Jacobi has charted return course after 12-year absence

Smaller sports will get bigger coverage from NBC

Notebook

Olympics

Some things haven't changed for paddler Joe Jacobi.

When the Bethesda native took aim at his first Olympic medal, George Bush was president and Joe Gibbs was running the Washington Redskins.

Twelve years later, with a trip to Athens, Greece, secured, "there's a Bush in the White House and Gibbs is coaching the Redskins," says Jacobi, laughing and shaking his head.

That's not to say Jacobi is stuck in the past. As a matter of fact, with all the changes in his life, it might seem as if he's a participant in the Paddlers Protection Program. He has a different partner, boat and a change of address - Ducktown, Tenn. - where he teaches whitewater skills and owns a bed-and-breakfast.

After winning the gold in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain, Jacobi's partner, Scott Strausbaugh, retired. Jacobi went solo but failed to make the 1996 or 2000 team.

"I had gone as far as I could in the C-1. It was either time to retire or go back to the C-2," Jacobi said. "I'm proud of the work I did in the single canoe, but doubles is more of my natural place."

Now, he's teamed with Matt Taylor, an Atlanta schoolteacher who paddled in the 2000 Olympics with Baltimore native Lecky Haller.

Although Jacobi no longer lives here, he still returns frequently to train on the Potomac River on the manmade whitewater course in Montgomery County.

Both men are in their mid-30s and have young children, facts that have earned Jacobi and Taylor the nickname, "The Paddling Papas."

"We're like two little old men who travel around Europe to these races," Jacobi said, mimicking a hunched-over senior citizen. "We may not be the fastest boat down the course, but we're the most consistent one, and when you have to put down four runs at the Olympics, consistency counts."

Smaller sports get play

Despite scheduling 1,210 hours of Olympics programming over seven channels, NBC won't be offering "All Michael Phelps, all the time" coverage of the Summer Games.

As a matter of fact, the real beneficiaries of the network's expanded coverage will be men's and women's gymnastics and many of the minor sports that earned barely a mention in past coverage.

Dick Ebersol, the network sports chairman, said that though announcers will tell viewers about Phelps' quest for seven gold medals at the Olympics, "it does not change the way we'll cover [the games] in any way, shape or form."

However, he did acknowledge that having Phelps competing Aug. 14, the first day after the opening ceremony, "will only begin the fanning of the flames" because "he's obviously going to have one heck of an Olympics."

Lesser-known sports will be relegated to the cable outlets, while the bread and butter of the Summer Games - gymnastics, track and field and swimming - will appear on the NBC flagship.

At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, the U.S. women's and men's gymnastics teams finished fourth and fifth, respectively, and because of the 15-hour time difference, U.S. viewers knew beforehand that they weren't going to see medal performances.

This time, with squads deep in talent and a seven-hour time difference with Athens, Ebersol believes this year's competition "will produce incredible drama. I think people will be eager to see how these terrific young people perform."

One of the beneficiaries of the expanded coverage is sailing, which will get a daily 30-minute package of highlights produced by America's Cup winner and long-time ESPN commentator Gary Jobson.

Jobson, an Annapolis resident, learned in March 2003 he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Despite some setbacks, he's in remission.

"He passionately approached us and said it was a very high priority to return," said David Neal, NBC executive vice president for the Olympics.

Jobson's work is expected to appear on the Bravo network.

Games at a glance

When: Aug. 13-29

Where: Athens, Greece

Sports: 28

Countries: 202

Athletes: 10,500

Events: 296

TV: NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, USA

Web site: www.athens2004.com