Eight-hundred and thirty-five Hours. That is how much coverage NBC is dedicating to this year's Winter Olympics, more hours than the past two Olympic Games combined. Besides grasping the staggering financial and logistical arrangements put forth by the network, the question must be asked: What audience is NBC appealing to? Who would watch all of this, more than a semester's worth of class time in front of the screen? I might. Post-Super Bowl and Pre-March Madness, sports have pulled me in yet again. What compels us to return for countless seasons as spectators to this extravagant buffet? I can't explain sports from the athlete's perspective for I never possessed the natural talent or perseverance to even vaguely pursue any kind of athletic achievement. As a lifelong sports connoisseur, however, I can speak with authority about being a fan. In a University community with a broad variety of sports and outstanding student-athletes, we need to increasingly focus on cultivating passionate student-fans.
As with any phenomenon, sports fans are often placed under the academic microscope to be dissected, studied, and analyzed.
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