Getting Home

There was some drama in Beijing yesterday as our Olympic team tried to leave for home. It seems that they had so many medals that the plane couldn't get off the ground, leaving some question as to how they were going to get home.

Again the solution fell to an American company, as Wal-Mart contracted to bring the team home on one of their freighters. The retail giant is charging a shipping fee of only $1 Million for this service. They had been planning to charge $2 Million, but Barack Obama started talking about hitting them with a Windfall Profits Tax and they promptly cut the fee in half.

Initially there was some concern about the length of the trip, but these fears were quickly allayed when Michael Phelps and the other American Swimmers agreed to use ropes to pull the boat, cutting the time required for the trip by half.

There is still some concern from Wal-Mart due to the fact that there is, on this boat, a large shipment of tea, and there is possibility that the Water Polo team may decide to re-enact the Boston Tea party when the ship reaches port. They are, after all, odd little ducks, otherwise, why would they play Water Polo?

Is The Magic Gone?

Have you noticed how the Magic of the Olympics tends to fall off as the games linger on?

Now, I love the Olympics, but I can't help but notice that at the beginning there is so much good stuff going on that I find myself wanting to watch it all. Everything seems to be worth watching, at least on the main NBC channel, after all they were showing Handball on MSNBC, but I digress. As the game continue however, I find myself more and more asking myself, "This is an Olympic Sport?"

I don't say this to disparage, it's just a thought.

"We're So Good!"

I had been thinking about how funny it is the amount of national pride people get from the Olympics. There is something really cool about watching these amazing athletes and seeing that the one that is representing your own country wins the Gold Medal, and it does make you feel good.

The truth though, is that most of the sports that we watch at the Olympics, are not sports that we watch on a regular basis. Honestly, when was the last time you watched a swim meet? Or beach volleyball? Or Rowing? Or Gymnastics? Or a myriad of other Summer Olympic Sports? If you're like me, or the vast majority of other Americans, the answer would be, 4 years ago at the last Olympics. And yet, the games have the power to captivate us, none the less.

Last night, while I was watching some of the Olympic coverage that I have recorded on my DVR, one of our (that is the USA) swimmers, other than Michael Phelps, won a race, and my daughter started dancing around proclaiming, "We're so good!" Over and over again she said it... and she had nothing to do with it! Yet she saw someone from her own Country coming out on top, and was really excited by it.

I'm really not all that into sports on a regular basis, but there is something about the Olympics that I really enjoy.