Now Where Have I Heard THAT Before?
The Wall Street Journal on the Olympics, today:
Team USA more than held its own in Turin this week, ranking first in gold medals and among the leaders in the overall medallion count. So why are NBC’s prime-time Olympic telecasts losing eyeballs to shows like “American Idol” and “Grey’s Anatomy”?
It could be that the mawkish athlete back-stories have grown tiresome. Or that variety shows and hospital dramas are less maudlin and more entertaining than NBC hyping time-delayed events that have already been decided. Or maybe people are content to check results online and catch the highlights later on ESPN.
Those explanations seem plausible enough, but we think another factor might also be at work. Today’s Games are en route to becoming the least watched in years because they tilt against historical winds–namely, the end of the Cold War and the subsequent waning of nationalist impulses.
Me, eight days ago:
The most immediate memory most people retrieve from recent Olympics is some variation of a sickeningly sweet human interest story from Jim McKay, the undisputed Sultan of Saccharine Schmaltz. Actual competition has taken a backseat to heart-tugging stories of overcoming adversity that would not be out of place on an Oprah Winfrey broadcast. That’s not because the athletes are in decline – on the contrary, untold millions are spent around the globe identifying and training potential medalists from just out of the cradle. Today’s Olympic athlete is capable of almost superhuman feats, even without performance enhancers.
No, the real problem is that the BIG storyline is missing. We have no good Olympic enemies anymore. The one totally tangible memory that most people have (even people who didn’t watch it, in the curious way these things work) of a real athletic moment of glory is Al Michaels asking “Do you believe in miracles?’ as the United States defeated the Soviet Union at long last on the hockey rink at Lake Placid. That’s the Soviet Union, not Russia, and we’re talking Cold War here.
Hmmm…great minds, again, I suppose – do I detect a theme this Saturday?…
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