Beijing Olympics Coming to a Close

Well the 2008 Olympics are coming to a close with the closing ceremony today in Beijing. The Olympic committee will hand off the games to the 2012 Home, London and from what I have read Beckham will be in the building! Woo!

I must admit that going into the games I was not all that thrilled and excited for the games to begin, I was more occupied with the kickoff of NFL training camps and baseball pennant races. Not to mention the ongoing controversy about Tibet, the Olympic torch, and the initial sad note that the games began on with a heartless attack.

But thanks to many storylines and Olympic figures I became hooked and began setting the DVR every night to make sure I would catch all those story lines and games unfold throughout the 2+ week span.

Like many Americans, a swimmer named Michael Phelps from Baltimore initially captured my attention. Every race Phelps was in seemed to be a World Record and whether it be Phelps dominating the competition or winning by a fingernail, I was engaged. Michael Phelps, a perfect 8 for 8 in Gold Medals with 7 World Records to go along with it, came and went and I was wondering what story line or athlete would capture my attention next.

Naturally, being a basketball guru that I am, I was also interested in the Redeem Team. Thankfully they were doing as they were supposed to do and blowing out the competition. Early on they put it to Spain and Greece, two potential roadblocks. The team then went on to defeat the Aussies, Argentines, and Spanish can re-capture and essentially Redeem themselves as the kings of the hardwood and win the Gold Medal. I was very impressed by this unit and unfortunatly I do have to give some props to Coack K (ughh) for his job as coach. Dwayne Wade was able to show the World what he is capable of when he is healthy. Chris Paul and Deron Williams are proof that they are the new up and coming point guards of the league. Chris Bosh played exceptionally well defense with Dwight Howard patrolling the middle. Oh yeah, Lebron, Kobe, and Carmelo played pretty well also.

So what else caught my attention? Well a man named Usain Bolt from the island of Jamaica did the trick. I could not get over how incredible this guy was! Bolt is a 6'5'' sprinter who made a laughing matter out of three races. When a sprinter is able to taunt and showboat on a 100 meter race, that is incredible. It is typically a 10 second race and there is rarely any time to display any taunting. I was a big fan of Bolt and happy to see him set 3 world records with 3 gold medals.

What other story lines took place? Well there was the US Track & Field team who some would say struggled and failed to live up to the expectations. Tyson Gay failed to qualify and you had both of the 4X100 meter teams of men and women fail to qualify. However, the US Track and Field team was still able to land 7 Gold Medals.

You also had the controversy over the Chinese Women's Gymnastics team. The age of some of the winners were being questioned after they had defeated the U.S. and Russia and there were reports that one of the girls as only 13 years old. There was also the domination of Walsh/May-Treanor in the women's beach volleyball, the shocking upset of the U.S. softball squad, and the baseball team winning the bronze medal.

As we hand over the 2012 Summer Olympics to London and Beckham, I will say that I did enjoy the games this year and the coverage.

What for you are the top storylines of the Beijing Games? Was it the Redeem Team, Bolt, Phelps, Track, Chinese Gymnastics, Beach Volleyball or the opening and closing ceremonies?

Do Comment Below!

Michael Phelps

Olympics madness! Have you caught it?

I sure did for a little while at least. What Michael Phelps did in the pool was in-humane, actually it was more amphibian like than anything resembling a mammal. The point is, Phelps won 8 Gold Medals, and brought 7 world records while at it! Incredible!

The ratings proved how much attention Phelps was receiving and deservedly so. True statement, I was at the Borgata in AC on Friday evening when Phelps was going for Gold medal #7, and honest to God the whole casion stopped to watch and eventually cheer when Mr. Phelps won.

However, the attention of the Olympics has dipped a bit since Phelps' magical run has ended and he is back in the States. Sure, people still care about the Redeem Team, who have advanced to the semifinals of the Olympics and are looking pretty good so far.

The one gripe I do have with the Olympic coverage is the difficulty I have finding the events I want to watch. For example, this morning I was all ready to see the Bolt figure from Jamaica set another World Record in the 200 meter at about 10:20am, but only to find out that it was not broadcasted. Several sports updates and websites later I found out that he did indeed break the record.

Well there goes all that drama!

I want to leave you with this question, Is Michael Phelps the Sportsman of the Year?

Olympics !!

Well well well, the Olympics are in full swing and I must admit I went from a "who cares" mentality to a "When is Tyson Gay racing the Jamaicans in the 100 meter race" mindset.

Maybe it was the Brett Favre saga that sucked all the media out of the great Summer games or maybe it was because NFL training camp was beginning? The Olympics in my opinion definitely snuck under the radar and have finally captured the attention they deserved.

I did miss the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night but was able to DVR and catch it later on and I must say they were amazing! Over 15,000 performers took part in the ceremonies and did not fail to entertain.

I know that watching the Olympics through the eye of NBC, you really only get an American perspective on everything and all of the back stories, but so what? The U.S. is currently atop the medal charts battling it out with China.

So far, Michael Phelps has captured the attention of the average fan and for example myself. I can't until the next swimming race to see if Phelps can continue on his quest for 8 gold medals. At last count he is 3 for 3 in 3 world record breaking performances. Unbelievable!

The women's beach volleyball team of Walsh and May-Treanor, who won the gold in Athens in 2004, have also been putting on spectacular performances and had me watching most of their match against the Cubans.

I also can not forget the Redeem Team, who is currently 2-0 after putting on a clinic against the host team, China and Angola. They will have some tougher challenges ahead when facing Greece, Spain, and Germany. I think the team will be alright, but they definitely need to work on the outside shooting, which has been awful so far.

It should be an entertaining 2+ weeks and stay tuned as I will continue to give my thoughts on the Summer Games!