Friday, August 8, 2008

American Jingo-Fest: Here. We. Gooooooooo!

Well, the Beijing Summer Olympics are finally here. I can't say that I particularly care. I'm just not that into the Olympics, especially the Summer Olympics.

A large part of what turns me off about the Olympics is the TV coverage. I want to see the freakin' events live with a particular emphasis on the finals of every event, regardless of the nationalities of the finalists. In recent Olympics, the NBC coverage has been heavy on tape-delays and human interest stories about American athletes, even those (sometimes especially those) who don't have a shot at a medal. What happens if there are no Americans in the final of an event? You can read about it after the fact.

I also hate the over-the-top homer-ism of the NBC broadcasters. It's kind of like watching a supposedly neutral Toronto-based Hockey Night In Canada crew calling a Leafs playoff game but ten times worse. Look, there's nothing wrong per se with a little pro-US boosterism. Just don't be so obvious about it.

NBC has promised more live coverage than ever this time. That's a promising start. Let's hope that there's a little more balance to the coverage, too. If the coverage turns into a tape-delayed, American Jingo-Fest, I won't be watching.

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