Mark..FYI..an interesting description of the perky one..
Thanks for the ping to this article, which I hadn't seen. I agree with much of it, starting with the fact that, no doubt in an attempt to reach an audience broader than that of hard-core sports fans, Olympics coverage focuses at least as much on personal interest stories - preferably of the heart-tugging variety - than it does on the coverage of the events themselves.
As for Katie, while I'm not particularly a fan of her style, neither am I a big critic. My beef is with her liberal bias, not with the way she presents it. If she were 'fair & balanced,' or even an outright conservative, I'd probably find her charming!