Time Is Of The Essence

Not to keep harping on a certain person's absence from Beijing 2008 but ...
When Brian Williams was manning the prime-time anchor desk for all those past Olympics, his incessant referrals to the time wherever he was became a bit of a calling card. In some eyes, it became the target of the odd bit of joking or parody.
During my TV column days at the Ottawa Sun, we always spoke at length before every Games. And one line always made its appearance when the discussion moved to the time zone in which the Olympics were being held, and CBC's philosophy of showing things live whenever possible.
"We're not going to con you," Williams would say, inferring he'd always make sure viewers knew when something was airing live and when it was on tape.
It's early in Beijing — we've only had two full days of competition so far — but it seems that lesson has been lost with with Williams' departure to TSN (he'll be back on Olympic duty at Vancouver 2010 and London 2012).
Take, for example, the start of Olympic Prime on Saturday night. Early in the program, we saw some Canadian rowers in action. Being that it was early morning in Beijing, it was easy to presume this was live stuff (morning rowing not being out of the ordinary). And there was nothing to suggest otherwise with prime-time anchor Ron MacLean's lead-in.
Eventually, we figured out that this had indeed happened the day before (or in the wee hours in Eastern Canada). Olympic Morning hosts Scott Russell and Diana Swain were guilty of the same vagueness earlier Saturday (which we alluded to here yesterday). Of course, seeing night sky behind their studio set while an event is being shown in broad daylight is a bit of tipoff for us, but still ...
Point being, while we applaud CBC's dedication to live coverage (and always will, quite frankly), we also appreciate being told when it isn't. Especially at a Games on the other side of the world, where today is often tomorrow.
You know who wouldn't stand for that, to be sure.