Article:Olympic Spoilers

I understand that when the Olympics are literally on the other side of the planet, I’m not going to be able to see everything live. I’m going to have to (begrudgingly) watch some things on tape delay. I understand that I am at NBC’s disposal, and that instead of showing me something live on TV, I have to wait until prime time to watch the sports they deem prime time, and even later for the sports that actually were happening while I was watching recorded replay.

I won’t even rip on NBC… there is no right or perfect way to cover the Olympics, there really isn’t. There will be scheduling conflicts. There will be certain sports you don’t have room for that you have to make judgment calls on. So be it.

Here’s the thing. “If I haven’t seen it, it’s new to me.” If there is no station on my television set that shows me women’s gymnastics before 11pm, then that is the first time I can watch it on TV and that is as close to live as I can get. Now I understand I could go on NBC.com and watch things live, but lets just say I’m old fashioned and like to watch things on TV.

Is it THAT hard for internet sites that are used extremely regularly by people that are not looking for Olympic spoilers (aol.com, yahoo.com to name a few) to understand that maybe I don’t want to know what happened in an event that HASN’T BEEN SHOWN ON TELEVISION IN MY COUNTRY YET? Is it that hard to say CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED instead of “______ HAPPENED!”?

I’ve taken journalism classes, I know how to write a headline. I know that you are supposed to draw people in. But honestly, if someone is interested in the Olympics and wants up-to-the-minute news, they will click. Is it really that hard to wait until it comes on TV to say PHELPS WINS 6TH GOLD?

The worst of course are the flat out spoilers (such as PHELPS WINS RECORD 8TH) before I had any chance at all to see it, but the picture spoilers are perhaps more frustrating.

(Picture of Nastia Liukin smiling) Find out who won the women’s gold here!

Really? The only way that I am spared the spoiler is if I don’t know what Nastia Liukin looks like? Thats fair.

It is just annoying me. I’m not the kind of person that tapes a game so I can watch it when I get home after I’ve already seen the final score. Isn’t the beauty of sports not knowing what will happen or how it will happen?

It seems the only way to avoid spoilers is to completely isolate yourself away from the computer and from all of your friends and family and do absolutely nothing but watch NBC’s coverage 24/7.

And that is just ridiculous. I mean I can do without my friends and family for a few weeks, but I’ll be damned if I let you take away my computer!

- Vegas Dave Check out more from me at http://www.davesdime.com!