Shawn’s provided a couple of tips today but the sad trombone for me:

(Note that in order to watch the live streams you’ll have to sign in with the username and password associated with your TV service provider.)

We went cable-free two years ago just before the winter Olympics and here’s the conversation I had with my wife when she called me at work to tell me she’d done what we’d talked about doing.

Wife: I called and canceled our cable.

Me: Oh. Oh. Uh, I thought we’d do that after the Olympics.

Wife: Oh. I forgot about that. Well, I’m sure we can watch them online somehow.

NBC: Nope! Not without a cable subscription you’re not!

Me: HEY! What are you doing on this line?!

Fin.

You’d think the Olympics — an ostensibly amateur event meant to sponsor good will between nations — would merit some kind of online coverage that people could watch, even for pay. But, no, you have to have a pipe put into your home in order to do that because someone’s business model hasn’t been updated since 1998.

Update: Shawn King says that if you have Comcast Internet service, the NBC site will recognize your IP address and stream for you automatically. I, of course, don’t have Comcast Internet service.