Sunday, February 28, 2010

Random impressions of 2010 Winter Olympics coverage.

In no particular order:
1. Turned on MSNBC early Sunday morning and was quickly bored by curling. Surprised
that three hours had been alotted for the game.
2. After the Closing Ceremonies Canada production number, it's safe to say that certain people
with long memories can stop complaining about the 1989 Academy Awards ceremonies.
3. Re the above: Assuming no one asked Paul Anka (we got the demographically suitable Michael Buble instead) to launch the giant cannonball of Canadian cheese that was only halted by NBCUniversal's need to run the pilot episode of THE MARRIAGE REF.
4. I don't think Lindsey Vonn was hyped enough by NBCUniversal. What a missed opportunity.
5. Seems like Apolo Ohno, whenever he doesn't get Gold, finds someone else to blame.
6. There's that McDonald's ad with the middle-school girls' hockey team and the coach with the baseball cap who looks like Paul Simon. The coach natters on about coming into the game with "one goal" and how that was what the team scored. Then they all go to McDonald's to eat like Olympians--Chicken McNuggets. One only hopes the real Olympians ate salads instead.
7. Re the AT&T snowboarding-in-space ad set to Lou Reed's "Perfect Day."-- Lou now joins Pete Townshend ("Love Reign O'er Me" used decades ago as a 7-UP ad set....in the rain) and those in charge of John Lennon's music around 1987 (the infamous use of "Revolution" to sell Nike running shoes) in terms of egregious wealth-producing use of iconic songs for commercial jingle purposes. Presuming the ghost of Lester Bangs (who wrote some classic articles about Lou Reed) laughed his ass off after viewing the "Perfect Day" ad.

Whatever the faults of the Olympic coverage and its chop-chop-cut-cut presentation, it was a memorable shared experience (good and bad)--though it might be time for Sumner Redstone and Rupert Murdoch to reach into their savings accounts and outbid NBC for the rights to coverage of future Winter and Summer Olympic games.

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