Never Take a Microphone For Granted... and Other Lessons From Beijing

As things in China wind down, here’s a quick checklist of things I do and don’t hope to see repeated, in some way shape or form, at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver:

+ I DO want to see a figure skater dive over the proverbial finish line. Did anyone else see the sprinter David Neville who literally dove his way to a bronze medal? Pretty awesome. There’s got to be a figure skating equivalent to that (and I don’t mean doing a full body slide across the ice.) I expect the Kerrs to fill this role in Vancouver :-)

+ I DON’T want to see Bob Costas act like he can’t handle technical difficulty. Early in the Games, Costas was trying to get a brief overview of the gymnastics events with Bela Karolyi… except that Karolyi clearly had no microphone on during the interview. Of course Costas couldn’t hear, in-studio, the way that sounded… but despite the fact that he was sitting right across from the man, has eyes that function, and must have been present when Karolyi was not miked up properly, he acted surprised to learn of the snafu at the segment’s end. I had the sinking feeling the studio crew was going to get a tongue-lashing from him when they went off-air, the whole “thanks for making me look bad” routine that some on-air talent are prone to (I’ve spent my fair share of time in TV studios; I know where of I speak.)

+ I DO want to hear of more judging controversies—not scandals, but controversies—because (I’m totally playing devil’s advocate here) I think it’s when we don’t question any of the decisions made that something really goes wrong.

+ I DON’T want to see any more McDonald’s ads that try to pass unknown actors off as Olympic athletes that would actually endorse something as nutritionally criminal as a deep-fried chicken biscuit sandwich. Guess what, Mickey D’s? I’m not lovin’ it. And we’re not buyin’ it, either.

+ Final DO—if we can have swimming Moms (at age 41) and gymnast Moms (at age 33), both of which not only made it to the Olympics but earned silver medals!!—why can’t Kerrigan make a comeback? Or Yamaguchi— just think of it; Dancing With The Stars could be only the (new) beginning!

OK, so I’m not holding my breath on any of these… except that Kerrs thing I mentioned at the top. That would be cool.

Speaking of which, here are the Kerrs in the Clip of the Day. I featured them not too long ago, but this is their free dance from Torino… which I’m not sure they showed us here in the States (this is a Eurosport feed).