Scott Green

Sure the Winter Olympics have been beset by problems like the torch lighting snafu and the murderous luge track and that Vancouver’s been 74 and sunny.  But the viewing audience has largely overlooked these problems, because we’ve overlooked the entire Olympics.

Granted, ratings are high.  But it’s not to watch the majesty of competition.  It’s because, with a several-hour tape delay and selective editing, viewers know they’ll see all the significant wipeouts of the day in real-time and several slow-motion replays.

Along with the Kentucky Derby and Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics is one of the few sporting events watched by more women than men.  So NBC, rather than trying to bring men into the fray, is determined to maintain the gender imbalance.  For example, the network bumped the USA-Canada prime time men’s hockey match – basically the ultimate All-Star game – in favor of ice dancing.  Of course, pressure from viewers will eventually force the network to replace the ice dancing with Jay Leno.

But my point is, this is no way to handle sports.  NBC’s other big mistake is its reliance on human interest coverage.  At any given minute you turn on the network, the odds are good you’ll see Al Michaels in an armchair, compassionately wearing a 20-pound sweater.  The theory is:  people don’t care about Nordic Combined, but they will once they learn the Armenian competitor is trying to overcome the death of his goldfish, Swimmy.

Fine.  A good story brings the sport to life.  But if the network is going to devote so much time to these stories, it can’t ignore the best ones.  Take Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, who is competing in two slalom events this year.  Also, he’s from Ghana.

Ghana, as you may know, is in one of the less snowy regions of equatorial Africa.  Its main exports are bauxite and Kofi Annan.  But Kwame has become the nation’s first winter Olympian, and his story is rich indeed.

For example:  did you know he only started skiing five years ago?  Did you know his nickname is “The Snow Leopard”?  Did you know he founded the Ghanian Winter Olympic Association?  Did you know online bookmakers list him at 5-4 to finish dead last?

Oh, sure, NBC will probably run a little fluff piece on Kwame.  But I seriously doubt they’ll offer the wall-to-wall coverage the Snow Leopard deserves.  Here’s a guy with African roots trying to succeed in North America at something traditionally dominated by white people.  Half of America will love him because he’s a Winter Olympics version of Barack Obama.  The other half will love him because he’s a Winter Olympics version of Barack Obama who’s guaranteed to lose.

Unless he surprises us all.  It’s been unseasonably warm in Vancouver, and no one’s better at skiing without snow than the man from Ghana.