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.

World's Greatest Athlete

American Bryan Clay won the decathlon! Woo! He finished last in the the 1500m, the last of the 10 events, but he was so far ahead by that point that it really didn't matter. Man, I love that decathlon. It's so amazing that those guys can do all of those events, no matter whether they medal or not. It's probably my favorite event of the Summer Olympics. I definitely think "World's Greatest Athlete" is a much cooler title than "World's Fastest Man/Woman" or "World's Strongest Man/Woman". I especially love watching the field events that the athletes do, and it has so much history. You gotta be great at not one thing, but 10! Awesomes.

One thing that I've never understood is why there's not a women's decathlon. There's a heptathlon, but that's 3 less events. American Hyleas Fountain got bronze in that, which is awesome. I just wish they would add pole vault, a longer distance run, and most of all DISCUS! They don't get to throw discus. How dumb is that?

Anyway, we've done really well this year in the team events. Our men's water polo team will play for gold, the women's team got silver. Men's and women's indoor volleyball will both play for gold. We already swept beach volleyball in both. The men's and women's basketball teams will play for gold, too, and are both expected to win. Women's soccer got gold. Baseball should end up with bronze. And softball got silver (which was a bad shocker, as I already explained). Overall, our teams are ruling majorly.

Mary Carillo did a story on kung fu monks, which was really awesome. On that note, the Lopez family dominated in tae kwon do. Mark won silver, Diana won bronze, then Steven (a 2 time gold medalist and 4 time world champion) got silver after a controversial penalty deducting a point from Steven, leading into overtime. They're the first tae kwon do family, and they're even all coached by their oldest brother Jean. That's pretty cool.

I haven't been able to watch any Judo at all, but according to this article, a variety of countries are medaling this year (the sport is usually dominated by Japan), including a first medal ever for Tajikistan. Ronda Rousey won the bronze for the US, too. I love martial arts!