As I am sure all of you have figured out, the Olympics bring out some very polarizing sentiments. I, for one, love the Olympics, but I also realize there are some things that need to be changed about them.

Actually, there is one main thing that needs to be changed – NBC needs to stop covering them.

Despite the fact that here at Stanford we are in the same time zone as Vancouver, we are barely able to watch any Olympic events live. Given the current state of media – with Twitter, Facebook, and wireless internet everywhere – almost everyone already knows the results of what they get to watch on the NBC family of networks.

Currently, I am watching the USA versus Canada men’s hockey game, which is probably the most compelling and popular Olympic game thus far in the U.S. Of course, I am watching it on MSNBC, though, and not in high definition because, for some twisted idea, NBC thinks it is a good idea to play a game between Russia and Czech Republic that ended three hours ago in lieu of the USA game.

The other day, American sweetheart and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Lindsey Vonn had a thrilling run to win gold in the women’s downhill. I streamed it online from a European TV station because NBC was too inept to play it live. No wonder NBC is losing millions broadcasting (I use that term very loosely) the Olympics.

NBC has four main channels covering the Olympics (NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and USA), yet the only events viewers can see live are pool play curling matches and some hockey games.

One of my friends put it best, saying, “Everybody who works for NBC’s Olympics coverage should be fired and sent to Antarctica to film the ice.”

Amen to that.
Basically, NBC’s putrid coverage makes an event like the Olympics, which has fledgling support in the U.S. to begin with, even less watchable.

That is a damn shame, because there is so much to like about the Olympics.

First, there is the camaraderie it creates. The room I am watching the USA-Canada hockey game in right now is packed with people that never watch hockey, but will get together, talk about how sweet Ryan Miller’s goalie mask is and cheer like crazy for their country.

That is freaking awesome. The fact that an American winning a random speed skating or ski jumping event is enough to bring a buzz to a room and bring people together around one commonality – the U.S.A. – is special.

Olympic hockey is the best though. The National Hockey League actually stops its season in order to allow the best players in the world to compete against each other in the Olympics. Yes, professional athletes compete in basketball in during the Summer Olympics, but in no other event other than hockey does the presence of professionals create such a competitive environment littered with All-Star caliber teams like Canada, Russia and Sweden (not to mention, of course, the U.S.A.).

This particular Olympics is especially rich with storylines. From Vonn, who is quite possibly the most recognizable American skier ever, battling a shin injury to win gold, to Bode Miller, who had became more famous at the 2006 Winter Olympics for his late night partying than his skiing, coming back to win three medals this year, including a gold, and becoming the most decorated skier in America history – and he is still a total bro.

None of this even brings up how sweet some of the Olympic sports are. Take skeleton for example. I still have absolutely no idea how anybody thinks it’s a good idea to go down an ice track head first at 90 miles per hour, but it is pretty cool. So are aerials, snow-cross and a lot of other sports.

Despite that, these Olympics will likely come and go and Americans will probably not care, despite the fact that the U.S.A. will likely win the most medals, and frankly it is probably NBC’s fault.

I don’t know who would do better – CBS only has one station, ABC/ESPN would probably have the most unbearable commentators, and I’m not even going to touch on FOX having the Olympics because nobody would watch if Joe Buck had the microphone – so maybe NBC needs to just improve.

I want to end this by saying “watch the Olympics,” but maybe my message should be more like, “Hey NBC, let us watch the Olympics.”

Dan Bohm is probably the first person ever to be annoyed with NBC’s tape delaying. Tell him who has already been saying this at [email protected].