Five Ring Circus

Another Olympics has come and gone. A whirlwind two weeks filled with the best athletes and competitors in the world striving to attain the title of Olympic champion. The games are truly unique events that bring out the national pride in many who watch their countrymen compete to be called the best. It allows us to really put aside our cultural differences and come together as one world. It provides a glimpse of hope of how things could be one day, if we would just learn to work together.

I was not going to get into the games that much this time around, for one reason or another they did not hold that strong a draw on me. I planned on just checking in from time to time. I did watch part of the opening ceremonies, and my interest was piqued. And I did catch some other first day events as well, which held certain thrills. But once I watched Jason Lezak make that spectacular comeback to assist the American team in winning the 4 x 100m freestyle relay, like many I was hooked. And it was for me a memorable two weeks, filled with ups, downs, annoyances, thrills, disappointments and things we’ll keep with us for a long time.

I wish I were in half the shape now at my age as Dara Torres is at 41. Best silver medal I’ve ever seen won. The gold medalist in that race should consider herself lucky she was one one-hundredth of a second faster.

Really? The International Olympic Committee needs to request the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate the age of Chinese women’s gymnasts? A pair of eyes is no longer good enough to know those girls are far under the required age of 16? I’m not sure which I am, too cynical or too full of good old fashioned common sense.

The women’s gymnastic teams may have been cheated by an alleged age scandal and favorable judging for the home team, but they still did something special; they competed with dignity and class. Not one of them blamed each other for mistakes that may have costs points, and none of them used their competitors’ potential Age-Gate scandal as an excuse for not winning the overall gold. Of all the gymnasts on Team USA, I felt the worst for Alicia Sacramone. She worked so hard for this opportunity, and two mistakes will be what many remember most of her performances. And unfortunately she took the brunt of criticism from the media for the teams silver medal placement. Alicia, you deserve much better than that, and you know it. Hold your head up high. The team would not have gone as far as it did without you always remember that.

I have three letters for Usain Bolt. W-O-W. Usain, just a piece of advice as you return home a conquering hero. I know more than a few people have been giving you static about showboating at the end of the 100 meter dash. They can cram it with walnuts. When you are that much faster than your closest competition, you can showboat all you want and tell everyone else, over your shoulder of course, to suck eggs.

Michael Phelps may be the most decorated single games Olympian of all time, and most likely after 2012 the most decorated of all time, but that does not necessarily make him the greatest. I think the adjective of greatest should be reserved for the groundbreaking contributions of Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Babe Didrikson, Tommie Smith and John Carlos and others like them. While those athletes may not have as many medals as Phelps, how they changed the games and the world puts them squarely in discussion of the greatest Olympian of all time. And while Phelps’ accomplishment is monumental, and I certainly do not want to take anything away from the herculean effort and incredible drive it took him to accomplish the previously though unattainable goal he set for himself. The previously mentioned Olympians and others may have done more to further the games themselves and equality in society at large.

That being said, Phelps is without a doubt amazing and one of the greatest athletes and cold blooded competitors I have ever seen. He said once he wants to feel like Superman on the blocks. Guess what Michael, you ARE Superman. And he has a great attitude, outlook on life and is generally very likeable and accessible. He has kept himself very grounded despite his incredible talent. Plus he is so disarming with that goofy grin of his. When he breaks that smile out, anyone else think he looks like Eli Manning? I said that for days and finally felt vindicated when Bob Costas said it one night during the broadcast. I can’t wait for a commercial with the two of them. He might be a secret 4th Manning kid.

Since Phelps sucked the air out of the Water Cube, it was pretty easy to lose sight of the remainder of the Men’s and Women’s swim teams, with the exception of Torres and Lezak. But both teams threw out stellar performance after stellar performance, with records broken and medals won in seemingly every event. Kudos to two well trained, well disciplined and fantastic teams. And a special kudos to Natalie Coughlin, who hauled in 6 medals herself. If not for Phelps 8 gold medals, she might have been the swimming story of the games. Fun fact about Natalie I found out yesterday, in 11 final round Olympic events, she has won 11 medals.

Who else was thoroughly amused by Alain Bernard stating the French relay team would smash the Americans in the pool? Alain, Alain, Alain, do you not know you NEVER trash talk before an event unless you are Muhammad Ali? That only adds fuel to the fire. Just ask Lezak. Someone get this boy a subscription to DirecTV’s entire set of sports packages so he can learn how American athletes respond to call outs and trash talking.

I am convinced Shawn Johnson also did some training at the Mary Lou Retton School of Cute As A Button. She is just adorable, with those big cute Chicklet teeth and one heck of an athlete to top it off. I still cannot believe she’s only 4’ 9”. Her best moment to me is when she left the floor with her other competitors in the balance beam event, with her gold medal performance behind her. As she walked away, you could tell she was having the most difficult time trying to remain set and professional and keep from smiling her 1000 megawatt smile. Luckily for all of us watching, she kept failing.

The Men’s and Women’s beach volleyball teams put on a stellar show. May-Treanor and Walsh are just a machine; there is no way around it. Rogers and Dalhausser were wicked efficient in dispatching opponent after opponent. Except when I watched the Men’s team I kept thinking, so that’s what Billy Corgan has been up to lately.

Kudos goes out to the US Men’s Indoor Volleyball team who submitted one of the most inspirational victories of these Olympics. And congratulations and condolences to their head coach Hugh McCutcheon, who started off the games with untold tragedy as his father in law was stabbed to death and finished the two weeks coaching his team to the gold medal, the first for the US in 20 years. Such an emotional rollercoaster of triumph and tragedy is hard to fathom.

