Winter Olympics, Why Am I Already Sick of Thee?

Winter Olympics, Why Am I Already Sick of Thee?
Let Us Count the Ways

I was looking forward to the Winter Olympics. As mentioned in my previous post, the month of February is a sports chasm, so the Olympics were a welcome bridge from football season to March Madness. Frankly, I love watching athletes from all over the world compete in their unique areas of expertise, with the world watching. It’s similar to the excitement college sports bring – no money or endorsements on the line (for the most part). No, the Olympics are all about courage, pride, country and personal accomplishment. Pure sport (disclaimer: term “sport” used loosely; there is curling at the Olympics, after all).

We are only a week into the 2010 Winter Games, but my enthusiasm has already bottomed out. Here are the top reasons why:

1. NBC’s choppy coverage. I may appreciate the Games more if I were able to tune into USA, MSNBC or CNBC for a more diverse sample of events. However, I’m cable-less and therefore doomed to watch Bob Costas, Al Michaels and Mary Carillo mostly drone on about athlete’s life stories and show me medal presentation ceremonies. Hello, I’d like to see some competition – and more than just performances of the top three finishers, too. When NBC does appease me with live action, its duration is typically short, not allowing me to appreciate the flow of an event and the drama of competition. Seemingly, the only event NBC cares to show viewers more than 10 minutes of at a time is, sadly, figure skating. Which brings us to reason number two.
2. Dick Button. My apologies to skating enthusiasts, but really, how often do we need to hear Mr. Button weigh in? It feels like Costas begins each of his studio segments with, “Here with me again is Dick Button.” NBC finds it necessary to have the man comment on everything. “Dick, I had Cheerios® for breakfast today. What are your thoughts?”
3. Speaking of commenting on everything, Bob Costas seems to be more interested in his colleagues’ fashion sense than Olympic events or athletes’ performances. Honestly, I counted five comments Costas made to guests in studio about their clothing, just the first two nights of coverage. He first observed how preppy Chris Collinsworth looked in his layered sweater-sport coat combo. Again, I’m going to go back to, bring me some event action; I don’t care that you think Mary Carillo looks like she belongs at a quidditch match. (By the way, a Harry Potter reference, really? With how many sports-centric viewers did that even resonate?) Costas knows sports better than most broadcasters out there. I thought he also knew how to call a sporting event, as opposed to making it his own show, like so many commentators out there. Unfortunately, he’s not true to form during these Winter Olympics.
4. Stephen Colbert. Dennis Miller didn’t save Monday Night Football for ABC; Colbert ain’t gonna save the Winter Olympics for NBC.

Maybe I’ll catch a few more events here and there over the course of the week. For the most part, however, I’m ready to move on to Selection Sunday (which is apparently what Marquette is looking ahead to, ‘cuz they sure weren’t focused on Pitt. . .but don’t even get me started on that!).