February 24, 2014

Despite the fear mongering over Russian security (or the lack thereof) and the constant drum-beat of anti-gay angst spewed by the U.S. media, Russia pulled off one of the best Olympic events ever. The blending of technology with culture in the opening and closing venues was fabulous. Their ability to deal with mother nature’s lack of snow on Rosa Khutor kept the games on track despite sniping by the commentators. All-in-all:  a great performance.

NBC, however, dropped the ball – over and over again.  One example: rather than show 62 pianos playing Rachmaninoff beneath the world’s most beautiful chandelier, they elected to go back 20 years and run an insipid one hour report on Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding’s dust up. What moron thought that was a good idea?

Another example:  The Christin Cooper interview with Bodie Miller after he won bronze in the Super G made me want to throw a chair through the TV. That she could be so insensitive after he recently lost a brother (and the gold) can be explained by her inexperience and lack of empathy for anything sports related. Her intense badgering cannot. She came off as a bully and shame on NBC for not cutting the segment short.  An NBC spokesman said: “We understand how some viewers thought the line of questioning went too far, but it was our judgment that his answers were a necessary part of the story. We’re gratified that Bode has been publicly supportive of Christin Cooper and the overall interview.” It is my judgment that Bodie Miller has much more class than anyone at NBC.

Maybe the Olympic Committee should contract Netflix for the Korean games.  NBC is clueless about sports and tone deaf to viewers wants.