Olympics TV coverage in U.S. - Nordic on USA Network

Gene Goldenfeld wrote:

You sense wrong.


Sorry for undeservedly snapping at you. Although top-posting is a
no-no.


I also think you've read the NBC schedule with more
prejudice than due - and I'll agree with you a lot is due. I have no
idea what NBC will show,


Gene, what distinguishes a human being from a monkey is the deductive
thinking ability, ability to learn causality and to find patterns.

I have been watching the Olympics on US TV for over 30 years, primarily
on NBC. In all those years, not a single biathlon or x-country race was
shown in any detail, although they were on the broadcast schedule.
Thus, i am willing to bet that this time, things are not likely to be
any different.

Just think about it: biathlon is currently one of the most popular
spectator sports in Europe, including Germany, France, Russia, Norway,
Austria, Belarus, Italy, etc. Each and every World Cup race is shown in
its entirety by Eurosport plus by the national broadcast networks of
individual countries. There is no coverage of these events in USA
whatsoever, although I can watch a Utah Community College vs. Kalamazoo
Junior College gymnastics meets 24 hours a day. Similarly, I cannot
watch the US National Team compete in the World Ice Hockey
Championships on US TV, but I can watch these same Utah Community
College and Kalamazoo Junior College hockey games for 55 hours a day on
my DishTV.

Face it: the US TV networks have no human intelligence and no sense of
proportions, resent international competitions, and will always refuse
to show international championships in almost any sport in favor of
junior college competitions in that very sport. Thus, the only chance
US viewers will get to see biathlon would be if US junior colleges
started competing in it against each other.


but a fair reading of the schedule gives the
impression that substantial portions of some races will be carried, at
least between the ads and whatever fillers they come up with.


Half of biathlon races are scheduled to be shown live on USA Network. I
suspect that they may be shown, simply because there are no curling or
women's hockey preliminary games scheduled at that early morning
hour.

However, the other half of biathlon races and all of x-country races
are scheduled to be shown during the 1-hour talk shows on NBC. Having
seen such shows for 30 years, I am willing to make a big bet against
you that the coverage of all such races will amount to little more than
telling us the names of the 3 medal winners. Unless the Gold is won by
a Russian, in which case even the winners' names will not be given to
us.

wrote:

Gene Goldenfeld wrote:
The press release:
http://www.sportsfeatures.com/index....=show&id=28214

The write up for USA NETWORK:
USA Network, available in 89 million homes, is the cable home of the
U.S. Olympic Team featuring live Olympic coverage in the mornings
and afternoons with 101.5 hours of predominantly live coverage of
Team USA in the Winter Games' two team sports: ice hockey and
curling. All Team USA hockey games, both men's and women's, will
be seen live, the majority on USA Network. USA Network will also
feature a live curling match 11 of the 12 days of the Olympic
curling tournament and live Nordic events. In total, 22 Olympic
medals will be determined on USA Network.


Gene,

I sense in your post grwast concern that a US TV network wil break its
centuries-old traidition of boycotting showing nordic events and will
start showing them.

I think your concern is over-rated. If you look over NBC's detyalied
daily schedules, you will be happy to see that there will be NO
coverage of cross-country skiing and nordic combined whatsoever.
Except that NBC may tell the viewers the names of the winners, if
they feel magnanimous on that day.

There seems to be good coverage scheduled for about half of biathlon
events on USA network. However, the thought of showing top-notch
athletes to overweight Americans is so appaling and insulting that I
am sure NBC will find ways to pre-empt the coverage of biathlon with
emergency breaking events like the 1-hour upclose and personal on the
problems that the US curling team has finding clothes in the stupid
backward country of Italy that would fit their ennormous stomachs.
Evidently italy discriminates against extremely obese American
athletes, because no italina is as fat and there no clothes of the
apporpriate sizes.

Or there may be a bonus showing of the women's hockey gasme between
zxanzibar and Tadjikistan, wghich is certainly much more important to
American viewers than th biathlon or cross-country ski finals.


Bill Macatee will serve as studio host for USA Network's Winter
Olympic coverage.

The announcers:

CROSS COUNTRY
Play-by-Play: Al Trautwig
Analyst: Paul Robbins
Reporter: Dwight Stones



Wonderful group of experts. especially the high jumper Dwite Stones.
I hear Dwite even knows that cross-country skiing is done on snow!
Although he is still unsure what the concept of 'snow" means.

