I love the Olympics; it’s what sports should be: non-professional athletes who train without the sponsorship of their professional counterpart, and, for the most part, retains the dignity, humility, and respect for the games, for the fans, and for their fellow competitors.

What I don’t like about the Olympics is what the media does to the games.

First, a player is interviewed within an inch of their life, asking them the most ridiculous of questions, just to foster enough fodder to create an out of context sound bite or rant. Out of this, the media sculpts the tone, ramping up the call of “battle”, the sneer toward the competition, and shifting the focus so as to morph these regular people with extraordinary talent into hero porn.

Greg Kinnear modelling the new American Olympic uniforms.

Everything is branded. The Olympics are now less important than the commercials, which run every 2 minutes, Olympic excitement be damned and frequently, in the way.

The Olympics are now all about the ads, the biographies, and what’s happening with the athlete’s families. All of the Today Show fluff has replaced the thrill of watching the event; now, it’s about getting to the score and only caring if the American team medalled.

The commentators are insufferable; always plugging a soundbite, they come off as crass and amateurish — never grasping the magnitude of training the athletes must endure. Consequently, you get some of the most smug and shameless comments: “oh, it looks like he just didn’t perform there”. At least with pro sports the announcers have probably played these games before and therefore have an appreciation for how hard it is. With the Olympics I always get the impression the weather guy from Boise’s Feel Good News Team drew the short straw to anchor the swim meets, commenting on why the Korean’s backstroke isn’t treading enough water.

The games are overseas. When they are viewed in North America, they are pre-empted.

The days of catching the games live and seeing the outcome with the rest of the world is over. Yeah, I know there are cable channels, but I’m talking about Jack Donaghy’s NBC here. The reason the games are pre-empted is because NBC wants to manufacture excitement, drama, and heroism. In short, they need time to craft the context.

Oh, and I’m already tired of hearing about the wow factor.

Photos:
http://www.boosterrific.com/pics/news/captain_amazing.jpg