TOP 10 OLYMPIC MOMENTS

Watching the closing ceremony was like the feeling I had when my parents left Augusta when they visited a couple weeks ago: you don't want them to go but you know it's for the best. Well, after 16 days of competition in more than 30 sports, the Olympic Games have come to a close for another 2 years (4 years if you don't like the Winter like I do). I loved every minute of these games, almost too much. I stayed up until 3am every night watching whatever I could, from rowing, water polo, handball, table tennis, fencing, trampoline, weightlifting and yes, even racewalking. But alas, they must go, because staying up until 3am was beginning to hurt my productivity. I overslept my 10am too many times and failed to work out multiple times. I woke up tired too often and missed out on many a good movies on the tube.

But if you know me, I love a good list. So in an effort to honor the wonderful Olympic Games in Beijing, I am giving you MY top ten moments from the Olympic Games. (FYI...I would love to post the video right here on the blog but well, you know NBC is crazy about that stuff. So just go nbcolympics.com to relive the moments)

10. The "Redeem Team"
It's what the USA needed. We needed to reclaim our throne as the best basketball team in the world. And we did it the right way this time. We did with a team of unselfish players who committed to this team for 3 years. Practiced together. Traveled together. Hung out with each other. And it showed off on the court. The team played their butts off every game, all the way into the final game when they really had to play their best. Kudos to Jerry Colangelo, Coach K and all that put this team together. This is how it should be done every four years.

9. Dara Torres
She defied what many thought: you can't swim competitively at 40 years old. Well, she did, and at the age of 41. Torres is a testament to what hard work and dedication can do. Even after missing the Athens Olympics and giving birth, she fought her way back and made the US team. But that wasn't it. She raced to a silver medal in the 50 free, coming just one-hundredth of a second away from a gold medal. Not to mention 40 minutes after that silver medal swim, she almost chased down a gold for her 4 x 100 medley relay. And she did all this without a single steroid. Mad props.

8. Bryan Clay
Don't know who he is? Well, you should since he now holds the title of the "World's Greatest Athlete". Clay won the decathlon in dominating fashion and though the event is not the most TV friendly, it is the most grueling and most rewarding when finished, win or lose. Clay grabbed the lead early by winning the 100m. After that, he never gave it up. Clay won wire-to-wire, and placed 1st or 2nd in 5 of the ten events. He actually finished last in his heat in the final event, the 1500m run but it didn't matter. He had already built up an insurmountable lead. A silver medal in Athens. A gold medal in Beijing. First gold in the decathlon since Dan O'Brien in 1996. Nice to have it back in the USA.

7. Beach Volleyball
We all know about May-Treanor and Walsh. They were favored to win and they did. But watching them mow down every opponent was fun to watch. Every team was gunning for them and they didn't blink. But the better story may be on the men's side where Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser took home the gold. They lost, yes lost, their first match to the 23rd ranked team from Latvia. There were only 24 teams in the draw! But they won when it mattered, including the third set of a great championship match, giving the Americans the sweep on the beach. And all for a team that got together just 3 short years ago.

6. Alexander Artemev's Pommel Horse Routine
I'm not the biggest gymnastics fan, hence why Shawn Johnson and Nastia Luikin did not make my list, though both had great Olympics. But when it comes to big moments, the biggest one for me was watching Artemev do his pommel horse routine in the team competition. Before he went, the US was in bronze medal position, a position they weren't supposed to be in after injuries to both Hamm bros. But there they were. And with one more event to go, all they needed were three solid pommel horse routines. First was Raj Bhavsar, an alternate who got his chance when Paul Hamm dropped out. Well, Raj dropped the ball and put fell off. Next, Kevin Tan went up and lo and behold, he cracks under the pressure with a less than mediocre performance. So it's all to second-alternate Artemev to put up a big score to give the Americans the bronze. The guy who wasn't on the team until Morgan Hamm dropped out just 3 days before the Games began. The guy who fell off the pommel horse during the Trials. All knew he was capable of a big routine but had been inconsistent. But on this morning, Artemev was brilliant. With flares I haven't seen in a long time, Artemev shined and the bronze went to the underestimated American team. (Note: In the individual competition, Artemev fell on the pommel horse.)

5. The Opening Ceremony
I mean, have you seen anything like that? The drummers, the LED screen, the choreography, etc.. The list goes on and on. It had it all. And in HD, it was mesmerizing. It had the pageantry of every other opening ceremony but what set it apart was the technology and the small details. The Birds Nest is an amazing venue and those screen on the top rim of it is just amazing. The screen on the bottom was amazing as well. Having 2008 drummers or fighters was a great touch as well. And the theme of every act was not only meaningful but understood even without the constant thoughts from Matt Lauer (OU alum) and Bob Costas. But my favorite moment was the idea to have that drawing be walked on by every athlete. What an amazing idea! and to have that drawing travel the world, in another example of how the world cam together, is just brilliant. The torch lighting was good as well, though not the best, but hard to argue it's not in the top 5. Still the best opening ceremony overall though.

