Whitewater Olympic Coverage

I'm not going to lie. I watch a lot of television. I will never be that person who pretends to not like tv and take that holier-than-thou approach when speaking about the non-sense of reality television and prime-time dramas and seem to be above it. I love it, I love it all. I'm into anything VH1 or FOX can dream up. And in all of my recent television watching, I've witnessed plenty of propaganda for the upcoming Olympic games. Within the depths of this propaganda not one add has featured whitewater.

You'd think I'd be outraged but I understand it. Michael Phelps is ridiculously hot. There's that chick who has rock hard abs and is in her early 40's. Those gymnasts do some AMAZING things. I get it.

It is important to point out, however, that all of these sports have enormous followings regardless of the individuals. Swimming, soccer, gymnastics and others all have large kids programs throughout the US. They're popular in elementary schools all the way through college. And these are the programs that are truly supporting the sports as a whole and the elite athletes alike. Kids programs are the reason why we see these particular sports on tv.

I do realize that neither hand ball nor field hockey have received that much coverage either but my career goal isn't to make field hockey a household name, it's to help make whitewater a nationally recognized sport. So I'm calling on each of you to help make whitewater stand out and get some needed television coverage. Step one: watch your television. Below is the tv listings of when NBC is covering whitewater slalom. Step two: support your local kids program. Each major instruction school has kids clinics each season. Check them out, get your kids involved, get the neighbor kids involved, talk kayaking up with your local schools. Step three: get involved. The paddling community is fanatic about paddling but seems to only share their enthusiasm with other paddlers. Boatertalk is an extreme example of this. Getting involved is sharing the sport with those that probably wouldn't have been exposed to it on their own volition. Involvement is also about seeing what you can do to help boost your local paddling club or community to ensure greater outreach.

Let's make sure, starting today, that the 2012 Olympic advertisements have plenty of whitewater highlights. I know I'll be watching.


Click here for the official NBC write ups on all Whitewater Olympic beta.
HERE'S WHEN TO WATCH
FRIDAY, AUG. 8
NBC and NBC HD
8:00 p.m. – Midnight
Opening Ceremony — Parade of Nations, Lighting of the Olympic Cauldron

MONDAY, AUG. 11 – DAY 3
NBC and NBC HD
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Beach Volleyball (LIVE)
Swimming
Rowing
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom

TUESDAY, AUG. 12 – DAY 4
NBC and NBC HD
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Beach Volleyball (LIVE)
Swimming
Men's Water Polo – USA vs. Italy
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Finals

NBCOlympics.com — LIVE STREAMING BROADBAND COVERAGE:
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Finals

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13 – DAY 5
NBC and NBC HD
2:00 a.m. — Noon
Men's Soccer – USA vs. Nigeria (LIVE)
China vs. Brazil (LIVE)
Women's Basketball – USA vs. Mali (LIVE)
Women's Water Polo – Hungary vs. Australia
Rowing – Semifinals (LIVE)
Badminton – Competition, Semifinals
Table Tennis – Team Competition
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Competition

THURSDAY, AUG. 14 – DAY 6
NBC and NBC HD
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Swimming
Beach Volleyball
Rowing – Semifinals
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Final

1:35 a.m. — 2:30 a.m.
Swimming – Women's 200 Back Semifinal
Canoeing – Whitewater Slalom Gold Medal Final

If you want to take a look at the whitewater course, Scott Mann put up some video coverage of the course from last fall. Click here to see it.