2014 Olympics – I’m watching

The Olympic Games are starting up again. There have been some years I have watched. Others I have refused. My choice this year ranks right up there with the 1998 games in Nagano when it comes to wanting to watch.

Let me go back to the Nagano games for a moment. That was the first time NHL players were allowed to play and featured the first women’s hockey tournament. As a hockey fan (I will admit my interest is declining), I had to watch.

Although hockey was my primary interest, I wanted to watch everything. On the first day of competition, there were problems with the weather. The earliest events were delayed. I sat through the delay until competition finally began.

Of course, I was watching on CBC’s coverage because American coverage had not yet begun. When CBC broke away from the games (it was probably a news break), I turned to American coverage. What were they showing now that there were events taking place? The delay that I had already seen three hours ago.

CBC’s break was short. Given a choice between live coverage and watching the American delay of a delay, I picked CBC. I kept making similar choices throughout the games. I wasn’t going to watch hockey at 1am when I could watch live at 10pm. The combination of more respect for fans in the Pacific Time Zone and more coverage of the actual sports meant that I had no reason to turn to our inferior American coverage, which I decided that I would no longer watch. This decision did not only apply to Nagano.

I have stated before that I love my region more than my country. When the games went to Vancouver, I had to watch. There was just one slight problem, CTV outbid CBC. We don’t get CTV out here. I had no choice. I had to watch the coverage that I hate.

NBC reminded me of why I stopped watching American coverage back in Nagano. They tried to manipulate viewers to support who they wanted us to support. They did a horrible job of actually providing us with the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of sports. The most frustrating decision was to provide their coverage live from the West coast except on the West coast (which didn’t have the ring that NBC thought it did). We actually had people come to our state specifically to enjoy the Olympics, but NBC still did nothing for us. We got a 3-hour delay of a feed that was meant for the east.

I couldn’t handle NBC’s broadcast coverage at all. I turned to cable programming instead. This is one nice thing when compared to Nagano. Cable can fill in some of the enormous gaps that NBC leaves. They also play by different rules on cable. We actually got to see hockey and curling live. Unfortunately, those were the only two sport promoted to cable and the only two sports that I found even remotely watchable. If I remember right, the curling coverage was actually leached from the Canadians. Even without Canadian coverage, I ended up watching a lot of Canadian coverage.

It’s not NBC’s fault that the hockey turned out to be quite possibly the worst hockey tournament that I have ever seen in the Olympics. Keep in mind that I’m not blindly loyal to our country. I realize that the American hockey team, much like the Canadians, overemphasize the technical side and play a bland style that’s not worth supporting. A lot of people think that the fact that the gold medal game was Canada vs. the US automatically made the game good, but I found the actual play to be incredibly boring. It is NBC’s fault that I only had one sport available to fall back on.

While I’m venting about that tournament, I should point out that Vancouver convinced the IIHF to allow a change from the rules. The use of a North American sized rink clearly benefitted the US and Canada. The fact that the rules were changed to benefit the two teams that had the most success makes the results feel tainted to me.

I knew that I would be watching the Sochi games the moment I found out that CBC had reclaimed the Canadian broadcast rights. After the disappointment of the Vancouver games (unfortunately, I have to call those the worst games ever), I need my CBC fix. I’m hoping that Sochi is what NBC guaranteed Vancouver couldn’t become. I think it’s safe to say that these games will be a massive improvement.

I better wrap this up. I have time available to watch the Opening Ceremonies. Although this is something that I have been known to miss in the past, NBC has left me hungry for quality coverage. I’m certainly not going to wait. Besides, I’m more interested in the sports. Can you guess what NBC’s opening ceremonies will be up against? CBC’s live coverage of tomorrow’s events.