The Odd Couple

I apologize for being a little late with this post, but Brian Williams' Olympic coverage had me so depressed I couldn't get out of bed. For some reason, NBC decided to pair news anchor Williams with sports anchor Bob Costas during the introduction of each nation's athletes, which led to exchanges along the lines of this:

Costas: And here come the delegates from Iran- not a country that immediately comes to mind when you think about the winter Olympics.

Williams: But it is perhaps the first country that comes to mind when you think of world threats. Their president has called for the destruction of Israel, they're close to getting the nuclear bomb, and we'd probably be at war with them right now if the United States had any troops remaining that weren't fighting in Iraq in Afghanistan.

Costas: Next up is Ireland- land of shamrocks, leprechauns, and Guinness beer.

Williams: And also the site of a terrible civil war and one of the worst famines in the history of Europe.

Costas: Here is the one athlete representing Kenya. A cross country skier who was so touched by the gesture of a fellow competitor at the 2002 winter games that he later named his first born son after him.

Williams: Did you know that 23% of the Kenyan population makes less than a $1 a day?

Costas: I guess that makes him a dollar menu guy.

Williams: I'd like to take this opportunity to remind viewers that we're all destined to die someday. And for many of us, that day may be soon...

It went on like that for hours. It's bad enough that by the end of each Olympic ceremonies I usually feel like an idiot because there are about a dozen countries participating that I didn't even know existed; but now Brian Williams has taken it upon himself to remind me of all the atrocities in the world. Maybe NBC's strategy is to put the viewers in such a deep depression that they won't have the energy to press the remote control? Thanks guys.