Gymlympics

Let me start by saying that I love the Olympics. LOVE them. Every 4 years I get the chance to witness the most spectacular display of athletics that can be found anywhere.

There is nothing in professional sports that compares with Olympic athletics at its highest level.

There is nothing like watching an athlete represent their country.

There is nothing like watching an athlete compete with national pride on the line.

I mean this in the most earnest way possible....the stories found at the Olympics, I believe, are inherently more compelling than in any other form of sports.

Sadly, in spite of the stage being set for some of the most dramatic sports viewing possible, I'm generally disappointed every 4 years. The ingredients are all there...yet, I'm NEVER satisfied. Why? American television coverage.

Rarely does the competition itself disappoint me. In fact, at every Olympics there are heart wrenching, nail biting, inspirational, uplifting stories of accomplishment or failure. Stories that should be told. Unfortunately, we don't get to see any of them. We will receive in-depth coverage of 3 sports.

Gymnastics
Swimming
Track

That's it. If you are able to catch some coverage of another sport...it's because you got lucky. And, I absolutely hate that.

The Olympics represent a rare opportunity to see some of the best drama sports has to offer. And, better yet, offer that drama in a bunch of exotic sports that we rarely get to see. This is a genuine opportunity to watch something fresh, invigorating, exciting, and different. Yet, we don't watch it...because we aren't offered the option.

When NBC announced that it would be filming every single moment of every single event at the Olympics, and that they would be offering that coverage across their full line of channels (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, TNT, USA, and 3 dedicated HD networks) I was thrilled. "Finally!", I thought to myself.

Sadly, NBC has failed to deliver.

Let me be clear...I love gymnastics, swimming, and track. I desperately want to watch all 3 of these sports. I just don't want to watch ONLY these 3 sports. This is a rare chance to witness drama of athletic endeavor at a world class level in some really cool sports.

Let's discuss what is theoretically available...
Archery - I saw about 5 minutes of coverage of the women's finals at about 2AM on the Oxygen network. The intensity of concentration and level of execution in this sport is mind boggling. I'd certainly have been willing to watch more of it...if there was any.

Badminton - Silly little back yard sport? Yes. But, at the Olympics they are FAST. You've probably never seen it...the only reason I have is because I looked up some coverage on the website. This is a really cool sport at this level.

Baseball - one of the few sports I don't want to watch. We have the rare privilege to watch baseball being played at the highest level in the world for about 9 months out of the year at home. And, I don't even watch that...I sure don't need to watch it at the Olympics. Luckily, it won't be at the Olympics next year.

Basketball - ditto to above. Yet, this sport has an ENTIRE channel dedicated to it in HD. Why?

Beach Volleyball - this does get some occasional coverage. And, boy am I glad. First, its a great sport. Second, girls in bikinis are ALWAYS a good option for TV coverage. Sadly, NBC has been forced to show some men's coverage in an attempt to appear as though their coverage of the women's tournament had something to do with an appreciation of the sport rather than the uniforms.

Boxing - I like Olympic boxing. Its faster and somewhat less violent than standard boxing. For some reason NBC has opted to show nearly non-stop coverage of early round matches on CNBC. Why this sport? Why not mix in some coverage of some other sports too?

Canoe/Kayak - I'd love to see some. We won't.

Cycling - Some passing coverage of the men's road race and the men's Time Trial. Essentially no coverage of the velodrome. Certainly not the level of coverage I would appreciate.

Diving - even though this sport is related to swimming coverage, it still gets very little coverage.

Equestrian - almost no coverage at all, which is too bad. Some of this stuff is pretty cool.

Fencing - One of the coolest sports in the world to watch...gets almost no coverage at all.

Field Hockey - I'd watch this...but, there won't be any coverage.

Gymnastics - umm...all the coverage you could want plus a whole bunch you don't

Handball - another cool sport that won't get any coverage.

Judo - I would love to watch tons of coverage. I bet I won't see a single bout.

Modern Pentathlon - Another really cool sport...the modern adaptation of the original Olympic ideal. Using all the sports that would serve one best in a military setting. Swimming, running, shooting, equestrian...

Rhythmic Gymnastics - I am still a little astonished that this is an Olympic sport. It's not that I don't appreciate the athleticism of it....but, I'm always a bit weary of any "sport" that relies on judges to determine a winner (figure skating, gymnastics, diving). This one, though, seems to have taken the concept to a level that is a little beyond my ability to tolerate. There won't be much coverage of it...but, based on the fact that I don't enjoy watching it I imagine that the 2012 coverage from London will be almost non-stop coverage of this sport.

Rowing - incredibly difficult endurance sport...we'll see almost none of it. I'd watch it all if I could.

Sailing - interesting...I find the whole sailing thing fascinating if only because I know so little about it. So, again, I'd love to watch it. There won't be any coverage.

Shooting - no coverage. I'd watch it...the level of concentration is ridiculous.

Soccer - the worlds most popular sport should get a lot of coverage. I know almost nothing about soccer, but would love to learn. Luckily, one of the 3 dedicated HD channels is a "soccer only" channel. So, I can watch tons of this if I want to.

Softball - see baseball from above.

Swimming - I love swimming...I love Michael Phelps. I love the coverage. But, let's skip televising the preliminary races and use that air time to show some of the sports that get zero coverage.

Synchronized Swimming - see rhythmic gymnastics above

Table Tennis - good old ping-pong. At this level it is so fast and the athletes react so quickly that the human eye can only barely keep up with it. In fact, a few years ago, they IOC changed the size of the ball and made it bigger in an attempt to make it more visible on TV and to slow down the ball a bit. Logic being that they would get longer rallies, people would be able to see it more, and therefore would appreciate it more. Unfortunately, whether we appreciate it or not won't matter...there will be about 5 minutes of coverage at 2 in the morning.

Taekwondo - See Judo above.

Tennis - another of the worlds most popular spectator sports. We will only see the matches that Federer is involved in...and, even that is unlikely.

Track & Field - Track will get an unduly large amount of coverage while field will get almost none. I love watching the races...but, like swimming, lets skip the prelims and use that time to show some Table Tennis or Taekwondo.

Trampoline - Highly under appreciated....Olympic level trampoline is basically like watching the diving competition....except that the dives go on for about 5 minutes. Where as diving you spend 5 minutes listening to announcers drone on about how little Susy from France first got started in diving followed by 2 seconds of actual diving...in Trampoline, the twisting, flipping, insanity goes on and on without stop for whole minutes. Too bad you won't see any of it.

Triathlon - I'd love to watch it. There will be about 2 minutes of coverage...just the last 1/2 mile of the run...and probably only the women's race because they are in bikinis.

Volleyball - Used to see some coverage of this...until beach volleyball came around. You won't see any of this unless you get really lucky.

Water Polo - another really cool sport that will not get any coverage. Sad, really. I love watching these guys...its like a swim meet, hockey game, and wrestling match all rolled in to one and stuck in a really big pool.

Weightlifting - well, this one doesn't do much for me. But, I can still appreciate the athleticism. Sadly, these behemoths will have spent 4 years to prep to win a medal that only 3 people in the world will see on TV.

Wrestling - See Judo, Taekwondo. I'd watch every second of both Greco-Roman and Freestyle if I could. And, that shouldn't be tough to do since there will only be about 30 seconds of coverage.