Published Feb 12, 2006
Thank you for televising the Winter Olympics. Being both a typical male — infatuated with sports — and a typical American — jingoistic as all get-out — I rather enjoy the nationalistic, energetic competition of the Olympics. I also love the speed and danger of the many sports that rely on sliding on sharp metal or skinny plastic things for locomotion. It would be wonderful if you could intersperse your human interest stories with some actual sports, you know, like everyone expects from the Olympics.
I’ve been trapped watching Tivo all day long, not because I don’t love Tivo but, rather, because you have spread your programming out across forty-seven different cable networks, none of which show sports at the same time, and because none of these forty-seven cable networks actually show sports for more than two consecutive minutes. I realize that many of your viewers enjoy these stories, and I’ll admit that, from time to time, I find that they add a great deal; but, by and large, I just want to watch people slide down frozen half-pipes at 80 miles per hour sitting on a piece of plastic and metal that keeps them less than an inch off the ground. To the extent that you can give me the maximum possible density of bobsledders, or speedskaters, or even hockey (despite enjoying lacrosse, NASCAR, and Professional Bull Riding, I’ve not developed a taste for the superfecta of white people sports), I would prefer to watch wall-to-wall death-defying derring-do. Or, at least, have Dick Button shut up and let people skate.
Ice dancing is, however, right out.
Since you have 47 possible stations from which you can broadcast the Olympics, perhaps you could dedicate just one to full-time sports? I’d be happy to watch anything, even curling (why not laugh at Canadians?). Except ice dancing, but we’ve already covered that.
Thanks,
Wade
wade i love the ice dancing…its like regular dancing but way more dangerous…they have those sharp blades, what if there were a mishap on a throw and one of those got embedded into the partner’s forehead?? now that would be great tv
also, ive been crying pretty much everyday because of those stories. damn olympics manipulating my emotions!!!
this is the first time ive actually wanted cable, just so that i could watch hockey and curling. dammit give me more skeleton!!!
harlyquin, your link is broken.
I get overly emotional about the olympics, too. nearly burst into tears thinking about MK and her injury keeping her from competing. and the skier who bounced on her head? and I don’t even watch TV I hear all this on NPR, I’m sure it I did watch TV I’d be a blubbering mess the whole time it was on.
They actually showed the one who bounced on her head last night, how she just fell onto the ice and and bounced and lay still. Then last night the Chinese female figure skater in the pairs bounced on her knee and face and did a massive split that would’ve given most people a horrible groin pull, but gutted through it and finished her program strong for a silver.
See, if they would just have more of this on in the daytime I’d be happy. But it’s like I turn on the channel and it’s not even their multi-billion dollar Olympics.
All I have to say about ice dancing is: the judges at Lillehammer sucked. Torvill and Dean were robbed!
But yeah, I haven’t watched any of the Olympics since ‘98 (when Michelle Kwan was robbed, by a pesky little barbie-doll with an overbearing sense of entitlement), because after that it degenerated into wall-to-wall BS human-interest stuff.
thanks for the heads up on the broken linkage