I already vented about the whole Olympics situation. I don’t intend to re-hash every thing because I think I have accepted the fact that things probably won’t change.

First off, the ratings kicked ass. Most people really got into the Games and that’s all NBC wants. They don’t see a need for a creative solution that I would like because they got a lot of eyeballs. Innovation isn’t rewarded in that industry so I’ll just pipe down about what will make me happy.

Secondly, the next Games will pretty much require tape-delay because Sochi, Russia, is eight hours ahead of New York. Think it was bad knowing that the ski race at 2 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. Pacific) didn’t air for six more hours? That same 11 a.m. local time start in Sochi translates to 3 a.m. in New York. Good luck having some sort of afternoon coverage of that event in the states.

A primetime start in Sochi means we’re just getting ready for lunch. That will give some hockey games a chance to garner a decent audience, especially if whoever holds the rights continues to provide an online option. But that also means figure skating will be packaged much more than usual. I don’t even want to know what might happen on the west coast, which had tape-delay for almost everything even though the Games were just up the road.

Some of this could change if ESPN/ABC gets the rights, but even though I know they will provide more live options if they get the Games, they will still have to have some sort of effort to reach the Olympic-only fans through tape-delay. It’s just inevitable.

I just hope whoever gets the rights does a better job with the lifestyle portion of the coverage everyone feels compelled to do. Why the hell was Mary Carillo traipsing all over Canada as if it were some strange and mystical foreign land we had no knowledge of? It’s Canada. We know they have Mounties and lumberjacks and dog sleds.