Littlest Finch

I had been counting down the days til the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I’d been so excited to watch them – seeing all the events. I ordered my Canadian red mittens. I ordered my Quatchi and Mukmuk and geared up for the excitement that only the Olympics can bring. I got myself up to date on all the athletes in the sports I was interested in and then – NBC happened. They are airing these games as though the internet does not exist. This is not ten years ago, this is not the 1970s where a family sits around the television watching the events of the day unfold in a digest format.

We have the internet. We have twitter. We have OTHER NEWS STATIONS. We have the ability to learn about the winners of a given race or event as soon as it happens. NBC is not airing their programming in this century. They are stuck in the past, as so much of their recent behaviour shows. They cancel Southland because it is too edgy and too gritty. They get rid of Conan. They bring back Leno to The Tonight Show and they royally screw up their coverage of the Olympics.

It is almost a farce – these Olympics have become nothing more than sob story after sob story sprinkled in with Bob Costas listening to himself talk for hours. It is clear, by their coverage, that NBC is trying to make these Olympics solely about the human interest aspect and not the actual coverage of sport. They have turned the Olympics into a soap opera featuring Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Hannah Kearney, Tanith Belbin, etc.

America is not the only country on the planet. Not everyone that lives in America and watches NBC’s coverage of these Olympics is American. It is quite frankly, presumptuous and arrogant for NBC to think that the only athletes anyone is interested in are American and good looking. It is also arrogant to presume what sports people want to watch – when you cover the Olympics, you don’t just cover the sports that make headlines or are most watched. It is NOT about that – it is about the sport. Perhaps I’m being too naive about all this, but I will say – I understood having the digest format during Beijing with the significant time difference – it made sense. They also aired late night (and even very early morning) LIVE events in the United States. Now, when the Olympics are on the same continent and for many on the West Coast, the same time zone? They have to wait hours to watch a race that happened during their normal viewing hours and IN THEIR SAME TIME ZONE. I suppose I should be thankful that I’m at least on the East Coast and get to watch things three hours before the West Coast.

They tried to make Sven Kramer their token non-American story after he won gold (and because he’s very good looking), but he was not having it. An NBC interviewer asked him to state his name and his country and then asked if he thought he did well in his race. After he had just won gold. I think a gold medal means you did well. Also, this guy is a rock star in his country. Not to mention – why ask someone to state their name and country when, thanks to modern day graphics/technology, you can just plaster in on the screen when he’s talking. It’s not rocket science here. He asked the reporter if she was stupid as soon as she asked those questions and good for him, I say. It was a stupid question and I’m glad someone, anyone, is calling out NBC on their shoddy coverage, inane questions, and misdirected focus away from what the Olympics are really about – the athleticism and the achievement.

All in all – a huge disappointment and if anything, I mean anything, interferes with my ability to watch hockey, I will be writing, tweeting, and complaining to anyone I can find at NBC. I just wish I was back in Buffalo where we get Canadian television stations and I could watch the coverage on CTV because this is just downright painful trying to enjoy the Olympics on NBC.

[NBC Catches Shaun White & His Coach in Vulgar Chat During One of Few Events to be Aired Live]