QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 6

I missed taping the afternoon show, so this will be an abbreviated post.

• Tina Maze, co-winner of the gold in Downhill Skiing, is the #1 celebrity in her home country of Slovenia. She’s a pop star and model—imagine Beyonce was also a QISE gold medalist.
• Lauer in the anchor chair at the Fortress yet again—Costas, where art thou?
• With bright colors and skin tight design, speed skating uniforms are more like futuristic superhero costumes
• I have been very disappointed in the Peacock’s graphics package—it’s basically the same stuff from the last two or three games. Step it up, NBC!
• If you think Luge is too boring, try Skeleton—riding on your stomach, face first. The races are so fast, the commentators barely have time to go over each athlete’s backstory.
• “Slopestyle”? C’mon, International QISE Committee--just rename the entire event the X-QISE and be done with it.

More to come.

QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 5

Catching up from last night—

• The commentator referred to the condition of the Halfpipe as “Slushy Flatbottom”. That was the name of my bluegrass band in college!
• What’s that sound, Shaun White? That’s the sound of your endorsements being cancelled.

Moving onto today’s coverage—

• The afternoon show covered Nordic Combined, which involves ski jumping and cross country skiing. The International QISE Committee seems to like combining existing sports, rather than coming up with new ones.
• May I suggest “Jumpstyle”—ski jumping with EXTREME tricks. Considering how long they are in the air, you could soon hear this commentary: “He’s going to try the “3960 Button-fly McFlurry—that’s 11 complete rotations—and he’s done it!!”
• During a ski jump, a commentator noted that the suit is supposed to fit tightly to avoid getting an aerodynamic advantage, and saw an issue with one of the skiers—“his crotch, frankly, seemed pretty low”. Don’t take that statement out of context, please.
• Most embarrassing event in QISE so far? Afternoon host Lester Holt comparing dance moves with US Luger Kate Hansen. It’s like your drunk uncle at a wedding.
• Lauer continued hosting prime time at the Fortress of Solitude. Meh.
• We’re seeing a trend of “old timers” trying to extend their careers and failing—namely, Shaun White and Shani Davis. It’s also a loss to the Peacock, as they miss two opportunities to push a storyline.
• Best QISE commercial so far—“Time to take a Charmin break”, which consisted of a Zamboni running over an ice rink and a 60 second countdown. Classy!

More to come.

QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 4

The Today show managed to squeeze a non-spoiler into their 4 hour show—Costas is being pulled tonight from prime time coverage due to his eye infection, and Matt Lauer is coming in to relieve him.  On to the games!

• We have another new sport—“Ski Slopestyle”. Seems like a mouthful. Since the International QISE Committee is making up names anyway, how about “skistyle”? You’re welcome.
• Speaking of mouthful—the luge track is called the “Sanki Sliding Center” (technically, it’s Sliding Center Sanki). I hope no one involving is selling seashells by the seashore...
• So, Lauer stepped into the anchor chair at the Fortress of Solitude as prime time began. He doesn’t have Costas’ gravitas, and is better suited to morning happy talk.
• The short program for figure skating were originally based on very specific patterns—everyone did the same moves in the same way. As TV networks gained more control over QISE, that went out the window—now we just see short performances that look a lot like their final (longer) programs.
• The sub-tropical location of Sochi is—shockingly—creating issues with the snow. The Halfpipe is a prime example—it’s hard to “shred” in slush.
• The Peacock is doing a lame attempt at synergy with the Sochi QISE and the upcoming Captain America movie (which has the subtitle “The Winter Soldier”).  It really doesn’t work.

More to come.

QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 3

We start out bright and early….

• ...when Matt Lauer broke the self-imposed Peacock rule—No Spoilers.
• He announced that Julia Mancuso was the winner of an event within the first 10 seconds of the Today show, 14 hours before the event would actually be broadcast. Thanks NBC—I can skip watching that tonight.
• Luge is a sport where you do 99% of the work at the start, and the rest is basically gravity. It’s the Pinewood Derby of winter sports.
• Mogul Skiing is the preferred sport for chiropractors. I would think that athletes in this sport are in wheelchairs by age 40.
• You know curling is boring when they spend more time on the wacky pants the “athletes” wear than the actual competition.
• Mogul skier Alex Bilodeau has a readymade “up close and personal story” designed to tear at the heartstrings—a brother with cerebral palsy—who ends up winning Canada’s first gold medal in Vancouver.
• Short track skating, especially at the longer distances, looks ridiculous. They all skate like senior citizens until the very end of the race, when it’s a frantic dash for the finish. Apollo Anton Ohno does a good job in front of the mike, though.

