For the past week and a half, my wife and I have been living the American Dream, by reclining in our Lazy Boys, watching world class athletes live their dreams. Translation: We’ve been watching a lot of Olympics. Almost too much... Almost.
Overall, I have greatly enjoyed the Games. Yes, there have been issues and the failures have been pointed out again and again. From luger Nodar Kumaritashvili’s tragic death hours before the Opening Ceremonies, to the Olympic Torch malfunctions, to the weather, there have been quite a few problems. However, those are all forgivable. Accidents happen, mistakes are made and you can't control the weather. The biggest disappointment has not had anything to do with the Games, themselves. The biggest disappointment, by far, has been the coverage on NBC.
In the past, the Olympics have been broadcast locally on NBC-owned stations (NBC, MSNBC and CNBC) and on Canada's CBC. This year, however, CTV (another Canadian network) won the bid to air the Games in Canada. Unfortunately for us, CTV is not available to most of the United States. (I've also heard that CTV isn’t available to 40% of Canadians, but I haven’t been able to confirm that.)
As I’ve previously
Ranted, NBC is a big fan of the tape delay. It allows them to air the most popular events during prime time, when most people are watching. This has been more than frustrating, on multiple occasions. As examples, earlier last week, I made the mistake of logging into Twitter, only to find out that Shaun White “just took Gold!” My wife visited CNN one afternoon to see that “Lindsey Vonn wins Gold!” In fact, moments ago, I made the mistake of visiting NBC’s Olympics website, only to find out that USA’s Bode Miller will ******************* in tonight’s Giant Slalom. Yes! On their own website they loudly proclaim the results of the events that will air tonight!
What makes it almost worse is the fact that the announcers try to pretend that it’s all happening right now. Bob Costas will say something like “Let’s go live to Whistler, where we pick up our coverage of Men’s Downhill.” They then cut to a mountain covered in mid-day sunlight, as I sit in the dark, in the same time-zone. Screw you, Bob.
In addition to the tape delay, NBC coverage has been filled with obnoxious commentary. I can’t stand how every interviewer asks the mandatory “Will you be happy with anything except Gold?” question and compares every single athlete against their American opponent. Don’t get me wrong, I root for the USA when I can, but I don’t want to hear about how “this athlete is not as strong as Lindsey Vonn” or “that athlete will never be as good as Shaun White.” Know what? Every athlete there has amazing talent and I’m tired of you diminishing that because they’re from a small European country. Every time you start a sentence with “I don’t mean to lessen their accomplishments, but…” you already have.
My final complaint has to do with this past Sunday’s coverage. On Sunday, there was a preliminary round of hockey between the United States and Canada. Countless people have been eagerly awaiting this matchup, hoping for a preview of the Gold Medal game. Rather than air the game on NBC, which is available to all of America, they opted for MSNBC, which is available to those with cable (and
not available in HD). I know lots of people have cable, but how many of those people didn’t know the Olympics were on MSNBC?
So, what was so important that NBC couldn’t air the match? Ice dancing and bobsledding.
Regarding the hockey decision, the NHL should be pissed off. They halted their entire season for the length of the Games, so their players could represent their countries. They are still paying their player’s salaries and are allowing their players to risk season-ending injuries. The only thing the NHL has to gain from that decision is attracting more fans to the sport. By airing USA vs Canada on cable, NBC has denied them the one thing they stand to gain.
I have a lot more I could complain about, but I’ll just let it go (Except Cris Collinsworth’s veneers. Are you
kidding me?!? He can't even close his lips around those things!). I’ll just end with this… I miss you, CBC. I miss you.