Growing up, the Summer Olympics were huge, filled with huge stars who you would practically beg to grace your Wheaties box - Mary Lou Retton, Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Florence Griffith Joyner, Matt Biondi... while the Winter Olympics was like the cute younger sister of the pair - interesting, but not quite what you're looking for. The Winter Olympics have had their moments, but it's not captivating, and with yet another Olympics being held so far outside of US prime-time, and Internet news sources being more up to date than ever, by the time NBC drags out the days highlights through 11 p.m., you've already known what's going to happen for upwards of 15 to 18 hours. Who cares?
I'm not saying that the US deserves the Olympics every time. That would be silly. But there should be enough of a storyline to keep me watching, even if I somehow found out the results already. I'm not going to stay riveted to the TV to see whether or not the 5' 2" 16 year old lady snowboarder is going to land her back 540, or to see the pairs skaters try not to land another concussion. If I wanted chills and spills, I should have a lobotomy and watch NASCAR. If I want to be bored with sappy behind the scenes documentaries on the athletes, I'll turn to Lifetime or Biography, thank you. I don't care if the Olympics are in Helsinki or Halifax. It doesn't matter if the story isn't there.
Pretty soon, it'll be over. The US will be in the top 4 medal countries, and I won't care. Want good sports to watch? Give me the A's during spring training. Now there's a team of players you can get behind.
