I really like the Olympics. I admire the dedication that the athletes have to be able to compete at that level. I definitely don't have that type of will power & motivation to do what they do.

Having said that I hate how the coverage of it has changed in the past few decades. I agree with what @mechagodzilla said above.

Yet another event that should be celebrated that the modern world has over commercialized to get higher ratings & more money.

Remember Charlie Brown's Christmas? Where is Linus to tell us what the Olympics is really about?

I am not happy with the coverage, especially on NBC. I watched mainly on the NBC Sport Channel. I watched Biathlon there and then saw it on regular NBC and it was very heavily edited. I wish they would show more of the medal ceremonies. Always a nice moment to see the athlete as their national anthem is played. I enjoyed the opening ceremony seeing all the countries come in. The flag bearer from Tonga stole the show!

I been watching it lots, the BBC coverage is really good and informed. Got two channels one on main BBC1 and other on digital so can pick which sport to watch or catch up with missed event online. Watch the slopestyle so far, and biathlon and some curling, with random ski events too. Looking forward to Paralympics more though.

US coverage is terrible, these days. if the US isn't competitive in an event, it is glossed over. The Winter Olympics has generally been treated poorly, as the US has rarely been strong in events, outside of a select few, like figure skating and sport we lobbied to add, like snowboarding.

I used to watch them religiously, from the 1972 Olympics onward. The 1984 Olympics kind of soured me, with the huge emphasis on corporate sponsors. That was when I really felt it became commercialized. That was soon followed by professional athletes competing and the more and more selective coverage.

I loved the Olympic coverage when ABC broadcast the games. Roone Arledge had the best sports broadcasting team ever! They treated the games and the athletes with respect and showcased everyone. They did features to bring athletes from other countries to you, not just the American team. When I was a kid, with the Cold War still a major thing, we cheered Vasily Alekseyev in weightlifting, Olga Korbut in gymnastics, Nadia Comaneci, Rodnina and Zaitsev in figure skating, and Franz Klammer in the downhill. ABC's features told us about the person, showed them in their homes, with their families. That is powerful stuff. The Olympics was more about the world coming together peacefully then (apart from the 1972 Men's Basketball final). They also helped bring home the humanity of things at Munich, in 1972, when the Israeli athletes were murdered by the PFLP terrorists. The gave the coverage of the siege and the aftermath the proper gravitas, without sensationalizing it, and showed great respect for the victims and the mourning athletes.

When NBC took over the broadcasting, the quality greatly dropped. It became increasingly commercial and entertainment-driven. The only Olympics I watched more than a few minutes of, from the time they took over, was Lilehammer, and that was mostly to see if Dan Jansen would finally win the gold and to see Bonnie Blair, who was a local, from Champaign-Urbana, IL. Even then, the better parts of the coverage was on Letterman, with Dave's mom bringing the athletes on for quick interviews.

If I were gifted like some of the athletes, I would compete in biathlon. Having to shoot targets after such intense skiing--with your heart rate and breath soaring--that takes skill, patience, and talent. I love watching them shoot, especially when they get all 5 shots.

Oh, we do, when you get down to it; but, I just don't have the interest in sports that I did when I was young.  Part of it is adult life, with a full time job and taking care of a disabled spouse.  I work in retail, which is long hours, then I run errands that my wife can't, cook for us, clean the place (when I get around to it);  it's amazing I have time to stop in here, some days.  It's hard to fully explain; it just doesn't feel the same way it once did, even removing NBC from the equation.  Plus, this one has become politicized here, since it is in Korea and we are stuck with the Cheeto-in-Chief and his band of cutthroat buffoons.  I've checked in on the results at NPR; but not much else.