Okay…NBC’s coverage of the Olympics so far has been decidedly mixed. I do appreciate their (and DirecTV’s) efforts to put all the channels in one place (Channels 750-756 on satellite…and if you don’t have satellite, you’re an idiot). However, having six Olympics channels going simultaneously has just driven home a central point — NBC has TERRIBLE announcers. It’s truly sad when Rowdy Gaines is your best analyst.

And what’s the deal with sticking Cris Collinsworth in the “studio” with Costas? I’ve heard Collinsworth admit at least three times now that he has no idea what he’s doing. I can’t tell what NBC was trying to get out of using him in this capacity, because nothing he’s contributed so far has been worth watching. Even his Dara Torres interview was worthless — cliched and repetitive.

In other news — today is the release day for Madden 09. But more importantly, it’s the release date for NFL Head Coach 09. I’ll be sure to supply some updates on whether this version is any better than that abortion of a title they released two years ago.

Anyway, on to the links for today:

— Previewing the Cincinnati Bengals. (Epic Carnival)

— Happy 55th Birthday, Terry Bollea. (Busted Coverage)

— Yahoo! Having some problems with live streaming video! Areola alert! (Deadspin)

— Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays, signing an autograph. On a taco. Huh? (You Been Blinded)

— I feel compelled to link to this, since everyone else has. DC Sports Bog caught up with Craig Sager in Beijing, and what resulted was an interview that should provide sports bloggers with Sager-related things to talk about for months. Maybe years. (DC Sports Bog)

— Missed this when it first went around, but here’s an interesting interview/chat with Dan LeBatard on TBL. (The Big Lead)