Watching the Beijing Olympics on TV requires Olympic endurance and patience

Thank goodness for MSNBC.com (or rather www.nbcolympics.com) and video clips, otherwise I would have missed just about every great "must-see TV" moment of the Beijing Olympics thus far.

Yes, yes, NBC (which I now tell people stands for "Nothing But Commercials") begins its "live" coverage (if you live on the East Coast of the United States and you don't count all the previously taped footage) at the reasonable hour of 8 p.m. Eastern Time. But as anyone and everyone who has dutifully turned on the tube at 8 p.m. ET night after Olympic night knows by now, the real "live" action doesn't even begin until at least 10 p.m. ET, when it is 10 a.m. the next morning in Beijing, and when thousands (perhaps millions) of Americans (like yours truly) are getting ready for bed or are already asleep.

The 12-hour time difference and whole "live" thing even has those covering the Olympics for NBC a bit addled at times, including usually quick-witted (or smarmy, depending on your point of view) NBC master of ceremonies Bob Costas. (Though at least the"Today" show was spared the dilemma of becoming the "Tomorrow" -- or "Yesterday" -- show as it is still "today" both in the U.S. and in Beijing when the program airs at 7 p.m. Beijing Time.)

But getting back to NBC's primetime Olympic coverage.... Guys, I understand the whole wanting to be live thing and trying to capture the most eyeballs by going on air at 8 p.m. ET, BUT COULDN'T YOU FIND SOMETHING MORE EXCITING THAN YET ANOTHER ROUND OF BEACH VOLLEYBALL (AND WE'RE NOT EVEN TALKING QUARTER FINALS) OR MILE 20 OF THE WOMEN'S MARATHON TO AIR?!

And it's not just watching at night that requires Olympic endurance and/or patience. As I was flipping channels at the gym earlier today, to see if I could find me a little Olympics action while climbing hills on my stationary bike, what did I get? The Australia - Montenegro water polo match. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! A bunch of grown men in wrestling headgear, standing in a pool, shouting "Marco! Polo!" for an hour?! (Okay, I made up the bit about "Marco! Polo!" but you catch my drift.) Of everything going on in Beijing, this is what the folks at NBC decide to preempt regular programming on MSNBC TV for, less than three months before the presidential election?!

Even if you are one of the hearty souls who lives for the Olympics every two or four years and is committed to staying up into the wee hours to watch every "live" moment live, you have to admit that the amount of commercials, and their timing (a 2 to 3-minute break approximately every 10 minutes), is numbing -- and requires Olympic-like concentration to get through them and still remember what was going on before whatever event it was was so rudely interrupted by several words from several sponsors. (And we're not talking Super Bowl type ads here. No. We're talking re-treads. That cute blonde chick on rollerblades from that Diet Coke ad they keep airing? She's over 40 now.)

And another thing, there are, at least according to whomever it is is counting, 204 countries (technically 192 countries and 12 territories) competing in the 2008 Olympic Games, yet you would hardly know from watching NBC's primetime coverage (except maybe for last night's men's gymnastics finals, which did not feature a single American male). Nope. If ya ain't got "USA" slapped on your back, American camera operators won't find you -- or at least show you on TV, unless you are competing against an American male or female.

But enough bitching and whining about the Olympics. Despite my ranting and raving, I am a fan. And I wish nothing but the best for U.S. women's beach volleyball players Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh in their quest for Olympic gold (and in keeping sand out of their crotches), as I do all the great athletes who have and are giving their all for and to the sports they love.

UPDATED 9:55 PM ET MONDAY: What is this, "The Man Show Goes to Beijing"? For those of you not watching the Olympics on NBC right now, I am watching Women's Olympic Trampoline Jumping, or whatever it's called -- basically chicks on trampolines, minus the boobs and low-cut tops. And I must say, I miss "The Man Show," though the Chinese chick is kinda cute. Oh and for those who weren't watching the Women's Beach Volleyball earlier, Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh beat Brazil (again) to make it to the finals against China, though you may not have realized China even had a women's beach volleyball team judging by the NBC coverage.