First, this from Peter King of Sports Illustrated:On the night Michael Phelps was swimming in a relay for his record eighth gold medal, the New York Giants were spending their final night at training camp at the University at Albany. Thirteen offensive linemen gathered around a big-screen plasma TV in a dorm room. Phelps dove in and lengthened the U.S. lead. "U-S-A! U-S-A!'' the linemen chanted. And when the race was won, one of the linemen - no one's sure who - started to sing. And they all joined in, at the top of their off-key lungs.
"God bless America ... land that I love ... stand beside her, and guide her ...''
Shaun O'Hara, the leader of the pack, told me: "What a night. The coolest thing. Pretty patriotic. Pretty memorable.''
You never know what you'll run across on the training camp trail.
Memorable Moments
There were many memorable moments of the 2008 Olympic games. Michael Phelps' record eight gold medals. Jamaica's Usain Bolt winning the 100 and 200 meter events, mon. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Also, the men and women basketball teams brought home the gold. The men's volleyball team and their coach overcame adversity to win the gold over favored Brazil. Yes, there are many more moments, but these are the ones that stand out to me.
Closing Ceremony
The 2008 Summer
Olympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest.The ceremony included the handover of the games from Beijing to London. Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing handed over the Olympic flag to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. There was also a performance organized by the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.
According to the Nielsen Media Research, NBC's sixteen day coverage of the Beijing Olympics was the most-watched U.S. television event of all time, with over 211 million viewers.
The Next Host City
In October of next year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will meet in Copenhagen to determine the host city of the 2016 Games. The four cities they'll choose from are Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janiero and Tokyo. I'm going with Chicago as the most likely host of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. There will be a bidding war for the rights to broadcast the first American Summer Olympics in two decades. Expect the IOC to follow the money to Chicago.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics is officially over. Now, we can all get some sleep.
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Man...16 days of pure awesomeness. I caught myself either getting up early or staying up late to watch sports I honestly don't get two damns about normally. I LOVE IT. Can't wait for the Winter games to roll around.
Yes, we pretty much kept the televisions on the Olympics the entire time, except for the mornings when our little man, Brady, wanted to watch SpongeBob!
Since I swam on a summer league team growing up, I love the swimming events. So whenever Michael Phelps was swimming, we would stop what we were doing, gather in the living room, and watch. He was awesome!
talking about swimming ... how about the gold medal on the 10K marathon for Dutch Maarten vander Weijden, after a stemcell transplant 7 years ago, surviving cancer.
Thought that was pretty pretty inspirational and very impressive :D
Mirjam,
Yes, indeed. Maarten vander Weijden is an overcomer, for sure.
And it is lesser known stories like this one you mentioned, that we hardly ever hear about.
Thanks for commenting.