I set my alarm for 2 a.m. Sunday in order to view the final moments when the U.S. men's basketball team would crush Spain and take the gold.

There was no crush for the gold.

The spunky Spaniards trailed the U.S. by only seven points with less than five minutes remaining.

Analyst Doug Collins, possibly knowing that I had missed much of the tension- filled court drama, reminded viewers that Spain had cut the U.S. lead to two with eight minutes remaining.

The fact that Spain played a terrific contest made the U.S postgame celebration a joy to watch.

A jubilant Kobe Bryant produced more smiles for the TV cameras in five minutes than he has in 10 years of NBA coverage. He pounded his heart with his fist and hugged Mike Krzyzewski while pouring bottled water all over his coach.

The celebration was like a scene from Hoosiers.

The 12 highly paid NBA professionals acted like high school kids who had just won their first state championship.

Such response solidified what Cris Collinsworth, NBC's man around Beijing, said during a conference call late last week.

Collinsworth, who had "hung out" regularly with the U.S. team, praised the players' demeanor both on and off the court.

He was equally impressed by the overall conduct of all U.S. athletes.

"Of all the things I've been associated with at these Games, the best feeling that I'll come away with is a sense of pride in the way our athletes have conducted their business."

Collinsworth's main job was to travel around to various venues and report his views on the athletes and competition.

"It's an ideal job and I've loved every moment of it," he said.

"I'm afraid that at the next Olympics, NBC will sell my job and make a million dollars off it.

"I live and breathe sports. I wish I had a broader view of the world, but I don't.

"I'm going now from the Olympics to the NFL season through the Super Bowl."

Few broadcasters will have a higher NFL profile than Collinsworth.

He's returning to NBC's Football Night in America on Sunday that segues into playoff and Super Bowl coverage.

He's also returning as the analyst of the NFL Network's Thursday night games, beginning in November, and will remain a key figure on Inside the NFL, which is moving from HBO to Showtime.

RECORD-BREAKER: A.C. Nielsen Research is projecting NBC's Beijing coverage will be the most-watched event in TV history.

Through 15 days, NBC has drawn 208.7 million viewers, while more than 85 million have watched on the five cable outlets.

Nielsen says 85 percent of all U.S. TV households have tuned in at some point.

TV COMPETITION? NBC, airing the 2010 Winter Games from Vancouver, British Columbia, and the 2012 Summer Games from London, could face a roadblock in acquiring TV rights for 2014 and 2016.

ESPN told The New York Times it is interested in airing the Games live - regardless of the time zone.

"Our DNA is different than theirs (NBC)" executive vice president John Skipper said. "We serve sports fans. It's hard in our culture to tape delay in the same way they have."

The 2014 Winter Games will be in Sochi, Russia. The host city for the 2016 Summer Games has not been chosen.

TICKET DEBATE: Upset about the skyrocketing costs of attending Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche and Rockies games? Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel (HBO, 8 p.m. Tuesday) offers an eye-opening report on ticket prices and also investigates the growth of "personal seat licenses" - one-time fees that some fans must pay to retain their rights to purchase season tickets.

Team owners in certain cities claim such increases provide necessary revenue to offset debts incurred by the construction of new stadiums and arenas.

Gumbel's investigation is centered in the New York metro area, where three major stadium projects are under way.

However, the story will whet your appetite to learn more about rising ticket prices for Colorado's pro teams.

Shouldn't one of our local TV sports guys take a comprehensive look at what the situation is locally?

Dusty Saunders writes periodically about sports broadcasting. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.