TV time primer, 30 years after Miracle on Ice

It arguably is the greatest moment in American sports history . . . and inarguably the worst moment in the history of tape-delayed American sports.

Come Feb. 22, it will be 30 years since ABC showed the United States' 4-3 Olympic hockey victory over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, even though the game was played at 5.

Why? "We didn't know who was playing at what time until the very end,'' Al Michaels, who called the game alongside Ken Dryden, said last week.

"[ABC Sports president] Roone Arledge tried very hard to get that game moved to the night game. The Soviets were opposed to it.''

ABC decided to delay its telecast until prime time to attract the largest possible audience, and thus did most viewers watch the epic upset already knowing what had happened.

Over the ensuing three decades, such time shifting has been a persistent annoyance to many avid sports fans who struggle to embrace the Olympics, where packaged story telling often trumps live action.

The problem is particularly acute when the Games are in the Eastern Hemisphere, making live events at night here impractical - short of the clever maneuvering that had Michael Phelps swimming in the morning in Beijing.

It gets a little confusing.

"In Beijing, late night [in the U.S.] was at noon,'' NBC's Mary Carillo said.

All of which is an extremely long way of setting up this question: What about Vancouver?

The news mostly is good for those who like their sports as it happens - a bigger consideration than ever in an era of easily accessible information, including on NBC's own Web site.

Being in North America means scheduling big events for prime time is easy, at least those in sports such as figure skating, speed skating, short track and hockey that are contested indoors or those under the lights, such as snowboarding, which will feature Shaun White competing live.

Alpine skiing, where Lindsey Vonn is the most anticipated American hopeful, will be the only major attraction likely to have its major daytime results delayed until nighttime.

What about the fact Vancouver is on the West Coast? Won't that mean events dragging late into the night in the East?

Not necessarily.

"The majority of the Canadian population lives on the East Coast,'' NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said, "so the events at night are largely aimed at taking place at 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock in Montreal and Toronto, which also fits perfectly for us.''

(If anyone on the West Coast of the U.S. is reading this article, please ignore it. NBC will delay its prime time shows by the customary three hours for Pacific Time Zone viewers.)

The Olympic hockey tournament will cross over many time slots, but you can be sure if the U.S. pulls a surprise and makes it as far this time as it did in 1980, its games will be televised live.

Michaels said he and Dryden called the 1980 U.S.-Soviet game without considering they would be seen on tape. In any case, they had other plans that night.

"Ken and I were assigned to do every game,'' Michaels said. "As America is watching that game we are doing the Sweden-Finland game in the arena.

"It wasn't until after 11 o'clock that we were able to get back and join in the celebration.''