2006 Olympic Winter Games Remembered

The Games of the 20th Winter Olympics were the kind of grand drama on the world stage that I have come to expect from the Olympic Games. They will also be remembers as the first Winter Olympics since Mom passed away in February of 2003. At the last Olympics in Salt Lake Dad and I made the trip to Utah and spend almost a week at the games, seeing 5 events and soaking up all the amazing atmosphere that make the Olympics so special. Little did we know then that in 12 short months Mom would pass away suddenly, leaving large painful holes in the hearts of all those that loved her. I can still picture her wearing the Blue Salt Lake Olympics jacket that Dad bought for her at the games.

This is also the first games I was able to experience watching it in High Definition with TiVo. The images were so big and bold and breathtaking, 65 inches of pure HD wonder. TiVo allowed me to record all of the NBC, USA and HD Universal coverage, watching the games and zooming through the commercials. I couldn't have done this if I had recorded it on tape. The only down side is not being able to save it long term due to storage limitations on the device. It was great to feel so connected to the events, as they unfolded. Some of the most memorable events for me, in now particular order are as follows.

Figure Skating
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, coming from 6th to 2nd in Ice Dancing to win a silver medal, the first Americans to medal since 1976. With the new scoring system, this is now a very competitive event, much more exciting to watch with more drama and athleticism. Sasha Cohen recovering from a devastating fall in her long performance, killing her chance for a medal of any color, picking herself up off the ice after two falls and skating one of the more moving programs in Olympic history to WIN the silver medal in Ladies figure skating.

Speed Skating
Joey Cheek winning a gold and a Silver in Long Track and them donating his USOC bonus money to Right to Play, a charity set up to promote sports in under privileged nations. The brilliant skating of Chand Hendrick in the 5000M and Shani Davis in the 1000M. It's too bad they allowed their personal differences to become an international drama. After earning bronze in the 1000m, Apolo Anton Ohno won the 500m and took third in the relay on Day 15 to grab three Torino medals and earn a place in history. Apolo's 500M win was one of the most exciting moments of the entire games for me. That race had me screaming at the TV at 11:30pm, waking up half the house!

Curling
This is a sport that before the 2002 Salt Lake games I thought was a big joke. However, we saw a bit of the coverage on TV there and it hooked my interest a bit. The full coverage NBC gave to Curling really gave me a chance to learn the sport and also develop a greater appreciation of the skill level. The US men's team winning it's first ever Medal, a bronze make it even better.

Nordic Skiing
This is another sport that never gets the prime time coverage on TV and as a result I didn't get a chance to see in the past. This year I saw most of the Nordic events. The finishes in the Mass Start events are always sooo close. The Bi-Athelon events really peaked my interest. I didn't realize that for every missed shot, the skier has to ski a 150M penalty loop. Wow, the pressure is really on and mistakes can easily cost you minutes. I really got Alex hooked on this event, we ended up watching quite a bit of this together.

There was lots coverage in the press on how the Olympics were not being covered well, especially the NBC evening coverage, that was beaten by a reality show American Idol four times during the two weeks of the games. They complained about the 9 hour time difference, that most everyone knew who won well before the telecast started. The cry for more live coverage was loud as well. Given the current dynamics of TV ratings, I'm not sure how NBC could have done it any differently. If they showed everything live, all the coverage would have taken place between 3:00am and 11:00am. You think the ratings were low for the Prime Time slot, imagine how they would have been for this! The saturation of other media covering sports like ESPN, Web sites, Blogs, Radio...It's easy to get updates on the events quickly anytime during the games. All of which helps people to feel like the Prime Time coverage is irrelevant. Personally, I made it a point not to put myself in a position to hear about the events prior to watching them on TiVo. So, for me there was all the suspense and drama I could ask for. I don't know what the answer is to make this better.

I'm concerned that we have a nation filled with people that think reality TV is anything but audio and video pollution, Low cost pandering to the lowest common denominator. Want proof of the dumbing down of America and you only need look at the kind of TV America is watching. With time shifting, advertising on TV is becoming less effective every year. The current model of Nielson ratings is becoming more and more outdated. There needs to be a measure of what shows are being recorded on DVR's to give a more accurate view of what people are watching. Also, we should be able to measure which ads are being fast forwarded through and which ones are actually being watched. This will reward advertisers who get it right and encourage others to do the same. Finally the networks need to come up with a way to make shows more portable and accessible, with out cumbersome DRM forcing the consumer to become a criminal for trying to watch a show on their terms instead of the networks terms.

In closing, I will always be a fan of the Olympics. My hope is that there will be coverage of future Olympics to watch. I hope this can be worked out so that the millions of views of Idol can understand and embrace the wonder of the original "Reality TV", the Olympic Games.