Olympic Fever

After watching the Olympics here are 5 ways to make the Olympics more entertaining for the spectator at home.

1. Add a hang time clock on the big hill ski jump. I can never tell exactly how far past or short of the blue line they land, all I can tell is that it was before or after. Also the angle they shoot it at makes it look like they are just gliding over the top of the hill. If they added a hang time clock to help us get a better idea of how long they were in the air I would watch with way more enthusiasm.

2. Ghost mode Mario Cart style on the downhill ski events, since they can't race head to head. This is the only way we could tell how ridiculously close they are while they are racing. Right now everyone looks like they are doing it the exact same way. Instead of the announcers saying he is 3/10ths ahead of the leader or he came out of that turn at a bad angle, show us. It would work just like Mario Cart ghost mode. The person with the best time is the ghost and if you beat the ghost then you are the new ghost. Wouldn't you gain more from this when you can see how entering the turn at the wrong angle really hurt the skier.

3.This one is a twofer. For those of us who don't watch Ice Skating on a regular basis (I am going to go out on a limb here and say that is the majority of us) explain what the difference between all the jumps are. I hear the announcers say triple toe loop, into a triple lutz followed by a double toe flip. All I see is a girl in a riduculous outfit or a guy in an even more ridiculous outfit jump up and spin a bunch of times. Also relegate the ice skating events to the day time when soaps are on. I feel that the people who watch soaps would watch the "drama" of ice skating with the same fervor.

4. Show us the exciting events, like Ice Hockey, in prime time live. I was watching a guy jump around on the ice and hoping he falls when Bob Costas interrupts us and says "Sorry to interrupt the Mens Ice Skating final, but the Swiss vs Canada Ice Hockey game just ended in an overtime shootout with Sidney Crosby making the winning the goal and here is the highlight" WHAT THE HECK! Shouldn't it be the other way around. It is not like watching Ice skating live makes it more exciting then watching it on delay. Where as watching the Ice Hockey game when you already know the result greatly diminishes the excitement. The football season just ended and watching a full contact sport could have satisfied some of the emptiness left from the end of the most popular sport in America.

5. NBC should promote a Fantasy Olympic League. I would do this, not just because I like anything fantasy sports related, but because it can work. Think about it, first you would create your own country and name it whatever you want. Then pick events to include, the "season" length could be any number of events. Once the events are decided then draft 3 athletes from each event; a female athlete, a male athlete, and a backup. Only start 2 of the athletes. Points would be awarded by medals. 3 points for a gold, 2 points for a silver, and 1 point for a bronze. Hype it a few weeks before the olympics to give people who normally don't follow winter sports a time to research the athletes. Then on opening ceremonies the draft night can take place. This can work and people would actually care about some of the events.

Ohh I posted this one shortly after Miriam just posted one so make sure you read her post too.