One of the most enduring relationships in American television may be strained, according to a report in the New York Post. Dick Ebersol, the NBC legend who’s headed coverage of the Olympics since 2000 and every summer games since 1988 is in the process of negotiating coverage of the 2014 and 2016 games, creating “friction” between Ebersol and his new bosses from Comcast over costs. “This is a big test of what Dick’s role is,” said one source, talking about how free a rein new NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke will give to Ebersol,” reports the Post‘s Claire Atkinson.

While most of you were cheating on your flame-haired imaginary boyfriend with the two biggest victims of the Gotcha Media, soon-to-be perennial presidential candidate Mitt Romney was all business in an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman last night. On the table were such recent highlights in his career as the constant speculation surrounding his presidential run and his mile-high scuffle with a member of obnoxious Jersey Shore house band LMFAO.

The 2010 Winter Olympics came to a close, and judging by the very unscientific method of Twitter commentary insta-poll, the highlight of the event was the surprise appearance of William Shatner. The Canadian actor dropped some Canadian-centric bromides about the making love in a canoe, beer and other stuff lost on many of us who live south of the border. Such naked nationalism performed by anyone else would seem provincial and annoying, but not so with Shatner, who always knows how to simultaneously play a joke both sides of a joke – smart and base. Well played Shatner – and Canada!

“So I can’t say Olympics, or Vancouver, or winter or show geometric shapes of any size or color?”

(Stephen Colbert 2/22/10)

“These are not sports, these are drunken dares. Hey go down that hill on a sled. Oh, now try it on two sticks. Now do it with a rifle. I mean, you’re over thinking it.”

(John Hodgman, 2/24/10)

This is what happens when you put hockey coaches in the announcer booth. Last night former professional hockey coach and GM Mike Milbury offered strong and politically incorrect analysis for the way that the Russian Olympic hockey team was conducting themselves on the ice. Milbury claimed that they “came with their Eurotrash game” which may have been code for cheap and aggressive? At least judging by the tourist-laden streets of Soho, that’s what I would say

We knew the USA-Canada hockey game would deliver big ratings for MSNBC – but it was only a matter of how big.

Last night’s game average 8.22 million total viewers last night, which made it just slightly the 2nd highest rated program of all time. But it also kind of won.

Not that there was any doubt that men’s figure skating silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko was in the running for worst sportsman of the 2012 Olympic Games before, but Plushenko, always the fierce competitor, has taken his unique ability to alter reality to new heights with his latest online antics. After spending a good amount of last week trashing gold medalist Evan Lysacek for not being able to perform a quadruple jump (“It’s not men’s figure skating… it’s dancing”), he has convinced himself that he didn’t lose a gold medal – he won a platinum one.

NBC was smart to put the nailbiting, whirlwind Canada-USA men’s hockey game on MSNBC last night. It was good for the network, good for the cable channel — and good for hockey fans.

While NBC was airing Ice Dancing, their sister network MSNBC was airing one of the most exciting hockey games in recent history. It didn’t take a genius to figure the matching of the home host Canadian team taking on a surging USA team would be a compelling match-up. NBC realized the error of their ways, cutting off the two-man bobsled to capture the final moments of the match, but by then they already missed a golden opportunity.

after tonight’s goosebumps-inducing USA/Canada hockey game, I think I might be a hockey fan. In a game marked by a break-neck pace and a final two minutes that was full of “most exciting sports moment of 2010″ candidates, the U.S. hockey team emerged victorious over Canada 5-3.

But why was it on MSNBC?

“We’re very proud Canadians up here and I know the Vancouver people and the Canadians in general, in British Columbia, we really rallied around the (Olympic) Games and so that was sort of the moment to show people, that even though they weren’t in the stadium, they are part of the Olympic Games in Vancouver.”

(Wayne Gretzky – 2/13/10)

“Not everyone up there is happy about the Winter Olympics because putting on the games is expensive. Its costing Canadians like a billion dollars. A billion Canadian dollars, it’s like 40 bucks.”

(Craig Ferguson – 2/15/10)

Those who doubted Lindsey Vonn‘s injuries when she soared to a gold medal finish in last night’s women’s downhill skiing event can now believe. Vonn, who had been suffering from an injury on her right shin sustained during a practice run, held the pain back just enough to win her medal last night, but just crashed while seeking her second medal in the women’s super combined competition. NPR reported that she was visibly limping and complaining that the injury was “not good” this morning. She managed to maintain her lead during the downhill portion of the competition, but wiped out, giving up the lead– and the gold medal– to her friend Maria Riesch of Germany.

Michael Bublé is not a name that should probably be making repeated appearances on Mediaite. After all, he’s an adult contemporary Canadian crooner famous for singing old Frank Sinatra songs and seducing all your friend’s mothers. Yet here he is again, fraternizing with another prominent American political commentator, seemingly oblivious (or slyly aware) of the position this person holds in the wide world of conservatism.

Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis…your new American Idols!

For the first time in six years, American Idol did not finish #1 in the ratings – losing last night to NBC’s Olympics coverage that featured some big name Americans winning gold. The win had NBCU President Jeff Zucker bragging early this morning.

Oy. Suffice it to say this is only one of those things that can only happen in print. Canada’s national newspaper the Globe and Mail reportedly ran this unfortunate ad just four days after Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a practice run accident.

Because of Olympics coverage, NBCU’s cable news outlets like MSNBC and CNBC air some of the competitions at set times during the day and evening.

But Spud at Inside Cable News got the answer to why some markets in the United States haven’t been getting Morning Joe or Daily Rundown – and seeing prison documentaries instead.

There is some grumbling in blog comments and on Twitter that NBC didn’t give k.d. lang a close-up for her performance of Leonard Cohen‘s classic Hallelujah because of homophobia and sexism. The theory is that while pretty singers like Sara McLachlan got plenty of close-up camera attention, the openly-lesbian and proudly butch Lang was relegated to long-shots.

Seven years ago, NBC certainly didn’t anticipate (a) being the fourth place network, (b) the scattering of audiences across myriad cable and Internet channels and (c) the decreasing, perceived valued of television advertising. As valid as those reasons are, NBC still can’t pin everything on the media and economic climate.

Joe Scarborough claimed earlier this week that Conservative Radio Host Rush Limbaugh isn’t helping the Republican party by expressing joy over Chicago’s Olympics failure.

Well Limbaugh hit back claiming that Scarborough was doing his “best impression of a neutered chickified moderate” when he spoke out again him. And so it goes.

One of the top executives in all of NBCU, Chairman of NBC Sports & Olympics Dick Ebersol, appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, and he didn’t mince words when discussing two subjects he knows a lot about – late night TV and the Olympics.

The lengthy interview touched on two of the biggest stories in the news: the David Letterman scandal and the failed U.S. Olympics bid.

“In a normal country, losing a bid to host the Olympics is seen as a bad thing,” Rachel Maddow began her segment last night lambasting American conservatives for celebrating Chicago’s failed attempt to host the 2016 Olympics. She criticized conservatives specifically for framing the failed bid as a strike against President Obama and for just turning the bid into a partisan issue, period.