# NBC Screws America Before It Starts - Olympic 2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663 "2010-02-12T04:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/41 "2010-02-13T04:07:49Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > I also love all the ceremonial stuff, including the PoN, which is the TV viewer’s only shot at seeing most of these athletes. > > If you don’t mind my piggybacking my luge-accident outrage onto this thread, I’m furious with the way NBC has reported the fatal luge accident that happened today. The network on its evening news program harped on the high-speed nature of the Whistler run, the world’s fastest luge track, and the luger’s relative inexperience, as being perhaps key factors. They did mention that he collided with an unpadded steel pole and showed a video of the fatal accident. But their emphasis is misplaced, IMH(and non-luge-expert)O. The problem isn’t so much that it’s a fast track in which the athletes regularly reach and even exceed 90 MPH. The real problem is that it’s poorly integrated with its immediate surroundings, so that athlete (and perhaps fan) safety is compromised. > > Consider that line of steel poles at the final turn for a moment. Why the hell are they located where they are? At 90MPH, the question of padding becomes almost irrelevant. These supports should have been located _far_ off the track, and on the opposite side from where a luger is likely to go airborne. This would require the track roof to be cantilevered accordingly, even if that makes for a rather more expensive construction bill. In all the areas where a luger is most likely to go airborne on or following a curve, there should be crash-net barriers or similar, rather than heavy fixed infrastructure (grandstands, steel poles, etc.). And these potential threats to the athletes’ safety should have been anticipated in the early planning stages of the Olympic facilities! Clearly, someone failed to “connect the dots” and see the overall picture here… and as a result, the Vancouver Games has a body count before the Opening Ceremonies! Is it NBC you’re angry with, or the architect of the luge track? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/42 "2010-02-13T07:00:49Z")
redundant post; deleted. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/43 "2010-02-13T07:04:45Z")
NBC for misreporting it; designers/planners/overseers for not properly executing the track and/or its immediate surroundings. I’m only guessing here, but you’d think the track would be designed first (as it conforms to or at least takes advantage of the site’s topography), and presumably all the bells and whistles would be added around that. I doubt that the design of the luge track proper and its roofing is by the same person, but who knows? It seems obvious in retrospect, though, that someone was failing to connect the proverbial dots, WRT what would happen if a luger was to lose control and fly off the track… On edit: I forgot to mention another likely factor, that the Canadian Whistler track authorities had strictly limited the site access granted to many non-Canadians. I don’t know the details, but apparently if you were a Canadian (and probably a member of a major contending team), you had much more access than, say, the Georgian contingent. So this poor Georgian guy was probably pushing his practice runs for all they were worth, since this might’ve been his first chance to practice on that track before the competition started. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/44 "2010-02-13T07:47:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s like that for regular TV shows too. ‘I don’t care if it doesn’t start for another three hours there. Here on the Right it’s already over, so I’m not spoiling anything.’ Is it really that difficult to simply not read the threads until you’ve seen a show? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/45 "2010-02-13T08:54:16Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > I > Consider that line of steel poles at the final turn for a moment. Why the hell are they located where they are? At 90MPH, the question of padding becomes almost irrelevant. These supports should have been located _far_ off the track, and on the opposite side from where a luger is likely to go airborne. They were. The lugist went off the track on the inside of the curve, exactly opposite what you’d expect. Still should have had netting or some other sort of barrier in place. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/46 "2010-02-13T12:26:45Z")
Can you access streamed Canadian coverage? [TSN | Sports News, Opinion, Scores, Schedules, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Super Bowl, World Juniors., Formula 1](http://www.ctvolympics.ca/tv-online-listings/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/47 "2010-02-13T12:36:15Z")
