Olympic gripe

I have this TV viewing habit when the Olympics are happening: I first check in with the network carrying the games before looking elsewhere. In this day and age, I not only check NBC, but also MSNBC and CNBC, and I think also USA. For all the checking that I do, how often do I find, you know, sports? Not very often.

The ratio of fluff to action seems to get higher with each new Olympiad. This morning, for example, Angela and Emmy were thrilled to watch Dino DeLaurentis's granddaughter (I think her name is Giada) being interviewed. I asked them why she was on the Olympic broadcast; I was told that she is on the Food Network with a cooking show called something like "Everyday Italian". Now don't get me wrong: she is easy on the eyes and some local color is welcome, but for every piece that is a weepy backstory or an infomercial for a TV Show (which the Giada interview was; she is hardly truly "Italian" in a way that would make the tie-in to the Games valid), there seems to be less and less broadcasting of competition.

I have read about some French guy making a great run to stun the field and win a gold in downhill skiing - haven't yet seen it aired. Some Italian guy is dominating luge - haven't seen a single luge run. I have seen a little bit of speed skating and the Canadian women's hockey team destroy Russia (that's on now). And I know that the politically correct thing is to show women's hockey as opposed to men's sports, but that's a different rant.

Aren't these the Olympic GAMES? If so, how about some more, you know, GAMES? At least at the Super Bowl, we are guaranteed 60 minutes of football around the pre-game hype and commercial garbage, the in-game commercials, and the overdone halftime show. At the Olympics, it is completely up to the network doing the broadcast, and if I thought the ratio of fluff to action at the SB was too high, well this blows that away.

UPDATE: I turned on NBC after taking a shower: NASCAR! No sports on CNBC or PMSNBC. But women's hockey is on USA - woo-hoo!