Sigh. This phenomenon usually happens with the regular (i.e.–free TV) broadcast of the Olympics, and I’m already getting tired of it. The folks at NBC think that prime time coverage should only include a handful of sports: Swimming, diving, gymnastics, beach volleyball, and basketball. Oh, something else probably sneaks in too, but for the first week, it’s always these sports. Next week track & field will replace gymnastics. Because we’re dying to see every heat, especially when other sports have been regulated to online coverage.
Even the Boy has picked up on this. The other day I e-mailed him to tell him I was going to go to the grocery, and he replied asking if I really could, because I might miss a Michael Phelps interview. Seriously, the guy is swimming 5000 races during these Games. His life consists of swimming, eating, sleeping, and maybe playing some video games. Is there something new he’s possibly going to say after race 3815? Stop talking to him all the time! Talk to that black swimmer, whose gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay is actually more interesting (and possibly important) due to the fact that only two black swimmers from the US have medaled. That’s definitely a more powerful story.
Yes, I know daytime coverage has included rowing and cycling and water polo, but that doesn’t change the fact that the last few nights have been hours of heats or preliminary games, or watching a gymnastics team sit around waiting for their rotation while Tim Daggett waxes poetic, even when other gymnasts are performing and we could be watching them.
How is it that every Olympics you get the same coverage? How is it that the programming executives don’t think anything else needs to be shown on network television? [I realize my argument may be moot because they’d just say, “Well, we show it on cable, so if you want to see it, you should pay for it.” My counter–surprisingly, because I didn’t think the statistics would say this–is that just over half of television households have basic cable TV. And this number is down from a few years ago…though I don’t think that includes satellite or other dishes, but still. Not every American pays for television.]
Is it just me? Does anyone else think that Olympic coverage needs a total overhaul? Maybe those little bio packages on inspirational athletes need to go in favor of telling the same story while you watch the athlete compete. Maybe we could show a few minutes of badminton or table tennis or judo on network television, just to let you get a feel for what else is out there. Who knows–maybe those five minutes of shooting coverage would inspire some talented sharp-shooting youth in small-town Arkansas, who feels there’s no future for him, to realize he might actually be able to go to the Olympics.
I like to think of the Olympics as a showcase for what’s possible. There are so many sports to try out, so many things to be interested in and promote the use of, that showing just a handful of what’s “popular” seems to really be against the Olympic ideal.