When asked about waxing in particular, Al Trautwig said: "I know all
about it. My wife does it at least every 3 months. Oooh, that's
painful. Do skiers do that too? What heroic people!"

I am sure we, the nordic skiing fans, would learn a lot from these NBC
experts. Too bad they will never get to strut their stuff...



BIATHLON
Play-by-Play: Len Berman
Analyst: Chad Salmela


I wonder if these two have finally found out which event - swimming,
running or cycling - is dropped when we go from olympic triathlon to
olympic biathlon? Can't wait for them sharing these revelations with
us, the long-time biahtlon fans.

Lighten up, this is America land of Football, Baseball, Basketball, and up
close and personal. We have an innate, possibly genetic, need to know the
sugary sweet sanitized details of an athlete's personal life rather than
watch him or her perform.

I have not done a complete study of actual race footage vs. chat and other
non sport time on the SLC coverage.
The coverage included much of the biathlon events, guns being the key
component here. We here get what we can in terms of coverage. OLN dropped
XC coverage after a few years. I attribute this to the cost vs. viewers who
actually watched. There is an economic component to these decisions. The
powers that be, even though it may sometimes seem so, do not have a personal
grudge against thin, fit participants of an obscure sport here in the US.

So my suggestion is to take what you get and learn to love the ramblings of
Al and the boys and remember to only use the bathroom during commercials.

The FrontRunner



wrote in message
oups.com...

FrontRunner wrote:
I have about 4-5 hours on tape. It must have been a long leak.


Really? Then let's get specific. Which races do you have on tape and
how many raw minutes of race coverage do you have for, say, the top 3
of them?


The FrontRunner
wrote in message
oups.com...
FrontRunner wrote:

Al Trautwig, we must complain if only to keep certain traditions
alive.
Hopefully the coverage matches the Salt Lake coverage, which was
excellent.



Was there actually some coverage of Salt Lake nordic skiing and/or
biathlon? Really?!

I feel guilty. I must have gone to the bathroom to take a leek when
this "coverage" took place. I should learn to pee in less than 10
seconds during the Olympics or I will agian miss ALL the NBC coverage
of nordic events...

Actually, there was at least an hour of XC almost every afternoon on
MSNBC. I honestly don't remember that much of the detail, but I know I
was racing home from work to plop in front of the TV for the duration.

Marsh

FrontRunner wrote:
Lighten up, this is America land of Football, Baseball, Basketball, and up
close and personal. We have an innate, possibly genetic, need to know the
sugary sweet sanitized details of an athlete's personal life rather than
watch him or her perform.

I have not done a complete study of actual race footage vs. chat and other
non sport time on the SLC coverage.
The coverage included much of the biathlon events, guns being the key
component here. We here get what we can in terms of coverage. OLN dropped
XC coverage after a few years. I attribute this to the cost vs. viewers who
actually watched. There is an economic component to these decisions. The
powers that be, even though it may sometimes seem so, do not have a personal
grudge against thin, fit participants of an obscure sport here in the US.

So my suggestion is to take what you get and learn to love the ramblings of
Al and the boys and remember to only use the bathroom during commercials.

The FrontRunner



wrote in message
oups.com...

FrontRunner wrote:

I have about 4-5 hours on tape. It must have been a long leak.


Really? Then let's get specific. Which races do you have on tape and
how many raw minutes of race coverage do you have for, say, the top 3
of them?


The FrontRunner
wrote in message
egroups.com...

FrontRunner wrote:

Al Trautwig, we must complain if only to keep certain traditions
alive.
Hopefully the coverage matches the Salt Lake coverage, which was
excellent.



Was there actually some coverage of Salt Lake nordic skiing and/or
biathlon? Really?!

I feel guilty. I must have gone to the bathroom to take a leek when
this "coverage" took place. I should learn to pee in less than 10
seconds during the Olympics or I will agian miss ALL the NBC coverage
of nordic events...

FrontRunner,
I know, lighten up.
I do understand how we got to where are and why. It is just a bit heart
breaking to see the diversity of sport and the fierceness of the
competition buried beneath a mountain of marketing and handling.
I really would love to enjoy watching the games but it is hard.

By the way, Gene, that 50K race through the deep snow sounds like
something to have seen. I cannot know what motivated those racers but I
bet there was no dream of riches or endorsement. That was in the day of
the amateur games (eastern bloc not withstanding).

Thanks,
/john skewes