NEW YORK — The clock is ticking on the 2024 Summer Olympics beginning with the most premiere athletes across the world set to compete, while representing their respective country/homeland. A joyous time in the sports world.
The start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris this weekend is more than just the biggest international sports competition of them all. Obviously, it is important for endorsement deals for our athletes. The days are long gone when getting on a Wheaties box was the best a gold medal-winning American Olympian could hope. Gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky, the niece of Islanders owner and Bayside High School alum Jon Ledecky, are thinking of adulation and financial glory far beyond cereal boxes.
Image Credit: LightRocket/Getty Images
While the athletes will understandably be the focus, no one has more riding on the Paris Olympics than a Philadelphia-based American media giant. Comcast, the parent corporation of NBC Universal, has been the longtime Olympics domestic broadcasting rightsholder, and it pays more than a billion dollars per Olympiad for that privilege.
Comcast took it on the chin with both the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which got postponed to 2021 because of COVID-19, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Spectators were not allowed at the venues, and the athletes could not bring their families because of the pandemic. Interest in the games was minimal, and it was reflected in the ratings.
Image Credit: Shutterstock/Tibor Illyes
Last month, NBC Sports held an Olympics preview press briefing in Studio 8-H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the home of “Saturday Night Live.” Comcast executives made it clear nothing is being left to chance. They are using star wattage to entice both sports fans who have little interest in sports who get little television exposure outside of the Olympics, and those viewers who normally would not watch sports at all. Jimmy Fallon, Kelly Clarkson, Snoop Dogg, Kevin Hart, Dolly Parton, and Kenan Thompson will have prominent on-air roles.
Thompson’s “SNL’ castmate, “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost, will be calling the surfing competition. NBC Sports honchos promise Jost will be playing it straight and not be looking for laughs. Michael Phelps, Peyton Manning, and Dwyane Wade are retired athletes who will serve as analysts.
The Olympics are a golden promotional opportunity for its Peacock streaming service as every Olympic event will be shown there. The five-hour time difference between Paris and the US Eastern Time Zone means marquee events such as Team USA’s men’s and women’s basketball competitions, swimming, and gymnastics will be shown on tape-delay the 8 to 11 PM window on NBC, and sister cable networks USA and CNBC.
Los Angeles Lakers and Team USA star LeBron James drives to the basket against South Sudan – Image Credit: Kin Cheung/AP
In a controversial move, veteran sportscaster Al Michaels is allowing AI to use his voice for daily Olympics phone updates.
Whitestone native and Bayside High School alum Mike Tirico will be sitting in the hallowed anchor chair made famous by predecessors Jim McKay and Astoria native Bob Costas. I informed Tirico, his home borough will be sending an Olympian to Paris, Ozone Park fencer Lauren Scruggs. “I hope I get to say her name often!” he replied.
More Olympics Notes of Interest
In other Olympics notes of interest, some of the city’s most visited points of interest will be used as Olympic sites. Beach volleyball will be played in front of the Eiffel Tower, while the equestrian competitions will take place in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.
Image Credit: Paris Olympics 2024
Veteran soccer play-by-play announcer Miguel Gurwitz will be anchoring the Olympics coverage on Telemundo. His co-anchor will be entertainment reporter Jessica Carrillo.
For those of a certain age, it is impossible to think of any summer Olympiad without thinking back to the awful 1972 Munich Games when eleven Israeli athletes were massacred by members of a Palestinian militant group, Black September.
Adidas makes surprising move in their hiring process
The German sports apparel company, Adidas, for unknown reasons, released a sneaker to honor the last Olympics held in that country. As if commemorating that particular Olympics was not bizarre enough, Adidas hired model Bella Hadid, whose antipathy to Israel is well-known, to be its spokesperson. The outcry was so loud that Adidas had to fire her.
Image Credit: SIPA USA VIA AP
I have a feeling there will be some openings in the Adidas marketing department. It was reminiscent of when NBC News hired former Republican National Committee chairperson Ronna McDaniel, and then had to terminate her days later when many prominent NBC News reporters and anchors expressed their anger at CEO Cesar Conde.
FOX Sports parts ways with Skip Bayless
In a case of how the mighty have fallen, Fox Sports is parting ways with noted contrarian, Skip Bayless. He had been co-hosting the morning sports debate show, “Undisputed” on FS1 for eight years. Before that, he was at ESPN, where he and Hollis native Stephen A. Smith invented the format with “First Take.”
