So did YOU watch the Olympics?
I did the best I could what with working for Radio Shack and living in a house of non sports people. What I did see I did enjoy a lot. I watched a lot of the skating, both the Couples Ice Dancing, Women's Figure Skating, and Speed Skating. Of course we all love the Figure Skating, but I got a real kick out of the Team Relay Speed Skating. Did you see this. It looked like utter chaos, but after a few rounds made a ton of sense. What I liked was instead of passing a baton, they pushed each other. Very 21st Century.
I also watched some of the Snow Boarding, and the Skiing, though I missed much of the Luge/Bobsled/Skeleton stuff I like too. Thank Radio Shack for that lol.
A lot of people however did NOT watch the Olympics. Why is that? Is it so boring, do people not care about Winter Sports? Well yes many do not.
But I think it's more than that.
First of all, in this instant internet age, anyone who cared about the results could have them at a glance way ahead of time. So the Drama, and the Heart Break of Defeat, was really nullified by the instant knowledge of who won. And it was hard NOT to find out who won, if you surf the web at all.
Second I think NBC paid a huge disservice to the working people of America. To make them wait till 11 pm or sometimes 11:30pm to see the "star" billing was just mean. You know we have to sleep and work for a living, and many people just don't stay up that late. Its' probably a sign of the Bi-Coastal nature of the industry, thinking everyone stays up till Midnight.
Third, NBC made a mistake in pre-formatting their hero's. Though some of those hero's did well like Sasha Cohen, many of them barley showed up, like Bode Miller, or didn't stay, like Michelle Kwan. This is not a criticism of the athletes mentioned at all. But if NBC had built on the surprise winner, the unexpected triumph of the unknown or underdog, then I think people might have been more interested.
So how did the USA fare in my view. Really not so good. If you took away the all new snow boarding events for which we are the pioneers in many ways, our "take" of the Torrino Doughnuts would have been quite bleak. We should have performed much better in skiing for one thing. Also can't we learn to cross-country ski and shoot? I mean we could, couldn't we? I hope we never have to fight a war in the snow with rifles against the Swiss, Germans or Finns. We will get our arses handed to us.
Well here is to Toronto 2010! I for one LOVE the Winter Olympics and already miss it.
But then again, Spring Training starts next month, as does March Madness, then April is opening day for Baseball.
I did the best I could what with working for Radio Shack and living in a house of non sports people. What I did see I did enjoy a lot. I watched a lot of the skating, both the Couples Ice Dancing, Women's Figure Skating, and Speed Skating. Of course we all love the Figure Skating, but I got a real kick out of the Team Relay Speed Skating. Did you see this. It looked like utter chaos, but after a few rounds made a ton of sense. What I liked was instead of passing a baton, they pushed each other. Very 21st Century.
I also watched some of the Snow Boarding, and the Skiing, though I missed much of the Luge/Bobsled/Skeleton stuff I like too. Thank Radio Shack for that lol.
A lot of people however did NOT watch the Olympics. Why is that? Is it so boring, do people not care about Winter Sports? Well yes many do not.
But I think it's more than that.
First of all, in this instant internet age, anyone who cared about the results could have them at a glance way ahead of time. So the Drama, and the Heart Break of Defeat, was really nullified by the instant knowledge of who won. And it was hard NOT to find out who won, if you surf the web at all.
Second I think NBC paid a huge disservice to the working people of America. To make them wait till 11 pm or sometimes 11:30pm to see the "star" billing was just mean. You know we have to sleep and work for a living, and many people just don't stay up that late. Its' probably a sign of the Bi-Coastal nature of the industry, thinking everyone stays up till Midnight.
Third, NBC made a mistake in pre-formatting their hero's. Though some of those hero's did well like Sasha Cohen, many of them barley showed up, like Bode Miller, or didn't stay, like Michelle Kwan. This is not a criticism of the athletes mentioned at all. But if NBC had built on the surprise winner, the unexpected triumph of the unknown or underdog, then I think people might have been more interested.
So how did the USA fare in my view. Really not so good. If you took away the all new snow boarding events for which we are the pioneers in many ways, our "take" of the Torrino Doughnuts would have been quite bleak. We should have performed much better in skiing for one thing. Also can't we learn to cross-country ski and shoot? I mean we could, couldn't we? I hope we never have to fight a war in the snow with rifles against the Swiss, Germans or Finns. We will get our arses handed to us.
Well here is to Toronto 2010! I for one LOVE the Winter Olympics and already miss it.
But then again, Spring Training starts next month, as does March Madness, then April is opening day for Baseball.
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