Friday's Odds and Ends

Did you watch the beginning of the Olympic coverage last night on prime time? Did you find it odd that the coverage began before the opening ceremonies?

I did, so I decided to try to find out why. Sadly, it is primarily about the money. According to an article by Chris Chase in USA Today, Thursday's are the most popular night of television viewing and the networks covering the Olympics need to get the most bang for their buck. Because 12 new medal events were added to the competition schedule since 2010, scheduling is a challenge, so one more day of competition and coverage was added.

Image courtesy of College-Social.com

Traditionally the biggest draws for television audiences are the skating events and the networks did not want to compress the figure skating schedule. That would have put the women’s free skate, which takes place in two weeks on another night; not a good move for television ratings or sponsors. The women's free skate attracts thousands and thousands of fans and networks want the biggest night of skating to air on the biggest night of television.

While some consideration was given to allowing time between events for athletes to rest and for courses to be cleared for other events, the driving force behind the decision was money. As Chris Chase put it:

Scheduling and television are big reasons for the early start, but money is the thing that ties them all together. It’s the universal answer for sports queries like this. “Why did the NFL start playing games on Thursdays?” “Why do the NBA playoffs last longer than many celebrity marriages?” “Why is snowboard racing an Olympic event?” It all comes back to the green."

Sad. 

Now it's time for a joke. A lady went to a doctor’s office, and a few minutes into the examination, screeching could be heard from the exam room. Then the lady burst out of the room as if running for her life.

After much effort, a nurse finally managed to calm the woman down enough to find out what happened. The nurse then barged into the doctor's office and shouted at him, “Shame on you. Mrs. Smith is 82 years old, and you told her she’s pregnant?”

The Doctor continued writing on the chart and said, “Does she still have the hiccups?”

Image courtesy of Teluguone.com Comedy where there is another doctor joke.

 That's it for me today, folks. We are still having record cold temperatures here in Texas and it is cold in my office. My hands are freezing and it is very hard to type with gloves on. Have a great weekend. Stay warm. Stay safe. Be happy.