Goodbye Winter Olympics
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who didn’t care all that much for the Winter Olympics. Have you seen the ratings smashing that “American Idol” gave the Winter Games? And what is crazier is that it doesn’t surprise me that some kids who wanna get rich doing karaoke are more compelling week in and week out than a bunch of the best athletes in the world who compete in really niche sports that can’t ever stand on their own two feet. Why do you think they all get lumped in together?
Obviously there are some sports that do stand on their own, but their audiences are niche. Women’s figure skating is popular, but Michelle Kwan didn’t intrigue me. Snowboarding is popular, and The Flying Tomato is fun, but why would I sit through all that other coverage to catch some snowboarding when they have the Winter X Games on ESPN a whole lot more than every four years? Insert your own funny little quip about curling here, but this is a niche sport with Canadian announcers. Even hockey was totally uninspired this entire Olympics. Maybe it is another example of the hangover from the lockout, but it wasn’t fun to watch.
So, goodbye to the Winter Olympics. Goodbye to NBC paying a quadrillion dollars for the right to broadcast it. Goodbye to Bodie Freaking Miller and his contrived marketing campaign on “60 Minutes.” Goodbye to Bob Costas, his melodramatic delivery, and his pussification of sports. And goodbye to speedskating relays where instead of handing off a baton, they give each other a push in the butt. Hear is a hint. Make the track bigger, put in railings and do a whip for an exchange. If you want to be roller derby that is all you have to do.
I would tell you, America, that you could go back to your regularly scheduled programs, but apparently you were watching “American Idol” the whole time anyway.
I guess, then, I am sorry for interrupting.
John Said,
February 27, 2006 @ 9:30 pm
Aunt Stephany got a big laugh from your take on the olympics - particularly Bode Miller, Bob Costas and the speed skating relay comments. It does make you long for the good old days when roller derby was a staple of Saturday afternoon television.
Chris D. Said,
February 28, 2006 @ 1:16 am
Craig,
One point I have to bring up is the tape delay factor. I usually like to watch the Olympics, just for the fact they I really only watch this stuff every four years and there is a built-in team to root for. But no matter what I did there was just no way to avoid finding out what happened. Getting in my car and the radio ruined it, launching IE and espn.com ruined it. Even the damn ticker on the bottom of ESPN would ruin it.
Sports are only good live, period.
Chris D.
FilteringCraig Said,
February 28, 2006 @ 9:07 am
Obviously, I didn’t really grow up with Roller Derby, but it made a comeback at some point in the 90’s. It was like a cross between Roller Skating and the World Wrestling Federation. By the way, not even Rebecca Romijn Stamos could make me watch that Rollerball movie.
Chris, I agree with you on the time delay thing too. That is certainly a contributing factor, but I think it goes deeper than that.