Good Morning-

I'm living in Istanbul right now and Eurovision is showing the Olympics in a 24 hour a day format. As a result, I've seen some very obscure athletes doing, well, not very well. Instead of being boring, these performances, particularly those in figure skating, tend to show how difficult some of the events really are. Instead of a highlight reel, we see the worst and the best. The best look amazing compared to the worst or inexperienced, and the worst make the events look as hard as they really are. As someone who has never really been into figure skating, this type of broadcasting of the Olympics has added some perspective to a sport that seems very difficult and demanding. The commentators are also very dorky, and British, which adds an overly analytical point-of-view (loaded with every idiom imaginable), but is welcome compared to the "X-treme!" attitude of American commentators.

And, of course, they show all of the short track speed skating events, which is a thrilling sport, especially with 20 skaters on a rink the size of a basketball court.

Tune into Eurovison on satelite if you can. All the best.

note: one of the commentators refered to a particularly poor figure skating performance as "useful." Gave me something to think about for a while.

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I feel bad b/c if I were there I'd certainly want people to watch me compete, but between the tape delays, the highlights coverage to commercial ratio of about 1:4, and the neanderthal nationalistic commentators and their whipping of fake drama around US athletes when there was real drama elsewhere....it wasn't worth my time. I even gave up on the women's ice hockey. This article encapsulates my frustrations completely.

I had a friend who went to the Athens Olympics and came back swearing she could not stand to watch them on TV ever again. After this Olympics, there will certainly be scores of people who've never been there live who will say the same.

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This about sums it up for me. NBC = N eocons B umbling C onsumerism.
Insert Lincoln’s corporateocracy rant here!
AlienSlave

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Although I can understand your criticisms about the broadcast of the Olympics, and I do agree to a certain extent, I have to appreciate the fact that I can watch it in prime time, as I don't have the ability to watch TV 24 hours a day. I only have those few hours in the evening.

I know, you'll tell me "it's called a VCR", but who has time to watch 2 weeks worth of 24 hr/day sports tapes? I can't imagine what it must be like to have that kind of time on my hands.

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Before the Olympics started, we called DirectTV to see if they would provide an Olympics package. No, they said; we could watch it on the networks of NBC: local NBC (primetime coverage), USA, CNBC & MSNBC. We did enjoy the curling competition on USA; that was fascinating. We enjoyed the program shown from 6-7 CST, "Olympic Ice," which provided side stories on the figure skating & some speed skating competitions.
In about 1980 or so, our local cable did provide a package of live coverage similar to Eurovision for one summer Olympics. It was 12-hour live coverage & it was wonderful. We taped everything we would miss while working & watched it all live. It was wonderful. The next Olympics, cable didn't provide the package because "there wasn't enough interest out there." We were relegated to tape-delayed coverage on local channels from then on.
The US commercial networks are American-competitor skewed in their commentary with a vengeance. Zirin is completely correct when he says it was 98% US with little or no acknowledgement that there were any athletes worth covering from almost any other country. Sad. We Americans wonder why we are considered so self-centered, viewed by the rest of the world. Well?
This morning, NBC is interviewing Shani Davis, asking him if he felt racially discriminated against -- was this a "black anger" thing with him? What a shabby question, Matt Lauer!
When will our US commercial TV providers grow up?
Judy Allen, Beaumont, TX (in the good 'ole US of A)

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Never mind the advertising dollars, a network that prefers to air soaps and game shows and "morning programs" over live sports should not broadcast sports in the first place. The Olympics happen once every 2 years, and they are treated as if they were 10-years old reruns of Full House.

The IOC should have a long term vision about this and realize that what is best for the Olympics is not getting the most money each time some specific organizing comitee sells the rights. The most important thing is choosing a network that make the games look good and compelling. If it's a cable sports network, then so be it.

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sorry if I sound like one of those Mt. Dew swillers but I like to watch all the events, old and new. I'm 33 and I grew up playing hockey, (I vividly remember watching the 1980 winter olympics and have been a fan ever since). I love to ski, snowboard, ice-skate, curling etc. I always look forward to the olympics, I only wish there was a network that allowed one to view each and every event regardless what countries are competing or what time they take place.

