Jay Kersting's Blog

To be perfectly honest, I did not watch a lot of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.  Nor did I watch much of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.  I did watch a LOT of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin.  For some reason, I was glued to the midday hockey games in addition to my usual attraction to bobsled, luge, skeleton and ski jumping.

OK, all of that said, NBC does a piss-poor job of covering the games. 

What they do well is that they offer the coverage on multiple channels.  In fact, if not for the Olympics I would not even know that MSNBC is still in existence.   As far as I know, MSNBC may only exist during the games.  (If you know other wise, drop me a line.  I am curious.)

Once every four years, they pull some experts on obscure sports out of, God knows where, and dries them out so they can work for a couple of weeks.  Some of them are very good, Rowdy Gaines is one of them.  Despite being an Auburn Tiger, he knows his swimming and is able to give the casual viewer insight that we need.  That is the job of a sports analyst.  Another is Karch Kiraly.  Hard to believe that I would praise a bruin (he is an alum of fucla) but Kiraly has a great knowledge of the indoor and beach volleyball games.  He does have gold medals in both.  And unlike some of these other analysts, Kiraly does work for ESPN when not doing the Olympics with NBC.  

But so many other analysts on NBC's Olympic coverage team, well, sound like they should be calling the Dodgeball Championships on ESPN 8, The Ocho. 

And I can't even give you her name, but the woman who was calling the Trap Shooting with Bill Clement from NBC Sports studios in New York.  From New York????  Clement does a good job with hockey and he was decent with Trap Shooting.  But I was waiting for the dullard he was working with in New York (and NO, they were NOT on camera) to steal lines from Jason Bateman's Pepper Brooks character in "Dodgeball" at some point.  

Basketball has Doug Collins.  He is good too.  He needs the gold medal he earned in 1972, but that is another story.   His broadcast partners...that is another story.  Not bad, just not to what I would call Olympic standards.

Jim Lampley as the studio host is OK, at best.  He tries to be clever too often.  I though Bill Clement did a better job as the midday host back in 2006.  

I will continue to watch.  I did spend years watching car wrecks.  

I just will not watch gymnastics nor diving.  Trap Shooting, sure.  Equestrian, maybe.  Team Handball, yup.  Badminton, already have.  But HELL NO to gymnastics!!  Ditto for diving!!

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Russians have invaded Georgia.  Things are very hot there.  I tend to think that President Bush has underestimated Vladimir Putin for many years.  And this reinforces the warnings that John McCain said for years about that man.  Bush said that he got a sense of his soul when he looked in to Putin's eyes.  McCain said when he looked in Putin's eyes he saw three things.....K, G, B.  (Putin's former employer, for those who didn't know, or have forgotten.)

South Ossetia is the province that is the point of contention.  I will admit not knowing much about it.

I do know that I hope that is not near Fort Oglethorpe or Ringgold.  Way to close to my brother in Chattanooga.

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The election situation here in Jefferson City could be decided by a judge today or tomorrow.  Stay tuned for the latest on that.  

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That quote from Friday regarding the Olympic Games....here it is again.

"The sportive, knightly battle awakens the best human characteristics.  It doesn't separate, but unites combatants in understanding and respect.  It also helps to the connect the countries in the spirit of peace.  That's why the Olympic Flame should never die."

Who said it?  

Adolf Hitler

I could not make that up.

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Have a great week.  May not have updates on Thursday and Friday as I will be on the road (to Knoxville, Tennessee).