As we hear the John Williams Olympic overture another time, I'm not sure if ESPN is being a sore loser, but if you go to their website, they offer very little up-to-date information about the Olympics. In 2004, back when NBC would be a d*ck about showing highlights during the Olympics, Sportscenter was forced to show nothing more than photos. Well, I seem to remember when ESPN got Monday Night Football and NBC got Al Michaels, something else was added into the equation with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. That something was increased Olympic coverage. NBC has allowed more coverage for ESPN, as part of that 2006 agreement. But ESPN has balked at the chance to be open with NBC. Personally, I think they have a countdown clock to the 2012 Games (when NBC's rights are up), probably like that Sportscenter morning countdown clock the guy wore on the 'live commercials'. On the other hand, ESPN has been open to lending personalities, see Teddy Atlas (I love that accent) and Mike Breen (although I'd rather have Marv Albert or even Bob Costas). All ESPN plans to focus on is Michael Phelps and the USA Men's Basketball Team (aka Redeem Team). ESPN even went to the extreme, covering pre-Olympic warm-ups and doing a series with the team. Hello? What about the Women's team? They have a great story too. They're trying to avenge their loss to Russia in the 2006 World Championships in Brazil. Any coverage? Eh, not really. This is China's shot to show itself to the world, and do we have any talk about that? Do we have any talk about how this country has gone from the black eye that was June 4, 1989, to the current day? Do we have any talk about how this was the highest rated non-American Opening Ceremony? Nearly 35 million people watched Friday night, and 70 million watched online, do we have any talk of that? Maybe it's a cardinal sin to acknowledge success from one network to another. But yet it's perfectly normal to bash another network when things suck? Come on ESPN.