 More to come.

QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 2

The first Sunday of the games…

• We begin with more of the “skiathlon” (silly name). There’s a point in the race where the athletes swap their skis—it’s rather like a pit stop in auto racing, and the announcers treat it as such.
• It’s been interesting to watch Hannah Kearney’s evolving response after winning what the Simpsons referred to as “shameful bronze”. She was clearly devastated when it happened (she was the reigning champion), but now she’s much more grateful. Did the QISE Committee reach out and warn her not to be such a downer?
• Costas’ eye isn’t looking much better tonight—perhaps some of the Kryptonian knowledge crystals behind him can provide a medical miracle.
• Ski jumping has been refined to the point that an “agony of defeat” moment is looking less unlikely.
• Usually, “local color” packages are rather meh—but Mary Carillo’s work is always interesting and funny. Tonight, she was off to Siberia.
• It used to be that you immediately knew how someone did in a scored event—did they get a 10 or not?  Now, you need the commentators to translate what 129.43 means.

Well, I’m wiped. More tomorrow.

QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 1

The first “true” day of competition…

• Al Michaels takes over Fortress of Solitude duty for the afternoon
• “Skiathlon"? Really? There must be some ad agency generating random words, and the International QISE Committee creates sports to fit.
• As always, speed skating outfits leave little to the imagination. Sport clothing firms bring in aerospace firms to help reduce friction and drag.
• Biathlon = skiing and shooting = event for secret agents
• As the evening festivities begin, even Costas refers to the main studio as Superman’s icy fortress—called it!
• Ah, Ice Dancing—the red-headed stepchild of the skating world. The bad reputation is the result of a history of rigged judging, which is (supposedly) no longer the case.
• What is the compulsion of the crowd to clap along with the beat of skating music? You know it’s probably throwing off the skaters, right?
• We then go back to Slopestyle, brought to you by Monster Energy Drink and Axe Body Spray—EXTREME! COWABUNGA! C’mon kids—watch the QISE!
• The team figure skating event gives NBC more chances to manufacture the next “America’s Sweetheart” in Ladies’ Skating. Just put together an artsy “up close and personal” segment, add some breathless competition commentary, and you’re set—as long as the athlete comes through.

Tomorrow—the men’s downhill and more team skating.

QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day 0

…and we’re off, starting with a cinematic ode to Mother Russia, and segueing into an overblown introduction to the Winter QISE.

We then cut to the Fortress of Solitude for Costas and his benediction, with a handoff to Lauer, Vieira, and a Russian ringer at the stadium who vamp until the opening ceremonies begin. Oh, and Obama drops by. I guess presiding at major sporting events has become a part of Presidential duties.

Enough with the preliminaries—let the games begin!

• Mindy proclaimed the USA's outfits as “the worst ugly Christmas sweaters ever”
• Ugh—another dreamlike ceremony seen through the eyes of a young girl?  It’s been done.
• The giant snowflakes turning into the QISE rings—oh well, 4 out of 5 ain’t bad
• I’m impressed with the giant video display showing each country’s map during the athletes’ entrance. The futuristic ladies with the countries’ names? Not so much.
• If you’re going to hold an opening ceremony, you’ve got to have giant props and Cirque du Soleil dancers
• Nothing says QISE like dancers dressed as sea anemones
• Hey announcers—maybe you could explain who some of the famous Russians carrying the QISE flag are?
• 3+ hours later—we have a lit cauldron!

 Next—the games begin in earnest.

QISE Review - Winter Edition - Day Negative 1

Why Day Negative 1? Because the opening ceremony is traditionally considered to be QISE Day 0, but events are inexplicably being held the day before.

First off, I heard this morning that Bob Costas is NOT going to anchor the opening ceremony on Friday. Not sure if that’s his call, or he has lost some support from the Peacock. Either way, I’m a bit disappointed, because he’s the only host willing to be sarcastic about it. The rest treat it like a parade, just reading the teleprompter—it’s Hooray for Everything!

Second, let’s get the time delay issue out of the way. Sochi is 9 hours off US eastern time, 12 hours off Pacific time. If you just spent billions getting QISE rights, as the Peacock did, would you show the marquis events live in the morning? If course not. If you can’t wait (and you happen to have cable or satellite), and don’t have a job, you can see most everything live on their website.

On to the evening’s festivities:

• Is Costas in the Peacock studio, or the Fortress of Solitude?  Got a lot of glass and crystal going on here, not the normal faux-ski chalet look. I’m expecting Marlon Brando in day-glow white to drop by any minute.
• The inclusion of “Slopestyle” (which my spellchecker wanted to name “slop style”) makes it clear that the International QISE Committee is going to imitate the X-Games anywhere they can. It’s EXTREEEMMME! It’s also very dangerous, to the point where changes were made to the course at the last minute.
• I noticed Sochi’s slogan on the ski course—“Hot. Cool. Yours.” What does it mean? I have no idea—I think something is lost in translation.
• I’m glad (and a little surprised) that the anti-gay issues in Russia were mentioned, if only briefly.
• The new “Team Figure Skating” competition is like Hamburger Helper—a way to spread out a popular (and highly rated) event further.

Coming up next—the hysteria of the opening ceremony...

Quadrennial International Sporting Event (QISE) Review - Winter Edition

For the next two a a half weeks, I will once again cover the Quadrennial International Sporting Event (don’t want to get sued for using the O-word).

I’m not a big sports fan, but QISE is an exception—not so much for the actual competition, but as a news / media / marketing / merchandizing event. (If you’re interested in the actual results, this is NOT the place to go). The opening/closing ceremonies, the swelling music, the histrionics, the hyperbole, the overblown graphics—that’s my sweet spot. I’ve been glued to QISE coverage since I was a kid.

I’m still a cord-cutter, and I’m not making the mistake I made last QISE to sign up for cable—just the Peacock coverage, along with what I can find online.

We’re already seeing a lot of QISE commercials—not just promos, but athletes hawking various products. The whole concept of amateur athletes has fallen by the wayside. It’s a far cry from Jim Thorpe, who had his medals pulled for making $877 (in today’s dollars) a week playing “professional” baseball in 1909-10, although the International QISE Committee reinstated them posthumously in 1983. Today, it’s estimated that Shaun White is worth $20M.

Tomorrow—the the games begin!

QISE Review - Day 16

The final total for hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through the Closing Ceremony - 446 hours of QISE coverage. 

• Usain Bolt looked like he had to actually push to win the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay. Previously, he seemed to coast at the end.
• What in the world is the women's modern pentathlon? Well, it's pistol shooting, fencing, freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a cross-country run. Sounds like good training for the CIA or MI6. "Modern" is relative--it was first run in 1912. The big change is that the running and shooting are done together--a snowless biathlon.
• NBC has really taken advantage of the graphic overlay tech first designed for football. An example is the Javelin--they show where the current gold/silver/bronze distances are, along with QISE/world record distances.
• Sunday seems to be rerun day--like the men's Basketball "victory"
• They also had time tonight to air a 90-minute review show prior to the Closing Ceremony, which pushes the Closing Ceremony back past 11a EST.
• Speaking of that--The Closing Ceremony has become this weird hybrid of pop concert/fashion show/moshpit/light show/Cirque de Soleil event. It's like the Super Bowl halftime show on crack.
  • I suspect I would enjoy it far more if I was on powerful hallucinogens
  • Winston Churchhill as a Laugh-In character, popping out of a building--huh
  • Batman and Robin an exploding car--double huh
  • The Pet Shop Boys, dressed like--erasers? origami? traffic cones?
  • Ladies and gentlemen--STOMP!
  • Guys in blue with light bulbs on their heads--a TARDIS tribute?
  • Russell Brand is no singer--and he's in the wrong key
  • A phrase I never thought I'd say--"Oh no, the Rolls Royce is going to back into the inflatable octopus!"
  • The worst kept secret was the Spice Girls reunion--looked like 5 soccer moms on top of taxis
  • Finally, after 16 days, the UK's greatest accomplishment: a Monty Python tribute. Eric Idle and a cast of thousands singing "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life"
  • A writhing half-naked woman screaming on stage, followed by the national anthem of Greece--sounds about right
  • After the flag handoff, we get the Rio presentation with all the Brazilian celebrities like--um--that guy and the girl with the hair. Oh, and Pele.
  • What describes the QISE spirit better than The Who singing "Teenage Wasteland"? 
• Final thoughts--
  • Overall, I think Kabletown did a decent job. I know there was a lot of criticism about the tape delays, but I'm not sure what else they could do with the time difference. If you wanted to see events live, they were all available via online/mobile (assuming you had cable). You got far more coverage than ever before, even without the online component. If I had more tuners in the DVR, I could have generated a much higher number of hours.
  • Speaking of online, the site and video quality were excellent, even on mobile. This also shows that YouTube (the actual tech behind it) is ready from a technical standpoint to provide a pseudo-cable experience (of course, the content providers won't want to annoy their cable overlords and/or actual owners, so it will never happen).
  • As always, NBC is too jingoistic with all the "USA! USA!" stuff. If you wanted a more balanced view, watch the online coverage.