Ratings at “Undisputed” have been tanking ever since Bayless’s partner, former NFL receiver Shannon Sharpe, left the show after numerous on-air, and I will assume off-air, conflicts with Bayless. Fox Sports executives figure Bayless is too high maintenance for what he is now delivering for them.
Teoscar Hernández wins 2024 Home Run Derby + Ingrid Andress’ off-key warbling of Star Spangled Banner
Teoscar Hernández wins 2024 Home Run Derby, and poses with HRD trophy and chain – Image Credit: MLB
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández won the 2024 All-Star Home Run Derby, but what people will remember is country singer Ingrid Andress’s horrible off-key warbling of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” She did not look comfortable at the microphone from the get-go. I thought she might have been under the weather, but the next afternoon she went on social media to admit she was drunk and would be entering a rehabilitation program to combat her alcoholism.
Before Andress made her revelation, Joe Giglio, and former New York Jets linebacker Hugh Douglas, who co-host “The Midday Show” on Philadelphia radio sports talk radio station WIP, invited callers to perform their version of our national anthem. It was a modern day “Gong Show” as some callers were talented, while others were quite awful. It was a reminder of why Philly sports talk radio is more fun than its New York counterpart. I cannot imagine a spontaneous talent show taking place on oh-so-serious WFAN.
Mets set to hold annual Summer Food Drive this Friday and Saturday
Outside of Citi Field – Image Credit: Henry Ordosgoitia (Henry O.)/Latino Sports
The Mets will be holding their annual Summer Food Drive Friday and Saturday. Fans bringing at least ten nonperishable food items to receptacles outside the Jackie Robinson Rotunda will receive a voucher for two tickets to a select 2024 Mets game.
Zack Scott appears on SNY’s Baseball Night in New York
Former Mets general manager Zack Scott was a panelist on SNY’s “Baseball Night in New York” last week. He provided an insightful view of the business of baseball from his tenure in the executive suite.
Jim Duquette chimes in on Rays’ philosophy
Another former Mets general manager, Jim Duquette, has been a regular on “Baseball Night in New York,” as well as hosting a show on SiriusXM. Last week Chelsea Sherrod hosted “BNNY” and asked Duquette about why baseball teams are reluctant to trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe during Rays-Yankees matchup in the Bronx – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
“Are you referring to my 2004 trade with the Rays when I was the Mets general manager when I sent Scott Kazmir to Tampa for starting pitcher Victor Zambrano?” he asked with a smile. It was a lopsided trade, and not one in the Mets’ favor. Most Mets fans were livid when it was made since Zambrano was a middling starter while Kazmir was a highly touted lefty pitching prospect.
Sherrod was completely unaware of this humiliating moment in Duquette’s career and felt a bit embarrassed. Newsday baseball writer Dave Lennon, who was also on the panel, jokingly admitted on air he felt like ducking under his chair. Fortunately, the good-natured Duquette was a terrific sport, and did not take offense. He explained how the Rays have a knack of knowing when one of their players has reached his talent ceiling. The ability to laugh at yourself is an important attribute.
San Diego Zoo’s newest additions
The newest additions to the San Diego Zoo are a pair of pandas from China. The San Diego Padres will be honoring them with a bobblehead giveaway before their game with the Mets at Petco Park on August 23.
Image Credit: Petco Park/MLB
Going to San Diego is always a fun getaway, and the weather is spectacular in late August. JetBlue has daily flights to San Diego. The Hyatt Regency La Jolla in the beautiful University Town Center neighborhood has great amenities including a junior Olympic-sized swimming pool. You can go from there to Petco Park by taking the San Diego Trolley, so you do not have to drive.
Remembering and Paying Tribute to Bob Newhart
The entertainment world lost a giant with the passing of deadpan comic Bob Newhart last week at the age of 94. Newhart did not intend to have a career in showbiz as he started as a corporate accountant. That is the last place you would expect to serve as a launching pad for a standup comedian, but it helped make him a relatable everyman with his droll wit. Newhart took pains to correct anyone who referred to him as a CPA. “I could never pass that exam!” he would reply with a chuckle.
We’ll miss you, Bob.
You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.
