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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2014
PAGE 13
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I'm looking at some of the conventional metrics and saying we're doing great. I'm looking at the new metrics and saying we're doing incredible."
Alan Wurtzel, NBCUniversal president of research and media development
FACT OF THE DAY
saturday's 9.6 rating is currently the second-lowest rating ever for a primetime Olympics telecast.
Sports Media Watch
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: How many fewer viewers per night is NBC drawing for the Sochi games compared to the 2010 Vancouver games?
A: 9.6 million
THE MORNING BREW Sochi Olympics fail to impress
Sports Media Watch
The numbers are in: The Sochi Olympics viewership ratings are historically low, and it may
go down as the least watched Olympics in recent memory. Only the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics compares with this year's paltry viewership.
It's not surprising to anybody who's attempted to sit through strings of uninteresting events that lack compelling figures or story-lines. The Winter Olympics tend to lack the hype of the Summer games, but this year's edition is simply boring.
The main storyline going into the Olympics — the political sniping between USA and Russia — was tiresome before the opening ceremonies even began. Russia feared "black widow" bombers marring its Sochi legacy, but instead it's on pace to being one of the least interesting Olympics in recent memory.
It took until one week before the closing ceremony that the Sochi
Olympics finally had its first classic moment.
It wasn't until American hockey player TJ Oshie slid the puck between the legs of the Russian goalkeeper to win an overtime shootout on Saturday night, with Russian president Vladimir Putin in attendance, that viewers had reason to feel the type of excitement, anticipation and heartbreak that we expect from the Olympics, the type of feeling that's sorely lacking in this edition of the Olympic games.
You know, the anticipation of seeing
Olympic history each time Phelps jumped into the pool in Britain's 2012 Olympics.
The feeling of awe when Shaun White seemed suspended in the air while completing a Double McTwist 1260 on his victory-lap run in the 2010 Vancouver games.
A week later, viewers witnessed the Team USA hockey thrashing of Team Canada, earning its first
victory against our northern neighbors in 50 years. Or the heartbreak seven days later in the gold medal match when the Canadians scored the game-winner in overtime, crushing the out-matched Americans' hopes of winning gold.
Perhaps Sochi will deliver these types of moments in its final week, but there's nothing from the first ten days that would signal such an occurrence.
Blame NBC for not giving its audience reasons to care about these athletes and events we'd normally ignore, or the athletes for a lack of intriguing displays. Heck, blame Bob Costas' pink-eye. It doesn't really.
matter.
Nothing will change the indifference American viewers hold toward this year's Olympics until we're given a reason to. So far, this year's Olympics hasn't supplied us with many.
Edited by Callan Reilly
This week in athletics
Monday
Baseball
Brigham Young
Noon
Peoria, Ariz.
Tuesday
Men's Basketball
Texas Tech
7 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas
Wednesday
No Events
Thursday
No Events
Friday
Softball
Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville
10 a.m.
Jackson, Miss.
Softball
Southeastern Louisiana
University
12:30 p.m.
Jackson, Miss.
Men's Golf
University of Wyoming
Desert Intercollegiate
All day
Palm Desert, Calif.
Baseball
Northwestern
9:30 a.m.
Port Charlotte, Fla.
Women's Tennis
Eastern Kentucky
11 a.m.
Richmond, Ky.
Saturday
Sunday
Women's Golf Florida State Match Up All Day Tallahassee, Fla.
Softball
DePaul University
8 a.m.
Charleston, S.C.
Women's Tennis
UT-Arlington
Noon
Lawrence
THARP FROM PAGE 14
home what proved to be the winning run.
"I've been working on my swing constantly," Hernandez said. "I took to the cage every day and it really paid off this weekend."
Kahana stuck around just long enough to record the win, while senior closer Jordan Piché finished the game with his first save of the sea-
the lead and starting a six-run rally. McKay finished the game going 2-4 with four RBI's.
son. Piché threw two scoreless innings, striking out three and walking one.
"Kahana has a rock solid effort," Price said. "And Jordan was outstanding. He controls whether we win or lose."
Junior starting pitcher Wes Benjamin got the nod for Kansas in the first game of the season. Benjamin struggled at times, but overall had a strong first outing, going seven innings, allowing four runs on six hits and striking out four.
Junior Connor McKay was the hero in the Jayhawk's opening game of the season on Friday. McKay was responsible for tying the game in the fifth inning with a two-run home run and giving the Jayhawks
"The game showed that we can come back from anything." Hernandez said. "We came together as a team and we built a lot of character."
A 3-0 start to the season is exactly what the Jayhawks were hoping for going into the weekend. The team was solid on every aspect of the field. The starting pitching was strong, the defense was crisp and the bats were alive, while Jordan Piché lived up to his reputation as Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. If Kansas can carry this momentum, then a ninth-place finish in the Big 12 is certainly not in the Jay-
"We got contributions from everyone this weekend," Price said. "We have to come and compete every game. We know we had a great club last year and [the Kansas' preseason Big 12 ranking] just shows that we play in one of the best conferences in the country."
hawks' future.
"Wes grinded," Price said. "He got in and out of trouble and fought to give us seven strong innings."
Edited by Sarah Kramer
Benjamin was buoyed by his offense, as the Jayhawks were able to mount a comeback and win the game by a tally of 10-4. Piché finished the game out in a non-save situation, pitching two innings and allowing only two baserunners.
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