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Here's a novel idea. I stopped watching tv completely about 2 years ago. I found that when I watched tv, there was either nothing on, or I was spending alot of wasted time flipping channels and watching commercials.

Everything described in the article is my view of tv in general.

I got tired of living my life through others, maybe alot of other people have made the same decision which is why NBC tanked so badly with the olympics.

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Between the athletes' published comments and constantly interrupting commercials the Olympics are just plain bad. Our athletes seem not to have grown up - they keep making excuses for their failures and generally behave like spoiled brats. And who wants to spend all that time watching really stupid commercials? It's too bad that all of the real talent is going into using our fabulous technology to produce propaganda for buying things.

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Dave Zirin gets the gold for his brilliant critique; and it was hilarious too!

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NBC covers the Olympics the way American neocons do foreign policy: The world is 95 percent America, 3 percent water, and 2 percent everything else.

Here in Canada, the CBC covers the Olympics as if the world is 95% Canada, 3% water, 2% everything else.

Why? Because Canadians want to watch Canadians. Germans want to watch Germans, and Americans want to watch Americans.

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In 2000 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation stole veiwership from the US market because they showed it live, see this article.

As someone who doesn't have cable, I am limited in what I they will show me. But I remember being really pissed off trying to catch broadcast tv of the Olympics in Utah on the weekend, and seeing car racing. That is when I stopped watching them.

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Tooo many commercials!
Bad reporters and/or commentators.. Man it sucks..

The NBC commentators seemed very negative and a distraction for me.
There was a cross country (around a course) event where the U.S. skiers were waaayy at the back and the commentators kept saying things like "well, they're out of it now" or "they're not in it anymore" and "no chance now" and the race wasn't even over.
Can you imagine working hard to get get to the Olympics and loosing with this kind of support?
Yesterday, the ice skating commentators sounded more like some fussy fashion review or frustrated judge wannabees.
Saying things like "she has no spark" or "she's not giving it her all" and "that was very diaspointing".
Yeah it is disapointing when you bust your ass on the ice and hear how bad your performance was or that you didn't give it your all.

BTW/OT
_________
re:funboy
"I was spending alot of wasted time flipping channels and watching commercials."
______________________
I know what you mean.
Tme Warner Cable costs too much for all the commercial television.

jim's op/ed
@http://opinionsandreasons.blogspot.com/

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I'm an American living in Canada and I thought Canadian coverage was great. Yes, they did show mostly the Canadian athletes but I imagine it wasn't as ethno-centric as it was state-side, they showed a lot of foreign athletes as well. You can get different sports on about 5 different channels and pick and choose what you'd like to watch. I've never watched this much Olympics, ever. Although their commentators are fairly dorky...but so are the Americans.

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I was with you on this article until the part about idiotic sports. Your criticisms of NBC are certainly supported by my experience watching their prime time olympic coverage. However your criticism of sports you don't particularly care for is simply subjective. I happened to enjoy the snowboarding and the skeleton, among many of the other sports of course. Sure snowboarding is a very "American" sport, but it has become huge in other countries as well.

I'm with you on the coverage though. It could be much more balanced. I understand the need to profile the most promising American contenders for a U.S. audience. I'm sure the same thing happens in other countries. I just wish it were more balanced with better explanations of the sports, and shorter profiles (less cheesy) about more athletes. There's something strange about a five minute over-produced advertisement/music video about an athlete right before they compete. It has to be distracting for the athlete to be a part of the production as well.

In my opinion the worst thing about much of the Olympic coverage is how athletes are treated when they do not live up to expectations. This isn't just a criticism of NBC. I've see articles in the Washington Post talking about a bronze medal like it was a failure. Instead we should acknowledge that it is a feat of major significance just to make it into the Olympics, and a bronze or silver medal is worthy of our awe just as much as a gold medal. Kudos to all of the bronze and silver medalists who kept a positive attitude even as the reporters were asking them to describe their disappointment at failing to win the gold. Of course athletes are competitive. Of course they would prefer to get the gold. But most of them understand that when you get into the top three, it really comes down to who had the better day, the better luck, or who made the right choices at the right time.

Tape delays are still useful for the many people who want to watch the highlights in a nice convenient little package. Fortunately the Web and satellite tv are becoming a better resource for those who would like real time around the clock coverage.

