Even the XFL was better

I want to start out with a request. If you have a chance please read the article on Roger Ebert in this month’s Esquire. You don’t even need to pick up the magazine as it is available on their website. It is a fascinating; touching and thought provoking article on Ebert as he faces what he knows is his end. Due to cancer and various surgeries he can no longer eat or talk but he is still living life. As long as he can write, as long as he can still express himself and as long as there are still movies to watch he continues to live life as much as he can under the most trying circumstances imaginable. Read the profile. It is something that you will never forget.

Ok, time for my list of all the things that I hate about NBCs Olympic coverage.

Point # 1: None of the events are live except for hockey, curling, and for some bizarre reason, cross country skiing. The women’s downhill was yesterday and it is one of the marquee events featuring an American athlete who is best in the world but battling an injury. This is one of those classic, much watch moments. Or it would be except that I read the results online four hours before NBC broadcasted them (seven hours delayed on the west coast.) Nowhere could you watch the event live. Sports are meant to be watched live and with the Games in Canada there is no excuse not to show everything live on one network or another.

Point # 2: Even what they show on tape is bad: Here is what we ended up seeing of the women’s downhill. The three medalists runs, the eighth place finisher, another American with a decent finish, and several people who crashed. That is it. What little drama was left after knowing the result was taken away by showing such a select few runs that each run was anti climatic. It was the worst broadcast of a sporting event that I can imagine.

Point # 3: For crying out loud I don’t give a damn about what Cris Collinsworth thinks about anything other than football and why his name is missing an H.

Point # 4: There are other countries: Now I am fully behind using the Olympics as a way to have jingoistic fervor. It is pretty much the entire point and I love having a socially acceptable moment in time where I can discuss my hatred towards the Swiss. But part of the fun of the Olympics is watching athletes from small countries that you barely know about just kicking all kinds of ass. Or even just watching Australian speed skaters dressed in their Tron outfits. Heck, just the concept of an Australian speed skater is enough to get my interest. NBC completely ignored it because of an American in the race.

Point # 5: NBC broadcasts the Olympics for people who don’t like sports: At the end of the day this is the heart of their coverage. Years ago marketers realized that people who watch the Olympics aren’t your typical sports fan. They are older and female and more interested in stories than competition. As a result, NBC tailored their coverage to this demographic who really doesn’t care that they know the result already. They mainly want to hear the uplifting human interest story behind it. On one level, that is fine and a decent marketing strategy.

On the other hand, it is completely wrong because the true base of the Olympics are sports fans. It may skew more in the non-traditional fan direction but the sports fans are still the core audience and we can’t stand this type of coverage. Despite the fact that I am someone who follows winter sports in non Olympic years I can’t find coverage of the events themselves anywhere. I just want to watch people skiing down a mountain, or skiing and shooting at things, or throwing large stones across ice. I want to see the competition and the drama of not knowing who will win. That was the thrill over the weekend with the moguls being shown live. Sadly, that thrill has been absent for the rest of the coverage.