Olympics

Michael Phelps is obviously the greatest Olympian of all time. So let's put his 8 golds and 7 world records to rest. He deserves all the credit in the world for dominating his sport like none other, but I am honestly getting sick of hearing his name. Phelps came into Beijing expecting to win 8 golds--anything less would have been a failure. Well, maybe not a failure but had he won only 6 or 7 golds, he would be remembered as the guy that came up short. The truth is, Phelps is not just a freak in the pool, he is a great face for swimming. In many ways he represents the modern American athlete: he listens to Eminem and Jay-Z, eats more for breakfast than a family, and works out for about 5 hours a day. More importantly, Phelps is remarkably humble for someone as talented as him. Imagine if T.O. or A.I. had won 8 golds. In the end however, swimming is still swimming. Its not widely followed in the States and I'm sure Phelps' celebrity status will fade away as soon as Favre takes his first snap from Jets' center Nick Mangold on September 7th.


For me, the defining moment of these games happened about 60m into the 100m final, when Jamaican Usain Bolt broke away from the pack and cruised to the finish line with an eye popping world record of 9.69 seconds. The 100m was hyped as the marquee event of these Olympics, pitting the current world record holder Usain Bolt against former world record holder Asafa Powell and American track star Tyson Gay. Simply put, Bolt stole the show as Gay failed to qualify and Asafa Powell failed to medal, finishing 5th.


While both track and swimming attract the premier athletes to the Olympics, baseball is one of the sports where elite athletes still have few incentives to participate. August and September are arguably the most two important months in professional baseball as teams prepare for the final stretch and the playoffs. Sadly, due to this inability to attract the world's best, these Olympics will be the last to feature baseball as a sport. The international baseball community is working hard to reinstate baseball sometime in the future, but it is still unclear when and how. While Olympic baseball may not mean much for most major leaguers, it remains the pinnacle of baseball competition for many other countries such as Cuba, Japan, and Chinese Taipei. Real baseball fans will note that the Olympics give Americans a rare glimpse into the world of international baseball and stars such as Pedro Luis Lazo (seen below closing out a 5-4 win vs. Team USA), arguably the best pitcher in Olympic history. Hopefully the World Baseball Classic can do for baseball and it's fans what the FIFA World Cup does for soccer and it's fans while simultaneously uniting the world.


After Phelps' 8 golds and Bolt's world record, the 3rd biggest story of these Olympics will be the 400m final showdown of Jeremy Wariner (seen below) and newcomer LaShawn Merritt. Wariner took home the gold in Athens, blowing by the competition with a time of 44.0 seconds. However, Merritt beat Wariner at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon running 44.0 while Wariner came in second at 44.2. Both have a shot at the Michael Johnson's current world record of 43.18.