Swimming in the Morning - Should TV Dictate Sports Schedules?

My last day of work for the summer was last week, but I still woke up at 8 AM this morning. I wanted to watch Coach K's Redeem Team take on Australia live from Shanghai in their last exhibition before the Olympics. Thanks to ESPN2, I could, and the Americans won 87-76.

(One quick sidenote on Australia - their national basketball team's nickname is the Boomers. Apparently, it's slang for a large male kangaroo. Not bad, but I was really hoping for "Balleroos" or something. I guess I'll do with just the Socceroos and Olyroos.)

I love waking up at odd hours for sporting events like this. The 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan was great - I would go to sleep around 7 PM, wake up in time for a 2AM kick-off, and show up at school wide awake with a game and a half of soccer under my belt. In 2003, it was the America's Cup in New Zealand - I fell in love with sailing as I finished essays in the early hours of the morning. I found myself last year cheering on Team New Zealand (at 9 AM, from Valencia, Spain) to win the cup back from Alinghi so I could get my midnight sailing back.

Of course, these are instances when I've been able to drastically alter my internal clock and sleep schedule for sports. Also, with EURO 2008 kickoffs occuring at primetime Euro-time, they made for nice afternoon viewing for me here in the States. Globalism isn't too bad when you've got a college schedule, but one of these days, the real world will catch up to me and I won't be so lucky. I'll have to miss a sporting event because it's taking place on the other side of the world at some ungodly hour.

...but not if NBC has anything to say about it. NBC paid $3.55 billion dollars for exclusive rights to broadcast the 2000-2008 Olympics in the American market, they want to get their money's worth. This year, they're planning 3600 hours of coverage, but a couple of minute-long races are causing a bit of a ruckus.

Back in 2006, the IOC announced, at NBC's behest, that some swimming finals would be held in the morning to better line up with American primetime programming schedules. Swimming finals are traditionally held at night, and swimmers are traditionally very careful and cognizant of their body clocks. The Australian swimmers are complaining that an American company could buy an Olympic final for Michael Phelps. I think that's a little extreme, considering Phelps will have to acclimate himself to all the time differences the same way the other swimmers will.

It brings back memories of this years European Champions League Final, which was between two English sides (Chelsea and Manchester United) but was played at a neutral site in Moscow. Kickoff was at 10:45PM local time in order to have a sensible broadcast time back in the UK, but the game went to PKs and it was nearly 2 in the morning by the time the cup was raised. Not that I think any of the fans minded (the Man U fans, at least).

In this day of on demand music and video, sports remain one of the last forms of entertainment where watching it live matters. The live broadcast of a big episode of a popular TV series is still a big deal, as is the premier of a movie, but neither is as time-sensitive as a sporting event - you'll probably go online to watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy that you missed, but rather than to watch a whole game, you'll probably just watch the highlights and check the box score. Tape delays just aren't a satisfactory option for broadcasters anymore - any timeshifting will be done at the user's discretion, thankyouverymuch. Airing the swimming finals 12 hours later during primetime? Will some people will watch? Of course, but it'll lose the magic; it won't be Must-See TV, because the other half of the world has already seen it.

So that leaves two options. One option is to air the event as it occurs and let people (like me) who want to watch it find a way to watch it. NBC chose the other option: rescheduling the event, to the detriment of the local market (and possibly to the competitors) but for the benefit of the larger TV market. Who should have to change their schedules - the athletes or the fans? And wouldn't the athletes competing at their top level be in everyone's best interest?

All I know for certain is that the Spain, Argentina, and Greece are going to try packing 5 defender's inside to take away Team USA's penetration game. I also know that the 24 points St. Mary's Aussie guard Patrick Mills scored against Miami in this years' NCAA Tournament wasn't the last we'll hear from him. And I know these things because I woke up early this morning. If you missed it, here are the highlights, and here's the box score.