The USA basketball team, who have labeled themselves "The Redeem Team", has shown that the NBA stars can play defense and put their stardom behind themselves to make a great team. I really don't see how they don't win the gold medal.
Michael Phelps is an absolute man. Totally dominate. He has set the world record with every gold he has won. He is the Tiger Woods of swimming. He doesn't just want to beat you... he wants to embarrass you. He has made all Americans love watching the swimming. He has a chance to win 8 golds, and it looks like he will, unless he runs out of gas. But, it is the race that he was left helpless on at the end that everyone will remember in the end. The French were talking trash in the 4 X 100 free relay, and the Americans didn't respond. The announcer said the race was over when the French were way ahead with just 25 meters left. What an amazing come back.. then a celebration that is just as memorable. Here is a link to the video. Watch it... even if you have already seen the video.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0811_HD_SWB_HL_L0194
The volleyball has been great. Hopefully Misty May and Kerri Walsh can repeat. The men have a strong team too, so look for them to get a medal.
The gymnastics kept me captivated and I enjoyed it more than I knew I could. The men looked like they had a chance, but then made a few too many mistakes. The bronze was great, but they should have had silver. The women were a huge disappointment. Alicia lost it for the US by herself and you could tell it killed her... but this is where it all turns sour.
The Chinese have had everything handed to them. I watched one of the Chinese men almost fall on the vault... and he continued to get over 16. No matter what the Chinese do, they get higher scores than anyone else. It is very frustrating. Sure, both of their teams are very good, but everyone should be on a level playing field. Then, the Chinese women are clearly cheating. 3 of their girls aren't 16, the minimum age allowed in the women's
Olympic gymnastics. This article is really good. Yang Yilin is shown to have been born August 26, 1993 on the official website for the General Administration of Sport of China database as late as 2006. But in 2007, her birth date was changed to 1992. He Kexin was listed as born on Jan 1, 1994, now her birth date has been changed to 1992. Both of their passports were not issued until January/March of this year, which is what their ages were "verified" with for the Olympic competition. But, it has been stated that any official documents in communist countries should not be trusted. Add that the Chinese take more pride in gymnastics than any other sport, and it all makes sense. In the article I posted, a past Chinese gymnist admits competing while underage. It is pathetic that their is really nothing that can be done about it. It wouldn't be a big deal if their wasn't an age limit, b/c the US supposably has some 14 year olds who would have been on the team. But China received a huge advantage b/c they were able to bring their best... while every other nation brought their best gymnist over 16. The one on the right is Yang, on the left is He.
Also, I saw that the cute girl that sang during the opening ceremonies wasn't really singing. I guess the week before the opening ceremonies the Chinese decided the girl originally slated to sing was too ugly, so they got a "cute" little girl and had her lip sync with the original girl singing, but not being seen. Here is a quote from a Chinese official:
"The reason was for the national interest," said Chen Qigang, the ceremony's musical director, in a state radio interview. "The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. ... Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects."
Absolutely pathetic. Well, looks like the American men aren't going to get a medal in the individual competition, so I'm off to bed!
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