CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK NBC commentators don't know when to shut up 
 
 Sometimes, the effort should just speak for itself, so quit jabbering away and ruining the moment. 
 
 The most memorable footage of the Games may be "Lindsey Vonn Unplugged," a clip of her gold-winning downhill run. As Vonn later said, this was the moment to which she had dedicated her life. Her entire life, counted out not in coffee spoons but in hours, days and years spent on the slopes and in the gym harnessing muscle and bone into one tightly focused projectile -- and all for an event that would last only seconds, and one governed by so many uncontrollable factors, the slickness of the snow, her bruised shin, the wind. 
 
 But perhaps the most striking advantage the website has over the network is the ability to run clips with no commentary. 
 
 There is much to love about the video portion of www.nbcolympics.com -- the YouTube-inspired montages of the various spills, the primers on judging and rules, the fact that you can watch only what you want to watch and don't have to deal with those irritating pop-ups telling you what the next event will be. 
 
 With no sound save the murmur of voices and the faraway cry of her fans, the clip shows Vonn as she prepares for this moment, slapping her thighs, stretching and bouncing, blowing out her cheeks, taking small but fierce breaths. Then she was off, a tiny figure against an impossibly wide and steep slope, and there was no need for a commentator's opinion about speed or form, her past performances or her injured shin. The silence, broken only by the sound of her skis on the snow and the distant rattle of the fans, marked not just the thrill of it all but the solemnity. 
 
 Vonn's victory is not the only one available with no commentary -- winners including figure skater Evan Lysacek and snowboarder Shaun White can also be seen in blessed and powerful silence. After experiencing the natural arc of tension and triumph, free of audio manipulation, you realize that the cacophony of the televised events is a shock and raises the question: If the Olympics are a celebration of athletic excellence, of the human spirit triumphing over the limitations of the human body, why do we insist, like a bunch of preschoolers, on talking all the way through them? 
 
 It seems unfair to criticize sports commentators for doing what they've been hired to do, and certainly the irritation caused by a voice buzzing in your ear while you're trying to watch people do extraordinary things is not limited to the Olympics. However, in watching the events in Vancouver on television, I find it hard not to befriend the mute button. For all its touting of the glory of the Games, NBC doesn't seem to think people will watch unless an array of former athletes and TV personalities talks us through it. 
 
 Though the Olympics commentary was an alarmingly clinical recitation of past injuries that seemed at times to have replaced the Tragic Personal Back Story as the hushed-voice intro, the women's figure skating short program on Wednesday put an end to that. With the tragic death of Canadian Joannie Rochette's mother on Sunday, there was no denying the pathos of her extraordinary performance. But did we really have to learn, mere moments before each woman began to skate, about the death of Australia's Cheltzie Lee's friend three years ago or that Mirai Nagasu's mother is battling thyroid cancer. 
 
 During the program, however, the figure skating announcers -- Sandra Bezic, Tom Hammond and Scott Hamilton -- were models of dignity and restraint, especially during Rochette's performance, which occurred in silence, broken finally at the conclusion of her skating by Hamilton, who seemed to be speaking through tears. 
 
 In stark contrast, during the women's bobsledding heats, Bob Papa and John Morgan could not shut up. And shockingly, the term "cat fight" came up at least twice in reference to the German team, who are, if you don't mind guys, Olympians. ||||| In order to view most content and have optimal experience on NBCOlympics.com you will need to enable scripting in your browser and refresh this page. 
 
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– The Olympics are supposed to be about the grand human drama of sports, entire lives culminating in this one shot at glory. So “why do we insist, like a bunch of preschoolers, on talking all the way through them?” demands LA Times TV critic Mary McNamara. NBC’s commentary is all but ruining the games. Like most sports commentary, it’s “95% blather and 5% insight,” with even the announcers often sounding kind of bored. If you head to NBC’s Olympics site, you can see some breathtaking commentary-free videos—like this one of Lindsey Vonn’s gold-winning downhill run. “The silence, broken only by the sound of her skis on the snow and the distant rattle of the fans, marked not just the thrill of it all but the solemnity,” McNamara marvels. It seems harsh to bash announcers for doing their jobs, but “I find it hard not to befriend the mute button.”