In late , Milwaukee Brewers announcer Merle Harmon left Milwaukee completely in favor of a multi-year pact with NBC. Harmon saw the NBC deal as a perfect opportunity since according to "The Milwaukee Journal" he would make more money, get more exposure, and do less traveling. At NBC, Harmon did "SportsWorld", the backup "Game of the Week", and served as a field reporter for the 1980 World Series. Harmon most of all, had hoped to cover the American boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics from Moscow. After NBC pulled out of their scheduled coverage of the 1980 Summer Olympics, Harmon considered it "a great letdown." To add insult to injury, NBC fired Harmon in in favor of Bob Costas. Incidentally, long time NBC "Game of the Week" announcer Curt Gowdy replaced Harmon, who was working with ABC a year earlier.