Aug 22, 2008

Still have Olympic spirit?

By John Reid / Daily News Staff Writer

We have reached the two-week mark of the Olympics. Do you still have that "USA, USA., USA" spirit or do you have a case of the U.S. blues?

We've seen some grueling events on our TV screens and it has been grueling, at times, to watch two weeks of non-stop Olympic action on six channels, give or take.

Are your eyes buggy, Bunky? Still miffed you had to stay up late to watch the women's gymnastics team event? Has gymnastics analyst Tim Daggett rankled your chain one too many times?

Here are some of my observations, thoughts, of the Beijing Oly's, either from what I read or from what I watched on the Boob Tube:

n There has never been an Olympics that has gone from such a high to such a low in such a short period of time - from the spectacular opening ceremonies to the senseless murder of Todd Bachman, father-in-law of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon.

n Japan's 3-1 defeat of USA in the softball gold medal game sticks in one's craw.

n Should have been made more of at the time by the announcing crew, but wasn't: USA goalie Hope Solo's incredible save late in the second half of the gold-medal women's soccer game with Brazil.

n USA may not have won team gold in women's gymnastics, but it set a world record for hugs.

n Call me naive, but I didn't know men played field hockey.

n Absolutely! Women's soccer analyst Brandi Chastain, never at a loss for words unfortunately, already has a go-to word and that's "absolutely!"

n After reading about it, I wish I would have seen it: USA's Henry Cejudo winning gold in the 121-pound freestyle wrestling title match.

n Boxing analyst Teddy "Again" Atlas, a Staten Island native, kept drilling the same point over and over, again and again.

n Martin and Lewis, Rowan and Martin, Abbott and Costello. Presenting, for your entertainment pleasure, May-Treanor and Walsh.

n Nice to hear the old United Airlines theme song, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," one more time.

n Someone upstairs needed to give swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines a stern memo reading: "You're the analyst, not the play-by-play man! And lower your voice while you're at it!"

n Judging whether 20-kilometer racewalkers keep a foot in contact with the ground at all times must be the toughest judging job in the world.

n Men's water polo play-by-play man Bob Fitzgerald had to be tempted as seconds ticked down as No. 9 USA stunned No. 1 Croatia 7-5. But Al Michaels' "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" was never uttered from Fitzgerald's lips.

n I cringed mightily while watching Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai break his arm on a lift. It was former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman's broken leg revisited.

n Daggett, with his overbearing commentary, seemed to be trying to outdo fellow analyst Elfi Shlegel. One of them wasn't needed (if not both of them).

n Money question for Jamaican two-time gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt: Can you catch a football?

n After seeing a goalie catch a shot in the face, I wouldn't want to be in the cage in a team handball game.

n Never knew USA's NBA players could play such good ball-pressure defense.

n With a 1-0 shutout of Brazil in double OT to win gold, Solo was right all along, wasn't she?

n With four different replays of Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser winning gold in the women's 100 meters, we learned from analyst Ato Boldin that Fraser was 21 years old and didn't have any experience - four different times.

n Racewalking for 20 kilometers in the pouring rain didn't look like a lot of fun.

n Cameras focusing on synchronized divers in the showers post-dive could mean only one thing: A new reality show in the making.

n Sorry, but it's just her voice I can do without: Host Mary Carillo. (And her beaver joke at the dam went right over the top.)

n Webster's has changed the definition of "gymnastics" to "controversy."

Hugs all around until the closing ceremonies, Bunky.



E-mail John Reid at

jreid@dailynewsgroup.com.