For NBC's Meet The Press, A For-Your-Consideration

What an unusual confluence of events for a Sunday! The end of the Beijing Olympics, the beginning of the Democratic National Convention. Two events filled with pomp, pageantry, and relentless, merciless press coverage. Something about this calendar coincidence hit me today as I watched the Sunday morning hosts hold court before a packed ballroom in Denver. Tom Brokaw sat in as the face of NBC's Meet The Press, but he was quick to characterize himself as that show's temporary custodian. The void left by the tragic, too soon death of Tim Russert was feelingly present, and I'm sure I wasn't the only person in the room to wonder who might one day fill that chair, at that trapezoidal table, on a permanent basis. And that's when it hit me.

Hey! Why not Bela Karolyi?

For those of us who indulged in NBC's round-the-clock coverage of the Summer Games, Bela Karolyi's in studio contributions were nearly as memorable as his contributions as the coach of various Olympic gymnasts, for both his home country of Romania, and here in the States. On camera, his cultural duality was a broad part of his appeal -- a product of Eastern Europe wearing his love for the United States on his sleeve. Karolyi held court with NBC's ace sports journalist Bob Costas on the travails and tribulations of his wife Marta's U.S. Women's Gymnastic Team charges, peppering the conversation with bracing, unedited enthusiasm. It made for surprising, gloriously off-the-cuff television, with an often genuinely floored Costas enjoying the ride.

Of course, it wasn't just Karolyi's exuberance that made him so compelling. He helped to drive one of the key news stories of the Olympics: the underaged gymnasts of the Chinese national team. While commentators at the event spoke of their suspicions in sly, off-handed terms, Karolyi put the Chinese team on blast, calling them out on the air, without mincing words, for cheating. At a time when the network was treating the host nation with a great deal of deference, Karolyi's remarks drew attention, and, as it happened, led to revelations which backed his contention. Who knows? Had Karolyi not seized the moment, we might still be talking past the suspicions.

A man with passion, bravely speaking truth to power? What better host could Meet The Press ask for? Well...okay. Maybe a host with a somewhat intimate awareness of American politics.

Look. NBC? Please, please: find a place for Bela Karolyi. It would just be such a shame if we didn't hear from him for another four years.

Comments

[DAE]

This guy is the biggest hypocrite going. Nadia was 14 when she won gold under his tutelage for god's sake. And my Chinese ex looked pre-pubescent in her mid 20s.

[KarateKid]

Is that why you married her?

[flyingm]

If giving Bela a job on a political talk show will keep him away from the young gymnasts he's spent his career abusing, then I'm all for it. But he definitely needs a sane co-host like Costas to contrast with his over-the-top nationalistic enthusiasm, or we might find he sparks an international incident every week with his commentary.

[qwr]

I am tired of talking about spirited, individual competition in nationalist terms. Absolutely tired of it. And no one was more guilty of this than Karolyi, hater of all thing not American, except when the winner is Romanian. He expressed outrage when any country other than the US won, except when the Romanian won. These Olympics have been the least nationalist (the coverage, I mean) of any in my lifetime, but many want to bring back the Reagan years. No thanks. I am so glad that Shawn Johnson won that gold medal. Karolyi and the female gymnastics commentator want to turn the sport into a beauty contest.

[mandalaina]

I'm for Bela! I like the guy.

[scorpioleidy]

I'd watch Bella before wasting my time watching David Gregory host it. (Gregory moderated MTP a couple weeks ago ... and I promptly turned the channel. It was the first time I didn't watch MTP in YEARS!

[jingles32]

After Brokaw's despicable, condescending, snar*ky performance yesterday, "schooling" Speaker Pelosi, editorializing after each response from her, I say bring him on! Tim must be livid, watching what these self absorbed corporate shills are doing with his show.

[VicDaring]

I know this is tognue-in-cheek, at least the "Meet the Press" premise.

But Bela Karolyi is still a blowhard with an overdeveloped sense of self importance.

It would be a shame if he did NOT disappear for at least four more years.