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I was so excited to watch Sarah Hughes’ outstanding program and
very-emotional victory … until I remembered that the bastards at NBC are
tape-delaying the whole thing, and it had all happened two and a half hours
earlier. (Fun game: Look away from the “LIVE” in the top-left corner of your
screen, and instead search for clocks in the camera shots; then, do the math
to figure out your time zone’s Olympic tape delay!)

There’s something thrilling about experiencing something extraordinary
along with everyone else in the world. There’s something depressing about
experiencing something extraordinary along with the rest of the West Coast,
in our usual Law & Order time-slot.

I can just barely remember when the events were televised whenever they were
occurring, and — like so many of life’s great moments — you were
either there or you weren’t. You could catch it on the highlight reel, or on
your VCR, but nobody ever claimed it was live. TV was just a little more
honest.

Now, however, it’s a TiVo world.