OLYMPICS REVISITED

A great week of entertainment ended Sunday with the end of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Several events stood out, but it seemed that the projected winners lost and unknowns won which of course is why they play the games.

I thought the most outstanding example of bravery was Justyna Kowalcyzk. Skiing the ten kilometer cross country, she competed with a fractured foot and won. there were others. Bodie Miller, trying one more time for the gold at age 39 and winning a bronze. The Russian solo figure skater that was a national hero in Russia, taking a huge lead in scoring, only to be injured  in practice and forced to withdraw.

A group of young skaters from the United States that showed great promise for the future and many others. But it still wasn't the "Thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, that marked the years that ABC televised the games.

The woman that interviewed Bodie Miller and pressed him when he became emotional, probably interviews Mothers having lost their children in an accident with questions like, "how did it feel."

The worst of all was Bob Costas. A sports reporter that constantly lectures and editorializes as if he were  Walter Cronkite reincarnated. His well known for scathingly attacking Bodie Miller in the past, who was by example a free spirit. Still in character, he felt it necessary to jump on the band wagon of critics. I remember back when He was branded a rebel when he, as an adult, balked at sleeping in a dormitory during the circuit.

Perhaps his worse gaff though was in an Olympics that sprouted sportsmanship from every angle, suddenly in interviewing the Russian Olympic President  burst out with, "Yes but what about the horrible human rights record Russia has." It wasn't a proper question in the context of the interview and I t was asked of the wrong person. He wasn't interviewing Putin after all. Once again showed his frustration in not being a news commentator. Perhaps he gets his inspiration from watching MSNBC.
The final Sunday was to me a disappointment. The two events left were, the 50 K cross country and the finals in four man bob-sled racing. First the announcer when becoming excited, started to scream to the point it was difficult to understand. Secondly, the favorite American  skier, Hoffman, was never identified by number. Throughout the race I tried to figure out which skier he was to no avail. Then the constant reminders that coming up next was the bobsled finals. This coming up next lasted over an hour while NBC tried to stretch two hours of events into five hours, constantly misleading listeners.

In all I would give this Olympics a great grade for competitiveness and NBC a poor grade with Costas.