Go Home, Brian

I am ALL about the Winter Olympics. Tonight, I sat through most of the four-hour coverage of the opening ceremonies. I raised an eyebrow when Bob Costas shook NBC News anchor Brian Williams’ hand, as the cameras prepared to cover the Parade of Athletes. I thought, "Okay…what a nice little vacation for Brian. But what’s he doing here?" Eventually, I found out. He was there to inject little nuggets of hard-news wisdom as the athletes of the world were introduced to the crowd. When the Danish athletes marched past, Brian had to mention the cartoon thing. When the Chinese paraded in, we were treated to a commentary about the fastest-growing economy in the world that is under fire for environmental and human rights concerns. Iran—what a nut their new president is, and some pointed reference to their nuclear program. Poland—a little blurb about the late Pope John Paul II. WTF?????

I’m sorry. Leave that crap at the door, folks. That is, or used to be, the whole point of the Olympic games: Transcend the politics and unite in the universal brotherhood of sport.

Yes, I suppose it could be argued that the Olympics were irrevocably politicized in Munich in 1972. That once the idealistic bubble had been burst, there was no going back. Why not? You DON’T let that kind of thing ruin the spirit of the games. Yes, it happened. But you deal with it, get beyond it, and go forward in the true spirit of sport. We seemed to do a passable job of that, for about 30 years, anyway…

I love the games. I will always watch the games. But, right now, I really hate NBC.

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