And congratulations to the Men’s Water Polo team, who grabbed the silver medal and put up a valiant fight against the heavily favored Hungarian juggernaut. Their triumph was the first medal for the US Men’s Water Polo team in 20 years.

Anyone else feel horrible, and sick to their stomach, watching the Olympic performance of Hungarian weight lifter Janos Baranyai? What a horrible way to end your first Olympic experience.

The Redeem Team did exactly what they set out to do, restore Men’s basketball to prominence on the international scene. See kids how playing with respect for each other, your opponents and a big dollop of teamwork can do? Plus, this team far more than others previous really took to heart being a part of Team USA and supporting their fellow American athletes. Didn’t it seem like at least one player from that team, if they were not competing or practicing, was at almost every event?

I dug seeing the sports that never get the kind of attention usually reserved for sprinting and relay events, gymnastics and swimming. I had more fun watching events such as trampoline, badminton, ping pong, weight lifting, BMX, sculls, canoeing, fencing, cycling, equestrian and others which never get the prime time lights or will have a chance at an athlete adorning a Wheaties box. A few of the events I watched I never knew existed. Which made the experience that much more thrilling. Kudos to those athletes who compete to be the best at what they do, no matter how dim and brief the spotlight may be.

I noted two very remarkable changes in our world in the last twenty years that were on display at these games.

Twenty years ago the communist Soviet Union was our biggest enemy. We competed against them with purpose, and many my age grew up being taught that the Soviet system was evil because of their oppressive government and their horrible humanitarian record the world wide. Now? Russia is our ally, and the biggest communist country in the world is China. Do we look upon them as an enemy because they are communist? Do we look upon their government as evil because of their far more atrocious humanitarian record or their oppressive government? No. We overlook these things, buddy up with them and act real nice, turning a blind eye to their many indiscretions and accept at face value the all is well front they erected for the games because of their 1 billion + untapped and unexploited consumers. And to think at one point we thought political ideologies ruled the world.

Team USA gymnast Nastia Liukin won 5 medals in Women’s gymnastics, including a silver medal in the team all around and the gold in individual all around. Team USA gymnast Alexander Artemev, a last minute replacement added to the Men’s team, used his performance on the pommel horse to help the Men’s team capture the team all around bronze medal. Both of these stellar athletes are children of former world champion gymnasts. More specifically, they are the children of former world champion Soviet gymnasts. Nastia’s father Valeri was an Olympic champion for the USSR, and Alexander’s father Vladimir was a world champion gymnast who missed his Olympic window due to the Soviet’s boycott of the 1984 games. And now, these two men live in the United States and their children compete for America. Wow, we really have come a long way in 20 years.

I loved seeing all the parents in attendance cheering their children on to victory or consoling them in defeat. One thing that amazed me is how many athletes were sons and daughters of former Olympians. It adds new depth to the nature versus nurture debate. Are these Olympians world class athletes because of the environment in which they grew up in, or because of their lineage?

Speaking of parents, I give it a month before we start seeing Mama Phelps in a Chunky’s soup commercial and less than two months before she appears in an ad with mama McNabb.

I also found it fun watching Cris Collinsworth in a new environment. He was totally out of his element with no football, but he seemed to be having fun. Seemed like a kid in awe the entire two weeks.

A small kudos to NBC for cutting down on the feel good/triumph over tragedy stories that typically permeates their broadcasts. I dread their coverage most Olympic years because it just seems every athlete had to overcome dozens of insurmountable obstacles just to be there. While for some countries this is very true, I’m looking in Afghanistan’s direction, for the heavy hitters like the USA and China, this phenomenon is not nearly as common. I definitely enjoyed the games much more without an overload of this pathos driven angle.

And speaking of Afghanistan congratulation to all four of their athletes for competing and special congratulations goes out to Rohullah Nikpai for winning his country’s first ever Olympic medal, the bronze in Taekwondo. Now this is a story of one man overcoming great odds just to compete, and he truly made the most of his situation. Now that kind of triumph over tragedy story I can really get behind.

Always concerned about image over substance, as evidenced by the internet censorship, ban on protests during the games and the whitewashing of their politics and part in the Darfur tragedy, the host country really pulled out all the stops in producing a spectacular opening and closing ceremonies. Fantastic performances and just electrifying spectacles abounded at the beginning and ending of the games. Of course, you do wonder what those performers had to go through to perform those flawless and spectacular feats. And the music was, shall we say, subpar.

The transfer ceremony needs some serious work. I mean, those city and Olympic officials looked so clumsy trying to wave that flag. And couldn’t someone tell the London mayor to button his jacket and try to look slightly less like a shlub? Plus, the little dance number/double Decker bus thing was just pointless. And did we really need to drag Jimmy Page and David Beckham out there? Not to be too nit-picky, but I found it extraneous and nonsensical.

While we may abhor the politics, policies and government of China, the athletes themselves are who you support by taking part in and viewing the Olympics. And watching these men and women, the best in the world, compete against one another on an international stage is truly inspiring. It makes me, and I’m sure many others, also want to be the best I can be as well. If for no other reason than that, the Olympics are worth the time and effort. I thank all the competitors for all they did and wish them continued luck and success in future competitions and in life. Thank you all for a thrilling two weeks.