The Paralympics On NBCSN

I must say, as disappointing as a lot of NBC's Olympic coverage was, I've been impressed with their coverage of the Paralympics so far.  Granted, it's only been a day, but their Paralympic coverage has exceeded my expectations.  Hopefully that continues.  Because these athletes deserve it!

Just like during the Olympics, the coverage is live overnight.  NBCSN comes on at 9 pm and stays on straight thru 9 am, then gets into their regular daytime programming.  There's also a replay of the 3-9 am "prime time" coverage on Olympic Channel.  It should go without saying, but still needs to be said, that it's all live.  Which you can do when you're only broadcasting on cable and don't have a nightly prime time show on NBC to worry about!

The fact that they're primarily using NBCSN shouldn't be seen as a slap in the face to the athletes, either.  Just the opposite, actually.  Because if not for NBCSN, there wouldn't be 12 hours of coverage a night every night for 10 days.  It would just be a few heavily prepackaged hours on NBC that focus so much on Jessica Long and Tatyana McFadden that you'd think they're the only athletes there.  (Which I'm sure is exactly what the Paralympic coverage shown on NBC will be...not that too much Jessica Long is a bad thing though!)

They've actually shown a pretty good variety of sports, too.  Based on their press release, which only listed the broadcasters for about four sports, I wasn't sure how much more than that they'd actually show.  So it was a pleasant surprise to see track cycling and goalball.  They're using the world feed announcers for those sports, but so what?  Point is, they're showing them.

And goalball has quickly emerged as one of my new favorite sports!  I've seen it before, but only in bits and pieces.  This Paralympics is the first time I've ever watched a goalball game in its entirety, and it's fascinating to watch.  It's for blind athletes who have to wear blackout glasses to ensure they can't see anything.  The lines are raised so they can feel for them on the court, and the ball makes noise, so the game has to be played in total silence (which actually makes the no-fan thing a benefit).  They take turns trying to roll the ball past the other team and into the goal, which runs the entire length of the end line.  I seriously recommend checking it out!

Goalball is one of the two Paralympic sports without an Olympic equivalent, which also kinda cool.  So is how the sport came about.  It was invented in 1946 as rehab for British soldiers returning from World War II.  Now, it's the most-played sport by blind people worldwide.

Then there's wheelchair rugby.  I'd completely forgotten how awesome that sport is!  The name is a bit of a misnomer.  Because it's not really like regular rugby at all.  It's a physical game that basically consists of four players on each team ramming their wheelchairs into each other while one tries to cross the line with the ball. 

NBCSN really likes wheelchair rugby.  They showed the entire USA game and the entire Canada game.  It's easy to see why.  It's actually fairly easy to follow and it's entertaining to watch.  And these are some big guys too!  Their arms are massive!  It's easy to understand why if you think about it, but it shows how much upper-body strength is required to play wheelchair rugby.

What I love about the Paralympics, too, is hearing all of the athletes' stories.  It really is incredible to find out what happened to these athletes and how they got involved in their sport.  Some were in the military, some have been disabled since birth, some had an accident or some sort illness.  Yet they're all elite athletes.

It's kind of ironic, actually.  In the Olympics, those feature pieces are nauseating.  They're so floury and usually pretty dumb.  Yet I haven't seen one yet for the Paralympics.  And those would actually be interesting!  (As overplayed as it was, I loved that Jessica Long commercial during the Olympics!)

Another cool thing is that if this wasn't the Paralympics, you'd never know there was any difference by watching some of these athletes.  Obviously there are the athletes who use wheelchairs or have missing or prosthetic limbs, but once they're on in the water or on the field, they're just athletes.  Elite athletes at the top of the sport.  And that's how they want to be seen.

Paralympic athletes are treated as equals, too.  That's why the USOC made a conscious choice to change its name to the USOPC.  That's why they're getting the same medal/performance bonuses as Olympians.  That's why Toyota is funding the training of every single athlete who makes the Paralympic team.  They're all a part of Team USA.

That commitment to the Paralympics is shared by the USOPC's broadcast partner.  It wasn't always that way.  In fact, it wasn't until very recently that NBC started covering the Paralympics as a separate sporting event instead of treating them as an obligation.  They went from showing the bare minimum number of hours they were required to broadcast as part of their Olympic contract to live coverage of the Opening Ceremony and for 12 hours every night.

Without that commitment, people might not know what a wonderful event the Paralympics are!  And the more you watch them, the more you appreciate them.  They'll never reach the same level of popularity as the Olympics, but that's OK.  The point is, these Paralympic athletes are getting the level of coverage and recognition they deserve.  Which is a wonderful thing.