That wraps it up--hope you enjoyed my comments and QISE in general.  I'll do this again for Sochi and Rio (hopefully with a better DVR setup).

QISE Review - Day 15

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Saturday--418 hours so far.

• The 4x400m relay had two big stories:
  • The US losing for the first time in 60 years, partly due to Manteo Mitchell's injury--a broken leg--during the previous round
  • Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee from South Africa, running in the final
• What's the deal with bringing Jimmy Fallon into QISE coverage, just so he can do a bit?  I don't see Leno doing Headlines in London.
• Controversy in the women's Hammer Throw--Germany's Betty Heidler was given an eighth place finish based on a faulty measurement, but was eventually given the bronze when the judge figured out the mistake. The difference was in terms of several feet--how do you make that big a mistake in front of the world stage?
• Race-walking is Britain's tribute to Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks.
• Is the penultimate night of the QISE quiet? Well, they had time to show a Tom Brokaw tribute to the British Greatest Generation. I thought I tuned into the History Channel.

The final day of QISE is yet to come.

QISE Review - Day 14

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Friday--393 hours so far. 

• If you were wondering what high tech method NBC uses to show the diving events--a guy drops a camera down a track at the same time the diver drops. 
• The BMX Cycling event is not just EXTREME, it's insane--8 bikes going down the same narrow track at once. It's like NASCAR with bicycles--you're watching it for the crashes. I assume this event will be pulled off the QISE schedule when someone is killed.
• Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show--"Explain the difference between the Triple Jump and the Long Jump". Well, I believe there are 3 jumps involved.
• Ryan Seacrest is going to co-host the Closing Ceremony with Costas? It's the battle of the midgets.
• Oh boy, the US Basketball team is going to the gold medal match. The millionaire professionals are beating the poor amateur players--they must be very proud.
• I'm glad the volleyball audience is taking the event so seriously. In attendance were Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Incredible, and a gorilla. Someone cleaned out a London costume shop.

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 13

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Thursday--370 hours so far.

• How do you make a 10 second event like the 100m hurdles last 10 minutes? Include an "up close and personal" report on the American plus an interview afterwards.
• I didn't see why there was such excitement about the beach volleyball win for Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings--the expected winners won.  Woo?
• The Synchronized Swimming team competition seems particularly silly--it's like a parody of itself. A competitor at some point decided that smiling during the routine was a good idea--now they all have to plaster ghastly grins on their faces. It's like they released Joker venom into the water.

 More to come.

QISE Review - Day 12

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Wednesday--346 hours so far.

• Finishing out gymnastics
  • The commentators noted that the Chinese in their training have their girls stand on tip toe on the Balance Beam for five minutes, and simulate the lighting at the actual event. Any reason the US can't do that, or are they too busy checking their make-up?
  • The thrill of--paperwork? Aly Raisman got the bronze on Balance Beam after an inquiry was made. I love how the coach had to beg for a pen in order to fill out the form--for lack of a nail...
  • Of course, Raisman made up for it with a gold in the Floor Exercise
• It's fun when an athlete doesn't follow the narrative NBC came up with before the games. Lolo Jones from the 100m hurdles was to follow a) athlete overcomes adversity, wins or b) athlete is gracious about losing. Instead, on the Today show, she chose c) athlete whines and cries about losing.
• It's QISE TO THE EXTREME with the BMX Cycling event--clearly trying to bring in a bit of the X-Games audience

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 11

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Tuesday--321 hours so far.

