Your Grrrs:
Blair in Orlando: I just happened to be looking out the window not more than five minutes ago when I saw a speeding ambulance and fire truck, lights flashing and siren wailing, race toward the end of the trail to turn onto the major road. I watched in absolute disbelief as not one, not two, not three, but at least seven or eight cars kept going, not allowing either emergency vehicle enter the roadway! Apparently these obliviots each felt that their lunchtime errands were more important than a life-and-death emergency. Either that or they rationalized to themselves what's two more seconds for the ambulance to wait. What a bunch of self-righteous ImporTants.
Joe D. in cyberspace: Mike C. wrote how T.O. never tested positive for drugs and has never been accused of drug possession, weapons possession or domestic violence. That is great, but when do we put people on a pedestal for doing things they are supposed to do? You are not supposed to do illegal drugs, beat your wife or carry weapons illegally. Millions of people do the right things in life everyday and to praise T.O. for that just seems ridiculous to me. Just because he sometimes does the right things in life doesn’t mean that it trumps his character flaws and his self-serving nature.
Brian K. in St. Louis: Regarding the waning relevance of the Olympic games in comparison to "American Idol" may very well be true. However, I can tell you the reason why I and a few family members haven't been watching much of the Torino Games: NBC's coverage of it seems to be aimed only at people who both enjoy being pandered to and also have attention deficit disorder. From what I have watched, the coverage seems to jump around constantly. They'll show the top three ski jumpers, then the top three bobsled runs then jump back to the mountain for the top three slalom all in the span of 30 minutes. And of course, all of this is loaded with commercial breaks -- and I do mean loaded. For me, I enjoy watching the athletes compete, not just watching them win. If all they show me are the medal winning ski jumps, how am I as a viewer supposed to compare, relate and appreciate exactly why this person won the gold if I can't compare his or her jumps and style to the others who didn't win? I don't know how many people out there would agree with me, but I think it's high time NBC starts covering the Olympic Games and not just the Olympic medals.
Debbie in S.C.: Are you kidding? The fact that people are watching "Survivor," "Idol" and "Dancing" reflects the shallowness of viewers. There is still a core of Americans that love the Olympics. And believe it or not, there is a core of Americans that don’t watch the above-mentioned shows even when the Olympics are not running! I for one am not over the Olympics.
Kelsey in Grants Pass, Ore.: I'm sorry. I usually always agree with you, but saying the American public is over the Olympics is garbage! I'd much rather watch true athletes compete in years of tradition then a bunch of D-list celebrities trying to save their careers on some dance show! I am so proud of the United States and our athletes representing the very best athletes in the world in some of the most dangerous sports. I'd much rather see a man ski jump to 125 feet or two women bobsleigh 80-plus miles an hour on ice than two hungry "survivors" bickering over who ate the last rat! Our country is obsessed with reality TV and it just plain stinks. I'm tired of it and I know I'm not the only one. At least watching the reality of the Olympics is genuine and real, not some staged piece of cr-- hogging up good air time! Other then that ... Grrr! to "American Idol." I'm so sick of hearing horrible singers. Enough already!
Kris in the Central time zone: Do you think that the obliviots at NBC ever considered the reason that viewership of the Olympics is at an all-time low is due to the fact that the announcers don’t know when to shut up? I get so tired of the negativity (Dick Button) and yacking (Bob Costas) during each of the events they televise, and people just don’t want to hear it. I also don’t want to be up until all hours of the night to watch the medal events on TV -- and I live in the central time zone! I think they need a reality check on their “reality” show!
Edward M. writes: You missed the biggest point of why other shows are beating the Olympics. This is the information age. We already know the results of the Olympics when we get home. How many people would watch the Super Bowl or the World Series if they already knew the result? At least people don’t know what’s going to happen on "American Idol." That’s why we watch.
JR in Greenville: Mike, this is an angry week for me. My extra Grrr! goes out to all of the Bush supporters (Matt in Ky.) whose answer to every shortcoming of their administration is to say "What? Look at Clinton's administration. At least we don't (insert shortcoming here)." Look, "at least we don't ..." is not good enough for a presidential administration. I don't care what they did before, you are president now! Simply do what you will and tell us "tough!"
J.R. Temecula, Calif.: It's one thing to have to wait for the tape-delayed showing of the already finished events of the day. But come on, what the hell is curling all about. Grrr! Every time I channel surf, which according to my wife, is way too often, I see this curling business. It's like lawn bowling. Boy, they can sure sweep. It must be on 10 hours a day. I don't get it, and would rather see repeats of something like oh Bode Miller crashing over and over again. At least "American Idol" is on tonight.
Tamala Mae writes: You forgot to add the whole "this is live" illusion that NBC tries to sell us. They need to stop trying to make tension and show the sport. We already know the outcome, we want to see the battles, not "this is what happened while we were in commercials." They need to just let us enjoy the athleticism of the games.
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