Phelps Phever and Other Olympics Observations

    In the 100m freestyle this week, a Russian swimmer crossed over into the lane of a Georgian swimmer and attempted to drown him. The other swimmers stood idly by.

    The 2008 Olympics have not been without controversy, as China let a nine year-old go Milli Vanilli on an international stage, the Karolyi's openly questioned the ages of Chinese gymnasts, and Russia decided to take this opportunity of international unity to bomb the shit out of Georgia. But besides these news stories, which of course range from trivial to grave, the Olympics have been incredible so far and only look to grow more engrossing as the games go on.

    While at first I was only excited about basketball and the Redeem Team's quest to, well, redeem themselves for the horror of 2004, I have now officially been sucked into the excitement of the Games. Here are a few stray thoughts I've had from watching over the past week:

• The Men's 100m Relay was one of the greatest sporting events I have ever seen and probably the greatest race I have ever watched. That being said, when do I really ever watch any races? This one, though, was incredible. After French superstar Alain Bernard guaranteed a victory in his country's press (smash the Americans was the term he used), American Jason Lezak chased him down in the final stretch of the race and beat him to the wall by eight-hundredths of a second. The US won the gold, Phelps' quest for eight is alive, and the French, once again, look pompous, arrogant, and foolish. All in a day's work...
• Michael Phelps is incredible. It will be a shame if he fails to win 8 golds, not only because he is capable of winning eight, but because there will be idiots in the press who will label his performance a disappointment if he doesn't do it. What this man has accomplished is nothing short of extraordinary. He is the greatest of all time, regardless of whether he wins eight or not. Also, he's from Maryland. Boo yah!
• The Men's basketball team is ridiculous. They should not lose. I forgot how good Dwyane Wade truly is and now that he is healthy for the first time in two years, he is playing the best basketball on a team filled with the best basketball players in the world. With all the talk of Jordan-Johnson-Bird on the original Dream Team, we forget that it was Charles Barkley who played the best ball. With all the focus on LeBron and Kobe on this team, D-Wade has emerged as the on-the-court star. I worry, though, about a physical team like Greece. Our big men are limited to Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, and Carmelo (if he's playing the 4). If Greece goes hard after them and gets those guys in foul trouble, they could wear us thin and then pound us on the boards. Still, I have every bit of confidence that our boys will bring back the gold.
• Watching the Chinese women's gymnastics team really bothered me. They didn't quite look like fully-formed people. One was 4'6" and weighed 68 pounds. She was missing a tooth. None of them looked 15 or 16. They had no curves or substance to their bodies. It was really sad to watch. The commentators were talking about how they are pried from their families at toddler ages and put into this machine of a program, like a gymnast farm. Their families won't let them come back because the prospect of an Olympian child can elevate their status. Really sad. The American women had substance to them and looked healthy, like athletes should. But these girls looked like zombies.They may have won the gold medal, but I think they lost China a lot of respect. Their participation also raises obvious and serious questions about China's ethical participation in the games. Registration materials lend credibility to accusations that the girls are younger than they say, but their state-issued passports list them as old enough to compete. Not like China would have any motivation to doctor those...

    Over the next few weeks, we'll watch Michael Phelps gun for Mark Spitz, we'll watch the Redeem Team seek to become a Dream Team, we'll watch the gymnastics controversy wage on, and we'll hold our breaths as the real life drama of war in former Soviet Bloc unfolds. In a way, it's all oddly fitting. The Olympic Games, like the world, are not without controversy.

Comments

[Garden Weasel]

Good article.

Imagine spending 4 years training hard and you are so capable of a good performance and you fall off a beam or take a misstep in a floor exercise. Perhaps if they could speed up the scoring process in gymnastics the athletes will not get out of sync. This may have been the cause of a young girls dreams being ruined. Then again, she could have choked from the pressure.

The new scoring system still takes a long time, and the scores are still partially biased. What a waste.

Michael P has more medals in his Olympic history than some countries have in theirs (India).

As a result of the new swimming attire, I think Speedo sales will not be as high as in past years.

The Chinese female gymnasts were not allowed to have their Au Pairs on the floor.