US wins Gold!

With four minutes left and the US up by (only) eight, I'm gonna call it for the US. Spain brought it to within 2 points a few minutes ago, but the US is back well on top a little bit. They still have to lock it down, but I think they'll do it.

Spain is DAMN good though, and it is not unlikely that by the time I am finished writing here the game will be over.

Earlier, I heard said of Kobe one more thing that makes him "kinda" a jerk. Apparently, Kobe said that the opening ceremony was the first time in his life he got goose bumps. I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or jealous.

No matter, he is AWESOME at basketball and just saved the US's ass by scoring mad points towards the end of the game.

USA! USA!

Two and a half remains. FOUR POINT GAME!!! "Spain keeps climbing back!"

Dwayne Wade hits a three: SEVEN POINTS!!

The refs seem to really want to see Spain compete, if not win. But the US is still kickin it. EIGHT POINTS. One minute remains! US ball.

Spain has started fouling. But if the US hits their free throws, they win the Gold!

Chris Paul drains two free throws to make himsefl 8/8 in the game. Ten point game!

Spain scores, back to eight. 32.9 left. This game is totally over.

26 seconds. Chris Paul back at the line, and what do you know, TECHNICAL FOUL against Spain. Muchas gracias, chumpos.

US WINS GOLD!!!

Coach K not thrilled by Kobe pouring water on his head.

Georgia on my mind

Eureka!  

Thanks, Bren.  I'm such an idiot.  This whole time it has been that my sound pref was set @ line in rather than internal mic.  

Can you tell I am having contact lens trouble, much?  

But I AM like Russia, in that you may have started the war, but I brought an arsenal.  My cousin Digman has put together some classic crispy jamz over the past few months, and, when he read about what we're doing here, he asked me to post them on the right side of the page.  So that is what I did.  He says that sometimes the levels are far from perfect, but he is a slow learner, so you should be happy with what you got.

Did anyone catch that Dara Torres in her semifinal race this evening?  It was great.  Before the race, she was all up in arms, it seemed, and was giving the officials the what-for.  Turns out, one of her opponent's swim trunks had ripped, and she was simply making sure that they did not start the race until she had a moment to slip into a different suit.

Now, I like to consider myself to be a sort of nice person, and I could envision myself, in certain circumstances, going out of my way like that to help someone in need.  (Not: like the time last week when a kid was pushing his car in the middle lane of Pennsylvania Ave, near Greenhill, and I just drove on by...not like that)  But these swimmers are FOCUSED, and in the minutes and seconds before a race they will not be bothered.  So to see Dara Torres, aged Olympic hero walking about wagging her finger (metaphorically) at the judges, on behalf of a competitor, at the very moment that, if anything, she should be envisioning ripping this girl's efficiently beating heart out of from her still panting chest, was a vision of sportsmanship at its best.  

And to then watch Ms. Torres go out and win the race, the incredibly short 50m dash, despite getting a bad jump off the gun, was inspiring.  

Now, having qualified for the medal race, she has the opportunity to win her first individual gold medal, and her eleventh Olympic Medal overall, over her five visits to the Games.  

I know I was beating the medal drum the other evening, 

Stefan Fatsis made a good point today on the radio

about how the medal count don't mean so much when you consider that the Chinese athletes are groomed and picked from a super young age, while the US's strategy of grooming and picking young athletes is a bit less on the pushy side.  His claim is he would rather live in a place that approaches the competition rationally, not as a form of nationalistic propaganda. Perhaps he should move to Canada?  Good way to spend 4 minutes and 27 seconds.  Click the link!!!

Olympix

These Olympics sure have been entertaining.  That swimming is like horse racing, but short enough (generally) to keep my attention span.  You're all like "there's no way.  he lost it, and than BANG outta nowhere one of bursts past the field.  That Michael Phelps is doing it!  Six medals so far, and six world records smashed.  

The women's gymnastics is a highlight, as usual.  The women's all around competition for individuals just wrapped up, and if you weren't watching it, you missed out.  When that Shawn Johnson landed that triple duple duple shuple she did, having added an extra duple to the mix, at the last minute, to give herself a fightin chance against teammate Nastia Liukin, who was spectacular, I was all like "YEAH!" pumping my fist like I shoulda been whilst watching the Eagles game, which I sadly missed (they won!), and I was thrilled to see her secure the second place trophy.

(I really tried to keep that one sentence paragraph grammatically correct throughout, but it kind of fell apart at the end.)

Throughout the entire first half of the competition, it seemed like the Americans were getting GYPPED!  All their scores were just a tad bit lower than what it seemed like they shoulda been, whist their Chinese brethren were getting scores slightly higher than what one would think they deserved.  

Enough with the cheating and deception!  Of course, we all enjoyed the two pretty little girls who took turns singing at the opening ceremonies.  Well, I guess they sang at the same time, or something like that.  One was just hidden in the corner with a bag over her head.  

I enjoyed reading this report, which documents the fact that earlier in the past year, one of the Chinese gymnasts was profiled in a story that said she was 13, a full three years younger than is allowed.  

But its all good.  Those American gals showed EVERYONE.  They just dug deep and didn't even flinch on the  drama landing maneuver after maneuver and really earning their one and two spots on the winner's podium. 

Great night.  China won the team comp a few night previously, but the two American girls really laid it out tonight.  The medal count is pretty close, with the US taking a big jump today in the overalls, bypassing China nicely.  The US is still 8 golds behind the Chinese total of 22, but it is way early yet.  There are still nine days before the closing ceremonies.

I think the ceremonies will be remembered positively, overall, despite the Russo-Georgian War that broke out literally in conjunction with the opening ceremonies (my sense is this was done on purpose) and the general dark cloud that remains over China.  I had a friendly argument with a friend who feels that our participating in the Olympics is an abomination, due to the Chinese tradition of repression and violent authoritarianism.  

I argued that, despite this, it has nothing to do with the Olympic athletes, and once the Games start, you have to put all of that aside.  Still, I was glad to see all of the protesting during the torch relay, and feel that by highlighting China overall, you bring all the ugly stuff out into the light.  I argued that although China still has a long way to go in terms of allowing its people "freedoms," it has come a long way in the past thirty years, thanks in no small part to our being willing to engage them back then.  In retrospect, I have had this discussion with a few people who have disagreed with my sentiments.   So that tells you what it tells you.  

After the Olympics, the "NBC 10" News comes right on, and they are ALL about the drama.  A tire jumped off a tractor and into the opposite lane on I-95, decapitating a 64 year old gentleman. As terrible as this is, man can they ratchet up the suspense and excitement.  Every night must be a parade of poetic histrionica.  Mike Strug is the new Wilfred Owen.  

Brendan, where are your mobile pics of the big Conshohocken fire???  I was, um, there.

Oh, and by the way, you can expect me to retaliate fully on your aggressive, practically OUTRIGHT DECLARATION of a cover war.  Ossetia will be mine!

It's getting late, and since I am just learning what I'm trying to do, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to play it through without the assistance of garage band editing magics.

UPDATE: I recorded the jam, and didn't do it too bad either, but am having trouble getting the sound to work.  What do I need to do to rectify this???

"If could reach to the sky..."

HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE GO.HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE GO.HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE GO.  HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE GO.