I will blog about the media coverage of the luge death in tomorrow's News Blog.

NEWS BLOG (WSAU) The more I hear about the finances of the Olympics, the more turned off I am.

The host-city loses money on the games. They have to promise to build or upgrade doznes of venues for the various sports. There's no way to recoup the capital investment during an event that lasts two weeks. The city is left with intersturcture improvements and a lot of publicity, and red ink.

The selection process is unseemly. People on the Olympic selection committee have gifts lavished on them, as thinly disguised bribes, while they decide which nation will host the games.

Some nations simply can't afford the Olympics. It's no accident that the games regularly land in the US (since 1980: Lake Placid, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Salt Lake City). The other wealthy western European nations and North America are the "go to" places that can afford the games. It's hard to imagine an Olympics in Africa. Rio, which will host the 2016 games, is probably the only South African venue that's affluent-enough to even be considered.

The broadcast losses on the Olympics will be substantial. NBC television begins its Olympic coverage with a $200-million defacit, and it could get worse if ratings guarantees promised to advertisers don't materialize.

So I look at the Olympics with a jaded eye. The opening ceremonies seem overblown when you consider the game's finances. It's like a wedding where the bride and groom go deep into debt paying off the banquet that their guests enjoy,

Chris Conley
Operations Manager-Midwest Communications, Wausau
2.14.10