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Sort of like the 2000
Rockwood Olympic Watch, only colder.
February 11
February 12
February 13
February 14
February 15
February 16
February 19
February 20
March 5
March 8
March 14
March 17
March 26
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Thursday, February 14, 2002
Ranier Wolfcastle ("McBain!") writes... "I have no meaningful commentary on the Olympics. I just like
saying 'Kjetil'."
Well, of course you do. Who wouldn't?
posted by Brian
Lundmark at 1:56 PM
"Kjetil," by the way, refers to Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway, who beat Bode Miller of the U.S. by about
a quarter of a second yesterday in the men's combined. Technically, NBC is doing a great job on the skiing events. That two-skiers-superimposed trick
they do was used to perfection by showing Bode Miller pulling away from another skier. And the camera work is so good that when the skiers catch an
edge and look like they're about to lose control, even I momentarily lose my breath. Good job!
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:04 PM
The same can't be said, however, about the commentary. This, of course, is my daily rant against Jimmy
Roberts. Once again the far younger Jimmy was shown up by the elderly Jim McKay.
Roberts' piece about Bode Miller's family of hippies used as
few quotes from Bode as was possible. Can Miller not speak? Is he a bad interview? He didn't seem that way after the race, but as I've stated
before, the interviewee is really irrelevant to Jimmy Roberts. He only cares about making you "feel" a certain way for four minutes of your life. I
don't know what I was supposed to feel during this story, but mostly it was hatred for Jimmy Roberts.
Compare this to McKay, who once
again got out of the way to let U.S. short track speed skater Apolo Ohno and Ohno's father tell their own story. I can't emphasize enough (and yet I
try every day) how much better McKay's stories are than Roberts' stories. I feel like I know Ohno (say "I know Ohno" five times fast) thanks to McKay.
But thanks to Roberts' story, Miller is just some hippy on skis. This is hardly a tribute worthy of an Olympian.
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:13 PM
Speaking of Ohno, what exactly happened with the short track relay? While the coverage has been pretty
good, the announcers could have been a little more informative here.
After the Korean team wiped out and officials stopped the race, instead of
picking up where they left off, they restarted the whole thing! Is this common? Or even legal?
A rained out baseball game restarts in the
inning it left off in, why is speed skating different? NBC's announcers missed a chance to explain something here. If even they don't know, fine, but
tell us that. As it was, I just kind of felt like I was in the dark.
posted by Brian Lundmark at 2:17 PM
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