- Sean

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After reading your piece about 'How NBC botched the Olympics' I had to respond.
.... You presented, AND represent just another instance of Americanos not wanting to take responsibility for themselves, blaming all ills on someone or something else. A mirror image of our apathy regarding current politics - (30% of Americans depend on Talk Radio for their daily news...)

The reason more folks watched American Idol (American Karaoke) than the Olympics is because we are a sorry lot of overweight, apathetic morons who would rather invest our time in the fantasy and inane, the American-only nightmare, than in watching a slew of beautiful, fit real life young people from the world over who actually have worked hard (shocked?) and focused hard and dreamed hard to become the best they can be.

It was awesome, illuminating, inspirational. These are things that don't seem to be present any longer in our sick societies dictionary. Those, and 'work ethic'.
Blame it all on something else.....

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Dave, you must receive a different NBC than me.

I have been a strong critic of Olympic coverage in the past and it can always be improved. Sure there is the typical U.S. flag-waving. (This is a U.S. network, right? Do you think the Italians or others are any different?) However, there is much more expanded coverage of other nations and less exclusive focus on marquee sports than expected. I am a big cross country fan and have searched in vain to find any coverage in previous WOs, but NBC gave significant airtime to most of the races, both men's and women's, all without any real U.S. contenders.

The "feel good" personal interest stories are always overdone, but the features on Swedish skier Anja Paerson and Russian skaters Irina Slutskaya and Evgeni Plushenko, among many others, belies your claim of little attention to other nations. The extended feature on the rivalry between the Italian and the Norweigian cross country teams, while a sidebar to the games, was a fascinating piece of documentary work and an appropriate prologue to the relay race, again won by the Italians. There is a lot of coverage of the problems of other favored nations' disappointments, such as the Dutch in speed skating and the Norweigians in Cross Country. (Also another insightful funny piece on the Dutch fans.)

The stories you mention--the Davis win, the Davis-Hedrick feud (too much coverage, IMHO), the Austrian Mayer chase, the Ice Dancing competition (one of NBC's extended broadcasts) all were given airtime. Perhaps not in the way or in the depth you would like, but still covered.

Then you complain of too much coverage of skeleton or half-pipe. You can't have it both ways. You can add aerials or ski jumping or biathalon to the list of sports that are obscure and of little interest to me, but are still part of the games and deserve broadcast. I didn't know anything about snowboard giant slalom or cross before the games, but I found those competitions extremely exciting. Lindsey Jacobellis's showboating that cost her the gold in the cross was given in-depth and appropriate analysis, including a personal interview with her where she almost admitted her egotistical error.

Okay, now to live coverage. Yes the games are rebroadcast; yes, they are edited. I live on the West Coast. Italy is nine hours ahead of me. I am not able to watch the events at the time broadcast since I am either in bed or working. As a sports commentator, you must have TIVO. In case you haven't heard of this, it allows you to record and playback at your leisure. With my satellite feeds of the networks, I can record two shows at once, from either coast. I watch and skip or speed up the parts that are not of interest. Especially commercials. You should try it. No more skeleton boredom.

I have quibbles. Let's get rid of the endless figure skating preliminary commentary, for one. But unless you have never seen a previous Winter Olympics broadcast by a U.S. network, it is hard to imagine that you do not see improvement. Why are their ratings down? Probably because there is too much, not because it is bad. Let's face it, most Americans just aren't interested in most of these sports. Their loss.

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The jingoism, commercialism and shallow incompleteness of the coverage is an embarassment. I've watched the olympics in the UK and really enjoyed the coverage of minor events and less than top competitors.

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Hey, I'm mostly annoyed because my Late Night shows are all pre-empted or delayed or watered down because of the Olympics. If you leave NBC on all day, you'll see the Olympic events are repeated about three times, seemingly on a loop. Why keep them rolling on right through till 4am? It's not even live!

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Yeah - the tape delay is ridiculous. Yes, NBC please package up sport with drama with life stories. Thanks for the Happy Meal.

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What a negative and depressing article. Try watching the events with a child - our son has reminded us of the FUN in the Olympics. It's sports, ok, not a deadly serious issue.

