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I wrote an entry about the suckitude of NBC covering the Olympics back in 2006.  NBCs coverage certainly fell off 10 years previous, but since Sydney, it’s increasingly painful to watch.  It’s not the just the fluff pieces on the athletes where a knee scrape at the age of 6 is told with overwrought music and fraught with drama.  It’s not just the insufferable focus on American athletes, many of whom don’t stand a chance to win a medal, let along a gold one.  It’s not even the fact that if you do not have cable, you’ll miss 95% of the coverage.  The worst part of NBCs coverage, at least for me here on the west coast is the utter lie that is that taunting “LIVE” icon in the top right corner of my screen.

Opening Ceremonies carried that “LIVE” tag, even though earlier in the day I heard about all the technological feats from European friends a good 9 hours before I even had a chance to watch it.  Yesterday, people were talking about swimmer Michael Phelps wondering if he’d win his gold medal.  3 hours before it was shown here on the west coast, I already knew that he did.

I had this rant ready to go, but I just reread what I wrote in ‘06 and it still stands today.  The 2 points I made then, I wanted to make today:

Not to knock on my fellow countrymen, but the best part about the Olympics is the internationality of it all. I love seeing people excel in sports that they shouldn’t have or surpass all kinds of odds just to get to the Olympics, but I have a feeling that Americans don’t have a corner on hardship*

AND…

Now let’s get to programming. Remember the days when the Olympics were carried live? Remember when you had to set your VCR to tape figure skating at 2:45pm? Well now, we’re subjected to 3.5 hours of highlights. By the time the Olympics air here on the West Coast, I already know who won. Hell, Comcast On-Demand has the winners up before NBC plays their stinkin’ highlight reel. And that’s exactly what it is: a flippin’ highlight reel. I have no idea what’s edited out until I see who’s competed. On the computer. Where it’s already tomorrows in Torino. You’d think that there are really only 6 people competing in any given sport. Those other names? They’re just ghosts of Olympics past.

I think that if I want to watch soccer and avoid gymnastics, I shouldn’t have to use a chart to determine when it will actually run and on what channel.  I should be able to watch an entire competition all the way through.  Instead, last night we got a chunk of gymnastics (US, China and Japan only, even though 5 other countries also competed), some swim races, a volleyball game, interviews with the US Women’s fencing team and highlights of other sports that weren’t televised at all.

How do they think  that is watchable?  That was just on the Universal HD (where it is so not HD) channel.  I popped over to USA Spain vs. Greece basketball and the commentators were calling color from a studio in New York!  I haven’t caught anything on MSNBC, Oxygen, Telemundo or CNBC mostly because I find it ridiculous I have to flip that much to watch old news. But I wish I knew the reason why content couldn’t be aired live across all timezones at the same time.  NBA finals, Super Bowl, World Series, Wimbledon, US Open, etc. are all aired at the same time in the US.  Why not the Olympics?

I really, really, really detest NBCs coverage and you can let them know at nbcolympicsfeedback@nbcuni.com

You’ve Made Me Dumb 

Teh stoopid is strong with this one.

I’m not usually big on Olbermann’s Special Comments, but sometimes there are really brilliant ones. This is a really brilliant one. The subject is Sen. Clinton’s remarks then half-assed sorta apology for invoking RFKs assassination (for the 2nd time) as a reason to take it to June. This time, unlike her remarks from March which very few people seemed to have noticed, she got caught out, making them to the editorial board of the Argus Leader in South Dakota. An interview that was streamed live.

I don’t have anything to add. I’ve been saying Clinton should have dropped out of the race since the end of Feb. This is the cherry on top, that proves what I’ve been saying for the past 3 months, this woman is not fit for the job of President of the United States.

MSNBC is disgusting.  They just spent the last 3 hours eulogizing Sen. Ed Kennedy and he ain’t even dead yet.

Gross.

It amuses me when I see article from the corporate media that echo something I’ve read in the liberal blogosphere.  It’s even funnier when it’s a blatant lift.  For a while, I was convinced that Joel Stein was cyberstalking my blog posts and comments.  His articles from ‘06 - ‘07 were way too close to mine.  If I blogged or long-commented on something, I could guarantee that Stein would have an article about the same thing in 2 - 3 weeks.  So I was absolutely tickled when I opened Milbank’s This is an Ex-Candidate article and noted that it lifted a reference from a March article from Booman.

I’ve been having some serious issues with my blog and an “unresponsive script error”.  That’s why I haven’t been posting as much.  Well…drumroll…I not only figured out the problem, but I also fixed.  Be ready for a flood of my most inane thoughts.

Terry implies that Tim’s dad is dead. He isn’t.

WaPo is reporting that the Clinton’s campaign is $20M in debt.

$20M.

And they want back in to the WH?

There’s nothing in the article that says anything beyond Wolfson’s confirmation of the number. We have no idea if that includes the $12M the Clinton’s loaned themselves. Terry McAuliffe was on Meet the Press this morning and said:

A top Clinton adviser this morning said that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is open to the possibility of loaning her campaign more money to continue in the race.

Terry McAuliffe, the Clinton campaign chairman, told Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” that he spoke to Clinton about the possibility of contributing more money and “she said that she would be willing to do it.” However, McAuliffe insists, “We haven’t needed it.”

Russert pressed the issue, asking McAuliffe if the Clintons will be able to repay all debts after the campaign is over. “We plan on it,” he replied.

Must be nice to have that kind of change. Let’s put this in perspective: With their first loan, the Clinton’s could have paid off my house, bills and bought me a new car and it would still have been well under 10% of what they loaned themselves.

What a working class family.

I just saw this ad on TV:

My goodness. That last scene…ugh.

Still my curiosity got the best of me because I am loving the new California logo.

There’s also another ad with famous people in it. I love this ad because it’s purely SoCal:

I’m all for people visiting here (and spending money), but they really do have to go home. I mean…really. I don’t care how cold it is where you’re from, do you know what it does to an LA-based mind when everyone is bundled up for hiking the tundra and ya’ll come out in here in t-shirts and shorts because you think 61 degrees is “t-shirt weather”.

This is where Clinton’s dog foghorn to racist whites in Ky and W. Va. is headed. It’s a shame that the Clinton’s campaign is more than willing to revisit their race baiting-tactics of December and January with this. Especially since they are flat out lying about her white support. It’s sad to think that a Democrat feels it’s okay to implement a Southern strategy to win votes in a race she’s already lost.

What makes this all even more laughable are the blogging Clinton supporters who contort their logic to justify anything. Remember that for the past few months, we’ve been told by these people that Obama’s big wins in Idaho, Utah, Mississippi and Kansas don’t mean anything. Despite the hundreds of thousands of people who came out to vote for the Democrats vs. the few thousand that voted for the GOP candidates, we were told that “there was no way those states are voting for a Democrat in November.” Why? Oh, the reasons change and facts are fudged, but they say, “Those states haven’t voted for a Democratic president in ### years.” Needless to say, I was shocked to see that Jerome Armstrong, among other Clinton-supporting bloggers pushing that W. Va is in play because they gave Kennedy the nod in 1960.

THUD.

1960.

You read that right. W. Va. hasn’t voted for a Democratic president in 48 years and that means it’s great for Clinton’s chances in Nov., but the states that Obama has won, but haven’t voted for a Democratic president in 20, 30, or 40 years are not in play.

The stupid is strong in this one.