4. Phelps Beats Cavic
Not gonna lie, I thought he had lost. He was too far to out-touch Cavic, wasn't he? Guess not. In Michael Phelps-fashion, he somehow touched the wall first and even took a half-stroke to do it. The pictures and even video don't even do it justice. It was just an amazing race and amazing finish. It gave Phelps gold number 7, keeping his dream alive of winning the most golds ever in one olympiad. The race did show that Phelps is not invincible though. It just showed that he is one-hundredth of a second better. But that was enough.

3. Usain Bolt
I've never seen anything like it. A 100m run that just wasn't even close. People have broken that world record before but even when they do, the race seems close. This one never was. The aptly-named Bolt did just that: bolt off the blocks and never looked back. He ran faster than any man ever has and before he crossed the line, he even had time to celebrate. 9.69 could have been 9.59 maybe. We'll never know but who cares? It was sheer dominance and speed. So what does he do for an encore? How about beating the 200m world record time as well. That race wasn't close either. Add in another world record time in the 4 x 100 relay and no doubt, this guy has cemented his name as one of the best. Watch that 100m run and it just takes your breath away. Who knew any person could run that fast. It's just scary. I hope he comes back in 2012.

2. Lezak Comeback
It was over. Phelps' dream would come to a premature end. That is...unless Jason Lezak chases down one of the fastest swimmers in the world. The cocky French had it in the bag and their best swimmer in the pool, anchoring their squad. Jason Lezak, an Olympic veteran, knew what was up against him and knew what the gold meant for Phelps too. With all that into consideration, somehow Lezak came back. Inch by inch, he crept up alongside his French competitor. Next thing you know, they were right next to each other just feet away the wall. In the end, it was Lezak. It was the United States. It was gold. It was magical. I don't think I've ever screamed for a swimming event ever but you better believe I did then. If you weren't, you're not American. That was a comeback for the ages. Jason Lezak is the man. Case closed.

1. USA Men's Volleyball Team
A lot of people will probably be very surprised to see this be my number one moment but you have to think about it. Before the team played their first game, their coach went through what no person should ever have to go through. 12 hours after the Olympic cauldron was lit, violence hit Beijing. It wasn't terrorism thankfully, but it was a random act of violence. Two Americans stabbed by a rogue Chinese man who committed suicide after the attack. One man died, a woman hospitalized. They were simply touring a famous Chinese landmark, no one even knowing they were Americans. And while this was a sad story already, it was made worse when we all found out the people attacked were the family of US Men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. The man, McCutcheon's father-in-law. The woman, his mother-in-law. His wife was there to see it all but was unharmed. He would miss his team's first two matches of the Olympics to be with his wife and family. Many thought he would not come back and could understand why. But he knew that volleyball would be a way to get away from the anger and grief. And also, winning a gold medal would be the best way to celebrate the life of his father-in-law. After the attacks, the US team had now even more motivation to win the gold. And when their coach returned for their third match, it showed. With their head coach by their side, the US team took on every challenge and made it to the semifinals to take on a tough Russian team. In a match that I watched live starting at 1am, the US jumped ahead 2 sets to none. But Russia stormed back in sets 3 and 4, sending the match to a decisive fifth set. One set to decide who would play for a gold medal. And with their coach and his family in their minds, the US gathered up enough energy and strength to win the fifth set 15 to 13. Their next test would be the top team in Brazil. They dropped the first set but the team came back and won the next three. Coach McCutcheon had his gold and I found my top moment. It may have been the most dramatic or exciting. But it was the most inspiring and rewarding moment and I'll take those any day.


Well done China. London, you have a lot to live up to. Or should I say Vancouver in 2010.

Redemption

So call me stupid or crazy patriotic but I was up at 2:30am to watch the U.S. "Redeem Team" reclaim glory and take down Spain 118 to 107. In a game that I thought would be just another blowout, it ended up being a great game. I even told a friend that I would turn it of, once the U.S. got up by 20 or more. Well, that never happened.

Here are the major storylines to pick up from that game though, now that it is over.

