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General Light the flame! Here's how to get ready to watch the Olympic Games 09/14/2000 By Lori Price / The Dallas Morning News
Four words in the American culture have the ability to enlist cheers, tears and groans: Let the games begin.
See, either you pumped your fist in the air, pulled a proud hand to your heart or rolled your eyes and thought, "Oh, no. Is it already time for that again?" Yep. Coverage of the Summer Games of the XXVII Olympiad begins on NBC at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with a live . . . uh, taped broadcast of the lively Opening Ceremony from Australia. As with all 19 days of the Sydney Summer Games set to air on the network and its cable affiliates, MSNBC and CNBC, the ceremony will actually occur 16 hours before it hits local television screens. That's the time difference between Texas and Australia. The 4 1/2-hour ceremony marks the start of more than 430 hours of coverage scheduled to air on the three networks. So, viewers, let's map out a plan to make the most of the next two weeks of television watching. Before you decide how to tackle the Olympics, you need some key information. First, the Sydney Summer Games run through Oct. 1. NBC (Channel 5 locally) will carry the "big name" competitions like gymnastics, swimming, track and field and a few others. CNBC will be the nest for boxing, and MSNBC will focus on team sports like basketball and soccer. Second, there's an alphabet-soup listing of competitions, from archery to water polo. All but a handful of the events will be on one station or the other at some point. Third, television as you know it will change. NBC prime-time shows, and some others, will vanish until after the games. Competing networks will continue to air their shows. They wouldn't dare put the new season's lineup against the international event that draws 3.5 billion viewers. Now, decide how important the games are to you and pick a plan. Joe Q. Fan or Jane D. Sports The term "sports enthusiast" doesn't even come close to pegging you. You've waited for this since the Atlanta games in 1996. You can name all 35 Summer Olympic events and quote the rules of play for each. If it's a sport on television, you're watching it. THE GOAL: To consume all 437 televised hours of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. Also, to get the coveted live-action feeling that comes from watching sports on television, even though the events happen two-thirds of a day earlier than their broadcast time. TRAINING AND PREPARATION: Start doing push-button finger exercises for good use of the remote control and effective VCR programming. Learn how to watch more than one television set at once. Master the art of putting drops in your eyes without turning away from the screen. Time the walk from the couch to the kitchen so snack retrieval can be scheduled during commercials. Be sure to include seconds needed to open refrigerator and pour drinks. Avoid live newscasts and the Internet, which may report results before the competitions hit the air. Turn telephone ringers off.
EQUIPMENT CHECK: Multiple television sets in the same room, arranged from left to right (highly favored competitions to the left; team sports in the middle; boxing to the right). An option: one set, a multipurpose remote control and a VCR. A pocket television for potty breaks and snack needs that may come up between commercial breaks. Carbohydrates to build energy for post-midnight broadcasts. Tougher foods, like kangaroo jerky, for intense moments of play. Eye drops. Extra batteries and videotapes. You're a selective viewer. You have neither the time nor the inclination to watch all events. You know exactly what you want to see. Usually, it's the big name stuff you've heard everyone else talk about. You don't want to seem like an out-of-touch ninny who doesn't know what's going on. You need the Olympics in your life as a conversation piece. THE GOAL: Phooeyto events like fencing and trampoline. The action you crave is in the proven crowd-drawing events. You're in luck, because NBC is counting on the popular events, like diving and gymnastics, to pull in high ratings. The network has made big plans for you. TRAINING AND PREPARATION: Planning your game watching will be fairly simple and convenient, as NBC has scheduled most of your favorite events for prime time. You don't even need cable, because most of those games will be on NBC. Clear your evening schedule until the Games end. Familiarize yourself with the well-knowns - Wang Zhi Zhi, Andres Cantor, Mia Hamm, Bela Karolyi - and know what role they play in this event that often hooks you like a soap opera. EQUIPMENT CHECK: An accurate schedule of the games. Take notes for quick recap when the Olympics comes up in conversation. Proud Mamas and Papas You've never seen runner Michael Johnson lift a foot off the track, but you know the Dallas native's height, shoe-size and the color of his favorite running tights. You like the stories behind the races. You watch. You beam. You cry. You salute. You want to know the winners, the losers, the cheaters, the criers. Your red, white and blue heart is inspired by details of the athlete's road from sandbox to international competition. THE GOAL: To learn as much as you can from the pre-event presentations that offer a slice of the athletes' lives. TRAINING AND PREPARATION: Key events that are must-see television for you are the opening and closing ceremonies. These are certain to be tear-jerkers, chock-full of tidbits. EQUIPMENT CHECK: Load up on tissues for sobbing. Keep a journal of what you learn, so you don't confuse basketball player Lisa Leslie with weight lifter Cheryl Haworth. The information may also come in handy in case you decide to write the great American novel. Olympic Playa Hater Yuck! is all you can think of when you hear Sydney Summer Games. You dread the event when it rolls around every four years. You don't want to see it. You don't want to hear about it. You don't care. You ask, "Why would they kill my favorite shows for this? Isn't there some public broadcast station they can stick this on?" THE GOAL: To avoid any and everything that has to do with the Games. TRAINING AND PREPARATION: Re-program your remote control so that it skips NBC and its cable siblings. Learn to stick your fingers in your ears and sing "Lalalalala" when friends talk about narrow defeats and unexpected losses. Make sure your video rental membership is in good standing. Look for viewing alternatives, like AMC's film marathon airing Saturday and Sunday. The Olympic-size televised film festival will feature 12 classic movies, each set in where else? Australia.
BEING THERE
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Track star 
1996
swimming gold medalist Ryan Berube 
