Diving anyone?

I... We'll be back with this status message, but first let's go out to the diving pool... am... More of this status message to come, but let's see what's going on at the diving pool... sick... stay right here and we'll be back with more status message after the gymnastics gala... of... we'll take you back to the conclusion of today's status message in just a moment, but first the heartwarming story of a person with a disability who isn't an Olympian, but is nonetheless special.. NBC.

Explanation: It's time for my quadrennial rant about Olympic television programming! My daily schedule allows me only a few opportunities to watch the Olympics: in the morning while I eat my breakfast, at lunchtime for 5 minutes as I catch my breath from lifting, and in the evening after work. My favorite time to watch would be between 6:00 and 7:00, when we can eat dinner in front of the television. What is on between 6:00 and 7:00? Olympic boxing. That's it. Boxing. I hate boxing, why would I watch Olympic boxing? I can't stand it. The hour I'm most likely to watch the damn Olympics and all I get is boxing. I guess I should just be happy that it isn't Olympic baseball or softball instead.

Meanwhile, NBC holds the exciting events (like the big ticket track and field stuff) on tape for their prime time coverage. So, I'm stuck watching the eight to midnight slot... except I go to bed at 10:30. No problem. I can just watch from eight to 10:30, and then TiVo the last hour and a half for viewing in the morning. I tried that the first night. I plopped myself down in front of the television at eight o'clock, and by nine-thirty, I had seen ten dives, thirty minutes of commercials, and a half dozen human interest stories. So now I have a new strategy. I start recording with the TiVo at eight. I start watching at nine-thirty, which allows me to fast-forward through all of the crap (diving, gymnastics gala, human interest stories, commercials, and everything involving Bob Costas in the studio). I go to bed at ten-thirty, and I catch up with the rest in the morning. It isn't perfect, but it keeps me from sending death threats to Bob Costas, so that's something.

Special Blog Bonus: Here's video of Usain Bolt winning the 200 meter sprint: