Can you imagine if more than 5,000 hours of college football were televised during a 2 1/2-week period?
Talk about overkill.
Yet, that’s the pertinent TV statistic for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which begin today in London. (A few events start before Friday’s opening ceremony.) NBC and its family of networks and websites will televise or stream online 5,535 hours of Olympics coverage, the Dallas Morning News reports.
If you’re keeping score, that’s nearly 2,000 hours of coverage more than NBC provided of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Count us among those who love the Games — the competition is splendid, and the nationalism and pride packaged within them are inspirational in these days of international discord. At their heart, the Games are a sign that mankind can coexist in peaceful ways.
But 5,000-plus hours of coverage? We’ll be itchin’ for college football to start by the time the Olympics are over.
