Don’t Look for Many G’Days on Games Coverage

Oh, the horror! The thought of NBC butchering another Olympic Games makes me ill. Just when I’m getting over Atlanta, here comes Sydney.

My lingering memory of NBC’s coverage of the Atlanta Games will always be of the Games’ second Tuesday. This is the traditional day off for track and field, and is usually when gymnastics and swimming are winding down. In other words, it’s an off-night for the events with the most TV appeal.

On this night NBC covered a gymnastics exhibition featuring all of the medal winners during its prime-time show. I caught myself watching a performance consisting of the U.S. women’s teams doing the Macarena (remember that?) in unison. I was appalled by the thought that NBC was showing this instead of actual competition.

I don’t care how unmarketable judo, modern pentathlon, archery, or Greco-Roman wrestling are to women, they are better than any made-for-TV events contrived by NBC solely for attracting more, presumably female viewers.

ART CUETO

La Habra