I don’t care for your channel, NBC.

Ah yes, another post about how the coverage of the Olympics sucks. Or is it? No, the coverage has been great. I have been able to see sports I didn’t even know existed (air rifling anyone? Dressage?) and see my favorite pros do battles on the slopes and descents whenever I wanted to. I have also been able to avoid swimming and gymnastics like the black plague because I hear enough from my peers about how awesome so-and-so are.

So what am I complaining about? NBC has fantastic coverage, but why focus on two disciplines? Sure, America loves to watch teenage girls bend in ways that just look inhuman. And sure, America loves to watch the beast that is Phelps destroy his competition on a truly Olympic conquest. But these are just two sports out of the hundreds being played in Beijing.

Perhaps it would shock NBC to find out that there are millions of bike riders out there just dying for any coverage at all. That many of us stayed up for the full 6 hour road race just because we like to see every single pedal stroke of our heros. We thank NBC for the ability to do this, but wish they would give sports like cycling, archery, football (soccer), field (shotput, javelin, discus anyone?), and trap shooting, more on-TV coverage.

We like to hear Paul Sherwin discuss the strategy of the teams and some of us love to hear Phil drabble on about the sunflowers and how they always point towards the sun. There are many of us who wish NBC would give honor to those who deserve to be honored whether they be American, Chinese, Spanish, or Martian. Let us see them triumph over us. Let us see more than just two sports. Show the United States that the Olympics is more than just the sports we care about. That there is a world outside of America. You owe us that much after running spots for Visa that end up saying “Go World!” What they really mean is “Go World, except for anyone who isnt a gymnast or swimmer and a US athlete.”

I bet you didn’t even know that the U.S. won the gold medal in the women’s time trial and that we took bronze in the men’s time trial! Congrats to Armstrong and Leipheimer.

Velo News (Source) - Graham Watson (Photo)