Spare Change

Closing Ceremoniously

Posted by Bryan

The flame has been snuffed. Closing ceremonies, to a slightly less degree than the opening gala, rocked (Jimmy Page's appearance notwithstanding). I type in awe of Chinese creativity, ingenuity, and execution (no double meaning intended).

My nephew Nolan's girlfriend Bernadette offers a good recap of her personal observations.
She offers a very interesting link to 36 facts about the Olympic Medal Count. And from there, there was an interesting take on the "real" medal count. If you want to know my take on this, just read my prior posts on gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and synchronized swimming.

Since she had more observations than did I, here's her take on things:

So, the Beijing Olympics are over. Let me take a second to weep. To say I am obsessed with the Olympics would be an understatement. For the past two weeks, I spent a lot of my time watching the Olympics on NBC, following the medal count, even watching the most obscure events like Sailing and Shooting on nbcolympics.com. So, for the first time, I was able to follow the Olympics very closely. I DVR'd every primetime slot on NBC, checked nbcolympics.com at least 50 times a day, read blogs on Yahoo. So, what did I think? Let me address some highlights and disappointments of these Olympics Games.

HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Phelps
Of course there is Michael Phelps. I bet everyone's sick of hearing about him but the truth is that he has become the most decorated Olympian of all time; a title I feel is well deserved. In the gold medal count, Phelps would have been 9th in these Olympics, in front of countries like France, Canada, and Mexico. Two of the best moments came from his races; particularly the 4x100 Freestyle Relay which left me screaming and jumping (although Jason Lezak gets a lot of credit for that comeback) and the 100m Butterfly in which I was given a play by play over the phone while my plane was sitting on the airport runway. What made it sweeter was all the talk against Phelps, from Ian Thorpe saying that Phelps would not be able to tie Mark Spitz's 7 gold medals let alone beat it, Bernard saying they were going to "smash the Americans", to Cavic's statement that Phelps losing the race would be "good for swimming". Not only did Michael Phelps beat the odds, he also beat the doubters and showed them what hard work could achieve.

Opening Ceremonies
No words can explain the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies. It was exceptional, phenomenal, breathtaking. As pathetic as it sounds, there were times I actually cried. From 2,008 drummers in perfect synchronization, to the human Chinese printing press, to the green, glowing human bird's nest replica, the Opening Ceremonies were a feast for the eyes. China really used their best resource, their people, to create an amazing show. Granted, afterwards various controversies such as the computer generated fireworks, lip synching little girl, and the performer who may have been paralyzed during practice, have cast some doubt, the Opening Ceremonies in terms of aesthetics were amazing.

Team Sports
USA Team Sports flourished in this Olympics. Despite disappointment in a silver medal finish for USA Softball, the other team sports did exceptionally well. Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Volleyball, Men's and Women's Water Polo, and Men's and Women's Beach Volleyball all made it to their respective gold medal games, with five of them winning the gold. The USA reclaimed the top spot in Men's Basketball as the "Redeem Team" and Men's Volleyball won the gold medal in an emotional final after Coach Hugh McCutcheon's in-law's were attacked earlier in the Olympics.

UT Athletes
The current and former UT students that represented the United States during the Olympics also fared well. In the end, Burnt Orange in Beijing earned 10 gold medals (most from swimming), two silver, and two bronze. It was nice to hear UT mentioned numerous times on the NBC Broadcasts.

DISAPPOINTMENTS
Track & Field
Although Team USA in Track & Field actually had the most gold and total medals in the competition, it was a disappointing overall performance. Blunders like baton drops, medal sweeps that didn't happen, and injuries that hindered the favorites all contributed to the letdown in Track & Field. Another disappointment was Liu Xiang's inability to compete in his home country for even one race. However, there were some bright spots including Usain Bolt of Jamaica, golds in the decathlon and women's discus, and sweeps in the Men's 400 Meters, and 400 M Hurdles.

Gymnastics Scoring
Needless to say, a lot of people were frustrated about the gymnastics scoring. One ridiculous example come to mind in the women's vault individual event final when a Chinese gymnast who landed on her knees won a bronze medal, when American Alicia Sacramone only hopped on her attempts. Another was when Nastia Liukin only got the silver medal when she scored the same score as another gymnast, although in this case the rules were in place ahead of time.

The Weather
The weather in Beijing during the Olympics wasn't exactly sunny. A lot of the time we saw downpours and overcasts and sometimes some events had to be rescheduled. China's attempts to "cloud seed" in order to change the weather turned out to be a bust.

Medal Count
The medal count was a bit confusing. Certain countries, particularly the United States, look at the total medal count to determine who "wins". In that case, the United States won with 110 medals. Others look at the total gold medals, particularly China. In that case, China won with 51 gold medals. So, who's right? Plus, there are some underlying factors, mostly in terms of bias in judged sports. For example, the United States only won 4 gold medals in judged sports. China won 27 golds in judged sports. What do you think?

August 25, 2008 6:06 AM | TrackBack