Winter Olympics....Just not for me

The ratings may be good for NBC, but its not because I'm watching.

Ever since Rocky Balboa planted the seeds to end the Cold War between the Soviet Bloc nations and the United States with his famous speech after defeating Ivan Drago in a battle for the ages, the Olympics, specifically the Winter Olympics, have lost their luster. No more Russia vs U.S. in any event is must see TV because of the difference in the Communist vs Capitalist ideologies. Those days are long gone and not coming back in the near future. China vs U.S. is a possibility, but China needs another consistent summer Olympic medal count like it did in Bejing in 2008 to make this happen.

Let's face it, NBC is not appealing its coverage to the male demographic, basically middle aged men which I now classify myself in. The focus on figure skating night in and night out is just not something I'm gonna sit and watch. Maybe if Vern Lundquist was still covering the action like he did for CBS back in the day, I'd watch just to hear some classic Lundquistisms or butchered names.

The reality is NBC is appealing to the housewife demographic and they are getting good numbers for their programming. Its a smart move on their behalf because they are getting that fringe viewer to watch by appealing to storylines surrounding skating. Odds are the husband is already interested because its the olympics, its sports on network television during the week, and he grew up watching it, so like yeah honey let's watch the Olympics. But a closer look at the actual primetime coverage should leave the male viewer disappointed.

The other events you could take or leave. Snowboarding, Luge, the numerous types of skiing, etc. just aren't cutting it. The Lebron James-Carmello Anthony duel the other night or weeknight SEC Basketball is more appealing to me.

Of course the summer olympics are different. You have your basketball games which are intruging in watching the NBA players representing their different countries, track and field is always interesting and even the swimming it too. More events, better storylines, broader appeal I guess, but as for Vancouver 2K10, I'll continue to take a pass.