Oh, and now Dan Giese is on the DL. This season is a slap in the face. Oh well...at least the Olympics are much more exciting to talk about.
Misty May and Kerri Walsh were given a run for their money last night. The Belgians scored first in the first set, and at one point led the Americans 18-12 before they threatened with 20-17. But May and Walsh charged to tie the score, and after a series of intense rallies courtesy of amazing digs and blocks, the best duo in the world won 24-22 (after overcoming 2 more set points). Still riding on the momentum of the rally, May and Walsh took the second set 21-10, thereby sweeping the match and heading to the quarterfinals. I have never been so loud over beach volleyball in my life. Man, was that epic. And did it show the skill, heart, and determination of the Americans. Way to go, ladies!
(I wish the Yankees could take some notes on how to stage a rally...)
Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps! Am I the only one sick of the obsessive airtime NBC gives this guy? Yes, I understand he's a beast and he deserves all the credit in the world for that. But I take exception to the following:
- Aaron Lochte, who is a great swimmer as well, took the gold (with a WR, surprise!) in the 200m backstroke. But the entire time the commentators were calling it a "warmup" for his medley relay against Phelps. That's a little inconsiderate.
- What's more, they quickly cut away from the end of Lochte's medal ceremony to show Phelps warming up and getting a massage. THAT is bad. Another American just won a race in golden fashion, and NBC won't even give him 5 minutes of solo glory without cutting to a guy getting his back rubbed. Ridiculous.
- The horde of "This is how Michael Phelps eats/sleeps/trains/walks/talks presentations are getting old. Yesterday they did one on his body shape.
- Like I said, Phelps is great and all, but there IS more going on than him. As in, there's no need to cut to gymnastics and introduce it as: "The one medley that Michael Phelps CAN'T win!" Even other events exist in his shadow.
- They call him "The greatest Olympian ever," but I'm not sure that's fair. Sure, he's winning tons of hardware to show off his effort. But I don't think you can compare athletes across sports. Swimming has tons of events for similar skills. Beach volleyball, for example, doesn't. Same goes for gymnastics and track & field. Thus, those athletes may be equally as good (or better), but the opportunity doesn't exist for them to show it off in multiple ways. It kind renders cross-sport comparisons moot.
Speaking of ESPN, imagine if THEY covered the Olympics and if Phelps was somehow affiliated with the Red Sox. We'd never see or hear about any other event!
And a big congrats to Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson for taking the gold and silver for the USA in the women's gymnastics all-around. Both popped out gritty and solid performances, which was necessary given the initial blatant scoring biases towards the Chinese women. And did I say women? I meant 13-year-old girls. Anyway, you know somethings up when the commentators mention it and when the head technical judge has to step in. But it didn't matter--any attempted rigging was undone, and the true champs took home the medals. Well done, ladies!
