NBC's Olympics Coverage -- So Far, So Great

Sunday night's NBC prime-time telecast of the XXIX Olympic Games -- part live, part replayed from hoarded video coverage -- was nothing short of fabulous. The U.S. athletes shone in some events, faltered in others and barely missed in still others, but NBC, in its first weekend of Olympics coverage, has been a winner all the way.

There's so much to rave about. Start with last night's stunner, the U.S. men's team amazing upset in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Michael Phelps led off the relay, but it was Jason Lezak, in the anchor leg, who pulled off the miracle win, and snatched the victory from the highly favored, vocally taunting French squad.

Part of the reason the race was so exciting was because NBC made it so easy to watch. Computer graphics identified each swimming lane by country at the race's start, with visual banners cannily designed so that Phelps and the other leadoff swimmers actually appeared to dive underneath them as they began the race. (See picture above.)

Then, once the unprecedented pace of the relay became apparent, NBC provided another helpful visual: a green line indicating the world record pace for the event. It made it truly thrilling, to see how many swimmers, at the same time, were on pace to break the established world record.

And when Lezak beat his French competitor to the wall by the merest of margins, NBC had cameras not only at poolside, but underwater and even overhead, to replay and deconstruct the surprise victory.

The high-definition coverage, I must say, blows me away. Also, I'm glad NBC has surrendered some of its prime time to letting us hear the national anthems, and witness the medal ceremonies, of winners from other countries. It embodies the ideals of the Olympic Games, and hasn't received the attention it's deserved in recent NBC telecasts.

And while Bob Costas' prime-time interview with President Bush wasn't exactly newsworthy, it wasn't because Costas didn't ask the right questions -- about Georgia and Russia as well as China. And at least it was uninterrupted, unedited and lengthy -- so lengthy that Bush joked about being kept there so long.

One other note: the rain in Beijing, in events televised earlier yesterday, came very close to raining on these athletes' parades. Bicycle races are a lot riskier on wet roads, and the men's beach volleyball games were played under near-monsoon conditions.

To be able to see it all, though, was fun. For where and how to see what, especially on the Internet, I happily refer you to the latest Olympics-related dispatch from TV WORTH WATCHING's Olympics ultra-viewer, Diane Werts. No matter when you read this, there's something to watch somewhere...