No, I am not still partying over the Olympics.Well, not really. And I have no designs on fat Tuesday,otherwise known as Mardi Gras, which, if you missed my attitude on that, as far as I am concerned, is just silly.No, I have no interest in that colossal waste of time, energy, and resources. The celebrating to which I refer is the joy and happiness felt by those of us who have suffered through this last two weeks, (honestly, it feels more like two months!) of constant unending coverage of the Olympic games on NBC. But, just as nature does a quick turn around when you think spring is finally here, and gives us a surprise snow storm or something after the Tulips are starting to emerge, After the "closing ceremonies" of the Olympics last night, and the 10:ooP.M. news was over, what did they do? Why, the same thing they did all through the coverage! THEY RAN IT AGAIN! And I am going,"WHAT?!" ( SHOUTING at the t.v. screen)"Hey guys! The closing ceremonies means it's supposed to be OVER!!!" Okay? Okay, I lost my temper, just a little bit.However, I was all alone,and waiting for a usual Sunday night program to come on, like a rerun of CSI or something, anything but the winter games! Because I am so sick of the Olympics, and so glad it's over, that's all I needed to set me off! So, with that feeling fresh in my mind, and looking foreward?...to the summer games,I would like to take this opportunity to put a bug in NBC'S ear, regarding that coverage.Just as some of us don't much care for most sports...but certain ones do grab our attention, don't do the same thing you did this time.Just as with winter sports, there are some I sort of do like to watch,like skating. In the summer, it is swimming and diving.But I don't want nothing but sports, even the ones I like, day in and day out...or (cringe) 24-7! The fact is, as most regular individuals, I like VARIETY! Sports not being my dish of tea, I tire of it quickly. I don't even want to watch the ones I like to the exclusion of all else. So, it would be nice, if you could cover the major stuff, just once during a 24 hour period,and maybe mix it up, and throw a good movie in there occasionally,and then go ahead and have your late night updates on all the stuff you think we are all out here just panting to see, ( which a lot of us aren't!) but try to have a decent balance...not just all or nothing! You know, it's bad enough, being stuck in a wheelchair,and being housebound, without benefit of cable, and then to be subjected to nothing but able-bodied youth, out there wasting all this strength and energy and stamina, and musculature power on silly games that do no one any good whatsoever,trying to win a piece of tin to hang around their necks,so they can swagger around and show the world how great they are, while our boys are over there fighting wars, and could use all that strength, that is being wasted for self-aggrandizement! When there are homes to be built, children to be fed, families to be defended and armies to be trained and raised up so our kids can come back home and take care of their own families.Every one of those winners could be teaching others how to build their muscles up and be fit and trim, to live the kind of hard lives they have to live in third world countries. Some say, but they can do that AFTER they win the gold,silver, or bronze! Aha!But will they? No! They won't. Because once they are winners, then they are looking forward to more training, and endorsement deals,and more competition four years from now. They have no interest in giving of their talents and time to improve the world, these games are all about SELF, and how great they are!
Okay.Rant over. I know better than to get all excited,and try to make an impact on the awareness of a world that thinks it is just great to spend every week-end staring at nothing but games on television, winter and summer, and every season in between. I mean, look at our options. Network television on the week-ends consists of golf, basketball, baseball, and football. When baseball finally comes to an end, it's football. When football grinds to it's muddy, bloody stop, baseball starts all over again.Golf and basketball just go on and on, unending, relentless.Stop, for just one brief moment, and try to look at this from the perspective of a person who does not want to be reminded that they are incapable of doing any of those things.What have any of you networks listed for such a person? Nothing.You pre-empt good programs for your play-offs and such, without so much as a thought to anyone who hasn't the wherewithall to avoid your ruthless offerings, completely careless of the disabled and infirmed, with no thought as to whether they might enjoy seeing something beautiful, inspiring or uplifting.I suppose there is something to be said for the networks catering completely to those who work hard all week,and all they ask on the week-end is to watch unending sports, whose sponsors are beer and other beverage producers,so they can gather at one another's houses, drink beer, yell and scream and throw chips and salsa and popcorn at each other, paint their faces, and argue over who did what. While on the sidelines, people sit alone in their wheelchairs, and if they watch television at all, it is to see cute commercials, or flip from channel to channel, looking in vain for something, that for at least a little while, will take them out of their dismal circumstances, allow them to break the bonds of their condition long enough to feel hopeful for the future, or that somewhere somebody at that network cares enough about them to give them a few moments of delightful programing, rather than to leave them sitting there, wrathful and frustrated, that these young, strong, healthy men, and women, are running around, being paid millions of dollars a year to play a stupid Game!
But, the bottom line being always money, I don't suppose such a cry would even be considered, even if it were heard. Week-end programing shall remain, as I have called it for several years now, a vast wasteland,broken up only briefly and momentarily, on Easter, and Christmas,and even then, only because everybody else is doing it. What bugs me to no end, is, since most of the sports fans have cable...(I mean, obviously, they have nothing in their heart for God, so what's the difference?) Why aren't all those sports programs relegated to the ESPN and other like sports dedicated channels, and free up the network channels for things like Sunday morning worship services,(huh, like that's going to happen!) beautiful movies the whole family can watch and enjoy together,or even fun stuff like pet/ animal videos, Pet rescue,Animated movies like Disney or Pixar, or even old, classic movies, like the road shows,or shorts like the thin man,the saint, or Travelogues? Or even COPS?
But, no. I know before I even publish this, that THESE things will not find their way to NBC, CBS, OR ABC. As much as I would like to believe that you care for human beings, and want to offer a well-rounded bill of fare, I know that next Sunday, my choices will be golf, basketball, and football. Other than that, I can take my choice of quilting or Victory garden on PBS. It is sad, really, that in the greatest country on the face of the earth,the three big television networks have no regard for their audience, beyond how much can you get us to watch you, by appealing to the sports nuts,and leaving the rest of us out. You all like to make a big deal about how much you care for us and our children, but your programing says otherwise.
OUI?
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