I'd like to take a moment to write about the Olympics, because I love the Olympics.

I'm pretty capable of watching, for hours and hours, speed skating, any skiing event, ski jumping, women's skating, anything involving johnny weir, and men's hockey. I also enjoy curling because, quite frankly, who doesn't?

There are probably other sports in here that I quite enjoy, although I can't recall any offhand.

I don't like ice dancing, because they don't jump. I don't particularly like snowboarding, because it doesn't feel particularly "Olympic" to me. I don't enjoy athletes being "stoked" about their gold medal. I prefer "excited," or anything in heavily accented English, particularly the statement that the feeling is "incredible."

The thing that most annoys me, however, is the fact that, without fail, you know the results of the event before they happen.

I think that there's no excuse for NBC not to show the Olympis live on at least one of their networks. I can't think that, if NBC shows Shaun White win a gold medal live at noon on MSNBC, that their primetime ratings will be even minutely affected. The grand majority of Olympics viewers aren't true "sports" fans - they're there for the NBC-created "human interest"-ing of the individual athletes - but, for those of us that actually really care about the results, it sure is frustrating to know that the Frenchman who'll be the last to run the downhill is going to get the win; there wasn't much drama in watching Bode and Rahlves lay their respective eggs. Oh well.

As the incredible deadspin wrote in their daily "What To Watch Tonight" feature: "Watch snowboarder Shaun White do what he did ten hours ago, and watch speedskater Apolo Anton Ohono do what he did five hours ago." It's just silly, and annoying.

"Plausibly live" was acceptable pre-internet, and pre-ESPN sportsticker and pre-ESPN "Priority Score." Then, only a radio broadcaster could screw it up for you. Now, well, it's just annoying. (Do you remember, maybe a decade ago, when ESPN would show the results but would give you a warning and wouldn't say a thing while they were on screen, so that viewers could turn away? I remember that, and it was awesome.)

I also hate that they call it "Torino." It's not Torino. In the United States, we call it Turin. If we didn't call Athens "Athena," why can we call Turin "Torino?" Because it's cute-sounding, apparently. Turin is sort of cute, too, I think.

I hate it even more that other stations, such as WEMU, have taken to calling it Torino. The Chicago Tribune is sticking with Turin, it should be noted.

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After Chicago Radio Geek summit '06 on Saturday night, I know of at least two more openings. Possible openings? I guess. Local-ish openings? One. Am I late in sending to the openings? Only the non-local ones. What leads me to believe that I could actually turn these into a gig? Only an optimism that is, at times, dwindling. I've gone from hoping for January to hoping for March to hoping for May. But, hey, at least I've got a job of some sort at this point. Otherwise, life'd be pretty boring.

A few days ago I was talking to one of my radio guy friends. I updated him on my goings-on and this pal, a 40-something guy who was corporate before he conned somebody into hiring him a few years ago, said, "So, dude [he says "dude" all the time], I bet this has convinced you that you never want to wind up behind a desk, right?"

"Well, you know pal [I say "pal" all the time, and "you know" far too much], sure it's boring, but there's something not too bad about leaving work every day at five and having actual disposable income."

That's not so say that I'd prefer a desk job over a broadcasting gig, but that is to say that I think I can handle a year of the former. Not that that's my intent.

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Best part of the desk job experience? Gurs overload. Worst part? I never, never talk to the boy anymore. We've gone from talking about nothing three times a day in the fall to, maybe, twice a week. And that's just too bad, especially because he's still got nothing going on. And he's fairly funny.

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Comcast Sports Net, a generally terrible station, did an in-depth Vedran Vukusic story on Friday. I only saw the teaser at six, and not the full piece at ten.

Highlight one from the tease:
Idiot reporter dude: "When you were growing up, war was raging in Croatia. What was that like?"
VV: [very deep, slightly accented voice] "Oh. I mean, it was like a game to me. I was six or seven or eight, and I just loved watching the street light up and running up and down the streets. My parents were scared, but I really just thought it was fun." [Loosely quoted, of course]

Highlight two:
IRD: [With an awkward chuckle] "So, once and for all, what is the proper way to say your name?"
VV: "VAY-drahn VOO-ki-sich"
IRD: "Ahhh. VOO-ki-sich. So the emphasis on the third syllable? voo-ki-SICH."
VV: [confused] "Yes."

I once used the "How do you say your name?" angle as a jumping-off point for an awful Kunle [KOON-lay] Patrick feature in 2000. I would think a pro could do better. But, alas, the Comcast people are awful. Professional jealousy, again. Sigh.

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All the fantastic thoughts on chicken pox and grammar were really entertaining. Any comments here, even unrelated to the topics, are much appreciated. After all, "desk job"="checking redhothalos on an hourly basis." Mid-afternoon comments really brighten things up.