I'm a huge Olympic geek ... and I'll be watching all day every day over the two weeks that they run. That's not to say I won't still be DVRing all of my shows, which come to think of it are all on networks that aren't NBC.

I don't even think I watch any shows on NBC.

I love the winter olympics...I am sure I will be at least watching a little of it...but on a real network: CBC (thank god I live in Canada)

Anyone who would watch American Idol over the Olympics needs to be tortured slowly to death on live tv.

How's that for reality tv.

Fuck reality tv and the fucking brain-dead morons who watch it. I hate you all.

the olympics bore the crap out of me.

+1

The worse thing to ever happen to the Olympics was the fall of the Soviet Union and East Germany. After the Unified team competed in the '92 Olympics millions of Americans let out a collective yawn.

First, there were no great rivalries. Americans no longer had to rely on the Olympics to gauge how the Cold War was progressing. There would be no great controversy (which summer games had the disputed basketball tournament?) Then it became far less interesting as professionals weren't playing, so we were watching second rate squads of the biggest events - basketball, hockey, baseball, and football/soccer. Then when we do start sending professionals, they slowly perform less and less spectacularly. It started with the US Hockey team failing to medal and tearing apart their hotel. The professional US men's Olympic team have yet to imrpress, despite having won the silver, only after falling to the juggernaut of Team Canada (I'll admit to pulling for Team Canada there ... but that's not the point.) The 2004 summer games in Greece saw the Dream Team Basketball squad kill the idea of a "Dream Team."

Finally, the event is presented horribly. We cut from events for human interests stories. They're great, but do we need to cut from an ongoing event for this story? Too often we're cutting from events. "Hey, we'll let you see five minutes of the hockey game between Slovakia and Norway ... damn, it's a good game (you get interested) ... we'll take you now to the first round of the Curling event here in Torino!" Eventually someone will turn the Olympics into a series of cable channels. Sure, NBC has a partnership going with some cable networks to carry the games, but I tried to decipher their rubik's cube of programming before.

So, my Rx .... find a new global superpower that challenges the United States politically, economically, and militarily who can also be dominant in a number of sports -- and give the games to a network which will televise the sports we're interested in first and don't sacrifice them for curling unless the hockey game turns into a 6-0 blowout.

The Olympics are not about countries or the conflicts between countries ... they are about that athlete in that moment. Something they have worked their whole life for ... and it all comes down to then.

That's why they do the "human interest" stories or whatnot.

It's about the athletes and what they've worked so damn hard for.

I see these things. My father was almost an Olympian, finished fourth in his qualifier when only the top three were being accepted.

Still, when I watch the games, I like to watch the event. I almost think that there should be a seperate channel for the human interest stories. Thus the cable network. Intermissions, pregame/postgame shows are also a great time for those human interest stories. I'll admit, I hate being in the middle of the biathalon and missing the next five minutes for someone's story, then we have the announcer bring us up to speed on the number of targets that so-and-so missed and how their opportunity is all but gone. I want to see that drama as it unfolds. That too is part of the human interest element of the games. The body-language as a competitor as they make their run at Olympic glory tells a great deal of that story. Dan Jansen, the speedskater. More enduring than the human interest stories that we were given are the images of him falling when victory stared him in the face. His struggles on the ice, his reactions to these struggles are what remain with me. And finally, his great achievement, as he finally has Olympic gold placed around his neck. I got those from watching the games, not from the human interest stories that were devoted to him.

People aren't going to see much of this if the networks responsible for airing the Olympics in the United States don't find a way to better present this to the people. Unfortunately global power struggle was a great deal of that. When you speak to Americans about the modern Olympic games their memories almost always seem to be of some USSR vs USA event. The Miracle game in Lake Placid being one, if not the most enduring moment in the memories of Americans, even for people who loathe the game of hockey. Some amongst the oldest generations might remember the Berlin games and the posturing/pageantry of the Nazi regime and the foreshadowing of things to come and the racial struggle that took front stage.

What do most Americans remember from the games in Greece? The United State Basketball team failed to win. The Salt Lake City games? The United States hockey team was defeated by the Canadian squad. The Sydney games? They don't remember much at all.

The human interest stories will be lost to Americans if there isn't a more entertaining and efficient method to presenting them. Eventually it may not even be worth it for American media outlets to carry the games, outside of say hockey, basketball, soccer, baseball, and perhaps some snowboarding, aerial skiing, et cetera.

[Edited on Feb 10, 2006 by Asael]

If you watch the games on CNBC and MSNBC or wherever the fuck they are, they show the whole deal.

The primetime shit on NBC is condensed because they want to pack it all in.
The true WHOLE competition is there ... you just have to channel surf to find it.

Is Turin +6 hours EST like London? Just a question that popped into my brain.

I hope they do better with it this time around. I've tried the cable partnerships for previous games and found the coverage can and does jump from event to event midway.

I hope they are devoting entire broadcasts to each event though, that will certainly be a step in the right direction.

I love watching the Olympics. I've noticed people don't seem to care anymore, but I think it's more interesting than most sports, and it's nice to see the world come together on something peacefully. Well, usually peacefully.

And you're precious also.

they're showing the final 4 episodes of Arrested Development (or the "two hour season finale" ) during the opening ceremonies or something, right?

i'm waiting to download it in HD tomorrow, but still, that makes me even more angry at FOX than anything else.

where the hell is the Olympics even being held this year? i don't recognize the city's name at all. i won't be watching, i hate sports no matter what, and it's been about a decade since i was captivated by figure skaters.

Italy.