Costas talking up the big name players in the event and hear that Olympic music blaring in the background (and it truly is some amazing music, one of my favorite sports theme songs. Which would be a good idea for a writing)So many great moments and I'm positive that I missed some that I'm still learning about, mainly because NBC likes to keep the focus solely on Americans.
But I have realized that after watching the Olympics I like watching the sport of volleyball, but it's not ever covered over here, even though I would say the most entertaining women's sport to watch. But I watched the men's volleyball too, and this was probably the best showing US volleyball has ever had so maybe it will help it get more exposure on TV so I dont forget about it until London in 2012. There are also plenty of good looking women in volleyball of all ethnicities, I enjoyed getting to watch the Venezuelan indoor team vs. the US because they decided to wear bikini bottoms kind of like a beach team, some had some fantastic hineys! But that's not to say the US were without some, like Kim Glass. President Bush seemed to take quite a liking to Misti May
President Bush is one of the goofiest people I've ever seen and I have found the perfect comparison to him...Wade Phillips! These 2 guys are exactly alike, I'll blog on this later but trust me, they are very similar.But seriously it was fun watching the women and men's beach volleyball tandems, sometimes I enjoy watching domination. About the most dominating performance I saw this past Olympics (save Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps) was watching Phil Dalhausser in the gold medal game vs. Brazil. Him and his partner won the 1st set and blew an early lead in the 2nd set and had seemingly lost momentum going into the 3rd and final game. The 3rd and final set is only played to 15, but no worries to the 6'8 Dalhausser, he killed! He had 9 blocks in the game and 6 of them came in the final set, Brazil was getting them past this monster early in the game hitting finesse shots in the right places, but then started losing composure early in the final set. And that's when Phil wasn't letting anything past him, they got out to a 9-1 lead and by that time Brazil knew what was up and the match was the US and so was the gold.
Big props to the US women's team and I guess the men's team though I paid no attention to them, nor would I have even if the Hamm brothers were healthy, still have to feel sorry for them though for working there ass off for 4 years (especially the body damage you can do being a gymnast) and then injuring yourself a month or 2 prior to the games. And for the 2nd straight Olympics a gymnast from Collin County has won the gold in All Around, 1st was Carly Patterson and now it's Nastia Liukin.
By the way, look here at Shawn Johnson, I simply can't believe that she is 16, she is adorable, I dont like to use the word cute but that's what she is, you just look at her and say to yourself, "AWWWWWWWW" a pedophile's wet dream, not to say all gymnast aren't. Most don't look grown up at all, though Nastia did and so did Alicia Sacramone.
And now onto Michael Phelps, him and his relay team presented 2 of my favorite sports moments of the year, 1st the relay, not only did the US swimmer make a near improbable comeback but he did it against the French, which probably made every American 2 times as happy. And the reaction from Phelps and his teammates were icing on the cake, I love seeing a guy like that win, but then to show that much emotion makes you want to cheer even more, which is 10 times better then a Kobe or Jordan normally being very reserved about everything. And then seeing Phelps barely pull out the 200 Individual Medley was just as cool, just seeing how close it actually was and seeing Phelps never give up, because without that final lunge he finishes 2nd and ties the Olympic record with 7 golds rather then 8 olympic golds that he eventually won. This guy is just a machine though, I just can't imagine how you can eat 10-12000 calories a day, and now that he's been doing it for so long how will he be able to get off those eating habits. I'd like to see him in some eating contests like trying to eat a 72 oz. steak, or I once saw that in Washington state there is this place that serves a 4 pound pancake, but no one could ever finish it.
And now onto the US men's basketball team, I'm not going to lie I kinda wanted to see them fail, why you ask? Sometimes I like seeing expectations not met. And to take a quote from Wilt Chamberlain, "Nobody roots for Goliath" Now you may be wondering why I would root for the top dogs like Michael Phelps or Misti May/Kerri Walsh but not the "Redeem Team" and the answer is, I'm not as invested in those sports nor do I follow them like I follow basketball so obviously I'm not familiar enough with the competition, plus there wasn't a real legitimate threat who would dethrone them anyways. There are just players on the US team that I don't like for various reasons and think it would be too funny to see them fail to meet expectations for the 2nd straight Olympics. My first choice would have been to see Dirk and ze Germans win gold but I knew that was farfetched, about the best they could have done is make it to the medal round, but they couldn't even beat China to do that. But the Gold Medal Game of the US vs. Spain was an amazing game and had it not been for Dwyane Wade in the 1st half and Kobe Bryant in the 4th quarter, they would have lost to this up and coming Spain team.
I think this could be the start of a nice rivalry of international play between these 2 teams. The Spaniards have the Gasol brothers, I still think Pau Gasol is a wuss and though he scored 21 points in the gold medal game, he missed a couple of bunny's, but his brother Marc, that is a specimen. He is so much bigger then his brother it's almost hard to believe they're related, I was skeptical on his ability in the pro's but I think he can come in next year for the Grizzlies and be a Luis Scola type player easily. And then Juan Carlos Navarro was breaking down the defense at will and penetrating into the lane, I still don't understand why he is heading back to Europe after having a good rookie season, especially since fellow Spaniard Marc will be joining him. And the 2 main reasons I think the Spanish will have a shot at beating the US maybe some day is Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez, Rubio is only 17 and will be a top 10 and potentially top 3 pick next year. He's already great defensively and is improving offensively, he didn't shoot as much as I would have liked but did a nice job creating opportunities for his teammates. And he's a top player already in one of the best leagues in Europe.
And Rudy Fernandez was without a doubt the star of the game for Spain, and what's even scarier is he's going to be a Portland Trailblazer, if Greg Oden stays healthy and they can get a half decent PG this team could be looking at a dominant run, the possibilities are endless. They have a top 5 SG, a potential top C in the league defensively and we don't even know how good his offense is because he played his freshman year with his off hand. Then Lamarcus Aldridge is a top 10 PF and become an All Star once the likes of Dirk and Tim Duncan get older. And they have 3 quality small forwards also, with Fernandez, Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw, all excel in different facets of the game. And then they added freshman sensation from U. of Arizona Jerryd Bayless, he seems like a combo guard based on his college #'s but sometimes that is what a team like this needs. The only thing they really lack is a veteran presence but some may find that overrated. But back to Rudy, he's very versatile, he has the handles to play and/or guard the 1-3 positions, and he has a sweet shot w/some great hops. The dunk he had on Dwight Howard was sick.
I'd say the weakness to the US team this year was the inside game, Howard was limited and not that dominant and Chris Bosh isn't a C. I thought there lack of size would be there weakness, and if China had more talent around Yao they could give the US a run for there money, but they don't. But in 2012 I predict Greg Oden will provide a large interior presence to the US so there problems might be solved.
I also like the FIBA rules, it's a very entertaining game, not to mention quick, I'm curious if the NBA would become more popular if the NBA cut TV timeouts in half and reduced team called timeouts. It will never happen because ad revenue is part of what keeps the league going but if you watch a nationally televised game on TNT, it's going to last at minimum 2 hours and 45 minutes. The title game couldn't have lasted longer then 2 hours and change. You get in, you get out, you have a great time. But I think if the NBA adopted some of the International rules it could be better for the league. One thing I like is the physicality, though the refs were inconsistent, at times they'd be calling touch fouls then the next time down a player would get mauled and it'd be a no call. The things I hate though is the trapezoid lane, the 5 fouls (though if it's 10 minute quarters it makes sense) and the ball, that ball just seemed different, which is why the NBA scrapped plans when they switched to the international ball.
But overall I thouroughly enjoyed these games and can't wait 4 years when the Summer games in London.
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