Best. Race. Ever. + Olympics Update

Posted in News, Sports on August 11th, 2008 by Hyphen

stoked

If you missed the historic men’s 4×100 freestyle relay in the Olympics yesterday, you missed one of the best races ever.  It was so dope, I actually had to post about swimming on TAOD.  That’s unheard of.

Our oldest swimmer on the team, Jason Lezak, anchored the race and somehow erased almost a full body length deficit in the final 50 meters.  On his very last stroke, he edged out France’s Alain Bernard at the wall and kept Michael Phelps’ dream of 8 gold medals alive.  At the same time, he ethered the trash talking Bernard, who earlier said the heavily favored French team would “smash” the Americans.  Ouch.

Since NBC’s being a bit egomaniacal about its Olympics coverage, I can’t embed the video.  You can, however, watch the race in all its glory right here.

Other observations from the first 3 days of the Olympics:

  • The opening ceremony was awesome.  Kanye was definitely taking notes.
  • Phelps won the 2 hardest events he’s in, so his quest for 8 looks possible.
  • The Chinese male gymnasts are machines, it’s not even fair.
  • There’s no way their female gymnasts are over the required age of 16.  Even R. Kelly thinks they look young.
  • Fencing is impossible to watch if you don’t know anything about the sport.  They do wear cool Daft Punk style helmets though.
  • Watching badminton just makes me want to play badminton.  Same with handball.  I miss PE.
  • The ‘Redeem Team’ woke up after a slow first quarter to drill the Chinese, but I’m still not entirely comfortable.  Tougher tests await in Greece and Spain, but not until after we demolish Angola.
  • Our women b-baller’s are legit.  Anything less than their 4th consecutive gold would shock me.
  • Olympic boxing is boring.  Sorry.
  • Beach volleyball is surprisingly exciting, and way cooler than indoor.  However, the indoor women > outdoor, despite the skimpy bikinis.  Those uniforms are a little too small.
  • Why can’t I find any judo or men’s soccer on any of the 5 channels airing the games, and why do table tennis and taekwondo start way after the other sports?  Lame.
  • It’s going to be great to watch the US and China fight it out over the medal count.  China’s up 2 at the moment…let’s get it.
  • Why am I up till 6 AM after an episode of Sound Session and posting on the blog?

Last night’s show and interview with Wyclef coming soon, but for now…*Outro*

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