Comments on: Keith Olberman’s Never Seen These Numbers

By: On Frozen Blog › Here’s Hoping Canadians Become Gold Medal Fans Again

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:45:30 +0000

[...] much my home away from home. How could any American hockey fan not love a country where more than a third of the population stops what they’re doing to watch hockey on television? But if there’s an issue of [...]

By: Gloria Ann Lee

Gloria Ann Lee — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:31:26 +0000

I love hockey, especially the Sharks and Red Wings. Conflicted on cheering since most of them are playing for other teams. The best thing about being on PST is the hockey games don’t pre-empt ice skating. Worst – ice skating/dancing is on very, very late. Can’t we have reruns the next day – Please.

By: nadir

nadir — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:54:22 +0000

NBC does not care if the hockey finals were on and that ice dancing celebration was on, they would always show the ice dancing. Look, most of the US is ADD as far as watching TV, so why shouldn’t the coverage bee the same way. Show 2 runs of Bobsled, then flip over and show some Biatholon, then flip again to show figure skating. It is like the shotgun effect of broadcasting.

It is the same thing with the Summer Olympics and gymnastics, which I equally hate as much as ice dancing/figure skating.

By: Cathy W

Cathy W — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:57:45 +0000

Something tells me that you will not be going to see the Smuckers Stars on Ice skating show at the Verizon Center on April 8th. NBC is all about the ratings and figure skating, including ice dancing, gets good ratings at the Olympics. Did you see the promos that NBC was running on their networks for ice dancing? NBC was not running those types of promos for the hockey games. Even tonight, at the end of NBC Evening News, Brien Williams is telling people to watch the coverage at 8 pm on NBC and completely ignores the Canada-Germany game on CNBC at 7:30 pm.

By: penguin pete

penguin pete — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:24:47 +0000

hmmm, the alex ovechkin of ice dancing.

well, flamboyant costumes (see AO’s skates), dramatic routines (see AO’s goal celebrations) and floating through the air (see AO’s bodychecks)…

i’d have to say alex ovechkin is the alex ovechkin of ice dancing!

By: Sherrie Van Houten

Sherrie Van Houten — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:36:57 +0000

Please, let’s not get started arguing curling!!
Anyway, while we waste time quibbling, people like this

http://gawker.com/5476851/everyone-cares-about-hockey-all-of-a-sudden

are the real enemy.

By: pucksandbooks

pucksandbooks — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:03:47 +0000

Yes, obviously, DMG; that’s why baseball, football, and hoops are not sports.

This article suggests that curling’s days may be numbered:

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/curling/news?slug=dw-curling021810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

If true, one down, one more to go.

By: DMG

DMG — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:52:05 +0000

But there will never be a ‘Miracle on Dancing Ice.’ Neither NBC nor any other TV outlet will ever showcase ice dance highlights from games of decades ago.

Is this what defines a sport?

By: Sherrie Van Houten

Sherrie Van Houten — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:31:07 +0000

We will have to agree to disagree on the athleticism, or lack thereof, as it pertains to ice dancing. Your comments on Miracle on Ice Dancing, frankly, is far below what I’ve come to expect from your writing, and has nothing to do with the discussion. The fact that I find myself defending ice dancing to anyone is a real shock to me.
We have no quarrel over NBC and its business practices.

By: pucksandbooks

pucksandbooks — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:22:26 +0000

Sherrie,

My quibble was with your capricious use of the term “great athlete.” It cannot apply to any ice dancer, as ice dancing is not a sport. That’s not to say that its participants aren’t committed and devoted to their craft. Obviously they are. But there will never be a ‘Miracle on Dancing Ice.’ Neither NBC nor any other TV outlet will ever showcase ice dance highlights from games of decades ago. There is of course a tension NBC ever encounters between its news and entertainment instincts with its coverage. But to the extent that the broadcaster will loose hundreds of millions of dollars with its coverage of these Games, as has been widely reported, it’s more than fair to suggest that it has handled scheduling matters with something less than business savvy.