SPORTS Wednesday, July 24, 1996 - The Michigan Daily -15 The Sporting Views: BC coverage of Olympics lacking ay y 1ow~si Daily Sports Editor John Tesh is covering sports. That's all I need to say. The famous "Entertainment onight" anchor and now New Age piano performer is just one of many problems with NBC's coverage of this summer's centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. I was on an outdoor trip and com- pletely away from a television for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, and missed NBC's coverage that year. But five days into this year's games, I want to head for the woods tomorrow a get as far away from television as I an. First of all, I was thinking that since the games are in Atlanta (that is our time zone, right?) that NBC would obviously show live coverage and not have to tape-delay most events like it did in Barcelona. Wrong. As I turned on the TV Saturday, the first full day of the Olympics, I was hoping to catch the *reliminaries of the swimming events. But NBC didn't start its coverage until 3 p.m., when the event actually got underway at 10 a.m. Now I'm not a television executive, but I'll bet the network could have got- ten away with canceling the Saturday cartoons for just one day. Just maybe. In the first five days of the Games, I sat on my couch wondering - is this live? Did this event happen already? , hould I check another channel to find ut? It is true there are many sports in the Games, and swimming, track and field, gymnastics and basketball are the ones that stand out from the rest. But even in its coverage of the major sports, NBC has broken away from the action to check in on other events. It is a no-win situation with so many results to communicate to the viewer, Wt the network is doing a poor job by leaving the events. It breaks up the rhythm and just frustrates the viewer more. Take Dream Team III, for example. Everyone knows that the team, con- prised of the top NBA stars, is all but assured a gold medal. But in its first showing versus its first victim, Argentina, NBC broke away from the game with the United States up by 10, and the next thing we heard of the ntme was just a score - 46-44, USA, at the half. Just a two-point lead for the team that was supposed to have a cake- walk en route to the gold medal. NBC host Bob Costas said that the networfk would go back and forth in between all of the Dream Team games because "it is likely that the Dream Team will not be threatened, and that they will go right through the gold ... we won't show any game - with the possible exception of the gold- medal game - in its entirety, because we want to show you as much of the tapestry of the Olympic Games as we can." So NBC bolted for gymnastics, with Russian and Chinese men's teams doing compulsory routines - an event where all the teams have to do the same routines over and over again for the judges. Get my drift? NBC has established a routine where you are teased with glimpses of an event, then thrown to another to see the "tapestry" of the Games. The prime-time coverage has been better, though. The network has done a good job in showing the finals of the swimming events live. That's what we want to see. Live programming, entire events. Another great moment that NBC captured well came at the end of the Opening Ceremonies. As four-time gold medalist Janet Evans ran up the ramp to a platform in the middle of the 80,000-plus crowd at the Olympic Stadium, cameras showed Mohammed Ali, one the greatest ath- letes of all time, as he received the torch from Evans and lit the Olympic flame to officially begin the Games. So far, that has been the most power- ful and emotional image of the Games. But the exaggerated and unnecessary drama that NBC feels it has to add to its coverage of the events is annoying. In many pre-event pieces, the dramatic music drowns out the voices of the ath- letes. Why can't we get a preview of the event by showing footage of the ath- letes in action, instead of slow-motion shots of the athlete running in a grassy field? Of course, the Olympic athletes have many interesting and gut-wrenching stories. But this is overdone. Just show us the events. And that brings me back to Tesh. Over the weekend, he narrated another one of the overly dramatic intros, this one on the Romanian gymnastics team. As the piece was about to end, Tesh, in a bold yet whispery voice said, "Take a breath, gymnastics is next," Well NBC, you need to take many more breaths, and don't forget the inhaler because you are wheezing. AP PHOTO Mohammed All's lighting of the Olympic torch has been one of the few highlights of NBC's Olympic coverage. Medal Count Country S 6 0 I A I 0 USA 6 11 2 19 Russia 9 4 2 s EYE EXAMIS & EYE GLASSES Germany 0 6 8 14 France 4 333 1Cin -Ix R.mlLAt N GIORGIO ARMANI Poland 5 2 1 8 - Italy 3 2 3 8 1 CALVlI KLElN 7 S. Korea 3 1 2 6 eyewe ar Australia 1 0 5 6 Cuba 1 3 i ST U DE N T DISCO U N TS Turkey 3 0 1 4 Belgium 2 1 1 4 I 215 .TATE ST. z "' 0 BREAKFAST ANYTIME'- LUNCHDINNER C i MOW. - WED THURS. - SAT. HE' 8AMTOPM 8AMTOOPM 8AM TO4AM Achieve Exam Success! At EXCEL, we focus upon the key distinctions that result in great scores. You learn to anticipate the exam's thanking, manage your time more efficiently, and develop effective test-taking strategies. Our highly experienced instructors and carefully organized home- study materials combine with our individual attention for each student to produce the results you need at a price you can afford. LSAT begins 914 GRE begins 9/3 & 9/7 GMAT begins 9/7 GRE Psychology 915 bm SPECIA OFFE Test 00 South University ~ TestPreparation 996.1500 I