SPOILER ALERT: Really enjoyed the Olympics Games closing ceremonies. The way the athletes all came together. The tanking badminton players and the failed dope testers. The corrupt boxing officials and the legally blind soccer referees. I thought that it was cute watching all the female swimmers swim away from LeBron James. I was a little concerned when security had to tackle Sir Paul McCartney after he ran onto the track. Sir Paul had grabbed a microphone and wanted to lead all the fans in another rousing rendition of "Hey Jude". "Hey Jude" again!!! Really!!! The evening closed with Lady Gaga doing her rendition of Peter Allen's song "I Go To Rio" to celebrate the 2016 Olympics. It was quite a visual treat.
Wait a minute. You thought that the Olympics were closing up this weekend. Oh no, the games ended last night. NBC will show you those closing ceremonies on Sunday.
How about that NBC coverage? Dan Quayle was no Jack Kennedy and Bob Costas is no Jim McKay. "Why show events live when we can tape them and show them at 11:55 at night."
Hey NBC, it's not 1984. There's this little thing called the internet. We have cell phones. You cannot watch anything on television including House Hunters International without a crawl at the bottom of the screen telling you that some Bulgarian just won the discus. Everybody knew that Usain Bolt had won the 100 meter dash before finishing their cobb salad at lunch. Even the freakin' sequestered contestants on Big Brother knew that Michael Phelps had just won another gold before NBC aired it.
I used to love Mary Carillo. Now, not so much. I don't know about you, but when I tune in to watch the Olympics I'd like to see...the Olympics. Not stories on bagpipes, James Bond, and Greenwich. Mary went Rick Steves on us. Drove me nuts. Bob Costas would say to her, "the marathon runners will have to face that large hill." Mary would reply, "speaking of a large hill - Benny Hill was Great Britain's most beloved comedian." Then every viewer would lose twelve minutes of their lives that they would never get back.
I don't know about you but I will never watch that new NBC show with Matthew Perry. In the middle of the 10,000 meter final they cut to the ex-Friends star's over-mugging face. In the middle of a young swimmer going for gold they cut to a "comedic therapy session" with Perry. Not watching that new show with the Dads and their babies either.
It seemed like the airing of women's gymnastics never ended. There's the team competition. The individual competition. The individual event competition. The crying competition. Ok, I'm going to say it. The elephant in the room. Those tiny little girls seem to be genetically altered. Except for Gabby, they all look like that little annoying kid on that show the Middle.
Now, I enjoy seeing women in underwear as much as any other man. But, how many hours of beach volleyball can they show. Sure the Spain's woman beach volleyball player has one of the greatest asses of all time, but I'd like to see one javelin go through the air at least once.
China was leading the medal count. I think NBC showed only two Chinese gold medal victories. It was much more important to talk about the American that finished seventh. The only time that NBC talked about an athlete that wasn't from the USA - that athlete had no legs. That's a high price to pay for getting airtime.
The Olympics that I grew up with were all about track and field, swimming, gymnastics, boxing, and hating Russia. Now it is about Kobe, women playing at the beach in lingerie, and NBC promoting a show that looks like a pale imitation of Modern Family. Yes, the ratings were high. Yes, we got to see many athletes perform at a high level. But for me, NBC's coverage put a damper on this year's Olympic experience. "The thrill of victory and the agony of Ryan Seacrest."
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