Want more Olympic sports? Just don't call 'em that.

Wouldn't it be great to see Olympic sports more than once every four years? Wouldn't it be nice to scout badminton players and marathoners, speed skaters and ski jumpers -- to enjoy their craft all year long?

The USOC and Comcast agree with you, and they decided to launch a TV network devoted to Olympic and Paralympic Games. Billed as a way access thousands of hours of programming, "The channel is slated to launch next year, to cover Olympics sports that don’t get the coverage in mainstream sports channels, and focus on U.S. athletes working to compete in the biggest sports competition."

Rather than focus on the benefits to global sport, the IOC focused on its trademark and rebuked the channel because of the word "Olympics." That, and they don't want to jeopardize the plush NBC contract.

Fingers crossed for cooler heads and availability in 2010.

Via PaidContent.org

Aug. 17 UPDATE: It's never going to happen. The U.S. Olympic Panel has shelved its TV Network plan under IOC pressure. [Link to Bloomberg.com article via PaidContent.org]