>>>We watched the Phelps interview, the puff piece on Franklin and a couple others. We also watched the Pistorius piece which led to an interesting discussion where we agreed to disagree. ;)
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>>>Didn't see the bib exchange, was already fast forwarding.
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>>Puff piece? Let's let the others judge for themselves. You have a point re NBC but there is a genuineness in her that can't be faked. It was there right from the beginning, as can be seen in the clips at the end of her as a little girl.
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>>http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/swimming/missy-franklin-on-the-famous-call-me-maybe-video.html
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>I didn't mean "puff-piece" to be deragotory. Most of NBC's olympic featurettes are light-hearted by design. They seek to draw a certain demo into the personal stories of the athletes so they're more connected to the performance. I'm not a big story guy. I'm interested in the athletics and don't get drawn into the personal.
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>Ali's floor last night was awesome. The fab 5 was great but left a lot of medals behind. I will not miss fast-forwarding through the NBC show-piece on team USA gymnasts at the start and end of their gymnastics event every single night. We watched it the first time, started the 2nd and realized it was the same (except putting Gabby in the center after Jordan didn't qualify for all-around). NBC got it's time-filling value with that piece.

An article in the paper today said Jordan had some endorsements in place beffore the games began but probably cost herself "millions" with her lower than expected performance.

The one who is really leaving a pile of money on the table is Missy Franklin. She wants to retain her eligibility for her last year of high school and four years of college, and would not be able to that with endorsement deals. Evidently that makes her a professional even if she does not compete professionally.