BLOGS
In the run-up to the Olympics, there was much hype about Ryan Seacrest joining the broadcast team and bringing something new to the coverage. He hasn't. But in a surprise twist, the person who has conducted interesting interviews has been John McEnroe. Who would have expected that the former temperamental tennis pro would have such a knack for interviewing Olympians?
So far all I've seen Seacrest do is interview people in the Michael Phelps circle, and while Phelps is a big star at these games, we already know all about how he got started and how his sisters pushed him and how he was rambunctious with his coach. One interview with Phelps, and his family would have been fine, but last night there was a second interview (cut from the same sit down where Phelps was sporting jeans and bare feet) that focused on Phelps' longtime coach. Other than that same interview edited two ways, Seacrest goofed around in a "Call Me Maybe" parody with the swim team and tried to explain Twitter. He's the Olympic equivalent of Christina Milian on The Voice.
On the other hand, McEnroe has done a couple interviews so far and they've been a little awkward, but enjoyable. He visited Ryan Lochte (pre-Olympics) at his home where he played around in the swimmer's giant shoe closet and marveled at his collection of grillz (one of which he sported the other day). Then McEnroe got a glimpse at Lochte's insane workouts, which involve lifting a giant tire and flipping it over. It wasn't exactly groundbreaking or particularly insightful, but it was fun to see the swimmer in an environment that wasn't part of those dramatically put together TV packages.
He also interviewed reigning beach volleyball gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and even got his butt kicked in a match against them. He asked light questions about their bikini uniforms and some more pressing ones about extending their undefeated record, the possibility of going to Rio and juggling families with volleyball schedules.
It's nice to see the lighthearted side of John McEnroe (which I didn't really know existed) and wish that Seacrest would do something more original in his primetime segments (since we're not getting up to watch him goof around with the anchors on Today). Maybe it's the fact that McEnroe has experience with athletic training and maintaining the discipline that sports require, but so far, it's 30-Love in Johnny Mac's favor.
Get complete 24/7 coverage -- including news, results and live video -- of the London 2012 Summer Olympics at NBCOlympics.com.
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