 "Photo: Sang Tan/The Associated Press")
Monday 10:00 a.m.
Waking up to get my daily dose of Wimbledon before I had to go to class, I turned on NBC’s coverage of the tennis tournament and saw that Venus Williams was up 4-0 in the first set of a match against Ana Ivanovic.
Minutes later, I pulled up ESPN.com to see what happened in the sports world while I slept and had nightmares of the Astros blowing a ninth-inning lead on Sunday.
And to my surprise, the headline on the Web site of the World Wide Leader of Sports read, “Moving Right Along” with a subtext of “Venus Williams gets full credit for a half-day’s work, reaching the Wimby quarters after Ana Ivanovic retired in the second set.”
There must have been a rain delay at the All England Club if a completed match was shown while others were scheduled to be on court.
Not quite. While in the midst of a match I can only assume was epic and constantly went back-and-forth between Ivo Karlovic and Fernando Verdasco, I watched a limping Ivanovic get rubbed down by her trainer and eventually forfeit the match.
If that match was not predictable enough, after a commercial break, NBC returned to court with the other Williams sister, Serena.
But once again, without even having to click off the home page on my computer, I saw the words “Serena Rolls.”
It just happens that as I watched Serena about to take a commanding three-game lead in the second set, the women’s top seed, Dinara Safina, was down a set to Amelie Mauresmo.
Monday 11:11 a.m.
Just as I was about to call NBC to complain about its Wimbledon coverage, I wondered why the scores on the top of my computer screen were not instantly updating and saw in small letters that ESPN.com said, “Play suspended.”
It had been raining!
Whatever happened to the two words “recorded earlier,” which traditionally go on the top corner of the screen during a rain delay?
All right NBC, I guess I can let you off the hook.
Monday 11:56 a.m.
I see that the scores were changing on my computer, but when I turned the TV back to NBC, it was only showing old British chaps holding umbrellas and taking pictures of the roof closing over the Centre Court for the first time.
This is unbelievable!
Play had resumed, but NBC was not showing the tennis.
Meanwhile, Karlovic took the third set, Safina survived the second, and Lleyton Hewitt was trying to overcome a two-set deficit against Radek Stepanek.
But the NBC commentators were so enthralled by the crowd’s reaction to the roof closing.
The rain delay was over and play continued, but I watched a taped recording of the grounds crew remove the tarp from the grass court and listened to how long we had to wait for the air to circulate throughout the stadium and dry the lawn.
NBC then went to commercial and reminded me how my iPhone is out of date; I just wanted to see some live tennis!
“And in a short while, we will see tennis be played under a roof at Wimbledon,” said NBC’s Ted Robinson.
But the rain delay was over!
As Hewitt forced a fifth set after being down two, Karlovic managed to upset the seventh seed, and Safina survived to play another day. But NBC is showing one of those two-minute documentaries about the new roof at Wimbledon.
Monday 12:40 p.m.
As obscenities rushed through my head due to my lack of seeing a single point of live tennis today, I could only blame NBC.
In this age we live in, scores can be found instantly. Yet, on arguably the greatest day of tennis of the year, when all 32 men and women are playing on the biggest stage, we are forced to only guess what happens through the Wimbledon IBM SlamTracker.
Monday 4:08 p.m.
After a day of class, I surprisingly saw that action was still going on at Wimbledon and was being broadcast on ESPN2.
Toward the end of a five-set match between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka, the Worldwide Leader in Sports chose to put the word “LIVE” in the corner of the screen.
I could at least see the final few points of what I can assume was an amazing day in the U.K.
I agree completely with the arrogant destruction of the spirt on sport by NBC. I recorded the ESPN feed in the Pacific Time zone and knew that I would have to watch the Murray match on double delay but was shocked to find out that I was not even permitted to view my recording by Dish Network's "Smart Card" programming which prevented me from watching it until NBC informed all viewers who had just watch the taped version of the Federer match that Murray had prevailed. I'm not sure if they are mean spirited, trying to undermine ESPN who had the contract for the 1:00 on window, or are they just profoundly incompetent? Whatever the answer something needs to change because they are destroying Tennis just like they destroyed the Beijng Olympics. This is sad, frustrating, and annoying. Your idea about writing to the sponsors is excellent; I will do it!
Sincerely, Joe Calabrese ojcalabrese on Facebook
To: nbcsportshelp@nbcuni.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:53 AM
Subject: Boycott these companies...This is a grass roots/internet effort to rally support for boycotting all nbc shows AND nbc sponsor products because of unfair nbc sports programming rules. Specifically, all quarterfinal and semifinal Wimbledon singles matches were blocked from being shown by other networks or broadcasts were delayed for all US time zones other than east coast.
nbc deprives viewers of the right to view GREAT, LIVE tennis matches. Boycott nbc. Boycott any company/organization supporting nbc and allowing nbc to block other networks from showing Grand Slam tennis events LIVE.
Viewers cannot view news/sports television, news/sports radio, or online homepages, etc., for fear of seeing tennis match results prior to nbc's late, taped broadcasts of these event. Blocking 3 hours for Grand Slam events ruins the match...whoever is leading near the end of the broadcast window must be the winner. No suspense. No drama.
Cover it LIVE or don't cover it at all. AND DON'T BLOCK OTHERS FROM COVERING IT LIVE.
Send complaints to sponsors...
Wimbledon/The All England Lawn Tennis Club
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