Was This Year's 2024 Olympics Truly the Greatest Ever?
Transcript
00:00The Olympics this year was said to be, oh, the greatest Olympics of all time.
00:08See, I heard that from a lot of people.
00:09I think everyone that I've ever seen, by the way, always called the greatest Olympics of
00:14all time.
00:15I'm not going to push back against that, but, you know, I can't recall an Olympics which
00:20was not described that way afterward by someone.
00:25So do you think it's more of a matter of the latest thing in that situation being the
00:30greatest thing, because this is the new version of these athletes, like Noah Lyles winning
00:35by a toenail, people coming from behind, this issue with the woman boxer, like there's always
00:42something new to create drama within the Olympics, what Simone Biles did.
00:47So do you think that plays more of a part in it?
00:50Or this was just due to the action, a better Olympics?
00:54I think it's both.
00:56There was indeed memorable and historic and epic action which took place at these Olympics.
01:05If you want to talk about somebody coming from behind in a dramatic and thrilling fashion,
01:11go back and find video of Bob Hayes and the four by 100 meter relay at Tokyo in 1964.
01:19And one thing I would say about that, which I have often said to people is I understand
01:24electronic timing.
01:26I understand the absolute dictatorial authority of the stopwatch.
01:32I understand the numbers and the hundreds of seconds and stuff like that.
01:37You can't convince me that anybody has ever run faster than Bob Hayes on the anchor leg
01:44of the four by 100 meter relay at Tokyo in 1964.
01:49Watch it.
01:50I don't believe anybody has ever run faster than that.
01:55Can I be wrong?
01:56Sure.
01:57I'm an old guy.
01:58But at the end of the day, we most appreciate that which is in our hands at this moment.
02:05So coming off of everything that happened at these Olympics and the great stories well
02:11told by NBC with their long background and polish and the great work of producers like
02:18the incomparable Molly Solomon, I do believe that it's only logical and natural for the
02:24audience to continue to evolve toward higher and higher praise.
02:29And these athletes are now more famous than those previous athletes because of the modern
02:34media system, et cetera.
02:36So there's no reason to push back against that.
02:39The only mild pushback I'll give you is which Olympics have I seen in my lifetime, which
02:46were not the greatest Olympics of all.
02:49Well, Jim, I wanted to ask you about that.
02:51You bring up the production and the presentation of the Olympics, which this year, in my opinion,
02:57because of Peacock and because of all the accessibility that we have as fans to watch
03:01anything we want live whenever.
03:03What do you think about that?
03:04Where I watched a lot of NBC primetime, I saw the production, I saw Mike Tirico, I saw
03:08the way it was presented to me.
03:10And it's tidy and it's nice and it's quick and it's it's to the point.
03:14So watching it, the ability to watch every heat whenever I want is also something that
03:19I enjoyed.
03:20What do you think about all this new way of media presenting the Olympics?
03:23Well, availability is fantastic for the audience and variety is fantastic for the audience.
03:31And so, again, this is this is another element which through the continued evolution of electronics
03:39and audience awareness and global communications, et cetera, et cetera, has gotten better.
03:46And, you know, I don't think there's any logical pushback against that.
03:53If you are a fan of the Olympics in 1996 or 1956, Melbourne, are you as privileged and
04:05as abundantly rewarded for your interest in the Olympics as is the case in 2024?
04:13Of course not.
04:15No logical comparison.
04:17So, yeah, best ever until another one takes place.