As I clicked on the New York Times sports section this morning, my eyes gravitated immediately toward a story about CBS being awarded a contract to broadcast NFL football on Thursday nights next season.
Yes, four days after the 2013-2014 season ended, and I'm more interested in what network is broadcasting games seven months from now. Meanwhile, I skipped most of the stories regarding the Winter Olympics.
There will be lots and lots of media coverage about the Winter Games in the next couple of weeks — but how many will be about terrorist threats, crummy hotel accommodations or human rights violations, vs. the games themselves? Obviously your favorite sports outlets will focus on the 15 different sporting events at these games.
That's right. 15. That's in comparison to over 300 events at the Summer Olympics. And other than Shaun White and or Lolo Jones, I dare you to name a few other athletes competing in these games. In fact, one of the best things to gin up excitement for these games is the "controversy" over Jones for being selected to the team — some say because of her celebrity — not her athletic prowess in this event.
Look, I'll check out some of the events, such as ice hockey. (The game where the U.S. beat Russia in hockey four years ago was truly awesome.) The Olympics are so rare that it becomes a daily (and nightly) story for the whole country, heck, the whole world to enjoy in real time (sort of — Russia is nine hours ahead of U.S. on the East Coast). The one-world Olympic spirit is pretty incredible.
But Americans have never been into the Winter Games as much as the Summer. One major reason is that we're not so great in them. If you're into watching these games, I wish you hours and hours of entertainment. Meanwhile I'll try to cope with the first weekend with no football on the schedule in my own way…
Pam Bondi is back in Tampa today. The attorney general is celebrating the first day of the Florida State Fair. Meanwhile Hillsborough County Democrat Mark Danish is calling on the AG to drop her opposition to a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
Exciting news on the transportation front: Hillsborough County Commissioners authorized funding for a study to determine whether it will be worth the county getting involved in a public-private partnership that could lead to a ferry service taking people from south Hillsborough to MacDill Air Force Base, with the potential to create a service going from downtown Tampa to downtown St. Petersburg.
And even though most of the political commentariat in Florida has written her off, Nan Rich is only down by a handful of percentage points to Rick Scott in some recent polls. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate was in Tampa Tuesday night, where she said she's now in support of ending the sanctions against Cuba.
