Spoiler Alert

Is it just me or are you already disappointed in the NBC coverage of the Olympics? After the awe-inspiring Beijing Olympics opening night, I forced the family to sit down for the London Olympics opening ceremony. Overall, I'd say that I was impressed with the job that Danny Boyle did with the opening ceremonies yet had a hard time keeping the boys in the family room. Having carried a roll of sod before in life convinced me that "schlepping" the entire infield of grass to convert to the industrial revolution was impressive enough. That was before the Queen of England jumped out of a helicopter to make her grand entrance.

The T.V. coverage thus far has been less than impressive than the Queen's entrance. Matt Lauer's comments about individual countries seemed more like Macy's Thanksgiving parade banter..."oh look, there's Snoopy...and there's Madagascar made famous by the animated film with the same name." I'm sure that Kazakhstan appreciated the (continued) reference to Borat..."where do I put the poop?" If we weren't known as narcissist and elitist before, NBC is doing a good job to make us (or U.S.) look like smug jerks.

At some point, NBC broke away for the award winning and compelling (note tone of sarcasm) interview between Ryan Seacrest and Michael Phelps...even Michael Phelps was wondering, "where's Bob Costas for this interview?" What, Joan and Melissa Rivers weren't available? NBC skipped a portion of the ceremony that paid tribute to British citizens lost in a terrorist attack. The interview sucked, the snub was in poor taste, and somewhere Jim McKay is rolling over in his grave. We haven't hit Day five of the competition and I'm already tired of the (lack of) storyline between Phelps and Lochte.NBC tries to spin up drama each night with events, but technology kills any chance of that.

By the time prime time rolls around, I have either seen something on twitter or an ESPN ticker tape that tells me what I don't want to know. When I was a kid, I discovered my Christmas presents under my parents bed one year and while I was excited for a nanosecond, Christmas that year was a bit off as I already knew what was under the tree.

U.S. athletes have been less dominant than advertised with notable disappointments coming from the men's and women's gymnastics teams. I felt for the men's team as they headed into medal night with hopes for Gold and had a colossal collapse. As tough as it was to watch John Orozcos hold back tears, I admit I got a little "choked up" watching Missy Franklin try and get through the National Anthem without crying. Classy young woman full of poise. If I were up there, I'd be crying so hard, I'd be choking on clumps of air. NBC got that one right, but I was already privy to the results. Ironically, they showed a clip of Denver students cheering her on in the race earlier in the day...they apparently got to see it live while billions did not. I understand the whole time zone thing and how that works, but as a kid, I either saw it live or thought I was. No "Miracle on Ice"  moments for me yet.

Watching the late night interviews tonight with Costas and the women's "Gold" gymnastics team, he says we're hours after recording this moment live (that will be delayed 4-7 hours)...the tension was palpable with that oxymoron. 

As a marathon runner and triathlete, both men's and women's competition in both events are yet to come and I will look forward to catching both events assuming I can stay away from my twitter account and T.V. and pretend that I'm seeing it live.