Please note that this petition has been up since prior to Mr. Trautwig's comments about adoption, but I am so happy to see non-hardcore gymnastics fans join the cause. I hope NBC reads all of our comments, both gymnastics lifers and 4-year fans.
Al Trautwig has demonstrated a hatred of the sport in interviews, is continuously and intentionally ignorant, and is straight up annoying to listen to, bringing down the entire commentary team.
(gymnastics discussion starts around 11 minutes)
Quotes from Al:
"I don't spend any time at all learning what an Amanar is."
"Another thing is that the four apparatus don't score the same way!" (maybe because they're different events)
"That's where they are, stuff is just so complicated."
"Getting information on gymastics is not the easiest thing in the world." (except the Code of Points and all rules are available online)
More important than anything other evidence submitted, Mr. Trautwig often makes inappropriate comments about the often underage women, be it sexist or racist.
We want our sport treated like a sport. Sign this petition to demand the removal of Mr. Trautwig from gymnastics coverage!
Dear NBC Sports:
We are tired of having Al Trautwig cover our sport. He clearly has no interest in it. Please listen to this interview.
The viewers are not stupid or uninformed. Watching him is akin to having a baseball commentator explain that there are three strikes or four balls in and at bat, and three outs every inning of a baseball game not just at the start of the game, but during every half inning in between. This man should not represent our sport in any way. He has been assigned to the sport for years and he has not gotten any more knowledgeable. I thought he was playing dumb, but then I heard that he really doesn't do any research before broadcasts. It would do you well to heed the following stories. And this one.
More important than anything other evidence submitted, Mr. Trautwig often makes inappropriate comments about the often underage women, be it sexist or racist.
We want our sport treated like a sport.
Opdater #28 år siden
Huge jump in supporters as the Olympics have started :D Please please please share the petition on Facebook, Twitter, etc etc. I've been making gifs or directly copy/pasting some of the comments that are written so that people can see there are very good reasons why Mr. Trautwig needs to go. Enjoy the Olympics, at least the competition if not the coverage!
Best,
Vanessa
Opdater #18 år siden
Thanks for signing! I'm continuously working on the letter to NBC Sports and the petition page. I'm looking for awful quotes from Al during broadcasts, please post them with a cite of when it was said.
Vanessa