Dispatches from the overnight shift
MSNBC actually came through with a solid outing in the 2 a.m.-7 a.m. window today, primarily because they decided to show the entire men's triathlon live and not waiting for NBC to show a cut down version of it in prime time. They still got to squeeze in their schmaltzy profile during the race (of an Aussie, not an American), but it didn't detract too much from the coverage.

NBC didn't do the same for women's triathlon the day before, although it was trying to keep things open for the start of the bronze-medal baseball game (the ending would've taken place well after the game started) and thus filled the time instead with another showing of the bronze-medal women's beach volleyball match.

Another plus of the early-morning coverage is the extended looks at other sports, even if there were no Americans involved, and today it was wrestling and taekwondo. The highlight of the wrestling coverage was hearing Jeff Blatnick mention pro wrestling as a possibility for Egypt's Karam Ibrahim, who not only showed some good moves in reaching the gold-medal match but plenty of charisma -- he was doing flips on the mat after a win. Could we have the next Kurt Angle on our hands?

Taekwondo was interesting, and I even got to see a Filipino fighter compete, but I'm still amused that Pat Croce was the color commentator for this event. However, he did a solid job, in both showing that he's charismatic and knowledgeable.