For those covering this beat, there are a couple elusive interview subjects in London. One is Dick Ebersol and the other is Joe Posnanski.

While Posnanski has yet to discuss his upcoming book about Joe Paterno in the wake of the Freeh Commission findings, he did land the one and only chat Ebersol is doing during these Olympics.

I’m guessing it hasn’t been easy for Ebersol to turn down interview requests. Highly accessible, he always loved the spotlight during his tenure running NBC Sports.

But his day is past, as he is working these Olympics as a consultant. This show now belongs to Ebersol’s successor, Mark Lazarus. Out of proper respect, Ebersol has remained in the background.

However, he did grant an interview with Posnanski. It was posted on the Sports on Earth site that is getting a soft launch during the Olympics.

And surprise, surprise, Ebersol defended NBC’s policy of saving the best events for tape delay on prime time. Of course, Ebersol used that strategy when he oversaw NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

From the story:

But Ebersol, in what he says will be his only interview at these Games, tells me that those critics have it all wrong. The Olympics, he believes, are not to be treated like other sports. “That’s just nonsense,” he says. “The Olympics are the biggest family television there is. The Olympics are some of the last events where a whole family can gather around a television set and spend the night together.

“People talk about how we should treat this like sports? You know, we’re getting an 18 rating some nights. Do you know what rating we would get if this was not under the banner of the Olympics? We’d be lucky to get a 1 rating for some of these sports. … This is our business model. The newspaper people have their own business model. We’re in the television business. We’re here to make great television.”

Ebersol has an interesting take on the BBC’s coverage compared to NBC’s:

“This year, really for the first time, I have had some time to watch the host country’s television,” Ebersol says. “I’ve been watching the BBC, which is one of the most respected entities in the world, right? Well, they will cut away from races to show a British athlete who is finishing fifth. They openly root for their athletes on the air. It’s a different approach, but we have never done that. Nobody ever uses the word ‘we’ in our coverage, and if they did they wouldn’t last long.

“I believe our coverage is different from anyone else’s in the world. We do as many features on foreign athletes as American athletes. We tell the best stories, wherever we can find them. There’s a great tradition in American television of professionalism in coverage, and I believe we live up to that tradition.”

As for how Ebersol is dealing with these Olympics, Posnanski writes:

Ebersol says that the London Games have been bittersweet. Part of him misses the tension and crackling energy of being in charge, of making instant and critical decisions. And part of him is happy that it is winding down. He doesn’t know what comes next. But, for the first time in his life, he says he’s not too worried about it. There are opportunities, a lot of them. There are also books he wants to read, friends he wants to see, trips he wants to take and family time that was all but impossible in all his years at the top.

Good stuff, Joe. It’s your turn next. The book comes out on Aug. 21.