我爱北京

Seven years ago Ben and I were in Beijing shortly after they won their bid for the Olympics. We left with t-shirts in hand that touted Beijing 2008. At the time, it seemed so far away, but it has come and gone. (luckily we can drown our sorrows in some U.S. Open Tennis...) Of course there has to be a Week Two Olympic Recap. If not the imbalance would kill me. Plus so many great and wonderful things happened in the last week. And some not so wonderful, but very human things happened as well. Where to begin...


1. Finishing things up at the natatorium, where Dara Torres looked out of place everywhere except in the water. Where she looked awesome! I heard rumblings about her coming back in 2012. Why not? You only missed sweet victory by .001. You go girl, er, old lady. And thank you for submitting to extra drug testing and letting them keep samples for years to come.


2. Speaking of old women, 33 year old Oksana Chusovitina, who has stayed in gymnastics to save her sons life, wins silver on vault in her fifth Olympics. She too says London is a possibility "why not. I will only be 37." Who says you have to be 14 to win in this sport?


3. Another question about gymnastics: Why do the coaches always come up to the bar when the gymnasts are about to do a dangerous trick? Do they think they are actually going to catch them or somehow break their fall? It's just distracting to the viewer.


4. I enjoy some good falling replay action myself. As long as no one gets too hurt of course. NBC likes it too cause they sure to show every angle of every mistake, slow motion, rewind, frame-by-frame. It saves me from having to rewind to see every slip off of the diving board, every body flung off of the highbar, every foot catching on a hurdle, every dive for the finish line. (Kathleen I know these were among your favorite moments as well)

5. The one mistake I couldn't stand to watch replayed - either time it happened - was the dropped batons in the men's and women's 4 x 100 relays. That one stayed with me for a few days. This also reminds me of another question - why were the Americans bibs showing what country they were from written in sharpie? Everyone else had officially printed numbers. Maybe the fumes from the still wet marker altered their ability to hand-off or grasp the baton?

6. Or maybe it was the fumes left behind in Usain Bolt's wake that dizzied our men. Lovingly described by many as a "freak of nature", he killed everyone in the 100 and 200 Michael Phelps style. Had he actually ran the entire 100 instead of shutting down, looking both ways and pumping his chest before crossing the finish line, perhaps he would have smashed the world record by even more. Many are criticizing his lack of sportsmanship and perceived lack of effort. How do they know that they wouldn't start celebrating before the line if they knew they were about to win their first Olympic gold medal? Maybe he gets paid every time he breaks a W.R. and wants to do it bit by bit. Anyhow, what I liked most was his interview afterwards. His answer to every question was some form of "I'm not worried about that" or I'm just happy". Don't worry be happy...that's a true Jamaican for you.

7. My favorite moment in the 200, when due to disqualification of two other runners, Walter Dix got moved up to third and someone, his sister, girlfriend, wife? was congratulating him on his bronze medal on the way into the tunnel and he said "yea, well I still lost".

8. A team that was super happy to win a medal was the USA women's eight's rowing team. They won gold and their reactions were just what the Olympics are all about.

9. I was most impressed with the men that swept the 400 hurdles. They seemed like the nicest, most humble guys ever. I have them lined up to babysit next week.

10. Not nice, and not coming anywhere near my children is the coach of U.S. Pole Vaulter Jenn Stuozynski. After she won the silver, he proceeded to ream her in public - on a microphone no less. Whatever the "meat grinder" is, I wouldn't want to be caught in it either but she won silver! Jenn is defending her coach which is fine. It made for good TV.

11. The biggest loser of the games by far is Angel Matos of Cuba. The former tae kwan do olympic champion kicked a ref in the face after being disqualified. It's okay, now he's disqualified for life. Goodbye.

12. The best hairdo of the Olympic games goes to Catherine Ndereba. Not sure how aerodynamic it is but her beehive still looked good at the end of the 26 miles.

13. I was surprised by the lack of vignettes and in-depth athlete profiles that NBC played this Olympics. But they did play one very interesting one about Cornelius Horan, a defrocked Irish priest, who while wearing a green beret, a red kilt and knee-high green socks attacked Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima as he was leading the marathon in Athens. He ended up getting bronze I believe and he didn't run this year but I enjoyed the story and especially the interview with Horan himself.

14. Overall the commentating was good. I knew Jim Lampley was in the building when I heard someone use the term "cataclysmic" - his favorite descriptor. I really enjoyed Mary Carillo's travelogues and her banter with Bob Costas. He had one more favorite quote for me "the US laid an egg in the birds nest tonight" in reference to the unfortunate baton drops. Oh Bob, stop it.

15. My favorite non-Olympic but related quote was from J. Lo. who was overheard saying that she “couldn’t understand why everyone is talking about that swimmer,” according to a GMA source. “She couldn’t come up with (eight-time gold-medal winner Michael) Phelps’ name, and then she yammered on about how she was the one training for a triathlon just six months after giving birth, and how that was the big story right now, not ‘the swimmer.’ ”

16. Favorite moment of 2008 Olympics - David Neville diving over the finish line for the USA to sweep the 400. That's what going for the gold - or the bronze in his case, is all about.

Week Two Crush - Lolo Jones

And since baseball and Softball are out at the next games. See what sports they are up against and vote for your favorite to be included in the 2016 Games. Two of them get picked. No I don't have any influence on which two get picked but vote anyway for fun.
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Avery quotes - While watching the medal ceremony for the men's basketball - "Is Michael Phelps up there". Even Miles knows who he is. If you ask him who Michael Phelps is he windmills his arms real fast and says "swimming".

While watching trampoline - "That's a sport!? Is swinging a sport too?"