The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (btw, it's pronounced as a "j", not a "z") were the best Olympics games that i can remember, since probably 1984 in Los Angeles. While i had a great time being in Atlanta in 1996, it just didn't compare to these games.
NBC really blew it by not covering more of the Decathlon. I think it's the premier event of the Olympics. When you also consider that an American won the event, it's mind-boggling that NBC didn't give up 2+ primetime hours of coverage. A very telegenic, family-man American. Bryan Clay could have been a media superstar.
Instead, NBC gave us a nice little backstory, a few minutes long, about 30 seconds of highlights from the first 9 events of the decathlon, and then full coverage of the last event, the 1500m run. Clay had built such a huge lead that all he had to do in the 1500m was not quit, and so most of what American saw of Bryan Clay was a guy jogging around the track in dead-last. Not the picture of the world-class athlete that he is.
Just a colossal missed opportunity! NBC couldn't have cut a couple of hours from the incessant diving coverage? Did we really need to see the prelims of synchronized platform diving?
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