How can fans of ski jumping best prepare for TV coverage from Vancouver? Drink lots of coffee or set an alarm or TiVo. It’s apt to be on, briefly, in the middle of the night. In Torino in 2006 I think NBC aired a total of about 17 minutes of ski jumping. It’s not like I’ll be invited into the studio to talk to Bob Costas about what Matti Hautamäki of Finland is having for breakfast.

Have the X Games cast ski jumping in a different light when it comes to television? Absolutely. When I first started doing the commentary for TV in 1988 the large hill ski jumping was aired Saturday or Sunday at 7 or 8 p.m., a 40-minute show that was close to the same level as figure skating and men’s downhill and the hockey final. It was a big deal. That changed in Torino in 2006, but I don’t resent it at all. NBC wants to put on what’s going to sell soap. The mindset has moved toward the snowboards and the Shaun Whites.

How has that affected your commentary? Long ago my approach was, “You’ve got to show the Americans.” And the producers would say, “Nobody cares that an American came in 43rd when they thought he might come in 47th.” I guess maybe I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid. At the ski-jumping venue there are 100 cool stories going on and 100 little personal victories and losses, any one of which might be compelling, but you’ve got 15 minutes. You’ve got to pick the one or the five you think are going to resonate with the guy sitting on the couch in Des Moines, because you don’t want him flipping over to Desperate Housewives.

Whom should viewers expect to medal in Vancouver? Here’s the dirty truth: I show up at events and I follow it online a little bit. I know who these guys are, but Gregor Schlierenzauer, the Austrian who’s hot now? I’m not sure I’m even pronouncing his name right, and I sure as heck wouldn’t recognize him if I ran into him. So in Vancouver I’m the “expert” and the director says, “Hey, is that Schlierenzauer over there?” And I have to look at his bib number, then at my cheat sheet and say, “Yeah, that’s Schlierenzauer all right.” By the time the Olympics are over I’ll know everything I need to know.

What does it take to be a good jumper? It’s not very complicated physically, but it’s very much a mind game. There’s the fear element, the danger element that’s real. Basically it’s a very simple move that the reasonable brain is telling the body is suicide. So it’s a matter of feeling comfortable and confident enough to do it.

What should viewers know about jumpers’ techniques? The move at the takeoff is 10 percent of the difference. Ninety percent of the difference is between the ears, and that doesn’t show up on a screen.

What body type is best suited to ski jumping? Anorexia helps. I don’t mean to be flip about that. It’s been such a problem it looked like concentration camps in the tents where the kids took their suits off. It’s all about aerodynamics. If you can present a big flying surface and light weight, you’re going to be far more effective. [The sport’s organizers] have taken serious steps so that your suit can’t be bigger than your body. And there are all kinds of rules about having reasonable weight for your height and not having oversize skis that would give you a bigger area.

How has that changed since your ski-jumping days? Totally. We always said “fat don’t fly,” but what really changed is the “V” style that jumpers now use. Each ski is a flying surface and a skier’s body is in the middle. When I was ski jumping we were behind the skis. Now it’s like spreading out a sail more. Aerodynamics plays a bigger role than strength at the takeoff. And the jumps have gotten bigger, too.

What are the ideal conditions? The only thing that’s important is consistency. That everybody has the same conditions. With technology today the hill itself is virtually perfect, so it’s all about changing winds. If the wind is moving up the hill it gives you a huge advantage. A tailwind is like a vacuum. It just sucks you down.

Do you think you’ll ever see an American medal in ski jumping? Yes. Eventually somebody’s going to care and throw enough money at it. When you’ve got 300 million people as driven as Americans are, I think it’s crazy to bet against us. I don’t think it’s imminent though.

Do ski jumpers tend to be risk takers in other aspects of their lives as well?

Ironically, no. It's very, very calculated. It can be done and there's sort of two schools of ski jumpers, the crazy natural ones and the refined and defined technicians. Certainly the technician types are more consistent, maybe don't go to as high always, but there's room for both.

Which were you?

I wasn't that crazy but I certainly wasn't a technician either. I'm sure other people would say I was crazy but I was a math guy and I knew the statistics were that I was going to fall once or twice a year and then if I fell 100 times one time I might really hurt myself so I wanted to get out while I still had everything working, and I did. And I'm overstating it. It's really rare for people to get hurt in ski jumping but it was definitely in my mind.

You missed bronze by a tiny fraction of second. Was that a crushing feeling?

At the time it was just so thrilling. I wish more now that I had come in third than I did at the time.

What’s it like to be part of the NBC team? It’s a huge army and there are all kinds of protocols. Every Olympics they have a big meeting beforehand with every analyst, every color person, every lead broadcaster. You sit in a room and they show you good stuff they like and stuff they don’t like. They keep saying, “Tell the story. Tell the story. Tell the story. Stay on it.” There’s lots of prepping as to how they want you to do it. I guess maybe I’m sort of an exception now—most of the people, even the color commentators, are doing other TV.

What do you think about those former athletes, now commentators, who are assigned to sports very different from the ones in which they competed? I don’t watch much sports TV, so I don’t have much to compare it to. I don’t get why viewers need a reporter as well as an analyst, especially somebody who doesn’t know the sport at all. You’ve got somebody who’s never been in a turtleneck before trying to ask questions of kids who are passionate about a sport this guy has no understanding of. He’s passionate about trying to understand. Maybe from some perspective it’s just like the couch potatoes’ questions.