Usain Bolt has cemented himself as the fastest man in the world by owning the world records in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Since he broke those world records with ease during the Olympics, he decided to make some “earth-shattering” quotes. Recently, Bolt was asked about his accomplishments in comparison to Michael Phelps in the pool. Bolt’s quote was a classic, “I don’t compare myself to Michael Phillips, I leave it to other people to say who is the ruler of the Olympics.” Damn it NBC, what are you waiting for. I’m sure that you could set something up where one event takes place in the water and one on land. I can see it now “The Human Cheetah vs. The Human Fish”. Although I hope Michael Phelps shows up instead of Michael Phillips.
The Redeem team was able to take home the gold early Sunday morning. In a game that seemingly lacked defense of any kind, Spain did play hard. We finally got to see (if you were up that late) the dominant Kobe Bryant show up as he scored 14 in the fourth to stave off the scare where Spain cut the lead to two points with about eight minutes left. People are now comparing this Olympic team very heavily with the Dream Team of 1992. I will admit the comparisons are valid. That being said, the Dream Team will always get the nod in the fans eyes because of how popular the NBA was in 1992 and how far the popularity has dropped in the United States since the lockout.
Another congrats goes out the United States men’s volleyball team. I don’t know how tough it was for Coach Hugh McCutchon to coach during the Olympics after the loss of his father due to a stabbing, but he did an amazing job. I didn’t watch the gold medal match, but I did watch their semifinal match against Russia. The match was compelling and McCutchon seemed to serve as the emotional strength for his team during the match. It’s amazing how human beings respond emotion and adversity.
The ratings were up for the 29th Olympiad in comparison to the 2004 games in Athens. That is good news for NBC and not so great for ESPN. The ESPN family of networks is supposed to make a bid for the Olympic Games soon. This will definitely up the price they will have to bid. I hope they don’t get it. NBC isn’t the sports powerhouse that it once was, but if there is one thing they do extremely well, it’s the Olympics.
On a final note, say what you want about the Chinese government and their “questionable” human rights policies (e.g. Tibet and Darfur) and how most, including myself, don’t agree with those policies. I thought they did an excellent job with the Olympics this time around and they certainly put a lot of pressure on London to do a great job for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
