Back to last night--I stopped after three of the four gymnastics rotations, at which point NBC milked it for all it was worth, cutting to swimming for a full hour before finishing it up. I noticed there was a dearth of commentary during each routine--was Nastia out making a costume change? She talked a lot between the routines, hyping up the drama.
During the swim finals, US silver winner Ryan Murphy was being interviewed immediately afterward--rather difficult, as you are still breathing hard. He was beaten by a Russkie, and although he was pleased with his result, he mentioned something to the effect of "well, I went up against the Russian--the Russian Olympic Committee--whatever the IOC wants us to call them..." Hah! This later heated up when Murphy stated that there is doping going on in swimming. Of course, the reason the Russkies are being called the "Russian Olympic Committee" is because of a state-sponsored doping scandal. It's hard for a lesson to be learned when there is no punishment except on paper.
If you're reading this in the Gobi Desert, I will note that Suni Lee of the US won. A hundred photojournalists were madly snapping away--is the clicking just a sound effect, or do cameras still make that noise in the digital age?
After a quick segment kicking off track and field, Torico interviews Lee on the dock (keep in mind, this is like 12 hours later). She says all the right things. Expect her on a Wheaties box soon. Off to late night, with more swimming heats (I think they need to pare down the number of events), more track heats (they're doing a new overhead tracking shot), some field events (already?), and BMX finals (a lot of carnage, partially due to a wet track).
Cut to this afternoon--more rowing, a rerun of last night's BMX finals, diving, beach volleyball (after and during a monsoon), and even more swimming. I was caught up on my DVR, so I wandered over to the NBCQISE streaming site on my Roku. You can see every event in detail there, so if you're into more obscure sports (or sports that the US doesn't do well in), this is the place for you. I watched some Equestrian Dressage, the sport of the rich. It's very relaxing--the commentators are gentle, and elevator music plays in the background for some reason. Unfortunately, you have to put up with ads dropped in the middle of a routine or sentence. The content comes from OBS--the QISE international feed used throughout the world (and NBC, from time to time).
Prime Time kicks off with a handoff by Tirico, not even appearing onscreen, to a quick track heat. The vast mostly empty arena looks like a sea of Chiclets. Tirico returns to lay out events for the night, then back to the track. Then more beach volleyball (break out the bikinis), and back to the track. I find myself drifting to random videos on Facebook.
We're getting more jazzy music taking us into and out of commercials, as opposed to the traditional heavy marches. It’s not enough to keep me up to watch.
More to come.