• I'm really leaning on the fast forward button to get through all the coverage--thank goodness for handball, volleyball, water polo...
• Gymnastics notes
  • I find the uneven bars event to be much more fun if you make comedy "I'm out of control" noises while they do it (whoa--WHOOA--whoo)
  • NBC, in an attempt to make the scoring more comprehensible, added "stoplights" (red/yellow/greed) next to the score. Unfortunately, they don't set them consistently, so the commentators need to explain it anyway
  • Another performance by Viktoria Komova, the "Crying Russian". When she finished an event, it looked like someone had just kicked her puppy.
  • "Boy did I get that wrong" - Tim Daggett, when Arthur Zanetti of Brazil won the rings event after he had just talked about another competitor winning in a repeat
• Kirani James is why the QISE exists. First medal winner ever from Grenada (Gold in the 400m sprint), and a class act--he traded name tags with Oscar Pistorius after their heat.
• What did TV use to fill up QISE coverage before Beach Volleyball? The "uniforms" they wear can only keep your attention for so long.

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 10

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Monday--293 hours so far.

• First off, my notes this week will most likely be truncated. I had the chance to be on a staycation last week, so I had plenty of time to review the coverage. I'm back to work now, so I'll compress my reviews into a few hours each night.
• After the nightly Tivo reboot, I finished up last night's coverage. I'm getting tired of this, as I am of the gymnastics theme they keep playing (dum-dum-dum-de-dum).
• They also dug up the "Matrix" effect so they could show the gymnastic vaults in 360 degrees
• The 4 stages of grief for NBC gymnastics - "She's absolutely going to win", "Absolutely shocking", "Stunning gold", "This truly is unbelievable"
• The Canada-US soccer match went all the way to the end of second extended time period to finish up.  I managed to see most of it, including the final score by the US.
• Mary Carillo had another fascinating background piece on England tonight--this one covered the Greenwich Meridian Line and the British observatory there. NBC News should use her--or I'm sure they need analysts for the NBC Sports Network?

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 9

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Sunday--265 hours so far.

• Another day, another Tivo overnight crash. At least I caught it earlier this time.
• Back at Track and Field--in a bit of British whimsy, a mini-Mini Cooper RC car is used to return the discuses (disci?) back to the starting point
• Clearly, the home team advantage in QISE is real--how else would you explain how Murray dismantled Federer in men's tennis?
• NBC prepped the audience for tonight's women's gymnastics with a short film on Olga Korbut. You can't overestimate how her performance in the 1972 Muinch games transformed the sport.
• I can't separate the synchronized swimming event from the SNL film with Shearer, Short, and Guest (see the video above--we'll see how long before Kabletown pulls it). NBC has added a camera trick to show the competitors above and below the water at the same time, which helps a lot.
• I'm wondering how QISE events are scheduled--in some cases, they are stacked on top of each other, while others have days between them. For example, Murray had an hour between his singles and mixed doubles gold medal tennis matches (each of which take hours to complete), while synchronized swimming has a day scheduled between their 2 1/2 minute routines.
• Prime time begins with a 30 minute interview between Costas and Phelps. Much of this was shown last night, so I'm guessing that NBC assumed the 7-8p block would be soft in terms of ratings.
• I think the whole evening is lacking for major events--perhaps why we also get a Mary Carillo report on James Bond (followed by a Skyfall ad--it's all about synergy).

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 8

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Saturday--235 hours so far.

• Speaking of the Tivo--another crash last night, about 10 minutes after I stopped for the night. Got it working again this morning, but I missed the last 90 minutes from prime time, plus late night and early NBCSN coverage. So, what did I miss?
  • The women's 800m freestyle swimming final, with 15-tear old US swimmer Ali Ledecky taking the gold. USA Today reported that NBC cut away to commercials during the 8 minute event.
  • Men's trampoline was also scheduled last night, so I'll have to go online to see it.
• Mary Carillo is doing double duty--late night host and tennis play-by-play this morning. Of course, the latter was a quick gig, based on the Willliams-Sharapova match.
• I got a chance to try out the NBC "Live Extra" app while out at a restaurant. Running a Galaxy Nexus on 4G, the video from various events was excellent, and the app response was quite snappy. 
• The Chinese gymnastics team is not doing well--their women's trampoline star screwed up at the end of her routine, giving Rosannagh Maclennan of Canada the win (Canada's first gold of the games).
• A first for the games today--Oscar Pistorius of South Africa, a double amputee, competed in the 400m sprint with his "cheetah blades", getting past the first round. There's still a debate over whether his "disability" helps or hurts him--but since the QISE committee okayed it, more power to him.
• I watched what appears to be a parody event--sprint track cycling. Two cyclists ride as slowly as they can, watching the other constantly, then pedal as fast as they can at the end--the important thing is not the time, but who wins.  Guatemalan Erick Barrondo won the silver--the first medal ever for Guatemala. 
• John McEnroe, an analyst for NBC, was sporting a wardrobe from the "Russian Mobster" collection today...
• You could tell that NBC's Track and Field analyst Ato Boldon had the phrase "The Pryce is Right" locked and loaded months ago in anticipation of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's win in the women's 100m dash
• Michael Phelps' QISE finale--hyperbolic much?