I don’t want to be an apologist for NBC, but I’ve noticed that the “up close and personal” shorts are much shorter and less frequent than they were in the 1990s, when the network was trying to attract female viewers to Olympic telecasts. They’ll never be able to live down the sob stories, though. Also, the Canadian broadcasts seem to have as much national cheerleading as the US broadcasts. Consider me pissed off if there’s no curling coverage whatsoever. EDIT: LOTS of curling this year on the cable networks. Many of the broadcasts are games where the USA is not playing; they feature the Canadian rink. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/48 "2010-02-13T14:56:43Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > If you don’t mind my piggybacking my luge-accident outrage onto this thread, I’m furious with the way NBC has reported the fatal luge accident that happened today. Yeah, but if they were looking to boost the ratings for the luge, mission accomplished, as W might say. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/49 "2010-02-13T15:01:50Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > They were. The lugist went off the track on the inside of the curve, exactly opposite what you’d expect. Still should have had netting or some other sort of barrier in place. Eh? According to [this article](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/winter-olympics/7225125/Winter-Olympics-2010-luge-competitor-Nodar-Kumaritashvili-killed-in-training-accident.html): “The crash happened on curve 16, known as Thunderbird, where sliders experience a G-force of 5½ — more than a Formula One driver. Kumaritashvili came up too high, banged down into the inside wall and was then flicked into a metal beam holding up the roof. He had also crashed in a similar spot during the first training run on Thursday, along with a handful of other athletes.” The pic shows the luger flying off the track on the outside edge, more or less where you might expect if an athlete loses control on the curve, even though he bounced back and forth from the outer to the inner wall and back before flying out of the track altogether. I could be wrong though about the beams’ location being a fatal flaw – had they been effectively walled off with plexiglas or whatnot (or just higher track walls), that is. But to have the beams there without a deflective shield was a fatal oversight. It’s almost as if someone had to choose at some point as to whether safety or spectator views was to be the priority, and they chose the views. I could also be very wrong about speed per se not being a key factor (although at any Olympic speed it’d be a grave matter to slam into a pillar and accident survivability should be a top priority from the earliest planning stages). Apparently, the marginal increase in speed on the Whistler track (in comparison to other tracks) is such that it’s at the limit, or beyond, of the speed of the luger’s reflexes. In other words, reaching speeds of 90-95 mph (as opposed to 85 mph) does diminish the athletes’ ability to steer as they must be able to if they are to retain some measure of control. From the same article: Joseph Fendt, the president of the World Luge Federation, said: “The track is too fast. We had planned it to be a maximum of 137 kmh (85mph) but it is about 20kmh faster. We think this is a planning mistake.” And: Australian women’s luge competitor Hannah Campbell-Pegg said two days ago that the lugers were being treated as crash test dummies down a dangerous course. American slider Tony Benshoof said the physics of the curves meant there was virtually no margin for error. “On the first run, I had some problems in the lower portion of the track. Because of the physics of the curves, and going at 95 miles per hour, there’s a really small margin for error. You really need to get it right from curve nine to get as far as curve 13, because once you get to curve 11 and 12, you’re going too fast to correct yourself.” * * * But I’m forgetting where I’m posting… the Pit… so I’d like to express what I feel would be poetic justice for those IOC officials who, this morning, are denying any institutional responsibility for the tragedy, as well as whatever planning geniuses or contractors or development managers are responsible for how the track came out – and just say that if there was any justice, they would be forced onto luges and sent down the unamended track as it was yesterday morning, come what may… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/50 "2010-02-13T16:35:10Z")
I just read that Canada Tv is not covering. they are running the American feed. Crap. They show so much more actual events than American TV ,who thinks they can convince you to fall in love with specially picked athletes. Just show the events as they occur like a news program used to do. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/51 "2010-02-13T17:52:31Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I don’t mind that the opening ceremonies are being delayed, that isn’t really a time sensitive event. But delaying the sproting events is pretty lame. Agreed. And while we’re bashing NBC, I wish they wouldn’t chop up the music the way they do. They repeat the first part of _Bugler’s Dream_ and leave out the rest. They’re trampling on precious Olympic memories here. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/52 "2010-02-13T18:07:01Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I just read that Canada Tv is not covering. they are running the American feed. That’s not what I’m seeing here in Canada. I’m watching CTV, and we’ve got CTV hosts anchoring the telecast, and CTV commentators describing the events. And yes, Canadian athletes are being profiled. I’d say that it’s definitely not the American feed! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/53 "2010-02-14T03:23:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Bad news: I’m in Seattle tomorrow, so I won’t get home until 1900. And in 1900, the Olympics was in Paris, so there’s another eight-hour delay right there… Wow, you’re getting home over a hundred years before I do… are you taking the monorail? ---