1. The U.S. "Redeem Team" forgot how to play defense. I mean, props to Spain for scoring 107 points but they wouldn't have scored that much if the U.S. just would have played some D. All game, the weak side defense was horrendous. I've never seen more pick-n-rolls in my life. It was slightly embarrassing, considering we had people like Kobe and Tayshaun Prince on this team, people who can defend pretty darn well. Also, the Spain alley-oops were just thunderous. And that's a testament to how bad our defense was as well. We were rolling 10 deep of NBA caliber talent and they were rolling 10 deep but about 5-6 players that I would put in that NBA talent range. We should never see an alley-oop scored on us. No doubt that if we tightened our D, Spain gets blown out.

2. Olympics officiating is terrible, point blank. I'm one of the last people to talk bad about an official but man, they stunk. They were calling fouls early and often. Now, I don't mind calling it tight early and then loosening up later, but the tight calls in the first quarter just weren't there. Then, when they did loosen up a bit in the second half, they were just missing blatant calls. It was a sad sight. Thankfully, it did not determine the game because it was equally bad for both teams. 55 fouls calls, 7 players with 4 or more fouls, including Kobe and Lebron. I know they all come from different countries but here are two constants. 1. If a player gets mugged when driving the lane, it's a foul AND 2. If a player gets all ball or does not touch the offensive player, it is not a foul.

3. The Portland Trail Blazers are going to be really, really good. And that's because they are going to have Rudy Fernandez from Spain on their squad. The guy is amazing. All night, he was putting on a show for his new head coach, Nate McMillan, who was an assistant for the U.S. team. At one point, Kobe went for a steal of Fernandez. While Kobe went flying by, Fernandez spun away, turned his jet pack and flew down the lane, past Dwight Howard and dunked it with one hand and got fouled. It was just sick. He also made 5 3-pointers that kept Spain in reach all game. The guy is just a playmaker and sticking him in that young lineup just scares me. He led Spain with 22 points and if he didn't foul out with 3 minutes left, he may have had had enough to make this game even closer.

4. Kobe Bryant is unequivocally the best player in the NBA, if not the world. I've always been a big critic of Kobe. Besides being an unfaithful husband, I just always thought he had this big ego. Well, put all that aside and I am now more than comfortable to say that he is the most clutch and complete player in the world. What he did in this game versus Spain was just heroic. With the U.S. struggling to score, he hits a three, gets fouled, and it was Fernandez who fouled him, sending him to the bench with 5. He made the free throw to send the lead from 2 to 6 in just one trip down the foul. On the other end, he would get a steal and the offensive side, he would get an assist to balloon the lead to 8. Add in one more assist on the next play and there was no doubt who Coach K was counting on. Kobe's D is just suffocating, which is why he was in foul trouble. But it also why Spain lost by 11 and 3 or 5. Plus, his clutch shots were just enough to stop whatever run Spain may have had going. It simply took the wind out their sails. The stat line doesn't do his game justice: 7-14 FG, 3-8 3PT, 3-3 FT, 3 REB, 6 AST, 2 BLK, 20 PTS. The guy knows how to take over a game and in a game this big with a lot on the line, Kobe stepped up big.

5. This game is much different if Jose Calderon is healthy. Spain's best point guard was out due to a leg injury. Calderon is a playmaker as well as better ball-handler. Tons of credit goes to 17 year old Rubio, who did more than his part to keep Spain in it. Look out for him in a couple years as a lottery pick. But Calderon would have brought some experience playing on this stage to the game. He has been playing on the team for at least 4 years and has played for the Toronto Raptors the past two years so he would have been comfortable playing against the likes of Kidd, Kobe and such. I don't know if Spain wins but with Calderon, they have better depth and maybe less turnovers.

6. It sucks to be Carlos Boozer and Michael Redd. Nothing like being the stars of your respective teams in the NBA and probably your whole basketball career and then, having to sit the bench during the whole gold-medal game. Ouch. I mean, Coach K had Boozer at Duke and still gave him no love. Eh well, they got a gold medal.

7. U.S. better be ready in London in 2012. After seeing all these nations throw all they had into playing us, I just think we may be in some trouble in 4 years. Spain alone will probably be a team of NBA players. From the Gasol brothers, Rubio, Hernandez, Calderon and maybe a few more, this team will be stacked and seasoned. Plus, teams like Argentina, Germany and China will be getting better as well. I like where Olympics basketball is going. And hopefully with the games in London, we get more live games at times that are more reasonable than 2:30am.

All in all, a great game. If you missed it, I don't blame you but this was true end-to-end action that was would have kept you awake if you did stay up. Props to both teams for the games they played. It's just too bad you don't see this type of play in the NBA. You know, people giving it their all to win a game. Playing for the name in front of the jersey and not the one on the back. eh well. Just means I'll have to wait another 4 years before I watch pro basketball again.

GO USA!