The 2010 Winter Olympics are in full force. The United States leads with 25 medals, 7 of those gold. But before you start those U-S-A chants, consider how these games were made possible.
But every Olympic games comes with controversy. Vancouver taxpayers are shouldering the burden of a very expensive production. Once estimated at CAN$580 million, some speculate the cost for the Olympic Village in particular has increased by millions. The Vancouver Sun reports that Olympic organizers will not comment on this matter.
Meanwhile, those in Vancouver who need money the most, homeless, are being displaced and overlooked. Housing projects have been forgotten and social programs have been cut. Protesters believe the worse is yet to come, when the city has no money and cuts increase.
While these protesters are trying to defend many, the next controversy involves only one. Hours before the opening ceremony, Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, of Georgia, was killed during a trial run, with his final recorded speed near 90 miles per hour.
Despite the International Luge Federation and Vancouver Olympic officials ruling the death a “tragic accident,” the incident cast a shadow over the opening ceremonies and made the luge competition hard to watch (especially for anyone who dared to see the clip of Kumaritashivili’s crash).
Speaking of this now infamous video, I’d like to know how many Americans are actually tuning in to this year’s Olympics. BusinessWeek reports that opening weekend of the Vancouver Olympics had 5 million more viewers than the 2006 Winter Games. Hockey and ice skating ratings are bringing in record numbers. NBC paid over $200 million more, more than $800 million total, for broadcasting rights to this year’s games, as opposed to the 2006 Turin Olympics, but that money may not be worth it.
The head of General Electric, NBC’s parent company, told investors that NBC will lose “a couple hundred million bucks.” Those millions could have gone into a larger severance fund for Conan.
So if it’s true that NBC will lose money on this deal, how much longer will networks be willing to tolerate this simply for the prestige? I suppose they’ll have to create more competition, minus the controversy if they want to generate cash flow.
Give us more than a sexily posed Sports Illustrated cover. We need back-story, a chance to cheer for those who work hard. And don’t cram it all in on the day of the race. Engage us. Without any of this, the games are just a bunch of athletes freezing their perfectly shaped buns off.
Now, proceed with those chants. U-S-A! U-S-A!
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