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 7

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Friday--210 hours so far.

• Ryan Lochte is not a great public speaker, if his interviews on NBC are any judge.
• So the gymnastics score goes out to a thousandth of a point, but when a tie still occurs, one person gets the medal and the other doesn't? I guess those medals are too expensive to just hand out to anyone.
• I would hate to be one of the shot put judges--you're constantly avoiding heavy objects. I guess it's better than the javelin.
• There's another apparent gaffe from NBC involving promos--although in this case someone is overreacting. Costas was talking about Gabby Douglas's win, and then a promo was shown for the upcoming "Animal Practice" series. The promo includes a monkey on gymnastics rings. I can see the potential slight, but I doubt NBC intended it.
• There hasn't been a lot to cover today--maybe that's why NBC decided to start prime time with a two-part film piece on the "Magnificent 7" gymnastics team from 1996.
• I continue to be impressed by Missy Franklin--not only for her swimming performance, but for the fact that she has rejected all endorsements so she can stay on her high school (and soon college) swim teams.

More to come.

QISE Review - Day 6

Running total hours recorded on my Tivo, starting with the Opening ceremony through midnight Thursday--182 hours so far.

• Watching men's gymnastics from last night--the big difference between this and the women's event? For the girls, it's who can excel, but for the boys, it who screws up less.
• I'm finding myself fast forwarding through the swimming heats--each skip, and they're going in the other direction
• I look forward to Mary Carillo's late night coverage and reports--she is clearly having fun
• Bad form, Today Show! When Gabrielle Douglas was shown in a taped package, rap music was suddenly added
• In a story so remarkable that not even NBC could have scripted it, Kayla Harrison won Judo gold--she was sexually abused by her first coach, her new coaches got her into therapy and retrained her, she wins the gold, and now plans to be a firefighter.
• What I'm sacrificing for the blog--I decided to watch prime time live tonight, instead of whipping through it via Tivo. I'm doing it to see how well the "online companion" app works. I'm running it on my Galaxy Nexus, using my home wifi, plugged into AC power.
  • Overall, it's not bad. Biographical info on athletes competing at the time, twitters, photos, polls, quizzes...
  • The synchronization to the broadcast is fairly close--I'm wondering how much of it was already written up beforehand (since the entire primetime coverage is on tape), and how much is done on the fly.
  • It did appear to lock up at one point, forcing me to close and restart the app
  • Based on the quiz results, there was a high mark of 4300 people actively using the app (they may be splitting up the logins into multiple instances)
  • In the first hour, there were 34 entries on the app--more than one every two minutes 
  • I wouldn't mind some real time detailed stats for each ongoing event
  • Videos and photos don't always come up, especially when showing multiple pics at once. The underlying app is using Adobe tech, so it may not work great on my Android Ice Cream Sandwich device.
  • Updates to the app have come in almost every day--I assume that's to fine tune the code base
• We've made it to women's gymnastics--histrionics, HO!
  • "They could call that a step too--and if they do, she'll be punished"
  • "I know I sound like I am obnoxiously critical..."
  • "They work on...the micro-basics of the sport"
  • "Balance Beam is the great separator"
  • "They say a crowded room can be the most lonely place in the world"
• I'm starting to wonder if NBC will stage a nationwide power blackout as a publicity stunt for their upcoming "Revolution" series
• Another "instant ad" from AT&T, referencing the Rebecca Soni swimming win "just a few minutes" after the event (actually hours later--remember, it's all on tape)
• Did we just see another spoiler on a Today show ad? It trumpeted that Douglas and Lochte would be on the show tomorrow, with no reference to their rivals--neither have won or lost (at least in terms of the prime time script) when it aired around 9:45p.  Let's see what happens. Shouldn't NBC have a VP in charge of spoilers?
  • Update--Douglas gets the gold, Lochte gets a bronze and a silver--so I'd say it was a spoiler

More to come.