**Author:** ![Aedena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@Aedena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aedena)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/54 "2010-02-14T06:11:50Z")
I am disgruntled with NBC. May their empire fall. No op-ed piece here. Just a rant. Because I’m disappointed and sad. NBC prevented me from watching my Olympics. A lifetime tradition, taken. Earth comes together (here in my backyard) and I can’t feel the spirit because of NBC exclusive broadcast rights and internet streaming restrictions. I can’t even watch _NBC_ coverage. Stumped. If we pay the same company for the cable tv & internet, then… ? What I mean is, wouldn’t I watch the same NBC/Universals comercials on either screen…? …shouldn’t… ? Nope. Not our choice. Theirs. NBC. The Olympics are not a public event, just a broadcast event in public. NBC feels the paradigm shifting without them and thinks we’ll settle for the only thing they know how to do…shove the genie back in the TV bottle, ask us to watch through the glass … and maybe they hold their breath until the internet is over, too? I watched NBC’s’ “live” broadcast [delayed broadcast in the same timezone??] I battled the brain-free NBC page to find “live / full replay video”…without NBC commercials, any commentators, any life…dead-air and a mob of nameless biathlete rifling away. I’m not sure what NBC is protecting me from. I am sure NBC don’t know what they hell they’re doing if they think they’re protecting themselves. But I do know NBC took something from me and fucked it up. I’m unhappy with NBC, that’s all. NBC NBC NBC. grrr. I hope that means “bye bye”. ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/55 "2010-02-14T06:14:20Z")
> **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/?err=404&err_url=https:%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Fnhl%2Fblog%2Fpuck_daddy%2Fpost%2FNBC-explains-its-ice-dancing-over-U-S-Canada-ho%3B_ylt=AsxPnmRACqEgqMxcEPbkkfN7vLYF?urn=nhl,219149)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! NBC isn’t going to be airing US vs Canada hockey game because the audience demographic is largely female. NHL stops it’s regular season midway and this is the thanks they get. A huge hockey game aired on MSNBC cable channel. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/56 "2010-02-14T18:26:47Z")
Checking the tv guide today, I notice that NBC won’t be broadcasting the Olympic events until 1 pm Sunday. Instead, they’ll broadcast an infomercial and gardening program among several other programs of what appears to be kiddie programs. And I’ve always thought Leno was just joking when he talks about NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/57 "2010-02-14T20:58:10Z")
> [@Aedena](#): > > NBC prevented me from watching my Olympics. A lifetime tradition, taken. > > Earth comes together (here in my backyard) and I can’t feel the spirit because of NBC exclusive broadcast rights and internet streaming restrictions. > > I can’t even watch _NBC_ coverage. Stumped. > If we pay the same company for the cable tv & internet, then… ? > What I mean is, wouldn’t I watch the same NBC/Universals comercials on either screen…? …shouldn’t… ?. I’m just a little confused by your post. Why can’t you just watch NBC on TV? ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/58 "2010-02-14T21:42:04Z")
Certainly you can watch some of the Olympics on NBC. There are a number of problems with that, though. First, there is a lack of variety of what NBC is showing on their own network. A lot of the events are getting shuffled off to the cable channels. Second, this is going to become even worse once figure skating gets started. At that point, you can forget about seeing anything else happening at the same (or similar) times. Third, those on the West Coast, where the events are taking place, are on an unexplainable and unexcusable tape delay. Fourth, even when NBC does late night coverage, they replay their own broadcasts from earlier in the day instead of using this time to show other events. In short, if you want to watch something other than figure skating and you don’t have cable, you’re screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/59 "2010-02-14T22:06:10Z")
Right, but if she “pays the same for internet and cable”, then she has cable, and can watch it on NBC’s cable channels. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663/60 "2010-02-14T22:22:19Z")
Perhaps, but I interpreted that differently. I pay the same company for the internet (that I do have) as I would for cable (that I don’t have). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-screws-america-before-it-starts-olympic-2010/528663.md?page=4)