Olympic Fever: Catch it!

I'm simply mad about the Olympics. It has consumed my life already and it's only day 3. It's even more thrilling than I remember. The opening ceremony was spectacular. The boxes as waves, characters, and flowers were pretty amazing and even moreso when it was revealed that it was controlled by people! The Chinese really know how to turn it out. Their emphasis on the collective really came in handy during the choreography for the opening ceremony.

This year, I find that I'm watching all the events. Usually I favor swimming, gymnastics, and the key track and field events, but now I'm watching synchronized diving and even volleyball as well (not just women's beach but also the less glamorous indoor team volleyball). Granted NBC is really stretching with some of their human interest stories this year (the French swimmer who fell in love with the Italian swimmer who now dates a competitive female Italian swimmer, Michael Phelps had ADHD, Natalie Coughlin loves to shop at Farmer's Markets). But for every story that sounds like a Facebook profile, there are some good ones (the 33 year old gymnast formerly of the Soviet Union who went to Germany because she need healthcare for her son who had leukemia). And last night's 4X100 freestyle relay was out of this world. I became so enraptured and excited that I almost screamed out loud. I could not believe the way Jason Lezak passed France at the end. It was an incredible nail biter! Although this almost didn't happen thanks to the lackluster efforts of Cullen Jones. Ugh, swim faster dude! Even Garrett Weber-Gale did better than you and he's a rookie.

Below are some more Olympic related musings and links.

Olympic Highlights:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0808_HD_OC_RC_CE005

Michael Phelps: Hot or Not? This is actually a pressing topic. As many have noted, Michael Phelps has a hot body. That is an undisputed fact. However, the face leads to debate. Some think it's adorable goofy. Some think it's just goofy. Some hate the teeth. Some think he looks awkward out of the water. Well, cast your vote here and decide.
http://popsugar.com/1854039

My pick for "Most likely to replace Tom Dolan in my heart" award goes to:
Ryan Lochte (USA-swimming)
http://www.google.com/search?q=ryan+lochte&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
http://ladiesdotdotdot.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/hump-day-hottie-ryan-lochte/
-He's attractive, laid back, a great swimmer, and is only 2 years younger than me. Granted he may not be as successful in attaining golds but he's on my radar.

My pick for least appealing Olympian goes to:

Bridget Sloan (USA-gymnastics)
-She stumbled on the floor exercise when all scores were going to count for the qualifier. She has eyes that clearly indicate she cannot handle pressure and has low self-esteem. For someone so "consistent" and "solid", I expected more.

Honorable mention for being punished for being young, attractive and famous by the Chinese government:
Guo Jingjing (China-synchronized diving)

Olympic rant:
I am annoyed at George W. Bush's presence at the games. He can claim it's to foster a peaceful relationship with China, but I think he just wants to hang out. And I would bet money he wasn't whispering with Putin on Friday about what was going on between Russia and Georgia but rather it was focused on "Hey, wow didja see those lights?" Bush - you suck worse than Edwards!