched a fit over that. That fit was a big part of the US losing out on hosting the 2012 and 2016 games.
Nonetheless, their C&D letter certainly showed a real lack of tact. It’s always better to ask nicely for someone to stop doing something to which you object, rather than insulting them on the way.
Directly? No, they don’t. But they do have a lot to do with the handling of the U.S. games, and the commercialization. The USOC funds Olympians via sponsorship by business. That pressure is what caused the limiting of the Games to a single network and the push towards showing what gets ratings rather than just showing the games. And the IOC has *definitely* played a huge role in it as well. I have major issues with the IOC as well.
Are they singularly, directly, responsible for the entirety of my problems with the games? No. Did I claim they were? I don’t think so. If I did, then I’m sorry, it’s not what I intended. But they are a part of the problem. As is NBC. And definitely as is the IOC. But this discussion was about the USOC, not NBC or the IOC. I probably should have addressed my already extant issues with the IOC as well. They make some ass backwards decisions sometimes… often.
What you said is totally correct. I don’t have cable and was thinking of getting it back for the olympics, but I too miss the times when you could watch the whole game, and not just the highlights.
Apparently you can now watch them all streaming on NBC online. It’s unlikely to change my watchership (I don’t watch stuff on my computer) but it is something good.
I feel very similarly to what you wrote here. I remember being fascinated by the glimpses into worlds I never quite knew existed–by which I don’t mean countries, but sports. It feels less and less relevant all the time, and perhaps that’s why they’re enforcing things more, or Ravelry got caught by virtue of its size. Anyway, well said.