With that off my chest it is Olympics time.
I was a huge Olympics hater before it began, I hated the time change, the complaints about the weather, hate, hate, hate, hate but now I am singing a different tune. I can't get enough of these games, I have been up every night until at least 2 AM watching everything from team handball and badminton to the more glamour sports of swimming and gymnastics. I have found myself watching other countries as well, with up to 4 channels showing the Games per day we are getting an unprecedented amount of coverage. Which for lack of a better word is totally awesome. (Side note: the Men's Hungarian water polo team is fucking sick, I suggest watching them.)
I feel comfortable enough in my manhood to let you know that last night in my living room I had a few of my buddies over and we watched the Women's All-Around Gymnastics competition. Not only that but when Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson stuck their routines multiple high fives were being thrown around like singles at a stag party. Subsequently I have been informed that high fives are no longer cool but last night I could have cared less. I was so pumped that these girls were nailing all their routines I thought about buying a leotard and prancing around.... maybe. And not in some creepy old man pedophile way, I watched because I cared about the outcome and results. Even with some bogus scores the US prevailed and for some strange reason that felt great.
Let me also add that I am changing my vote for the upcoming Presidential election to Bela Karolyi. That guy is the fucking man. He speaks the truth and I'm pretty sure I heard him say bullshit on live TV. Both huge factors when determining the leader of the free world. Costas had no way of filtering him and it made for great commentary. I think I would watch gymnastics every day as long as Karolyi was in studio.
Phelps is great too, but it's almost not exciting anymore. The 4x100 relay was tremendous to watch but only because the French were talking shit before the race, in every other race Phelps is usually unchallenged by the time it reaches the last 20 meters. I hope he breaks Spitz's record of 7 golds but at the same time I don't want his final two races to be cakewalks either. Someone step up and make it interesting please.
These Olympics are also key because it give the USA a chance to flex our collective basketball muscles once again. It is not quite "The Dream Team" but so what. I have had a close eye on "the Redeem Team" all week, and even back to the warm up games in Shanghai. So far, so good but I'm really waiting for the medal round to test their mettle. Did you like that? I did. D Wade is leading the tournament in scoring off the bench, that has to be considered good news but I can't help thinking that we might drop one when they count. This team is stacked though, and can create match up problems at every spot on the floor. I like them to bring the gold back along with about 25 million in revenue for the NBA in jersey sales. The NBA: Where globalization happens.
The only aspect of these games that seems out of reach is the medal title. I think the US will hold onto the total medal count but I don't think we can catch China in the gold medal race. We can chalk that L up to home court advantage and some potentially lopsided scoring. I thought I was making that last part up until I heard Teddy Atlas ripping apart the scoring of the boxing matches. Not only was he making fun of the judges but also the Chinese fighter who won, remarking that he did a great job holding his opponent but a terrible job actually boxing. Although this problem is being shown all over these games I do not believe that this is only an issue in Beijing. Sports such as boxing or gymnastics are permanently flawed due to their scoring systems. Do I have a solution? Fuck no, but I do know when something is broken, I just couldn't tell you how to fix it.
USA USA USA!!!
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