Olympic Observations

I’ve been watching a decent amount of the Olympics and am actually enjoying the action.
With the exception of the epic women’s singles badminton clash between China and Germany while having my morning coffee last week, these Games have been very exciting. I’ll attribute much of that to the fact that most of what I’m watching is live.

While taking in these Games, a few thoughts have popped into my head:

• If I am a general manager of a NFL club, I’d be tossing mucho dinero at Usain Bolt (left) of Jamiaca. Dude ran a sick 9.69 in the 100-meter final Sunday, despite showboating for the final 15 meters. Put a helmet on that man and line him up at tight end.

- Michael Phelps is truly amazing. His win by .01 of a second in the 100-m butterfly over the weekend was great TV. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

- Felt bad that Dara Torres lost the 50-meter freestyle by the same .01 of a second. Too bad the 41-year old didn’t grab gold, but she is the feel-good story of the Games.

- Beach volleyball has emerged as my favorite sport to watch so far. And no, not just for the scantily-clothed women. The men’s game isn’t bad either, perv. On the women’s side, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor look unstoppable. The top team from the USA, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser are in the semi finals and have played some exciting matches.

- The USA men’s soccer team was excused from the tournament rather early. Not a surprise or a big deal, as roughly a handful of non-relatives in the country actually care.

- On a good note, the women’s soccer team will play for gold against Brazil.

- Finally, the sight most prominent in my memory. Someone in Beijing needs to do a better job at security into the Bird’s Nest.

So I’m watching the men’s 100-meter semi final heat over the weekend. Somehow, a guy wearing a Chinese uniform snuck his way on to the track, Lane 1. Dude was wearing the same eye glasses worn in high school shop classes all around the country. To complete his “I’m-way-out-of-my-league-and-looking-out-of-place look”, he lined up in the blocks wearing black socks.

He finished last.

Photo Credit - Richard Deutsch - USA Today