Olympic Woes

I don't usually do a post like this, but I need to have a word with NBC and their Olympic coverage. So if you're from NBC please read this; if you know someone at NBC, please pass it on to them.

I love the Olympics. Our whole family does. The children got to stay up late to watch the opening ceremonies. Most nights of the last two weeks we've watched at least a little of it.

Admittedly, the Olympic coverage hasn't garnered our full attention. There have been plenty of exciting moments and interesting behind-the-scenes stories. We did see some exhilarating new sports with the slopestyle events in skiing and snowboarding. But frankly we got a little tired of seeing mainly skating and skiing night after night.

And I know that the Winter Olympics don't have the wide variety of sports that the Summer Olympics have, but the prime time network coverage has dropped the ball on showing us the full experience. I haven't seen any curling. And maybe it's not as action packed as snowbaord competitions, but is 15 minutes to much to ask from a network that will willingly show golf and bowling tournaments?

We didn't see any hockey at all. There was an amazing Russia vs. USA game that was referred to as "Miracle on Ice II." We only heard briefly about it. Again, I understand if we don't get to see a full three periods of the game, but give us something, please.

Even if it's a sport that the USA isn't excelling in, please give the country a chance to experience that sport--even briefly. Exposure is a good thing. Despite the lack of network exposure, curling is becoming more popular here in the Twin Cities (I've played before--it's tougher than it looks, and it's a good time with friends and strangers). With a little more exposure those kind of sports gain interest. And that's part of what the Olympics are about: exposing the world to new things, whether it be a sporting event, cultural awareness, stories of human triumphs, or just new places and people.

So I hope someone from NBC Sports reads this. I enjoy watching skating and skiing, but not every minute of the coverage. Show us some hockey. Show us some curling. Don't keep sports like the biathalon out of prime time. Expose us to athletes from some of those nations we hardly hear about. Keep teaching us, keep inspiring us, keep entertaining us.