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During the 1960 Olympics in Rome, radio announcer Lee Kwang-jae covered a weightlifting event live. Lee had to sit among the spectators. "Everybody is curious to know whether Kim Hae-nam can lift the barbell,¡± he nearly shouted. ¡°This moment, he has just lifted the barbell up to his shoulders. Up! Up! Yes! He made it. Fellow countrymen, please rejoice."
Spectators who had been watching the event with bated breath stared at the shouting Korean, and an Olympic official approached and gestured at him to lower his voice.
With the radio waves being transmitted via Hong Kong at that time, Lee's voice was growing louder one moment and weaker the next. Always full of excitement, he succeeded in stirring people's patriotism in a high-pitched voice. He covered as many as 16 sporting events alone. In one village at the time, everyone was listening to the single GoldStar (currently LG Electronics) radio, going wild with enthusiasm at every moment.
Radio announcers Lee Kwang-jae and Lim Taek-geun were national stars. When they covered football matches, they almost always said the foreign team "shot the ball wide of the goal post," but the Korean team just "missed the goal post." As few people had TV sets, Koreans went wild with enthusiasm or let out sighs at each turn of the announcers' voice, imagining the Korean players¡¯ game with their aid alone.
These days, each Olympic sporting event is covered by an experienced announcer who has studied the technicalities of the sport, assisted by at least two commentators. TV viewers can enjoy expert explanations and each delicate nuance of the sporting events.
But we are still sometimes entertained by the "patriotic¡± coverage of sporting events. Naturally, even the most cool-headed announcer and analytic commentator may lose their composure when their country's athletes are in a close race against their foreign rivals.
Yet many people are critical of some Korean broadcasting teams' excessive enthusiasm during their coverage of the Beijing Olympics. The moment Park Tae-hwan won the gold in men's freestyle 400m swimming at Beijing Olympics on Sunday, an announcer said in a tearful voice, "He's won a gold medal! Good! It's good to cry for joy!" One swimming commentator got so excited that he uttered a shriek.
One wrestling commentator talked like a coach giving instructions to his athlete. "Hey, you,¡± he said. ¡°I said don't do it." And when the Korean wrestler gave up a point to his opponent, the commentator went so far as to shout, "You idiot!"
Where, then, is the line between the enthusiastic and the crude? Ideally, it should be up to TV viewers to get excited themselves. If the commentators get too excited, their audience may be less than enthusiastic.
Watching the Beijing Olympics on TV I was just reminded of the days of Lee Kwang-jae and Lim Taek-geun.
This column was contributed by Chosun Ilbo in-house columnist Kim Dong-seop.
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