One last Olympic post before catching up on what I've missed over the last two and a half weeks. And this time it's to give NBC a certain amount of credit for their Olympic coverage. Don't get me wrong, while it improved in week two, the coverage was still as disappointing overall as I thought it was early in the Games. But...the quality of the production had nothing to do with the quality of the analysts, who, for the most part, were excellent.
I can't remember another Olympics that saw so many new analysts debut, which was actually a smart decision on NBC's part. They saw that the reaction Will & Grace (my nickname for Tara & Johnny) got in Sochi. They were so good and so relatable that they were promoted to the main crew and Scott Hamilton, who's called Olympic figure skating since God knows when, was relegated to the "Olympic Ice" show on NBCSN.
Speaking of "Olympic Ice," Tanith White proved to be just as solid as Will & Grace. She was great. She clearly knows her stuff, but she made it so that we could understand it too, without treating us like morons who knew nothing. And, considering how over-the-top and borderline annoying Will & Grace (especially Will) got at times, it was a nice change of pace to have her call the ice dancing.
Tanith is the first of the new broadcasters to get an "A." Mike Tirico also gets one. Taking over as the primetime host, especially for a legend like Bob Costas, wasn't the easiest of tasks. But he was up for the challenge. And you could tell he was more comfortable in the role as the Games went on (again, I think the improved production and them actually letting him do things in the second week helped, too). Not having Bob Costas there will still take some getting used to. We're definitely in good hands, though.
Another newcomer to the NBC Olympic stable this year was Joey Cheek. If you only watched NBC's primetime coverage, you didn't see much of Joey Cheek. But his commentary during speed skating was smart, insightful and a massive improvement over Dan Jansen.
The third recent U.S. Olympian who made his debut as an NBC analyst in PyeongChang was Bode Miller. I actually liked Bode Miller. I, frankly, was refreshed to have somebody new calling alpine skiing alongside Dan Hicks, and I was a big fan of the little anecdotes he gave about the different skiers. He actually knows these guys from competing alongside them for so long, and I though that first-hand knowledge added something to the broadcast.
But, apparently, Bode Miller wasn't as popular with some critics as he was with me. There have even been predictions (already) that, come Beijing, he'll be replaced by Lindsey Vonn. I wouldn't be totally surprised if that happens. (You know NBC's gonna find a way to work her in somehow.) I wouldn't be completely upset to see Bode return, though.
Then there's former Canadian Olympian Kevin Martin. This might just be evidence that I watched way too much curling during the Games. But I feel like I know more about the sport now from listening to him. Sure, some of the terms he used were way over my head. But, especially during the gold medal match, it was incredibly helpful to have him breaking down the strategy and how to execute each shot.
They didn't just stick with new people, though. When you've already got analysts like John Morgan, Apolo Oho and, especially Chad Salmela, why would you need to?
Rowdy Gaines is synonymous with Olympic swimming in the Summer. And with good reason. He's the best, and everybody knows it. Same thing with Ato Boldon. Well, the Winter Olympic equivalent of Rowdy Gaines and Ato Boldon is John Morgan. They call him "Mr. Bobsled" for a reason. I don't know the last time he didn't call an Olympic bobsled competition. And it's clear why. He knows his stuff. He's not the best at play-by-play, but he did a serviceable job in that role (although, I missed the English guy saying "run breaker" over and over again during the final runs of four-man).
However, it's clear who takes the cake as the best analyst in PyeongChang. Chad Salmela. Like John Morgan, he's a staple of the Winter Olympics. We only get him every four years, but when we get him, we get a lot of him. Salmela calls both bobsled and cross country skiing, and he gets equally over-excited for both.
Which is why his call of the finish of the women's team sprint will be the most memorable call of the Olympics for me. Steve Shlanger, the play-by-play guy, didn't even need to be there. Chad gets excited when a French biathlete misses a shot. I couldn't wait to see how excited he'd get with the U.S. winning a gold medal in cross country for the first time. And it was everything I thought it would be and more. I just hope they had medical personnel on hand in Connecticut. Because I seriously thought he was going to have a heart attack. He was that excited!
Sadly, we have to wait four more years until we get Chad Salmela again (he also works for the Olympic Channel, though, so we can always go there to avoid Chad withdrawal). And hopefully we'll get Doc Emrick back in Beijing, too. Because the hockey coverage was definitely missing something without him there (even if it was all of the guys you regularly see on NBC's NHL broadcasts).
Maybe NBC will throw us a bone and have Doc call water polo in Tokyo. I just have one question, though. If that happens, can Chad Salmela be the color analyst?
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