Sports
NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League
Brice Christianson was concerned that interpreting the annual pre-Stanley Cup Final State of the NHL address into American Sign Language for the first time in 2022 would be a one-time opportunity to introduce the Deaf population to hockey.
Two years later, it is impossible for him not to become emotional as the league takes another significant stride.
The Stanley Cup Final will be the first time a major sports league broadcasts games in American Sign Language. Deaf announcers will provide play-by-play and color analysis for each game between Edmonton and Florida. Game 1 is on Saturday.
“This is a great first step toward having representation, having deaf people on screen, and connecting the Deaf community to people like them,” said Christianson, the founder and CEO of P-X-P, which is producing the telecasts that will be available on ESPN+ and Sportsnet+. “For the NHL to approve and believe in this is revolutionary. It’s genuinely historic, and they’ve confirmed that they want to continue doing so.”
Stanley Cup | AP News Image
NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League
This next phase in the NHL’s cooperation with P-X-P, which seeks to make sports more inclusive through interpretation, follows another historic occasion. Last weekend, TNT aired an ASL broadcast of the United States Women’s Deaf National Soccer Team’s match against Australia. Reporter Melissa Ortiz was on television, narrating the scene in American Sign Language.
In the Cup Final, Jason Altmann, a third-generation Deaf and P-X-P’s chief operations officer, will face Noah Blankenship from Denver’s Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. Having that representation is more important than closed captioning since it directly benefits the Deaf community rather than forcing members to read words about the games.
“To be able to have this real-time coverage of play-by-play and color commentary in American Sign Language being called directly rather than a re-interpretation is really what the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community want,” said Kim Davis, the NHL’s senior executive VP of social impact, growth initiatives, and legislative affairs. “It is what they deserve. That makes the game more significant to them. It is not as if you are reinterpreting for them from another language. They’re hearing the game live in their native tongue and in the way they understand it best.”
Reaching this stage is another success for Christianson, an ASL interpreter born to deaf parents who have spent years convincing teams and leagues to try new things. The relationship with the NHL began during a 2021 meeting with Paul LaCaruba, the NHL’s VP of youth strategy and hockey culture, and ended with Christianson begging one person to support his ideas for serving the Deaf population.
Stanley Cup | Sportico Image
NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League
Christianson explained that LaCaruba became that person, allowing him to interpret for Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly two years ago. That was a news conference, but this is an opportunity to offer the season’s most crucial games to a previously neglected population.
“We know there are millions of deaf and hard of hearing hockey fans — and many more who have yet to fall in love with the sport,” LaCaruba stated. “We are building access for the Deaf community, by the Deaf community, and there is no better platform to gauge a reaction than during the Stanley Cup Final.”
Do not do a victory lap; instead, gauge the reaction. Christianson stated that there is a plan to continue doing this for the NHL beyond this series, and that way forward allows this to serve as a test, with potential tweaks and enhancements for the next time.
“I think it’s very brave for the NHL to say, ‘Hey, we want to do this,'” Christianson stated. “We’re all going to go in with our best and we’re going to try our best, and then we’re going to come back and we’re going to debrief and we’re going to try to get better with every process.”
Stanley Cup | Global News Image
NHL To Broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games In American Sign Language, A 1st For A Major Sports League
It could become a pattern for others. Davis, who has learned a lot about ASL and dealing with the Deaf population, would be delighted if the NHL were the first, but not the last, to try something like this.
“We’re doing something no other major league has ever tried before, and that is a broadcast and experience for the Deaf by the Deaf,” Davis stated. “We are proud of that. We simply want to continue to support the communities with which we want to be authentic, and if another league wishes to model it, we believe that imitation is the finest form of flattery, so let us do so.”
SOURCE – (AP)
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics promises to be unlike any other.
In a novelty for the Games, the show will be held on Paris’ famed River Seine rather than in a stadium.
Here is everything you need know about the ceremony…
What to expect from the spectacular opening ceremony.
The eye-catching celebration will take place over a 6km stretch of the Seine. It will start at Austerlitz Bridge and culminate among the gardens, fountains, and palaces in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at Trocadero.
Almost 100 boats will carry over 10,000 athletes and dignitaries as they cruise past Paris’ prominent monuments such as Notre Dame Cathedral and Pont Neuf.
The boats will transport the parade’s participants as well as the artistic portion of the celebration, which will highlight Paris and France’s history and culture.
The performers’ identities, however, have been kept a mystery.
Thousands of people are still expected to line the river and streets, with millions more watching on television all over the world.
“I’d like to show France in all its diversity,” said Thomas Jolly, the French actor and theatre director appointed as the ceremony’s creative director, a post previously played by Danny Boyle in London 2012.
“Illustrate the richness and plurality shaped by its history, which has been influenced and inspired by the diverse cultures that have passed through it, while itself serving as a source of inspiration.”
The ceremony will also involve the ceremonial opening of the Games, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
Many of the finer elements have been maintained as a surprise.
What is the date and time of the opening ceremony?
The ceremony will commence at 19:30 local time (18:30 BST) on Friday, July 26.
It is scheduled to take little under four hours, with the last parts taking place as the sun sets over the French city.
Fortunately, the Paris weather forecast for Friday evening is positive.
In what sequence will the nations be introduced?
In accordance with tradition, Greece will be the first nation introduced during the ceremony.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, an NBA star, is one of their flagbearers for the games.
Greece will be followed by the Refugee Olympic Team, with hosts France being the last to be unveiled.
Because of their countries’ involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, Russian and Belarussian athletes participating as individuals will not participate.
How to follow the opening ceremony on BBC.
The opening ceremony will begin live at 17:45 BST on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app.
BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds will provide radio coverage beginning at 19:00 BST.
There will also be live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app, bringing you all the action from Paris.
Source: BBC
Sports
Coco Gauff To Be Female Flag Bearer For US Team At Olympic Opening Ceremony, Joining LeBron James
PARIS — Coco Gauff, a tennis player, will join LeBron James as a flag bearer for the United States Olympic team at Friday’s opening ceremony.
Coco, the reigning US Open winner, is ready to make her Olympic debut at the Paris Games, becoming the first tennis player to carry the American flag. Team USA athletes selected her and James.
“I believe the Olympics are the priority. It’s equal to the Grand Slams. I wouldn’t put it above or below because I’d never played before. “This is my first time,” Gauff explained earlier this year. “I always want to do well and get a medal.”
Coco Gauff | AP News Image
Coco Gauff To Be Female Flag Bearer For US Team At Olympic Opening Ceremony, Joining LeBron James
Coco and James, the 39-year-old NBA’s all-time top scorer, engage in sports outside the traditional Olympic realm and receive media attention year-round rather than every four years.
Coco, 20, joined the American team for the Tokyo Olympics as a youngster three years ago but had to withdraw because she tested positive for COVID-19 just before flying to Japan.
Coco, who now lives in Florida, has won Grand Slam titles in both singles and doubles. She earned her first major triumph in New York in September, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the singles final of the U.S. Open, and then won her first Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open in June with Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova.
The Paris Olympics will be played on the same clay courts at Roland Garros used for the French Open. The bracket draw will take place on Thursday, and play will begin on Saturday.
Coco is seeded second in singles, matching her current WTA ranking behind Poland’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek, and will be one of the medal favorites.
Coco Gauff | AP news Image
Coco Gauff To Be Female Flag Bearer For US Team At Olympic Opening Ceremony, Joining LeBron James
She and her normal doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, are seeded first in the women’s doubles. Gauff may also compete in mixed doubles; however, those pairs have yet to be determined.
“I’m not putting too much pressure on it, because I want to fully enjoy the experience,” Gauff said of her Olympic debut. “Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime, (but) I’ll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
SOURCE | AP
When LeBron James was chosen for his first Olympics in 2004, he was unsure what the opening ceremony entailed.
This time, he’ll be a star of the show.
His fellow American Olympians chose James to be the male flagbearer for the United States at the opening ceremony of the Paris Games on Friday night. He is the third basketball player — and the first men’s player — to carry the United States flag at the start of an Olympics, following Dawn Staley in 2004 and Sue Bird in 2021.
“It’s an incredible honor to represent the United States on this global stage, especially in a moment that can bring the whole world together,” James told reporters. “As a kid from Akron, this responsibility means everything to not only me, but to my family, all the kids in my community, my teammates, other Olympians, and so many more people throughout the country with huge dreams. Sports have the capacity to unite us all, and I’m honored to be a part of this historic occasion.”
The 39-year-old James learned of the distinction Monday in London, just hours before the United States men’s team was supposed to play its final pre-Olympics exhibition game against World Cup champion Germany.
“We understand how much of an honor it is to be in that position and I think Bron’s entire career, on and off the court, speaks for itself as him being worthy of that honor,” Curry said on the video announcing his nomination.
“He has represented what it means to be excellent both on and off the court in his commitment to service and to uplifting the community in all ways that he knows how has been a lifelong passion,” Curry pointed out. “And the work speaks for itself.”
LeBron James Selected As Team USA Male Flagbearer For Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
The female U.S. flagbearer is anticipated to be revealed on Tuesday. In 2020, the International Olympic Committee announced that country delegations would have two flagbearers at the Olympics’ opening ceremony, one male and one female, to encourage gender equality. The United States is set to send around 600 competitors to the Paris Games, with approximately 53% women.
“Being chosen by your teammates to carry the flag is a tremendous honor—and a testament to LeBron’s passion for Team USA and dedication to his sport,” U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said.
James, a global icon, four-time NBA champion, and the league’s all-time leading scorer about to begin his record-tying 22nd NBA season, is set to compete in the Olympics for the fourth time, having previously won bronze in 2004, gold in Beijing in 2008, and gold again in London in 2012. He participated in the opening ceremony at his previous three Olympics.
This will be an unprecedented Olympic opening ceremony, with thousands of participants sailing along the River Seine at nightfall toward the Eiffel Tower. According to Olympic officials, the route is a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) one, with some 320,000 spectators expected to watch from the river bank and an estimated 1 billion more watching on televisions around the world.
LeBron James Selected As Team USA Male Flagbearer For Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
Not all Olympic athletes attend the opening ceremony; many miss it for logistical reasons, such as having to compete the next day. James and the four-time defending gold champion U.S. men shall begin Olympic competition on Sunday, when they face Serbia in Lille, France.
James and the American Olympians will have to wait longer than virtually any other nation for their voyage on the Seine. According to IOC protocol, Greece will lead the march, with NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo serving as one of its two flagbearers. The Refugee Olympic Team and over 200 more national delegations will follow. The United States is slated to be next-to-last in the procession because Los Angeles will host the next Summer Olympics in 2028.
As the host, France will be the last nation to participate in the opening ceremony procession. Its men’s basketball team, which includes reigning NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama, begins Olympic competition on Saturday and is not scheduled to attend the opening ceremony.
SOURCE | AP
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