Are you missing it?
No, not the Brett Barrage. I’m talking about the Olympics.
I know you’ve still got Favre on the brain, or for 80 bucks, on the back.
I know the Brewers have won six straight since Prince played Whack-A-Parra and, bullpen problems aside, have the distinct look of a playoff team.
Heck, you even may have been one of literally dozens interested in the PGA Championship last week. (And well done, Padraig Harrington.)
But don’t cheat yourself out of the best story going. The Olympics have been simply spectacular, from the Opening Ceremonies to the best swimmers since Jaws.
I’ve watched a lot of sports in my lifetime, and years as a sportswriter sucks much of the fan out of you. But Sunday night, I woke my wife yelling at the best relay race in Olympic history, and I doubt I’m alone.
In the eyes of guys like Jim Rome, this makes me a chump. He’s made a habit of deriding the Olympics, mocking the Games as more punchline than pageantry, and others have followed in cynical suit.
I’ve heard the charges. That the Olympics are a plodding procession of sports you wouldn’t watch over “Blind Date” reruns. That you’ll get cavities from NBC’s syrupy sweet features on Antiguan archers and Venezuelan volleyballers. That it’s all just a show of corporate avarice draped in the flag of false patriotism.
You know what? They might even have a point.
Frankly my dear, I don’t give a discus. Because the good far outweighs the bad. Even when it’s East Germany bad.
For two weeks, I can afford to be a romantic. I don’t mind Nike marrying Marvin Gaye with Michael Redd. I can suspend disbelief in favor of the Olympic ideal and get swept up in something greater than the sum of its parts. And when Roger Ebert is stunned into sheer awe of the Opening Ceremonies, then I won’t feel foolish at being slack-jawed myself.
After the Summer of Farve, it’s a refreshing change.
Broadcast Ooohs
Man, have we come a long way from the Triplecast.
Remember Barcelona 1992, when NBC thought you’d pay $100 to watch more Olympic coverage and ended up losing $100 million?
Well, the broadcasting suits have wised up. Now it’s all free, and by all, we mean 3,600 hours. Not only are the Games all over your TV, but they’re even more prevalent on the Internet at nbcolympics.com, which is the crown jewel of NBC’s coverage.
Miss Yao Ming and the 9-year-old earthquake survivor? Or the torch-lighter flying toward the Olympic cauldron? Or the drummers? Or a LeBron James dunk? It’s all there on the net, in unprecedented volume, and it won’t cost you a penny.
In other news…
This Week in Favre Comedy
Well, where do we start?
Perhaps with ESPN2’s “First Take,” which is usually good for a laugh, albeit often unintentionally. But what do you expect when, last Wednesday, the show’s big score was a Favre interview.
With relationship expert Dr. Joy Browne.
She painstakingly assigned divorce roles. And if you’re scoring at home, Aaron Rodgers was the other woman.
We anxiously await “First Take’s” séance to get Lombardi’s opinion.
That same afternoon, Milwaukee’s FOX 6 provided live coverage of Favre’s jet leaving Green Bay for the last time. The highlight: the plane finally taxiing, and an on-site reporter’s play-by-play of fans waving to Brett, but the breathless conclusion that she couldn’t see if Favre waved back.
Darn those tinted windows.
But the real fun began when Favre got to New York, had a press conference with the mayor, and it became news when he ran laps.
God help us if he ever has to do wind sprints.
And finally…
Sure, the Opening Ceremonies of 8/8/08 required perfect timing, but at least they had computers to help.
All these folks had was Mother Nature. And perhaps nurses with enough sense to tip the scales.
Tune in every Tuesday morning during the 6 o’clock hour when I join Doug Russell and Mike Wickett on SportsRadio 1250 AM for Tuesday’s with Howie. And don’t forget to check out our Bar Time column.
