Bodog Beat

Slate has unveiled a method of measuring Olympic sap. (AP Images)

If you are among the many Americans whose eyes have been welling at the touching back-stories of competitors in this year's Olympics, it's not your fault. Apparently, NBC has been laying it on thick. On purpose, no less!

Our friends over at Slate magazine put together a hilarious and necessary Sap-o-Meter, which will keep viewers of the Olympics updated with how insanely sappy NBC's coverage actually is.

Slate says: "Here's how it works. After slogging through Olympic broadcasts of yore, we drew up a list of 33 syrupy words that NBC has chronically overused: adversity, battled, cancer, challenges, courage, cry, death, dedication, determination, dream, emotion, glory, golden, hardship, heart, hero, inspiration, inspire, journey, magic, memory, miracle, mom, mother, Olympic-sized, overcome, passion, proud, sacrifice, spirit, tears, tragedy, triumph. While these 33 words are by no means an unabridged collection of schmaltzy nouns, adjectives, and verbs, they're a good sampling of NBC's bathos. Think of them as the Dow Jones of sap."

Slate will have an animated graphic on their homepage which will update as the Sap-o-Meter accrues "Sap Points." They will also choose a "Sappiest Line of the Day" and if you catch one, feel free to email them to sapometer@gmail.com.

Bodog Beat will be tuning into Slate each day to check out what's been on the Sap-o-Meter scoreboard. Oh, and don't miss all our Olympics coverage. For all your Olympic betting needs, be sure to stick around Bodog and the Bodog Sportsbook.