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I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but:
Sylvester stalone is actually in the process of making another Rocky movie. Even sadder, I heard a rumor that he is going to attempt another Rambo movie. Who do you think Rambo could be fighting this time? Hmm...

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Dave, Lighten up. NBC's coverage has actually been better than past Olympic coverages. Snowboarding is now one of the most popular Winter Olympic sports. It's one of the fastest growing sports in the US and millions of Americans can relate to the competition. Curling has been around forever and while some may find it interesting, who can relate to that sport? And it appears you haven't watched much of NBC's coverage, because NBC made a huge deal out of the Hedrick/Davis fued and the crazy Ice Dancing competition.

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I agree that many folks enjoy watching the skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, figure skating, etc. Some watch the Olympics just for their favorite sport (for me it's the figure skating). I don't even mind the taped delay, as I too can't be glued in front of the set all day. My biggest gripe is the way NBC cuts away from one sport to give a few minutes of another, then a few minutes of still another, then back to the first. It's totally frustrating, and I've found no schedule of exactly when each sport will be broadcast (other than just listing those that will be covered over the course of an evening). So, I just set a VCR to tape the entire 4-hour show, and zip through the program segments (& commercials) to watch the sport I want to see. NBC is shooting itself in the foot.

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Look, NBC didn't ignore athletes from other countries to anywhere near the extent that Zirin says. They cover the major contenders and eventual medal winners in all the events regardless of the nationality of the winner. They showed biathlon, cross country skiing, and ski jumping, sports in which americans had no chance to win. And they showed many hockey games from the preliminary round that did not have the US team playing. True, US athletes get the dominant share of the coverage (typical coverage of an event is the american participants, along with medal winners and scant few others) but that's to be expected. American viewers, egads, want to see the american competitors. But it's not 95/5 coverage. More like 75/25.

But the way NBC put their tape delay broadcasts together, with cutting back and forth (or in the case of curling, cutting out bits of the match in favor of commercials even when the match was tape delayed) was crap. They've got lots of room to improve.

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"Moldy Nationalism: It's amazing. America has never been a more dynamic, multicultural society and the world has never been more of a global village . . ."

Actually, America has never been a more diseased, cesspool of human garbage; and much of the western world floats in the same filth. Globalism is the bane of mankind. Enjoy multiculturalism, Mr. Zirin? Can't have it until Israel allows Chinese guest workers to have sex with Jewish woman. Won't happen.

"Idiotic Sports: Is your water cooler abuzz with news of the skeleton finals? What about the half-pipe? The slalom? No? Then congratulations, you don't work in an insane asylum. Most of the sports highlighted by NBC seem to have been dreamed up in corporate boardrooms to sell Mountain Dew and manufacture medals for US athletes. No one knows or cares about these sports. In Las Vegas, where you can bet on whether the Super Bowl will start on time, there is no action on these competitions."

Idiotic sports, huh? You mean sports that are dominated by White folks? Come out and say it, coward. And using Vegas as a metric was telling. Do you follow a strange religion?

Your racist thoughts shine through, Mr. Zirin. People like me can smell people like you miles away.

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Dang straight. If it's one basketball game, as when my beloved Lakers were in the finals and I would avoid sports talk, sports news, and warn people I met not to tell me if they knew if the Lakers were winning, it'd be one thing, but you listen to the news and they burst your bubble by telling you who the winners are. Not that that's unreasonable, but it's a lot harder to avoid eighteen results than one result.

As a kid in Britain in the mid-late '80s, I learned a lot about the world by watching the Olympics. I looked forward to the profiles of the best athletes, not the British ones necessarily. And it gave the coverage that much more credibility to me because I thought that the commentators were being fair and weren't featuring athletes who were mediocre (and the British often were). Here in the States in the early '80s and during the '90s, I can barely stand the Olympic coverage. It's laughable. And when I tell my friends about the difference between the coverage here and there, it's as if they'd never thought about it. I have relatives in Greece who have lived in Britain and they tell me that the coverage in Greece makes the British coverage look like the American coverage...so anyway-yeah, it's truly sickening. And I also don't like the silly sports. I like the bobsled and skiing....and I like Bob Costas, he's much too talented for NBC. Anyway, maybe in four years I'll be back in Britain....or maybe Greece....(sigh)

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