The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad White Oak Log I

let's just get this out of the way: team sports don't belong in the olympics.  it should be about one individual being the best.  as for relays being in the original olympics, they also used to flog people who jumped the gun, so obviously there were a few issues that needed working out.  and speaking of relays, what's with being able to swim for a medal without being part of the preliminaries?  or earning a medal even if your only part *was* the preliminaries?  isn't it bad enough that it's multiple people?  must it be turned *completely* into a team sport?


i thought you said school was out forever?
    actually, the song is called "school's out for summer".  nice try though.


dear nbc,
    would it kill you to show some of the non-traditional sports on regular tv?  i actually *like* beach volleyball, but i wouldn't at all mind if a few matches had been supplanted in favor of badminton, table tennis and the other sports which we have no idea how they play at this level of competition.


can i just borrow your network?  for a sec?
i have critical information from the home office.  and caaaandy.


pieter van den hoogenband.  it's just fun to say.  of course, you saw björk guðmundsdóttir, who was born in reykjavik.  oh, and props to inge de bruijn for having a last name no one would correctly guess how to pronounce.


that's a warp speed button and you *don't*, don't wanna touch that.


the winner of the Most Boring Event To Watch award goes to Rowing, though the swimming preliminaries as a whole were a pretty close second.  ideally the rowers would be allowed to throw (non-lethal) objects at the other boats, but underwater explosions - even if they were off the main path - would have definitely improved matters.  at the very least there could have been sharks in the water.


rock your body mind check one two
(i blame the altitude that i found it so amusing. or maybe it's the bobble-head guy.)


the first week's gold-silver-bronze of interesting events on "normal" tv...
    women's indoor volleyball (usa vs dominican republic)
    men's springboard synchronized diving
    men's individual all around
        i'm just as surprised this made the list as you are considering that the seemingly random gymnastic scores never fail to annoy me, but it helped that i studiously avoid knowing how things are going to come out ahead of time.


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabracadabra.


svetlana khorkina.  i'm going to miss her.  she just has that certain something.  maybe it's the fact that she doesn't look twelve.



// 08 addition: every other item is a commercial, and no, i don't remember them all.