Let's watch the Olympics, just for kicks

(pun intended)

NBC didn't cover any taekwondo on their main channel, so I had to go online to watch it. We won two bronzes, one for Terrence Jennings, who got into the sport by watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and one for Paige McPherson. Great Britain also won with a gold for Jade Jones! I'm glad the British have won lots of medals at these Olympics--it's always nice to see the host country do well, and they very often do since they have home-field/court/ring/track/etc. advantage.

I've really enjoyed Mary Carillo's coverage of these Olympics. Her interviews with athletes are always well-done, and her specials on London and the U.K. (about topics such as Welsh traditions and Shakespeare) were interesting and fun. I guess they have the best sports journalists go out into the field to interact with people and leave the odd ones (Bob Costas) in the studio.

A few words on Usain Bolt: He is certainly impressive, but I don't like him. He's unquestionably the greatest sprinter of all time, winning both the 100m and 200m in 2 consecutive Olympics (as well as some relays), but he's also very full of himself. He can't seem to stop talking about how great he is, and even after he won the 4x100m relay with the Jamaican team, he said, "I'm very happy with myself," as if his teammates didn't have much to do with it. (Contrast that with the winning US women's 4x100m relay team, who couldn't stop saying how much they loved each other.) I might also add that in a couple of his races, he actually slowed down on the last few steps when he knew he had it won. In a long distance run, that can make sense because you're exhausted to point of collapsing, but in sprinting, it's just pure arrogance. It shows that Usain doesn't care as much about doing his best as he does about winning. A true sportsman always tries his best and gives it his all, whether or not he's in the lead. Sports, especially the Olympics, are about showing people what you're made of, not simply winning every contest. The media's obsessive coverage of him also annoys me because it overshadows more inspiring athletes like Ashton Eaton, the decathlon gold medal winner.

It's been a great 2 weeks.

Well, it's all over now. China is now officially a sports powerhouse. They lost a gold, however, in the last diving event when an Australian dove perfectly and upset the order. We were able to somewhat make up for our mistakes in the 4x100m relays by winning both 4x400m relays. Bob Costas was his usual self--"The man from down under goes up and over" (referring to an Australian who won the pole vault). I'm really going to miss baseball, and I'm really, REALLY going to miss softball (but hopefully they'll bring back the latter in 2016 *crosses fingers*). Michael Phelps was obviously the biggest story of the games, and I'm anxious to see how he'll do in London 2012.

I'm excited for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Till then, my life will go back to normal. No more being glued to the tv, recording everything I can. No more scheduling activities around Olympic coverage. Ah well, I was just about ready to be free of it, anyway.

Phelps and Costas continuing to meet expectations...

Phelps at 11 career golds...

Bob Costas continues to be corny and somewhat athletically illiterate while anchoring the coverage...

The Women's Gymnastics team looked for a while like they might get gold, but after Alicia Sacramone botched her beam routine, she wasn't able to put it past her and ended up having a bad floor routine, but they still came away with silver. I really like Shawn Johnson's floor routine--she uses music from August Rush.

I've also noticed a lot of interesting music choices throughout NBC's coverage. I keep hearing soundtracks being used on stories about athletes, including National Treasure and Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events. Pirates of the Caribbean music was fittingly used when they talked about the fencing medal sweep. I also randomly noticed "Ghostbusters" playing in the background during a beach volleyball match.