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Phew. Did the triple dip again today: up late watching swimming, up
early to watch the Tivo'ed gymnastics, then hung in for the Today Show.
Is this what Michael Phelps feels like? I have to go warm down.
Okay,
I was prepared to be slightly cynical about Mark Spitz and the issue of
why he was not in Beijing. It's been a topic of discussion since a recent column in the LA Times, as in, "Boo hoo, nobody invited me to Beijing." And once I read about his 7 figure deal with Botox,
I really got suspicious. Was he not invited to Beijing or was he not
paid to go to Beijing? But Mark Spitz did a gracious interview on The
Today Show with Matt, expressing his respect and admiration for Michael
Phelps. He also explained that his sponsor had other plans for him, as
in do a million interviews here in the US rather than send him to
Beijing to do a few meet and greets. He said he'd be cheering on
Michael and called him "the greatest Olympic athlete in history."Good enough for me, Mark. And that Botox is really working for you! Onto more random thoughts...
--How great would it be if Michael Phelps swam his last race in the classic Spitz-inspired star-and-stripes Speedo circa 1972? That would be excellent.
- Forget the Jonas Brothers, get on the Winklevoss Brothers bandwagon! There's still time, people, thanks to a rain delay in the rowing competition. These identical twins, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss
have made it to the 2 man finals in rowing despite the fact that they
were alternates, have never rowed in an international regatta, and are
from Greenwich, Connecticut ( more known for hedgefund
hubris than Olympic gold). (These two also went to Harvard and started
ConnectU, an early social networking site) . In Beijing, The
Winklevosses are rowing like mad men. Oh, yeah, and they haven't rowed
together since "Juniors", and I'm not expert, but that sounds like it
was a long time ago. They'll be rowing on Friday.
- Dan Hicks
and Rowdy Gaines are doing a fine job at the Water Cube. I mean,
really, it's hard to talk about a single swimmer for 6 to 10 hours a
day and yet they manage every race to say something about Michael Phelps no matter who is in the pool. Yesterday, Dan said Michael Phelps was "Tiger in a Speedo" which is pretty funny. Then I started to think, "I'd like to see Tiger in a Speedo." And, nice coordination of your NBC-issued golf shirts, Boys. Last night's blue and green combo was inspired.
- Julie Foudy
did a great job with the post-lost interview of US Soccer player Brian
McBride. You could feel his pain and you could feel Julie's as the
Americans lost a heartbreaker and failed to advance. And congrats to Satellite Sister regular Julie on her pregnancy. Don't eat the fried scorpions, Julie.
-- New Olympic drinking game! Bottoms up every time an interviewer starts a question with "Tell me what you were thinking when...".
--When
I was growing up in Connecticut, all the pretty preppy girls played
field hockey. ( I was a tennis player. I envied their kilts.).
Apparently, that is still the case. But now they are pretty, preppy and
world-class athletes. Big difference.
-- Olympic cycling makes me wistful for the pre-drug
testing days of the sport of cycling. The road races and times trials
have been thrilling and emotional. Way to go, Kristin Armstrong on your
gold medal. Maybe the Tour de France should only be one day.
-Caught a quick shot of the mascots dancing at beach volleyball to "Journey". More mascots!
- Note to Brian Williams:
Micheal Phelps had some water in his goggles, not napalm. We expect
over-reaction from Al "I never met a metaphor I didn't mix" Trautwig, not you. Really Brian, try to keep things in perspective.
- I don't know about you, but I am psyched to see "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"!
- Words and phrases you only hear every 4 years: venue, reperchage, tremendous undulation.
More tomorrow? Got your own Random Thoughts? Leave a comment! Lian
