I miss the “Up Close and Personal” segments on the Olympic broadcasts.

Remember those? Where we’d be told the story behind the athlete—who they were, how they got there, what made them tick. Sometimes the stories were sad. Sometimes they were funny. Sometimes they were beautifully unique. Sometimes they told the story of a lot of us (well, except for the fact that we didn’t make it to the Olympics).

And they were always inspiring.

NBC doesn’t seem to be investing in these kinds of pieces this time around. Although, as one friend pointed out, with 3600 broadcast hours, it is quite possible the “Up Close and Personal” segments are being broadcast—on the USA network at 3 a.m. I’ve probably not looked hard enough. And yes, yes, yes, I imagine I could find something at NBCOlympics.com like this, but it’s not the same as watching it during the evening broadcast.

Don’t get me wrong—I have been loving the Olympics! I can’t wait to see if Michael Phelps goes 8 for 8. The one-two punch last night of our female gymnasts was a wonder. I love being courtside for the May/Walsh matches. I totally got into the biking road races.

Heck, I even watched the gold-medal round of the women’s saber event…and I didn’t even really know that was an official Olympic sport!

But I miss the stories. I miss getting to know a little bit about the people. Everyone got to Beijing somehow, and it’s good for us as fellow human beings to hear the tale of that “somehow” every once in a while. These talented, amazing, go-for-broke athletes are more than the event they’re in or the hardware they’ve earned. They’re people with lives and joys and hardships, just like we’re people with lives and joys and hardships.

I like to be reminded of that from time to time—and not at 3 a.m. or on the website, but when I'm actually paying attention.