Beijing Olympics day 1 & 2

The Beijing Olympics have been wonderful so far. The only thing I can complain about is that with only having one channel I am restricted to the sports they show me on NBC regular. They show swimming and gymnastics. The heats and semis for everything. I'd rather watch some water polo or something. **Side note-I am actually not sure if I am getting everything on the right day. China being some 15 hours ahead of my time zone makes tv broadcasting difficult. Some events are live, some are not. They have an agreement with the swimming to hold the finals in the morning so that they can be broadcast during primetime in the U.S. So I do the best I can with getting things to the right day. Today I watched Michael Phelps swim at night in Beijing and then after getting a good nights sleep he came back and swam some more. Isn't tape delay wonderful? ##Other side note-I hate the NBC lady at the swimming pool. She is a terrible interviewer. Please get someone else.

Day 1-Michael Phelps wins his first gold of the Olympics well on his way to set more records. The highlight of the day was probably USA going 1, 2, 3 in the women's sabre competition. Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson, and another 18 year old beat everyone else in the quick paced competition. Zagunis repeated gold from 2004.

Day 2-USA vs. China in basketball. The basketball team has gone from the "Dream Team" to the "Redeem Team" because apparantly they are embarassed about only winning bronze in Athens. USA spanked China but it was fun because Yao Ming got to play for his country. USA dominated in the swimming arena. The men's 4x100 freestyle relay was supposed to be won by the French. Some French swimmer even made some snotty comments about the USA team. They wanted to come back to their gold medal having been beaten in Sydney and Athens. Michael Phelps led the team and put in a solid effort. Garrett Webber-Gale put in the second leg and helped keep the Americans in contention. France and Australia were both putting on good shows. During the race many teams were ahead of world record pace. Cullen Jones swam the third leg, he slowed down the Americans a bit but still put in a good effort. Jason Lezak was the anchor and final leg of the race going up against France's Alain Bernard. Lezak was right behind Bernard for most of the leg. Bernard was leading at the 50 meter mark. Then with almost 25 meters left to go Lezak really turned on the burners and caught up with Bernard. The race was so close that it was only decided who won by looking at the times. USA won!!! They got the gold back and beat those Frenchies. Lezak is considered an older competitor but he came through for team USA. They also beat the world record. As did four of the other teams which meant it was a very fast race. People are calling it probably the best relay of all time. Congrats to the men's relay team for winning in such dramatic style!! Go USA!

Michael Phelps, Garrett Webber-Gale, and Jason Lezak