# Post the stupidest things you hear Olympic announcers say **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2006, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429 "2006-02-14T08:42:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/101 "2006-02-25T02:46:49Z")
> [@McNew](#): > > YES!! I was just telling someone at lunch that I heard the same thing. When he said it my wife and I turned to each other with a WTF? look on our faces. “Sooful?” Wellllll…actually, the French have several words that sound somewhat the same: souffle (sufl), souffle’, with an accent over the ‘e’ (sufle), and the verb souffler (sufle). The first one is pretty much pronounced like ‘sooful’, only more like ‘soofluh’. However, it means to catch one’s breath in the simplest form. It has other meanings when used in other contexts. Now, perhaps he was making a pun in French, having to do with blowing out and then not being able to catch one’s breath, but I suspect it was just a lame joke. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/102 "2006-02-25T04:43:54Z")
> [@Runestar](#): > > And I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me why, in the middle of the Olympic coverage, NBC decided that Bob Costas should have a sit-down with Jerome “The Bus” Bettis in the studio. For me, the low point of pointless Olympic commentary will always be in 1994 when Charles Kurault popped up in between hockey and skiing to do a five-minute piece titled “The tree outside my hotel window.” It was, without a doubt, the most staggeringly inane time-filler I’d ever seen. At the very least he could have followed it up with “The spare family I’ve got hidden in my closet.” ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/103 "2006-02-25T07:07:16Z")
> [@Runestar](#): > > And I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me why, in the middle of the Olympic coverage, NBC decided that Bob Costas should have a sit-down with Jerome “The Bus” Bettis in the studio. Bettis was joining NBC. Its a highly rated show and Costas, who is going to be Bettis’ studio mate, is already in Italy doing the Olympics. Good advertising space for NBC Sunday Night Football this fall. ---
**Author:** ![Spacekat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Spacekat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacekat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/104 "2006-02-26T22:50:38Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Well it does sound like the reactor settings on a nuclear submarine , if you remember watching the hunt for red october , the alfa captain orders that the reactor be brought to 105 percent, or something. Along the previous “steel” line of discussion where something sounds really dumb but actually isn’t, I used to be a nuclear engineer, and it turns out reactors DO sometimes operate at 105%. 100% is the power for which they were designed, but if you’re in a bad situation, especially on a boomer, sometimes you have to put the pedal to the metal, neutronically speaking. Funny, huh? I do hate the “110 percent” line that is sickeningly overused in athletics (and poor business leadership). The only smart use of numbers I’ve ever heard come out of a sports interview was Mr. Lombardi’s “five minutes early is ON TIME.” Words to live by. My most hated Olympics commentary - Dick Button going on for hours about the “annoying, unnatractive sitting position” used as an intermediate by some couples entering the “death spiral” in figure skating. It wasn’t annoying to me until I had to listen to you talk about it 15 times, Dick. Go have a shot of grappa. It’ll stop bothering you immediately. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/105 "2006-02-27T01:09:31Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > And I swear that Button once said of a now retired American skater (she was blonde, Angela something): “there are skaters you run to watch and then there are skaters you get up and get a drink from the fridge while they’re on.” Nice. Yep, you heard it rght. Button said it a few years ago during a performance by Angela Nikodinov. During that season I also heard him comment that Russian skater Alexander Abt should change his name to “Alexander Inapt.” Not only rude, but he screwed up the insult. During the ladies’ long program on Thursday I heard the female commentator say about one skater: “oh, she has such great knees.” Yeah, just look at them, all … bendy. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/106 "2006-02-27T01:19:16Z")
When the USA surprisingly won the bronze in curling, two of the team members had to do their anti-doping tests, so suddenly after the break, there were only two team members being interviewed. One of the team members explained the announcer that the other guys were having their drug tests done, and after that comment the announcer said: “Can you comment on your team chemistry?” :smack: Well of course it did sound like he was referring to how good the team got along, but it sure was a really odd choice of words at that moment. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/107 "2006-02-27T01:31:47Z")
> [@Spacekat](#): > > Along the previous “steel” line of discussion where something sounds really dumb but actually isn’t, I used to be a nuclear engineer, and it turns out reactors DO sometimes operate at 105%. 100% is the power for which they were designed, but if you’re in a bad situation, especially on a boomer, sometimes you have to put the pedal to the metal, neutronically speaking. Funny, huh? Hi, **Spacekat** , welcome to the SDMB! Ex-nuke, eh? There are actually several of us on the boards here. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429/108 "2006-02-27T02:31:08Z")
Did anyone else find it tacky that NBC asked Kwan to commentate (?) along with “Our Gang” (Button et al)? I thought that was kinda nasty. I know that there is nothing but ratings, but seriously… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-stupidest-things-you-hear-olympic-announcers-say/344429.md?page=5)