forget goodwill

the washington post heralds the arrival of the winter olympics with a cold wet blanket (echoing an editorial from last week) [bugmenot login]...
you'd think president bush was in charge...

both entries lament, considering it bastard step child compared to the summer olympiad:
- the lack of inclusiveness and full international participation--expressing feigned surpise that only wealth countries with snow can participate in the events. but the fact that there are "just 12 athletes here from Africa" is something
- the expense--"record $1.5 billion budget" for the games themselves but "[t]he price for infrastructure improvements hit $2.5 billion, meaning the total cost of staging the Games should climb to around $4 billion". in spit of this, cities still line-up to host taking on massive public expense

that editorial really piles on

Never mind the usual puffery about what this month's Winter Olympics are all about. Sure, there's the beauty of sports, the spirit of friendly competition, the dedication of great athletes and all that. But the Winter Games are about a few other things as well: elitism, exclusion and the triumph of the world's sporting haves over its have nots.

however, the editorial does take a more positive angle on american broadcasters and advertisers.
nevertheless, nbc might suffer lackluster ratings too