Sochi Conditions Not As Bad As Advertised

No door knobs, lack of hot water, missing shower curtains, etc. The stories from the media in Sochi have be nightmarish.

Westwood One's Ted Emrich joined Armen Williams on Thursday morning and said that it might not be as bad as we have been made to believe.

"I feel for all of my colleagues and media brethren," said Emrich. "I believe about half of them and I think that the other half of them are blowing this out of proportion. Maybe I'm biased because I do have a bed, pillows, warm water and a lock on my door ... but by Russian standards apparently, I'm in the Ritz.

Podcast: Ted Emrich with Armen Williams on 104.5 The Team

"I wonder if some of the media contention was looking for something like this. We can only go by our own experiences and maybe I am one of the blessed ones with Westwood One and NBC but I have not experienced any of that."

The water stories? Accurate.

"You just can't drink the water here. I'm able to use all the water I want to shower and brush my teeth, but don't drink it. After all, we're in a second world country."

As far as the incompletion of structures and overall scramble to be ready for the opening ceremony, Emrich said that's all par for the course and not Sochi-specific either.

"This is nothing new for the Olympics. We saw a lot of this in London, they were rushing at the last minute to put things together. I don't blame Sochi or the committee ... this is how it would be if New York or dallas had these Olympics. There's always going to be a mad dash in the final few days to get everything completed"

The Sochi opening ceremony will air Friday night on NBC.