Olympics End, Marriage Ref Begins
Well, the Olympics are over. When Bob Costas signed off he sounded underwhelmed. Just like the rest of us. Reportedly the ratings were very good. Go figure. A sterling decision by NBC to not air things live. That won a lot of friends. Winter sports in general are not the most riveting of displays. The commentary seemed lackluster as well.
We did watch the final ice hockey game. It was almost too exciting. I had forgotten how fast a game ice hockey is. Very sorry to see the US lose, but we lost to Canada. Our most fine neighbor to the north. What a blessing to have a long border with a trusted ally and friend. If America had to lose, we lost honorably and to a great opponent. Nothing to be ashamed of.
Ice dancing isn’t a compelling sport. When the judging is so reliant on opinion it ceases to be a sport.
We didn’t watch all of it, but the closing ceremonies were endearingly hokey in the parts we did watch. One of the airborne moose (meese? mooses? moosii?) looked, from the front, like a frog. With China’s spectacular show at the summer Olympics still in recent memory, the Canadians really could not compete. But they didn’t seem to try to. The Canadians appear to be completely without pretention. What a boon for a society and the audience. These opening and closing ceremonies are like international bling — they could be pared down from their Las Vegas glitz without any loss. It was nice seeing the athletes all file out together, without national flags, at the end. We are the world.
The Shatner, Michael Fox “speeches” were incomprehensible. I don’t really know what the Candians thought they were doing, or who wrote the material for these talented performers, but it was pretty sorry. It is wrenching when Michael Fox makes a public appearance. You fear for his deterioration presenting. I was glad to see the more visible signs of his malady were not in evidence. I thought the medications he took eventually lost their effectiveness. But he did fine.
NBC gave “The Marriage Ref”, Seinfeld’s new show, a vote of confidence, by letting it follow the Olympics. The couples were funnier than the guests. When the husband who stuffed his dog said to his wife, “My dream is your nightmare”, it was laugh out loud funny. The show was way too forced. Seinfeld is so successful and well-liked that he is a magnet to other celebrities. The line-up for future shows is one only Oprah could match. You can be sure Larry David really did not want to do the show, but would never turn down his friend. “The Marriage Ref” is too much of a contrivance to last.
