Nagano on TV

By
John Morton
Posted March 1st, 2002

This article first aired on Vermont Public Radio
It’s been four years since the Nagano Winter Olympics, and as
I pack my bags to volunteer at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, I think I’ve calmed down enough to discuss Nagano without losing my temper. But I’m still mad! I feel cheated. Most Americans tolerate the pathetic television coverage of the Winter Olympics for two reasons: first, except for the fortunate few who live close enough to Canada to watch CBC, we have no alternative, and second, since most Americans haven’t attended an Olympic Games in person, they don’t know what they’re missing.
I may sound unjustly critical, but as a member of six previous Winter Olympic teams, I do  know what we’re all missing here at home. I’ve experienced that adrenaline rush marching into the Opening Ceremony and I’ve endured the crushing frustration of a substandard performance on the one day I wanted so badly to do my best.
With more than 150 distinct competitions at Nagano—in 14 different sports involving more than 2000 athletes from 70 nations—there were enough thrilling victories and agonizing defeats to satisfy even the most jaded sports fan. But CBS blew it, and it had nothing to do with delaying broadcasts for prime time because of the time zones.
To be fair, CBS deserves credit for some of their coverage. They demonstrated the technological capacity to televise entire race courses from start to finish. In the Men’s Downhill or the Bobsled, for example, we saw far more of the competition than the spectators who braved blizzards and fog to catch a glimpse of one instantaneous blur of colorful Lycra after another.
As an extra bonus, we saw the exciting moments over and over, thanks to instant replay. Each time I watched Austria’s Hermann Maier cartwheel through those snow fences, I was more astounded that he came back to win gold in the GS and the Super G.
And CBS had the resources to research and present interesting historical information. As a competitor in the Sapporo Olympics, I remember the euphoria that swept Japan when Yukio Kasaya led his teammates to a sweep in the Normal hill ski jump. But I found it interesting to learn how heavily that victory weighed on the shoulders of Japan’s current ski jumpers. I also remember Janet Lynn’s spunk and grace in accepting a bronze medal instead of gold, but I had no idea she was such a sweetheart of the Japanese people, still a celebrity there after 26 years.
But sadly, what CBS did right was overshadowed by what they did wrong. For starters, they promised us more than 120 hours of coverage. I suspect what they actually meant was 40 hours of commercials, 40 hours of studio gossip and celebrity interviews in the broadcast center, and perhaps 40 hours of actual event coverage. Of the 14 different sports contested at Nagano, figure skating seemed to account for at least a third of the air time. I have nothing against figure skating, I especially admire the skill and strength of the pairs. But did the CBS producers honestly believe most of us would prefer to watch Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan practice, rather than catch a glimpse of Norwegian phenomenon, Bjorn Daehlie make Olympic history by winning an astounding eight gold medals in cross-country skiing?
CBS is not a novice at broadcasting sports. They have successfully covered major professional and college games for decades. What makes them think that at the Olympics, with so many exciting events every day, we long to see their co-hosts chitchat endlessly in a studio?
And as if there wasn’t enough drama at the Nagano Games, CBS had to fabricate more by bringing Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan together for an interview. CBS created a circus sideshow out of the Tanya/Nancy incident in 1994, and they couldn’t resist beating the same dead horse one more time in Nagano.
Sorry, but even after four years, I’m still angry, and you would be too, if you knew what you’ve been missing. Rather than endure the frustration of trying to watch another Winter Olympics on TV, I volunteered to help with the Biathlon events in Salt Lake. If you’re not going to be able to see the Games in person, I hope for your sake NBC does a better job than CBS did in Nagano.