Is it just me, or is something missing from the coverage of these Olympics, especially as they pertain to the swimming coverage?

Sure, it’s a Michael Phelps love-fest 24/7 on the National Broadcasting Company. We know what he eats on a daily basis and it’s not a good thing. (I mean, 10,000 calories consisting of greasy breakfast food items that would make the “Super Size Me” diet look like child’s play?). We get coverage on how Phelps is upset because his goggles sprang a leak, about his sisters and mother, the USA-France rivalry, how Jason Lezak is the man, etc. Yadayadayada.

And we’re also seeing records fall. Like never before. We’re seeing records fall in record fashion, in fact. More than 60 records have fallen already, and the Olympics are not even over yet. That’s unprecendented, folks. This is big news. And the reaction of NBC announcers? It goes something like this:

“Phelps touches the wall first! Another gold! Oh, and by the way, he did it in world record time. That’s not as important as the fact that he’s charting his course to history as the most decorated Olympic athlete – ever!” You catch my drift?

It’s so obvious to me that NBC is avoiding talking about the topic of the Speedo LZR suit and the controversy surrounding it. They don’t want to talk about it, don’t want you to think about it. It would take away from Phelps’ amazing run in Beijing. It would taint the “pureness” of his victories. And it’s just glaring to me, that it’s really starting to piss me off. Like NBC thinks we’re not smart enough to put two and two together and wonder why these records are falling at an unprecedented level.

There is no doubt these LZR suits are giving swimmers the ability to swim faster than they ever have before. For example, 15 out of 16 of the gold medal winners through yesterday at these Olympics wore the Speedo suit and of all the medalists, 42 out of 48 wore the suit. That is an amazing statistic.

I’m not knocking technology. Anyone who knows me knows that I support technology as long as it’s not replacing the human effort and element to compete. It’s like Tiger Woods and other professional golfers switching to metal woods instead of persimmon woods. Or tennis racquets going from wood to graphite. Technology can and will happen to help athletes perform better. To think otherwise is ignorant and to be against progress.

I have a problem when NBC, with it’s broadcasting monopoly, to ignore the issue altogether. I have watched most of the primetime swimming events so far and haven’t heard one mention. It’s ostensibly because the controversy the suit has garnered with various lawsuits, most notably by competing company Tyr, for the rights to have U.S. swimmers don the suit. The swimmers don’t feel there is an option because to not wear the LZR to put them at a competitive disadvantage. And that’s not mention the brouhaha over the connection between U.S. Swimming and Speedo. NBC wants to avoid the 600 pound gorilla in the room, er, swim center.

The omission by NBC not to talk about it makes it even more glaring. So what do they have to hide? It definitely makes one wonder.