Great sports morning

Wow! If you're a sports fan, especially a fan of women's sports, today is your day.
I went to bed last night after watching Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh win the gold medal in beach volleyball. It was a great match against a great Chinese team.
This duo is the equivalent to any other sport's greatest of all time. They're the Michael Jordan of the beach. It's amazing to watch those caliber of athletes raise their level at just the right moment.
I woke up this morning early and turned on the TV to catch the end of the U.S. women's softball team's 3-1 loss to Japan. The loss ended the Americans' dominance in the sport, which won't be back in the Olympics.
U.S. pitcher Cat Osterman made two mistakes, which proved to be two too many. The young lady was completely devastated after the game.
Like a wrestler leaves his boots on the mat after his final match, the U.S. women left their spikes on the field before their departure.
Perfect timing for me because I turned the channel to watch the start of the U.S. women's basketball team's showdown against Russia in the semifinals. Russia is the most perplexing group I've ever seen. After looking like garbage throughout the tournament, the Ruskies came to play against the Americans, dominating the game early behind the inside play of 6-foot-8 Maria Stepanova.
It was a one-point game at halftime thanks to a 10-2 run by the U.S. in the final two minutes. The Americans' depth proved the difference along with a stifling defense. The U.S. keyed on Becky Hammon, holding her to two shot attempts in the first half. She finished with 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting as the Americans pulled away to the victory in a hard-fought, physical and sometimes nasty game.
The Chinese fans actually started to boo the Americans after Sylvia Fowles took a cheap shot at an opponent. The Americans were called for a flagrant foul and the Russians were called for two.
Anyway, the basketball game concluded and I switched over to watch the U.S. women's soccer team play Brazil for the gold medal. It was, perhaps the best soccer match I've ever seen.
My girl Hope Solo was a beast in goal as the Americans won the gold medal 1-0 in overtime.
It was a thrilling game with lots of near-miss goal-scoring opportunities, especially for Brazil, whose players were quite heartbroken in the loss.
What a day! And, it's not even 11 a.m., yet.

The Russians are coming

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time.
It's been quite a few months since Becky Hammon announced she would suit up for Russia in the Olympics. Since then, a lot of women's basketball fans have talked about what would happen if she led another country against the good ole' USA with a medal on the line.
Russia plays the United States sometime this morning in the semifinals. The winner plays for the gold medal.
I watched the USA team dominate the competition. Maybe even more than the U.S. men, the U.S. women are heavily favored to claim gold in these games. I watched Russia's past two games, a win over Spain and a loss to Australia.
Let me say this, the big showdown is likely going to be a big blowout.
Hammon herself said her Russian team needs to play perfect to stay in the game against the Americans. What she didn't say is her teammates need to play hard and with heart for 40 minutes. That's something they hadn't done until Spain, when they rallied for a victory.
Hammon leads Russia in scoring but I believe her presence has affected the team's chemistry. She's not sure what her teammates are going to do and they still don't know how to play with her. I watched her passes bounce off their hands and I've seen them miss her when she's spotted up for a wide-open shot.
Chemistry is the most important ingredient for a team and Russia just doesn't have it.
I still want to see the game, though. The American players have said she's just another Russian enemy to them, which is exactly the way they should look at her.
If Russia happens to stay close for a half, don't be surprised if there are some extracurricular activities from the Americans, who wouldn't dare let Hammon lead the hated Russians past them to the gold medal game.
Personally, I'm rooting for Hammon to play well and make the game competitive. Wouldn't it be great if it came down to a final shot and she had the ball in her hands?

No gold for NBC

I'd like to give a medal to NBC for its coverage of the Olympics.
What medal is lower than tin?
I'm an American, a proud American. But, I am so sick of all the United States cheerleader crap. The late Harry Caray would be ashamed of all this homerism.
Throughout these games so far, Americans win and are heroes or Americans are cheated and are victims.
I don't follow gymnastics and I have no doubt our American girls haven't caught any breaks over in China. Then again, I'm sure the Russians and Romanians didn't get a lot of breaks in Atlanta when our girls were crowned world champions.
The home crowd can influence judges and officials.
So, why are the NBA commentators going crazy over this stuff. I have no problem with them showing pity and sympathy for the American gymnasts. But, I don't understand why they degrade the Chinese girls.
After the parallel bars competition, the announcer actually said, as they put the gold medal around the Chinese girl's neck, "Does she really think she won?"
I don't care what anyone says, that's horrible journalism.
It ticked me off when NBC didn't cover the women's pole vault the other night. The American had talked trash about the Russian world record holder, saying she was going to, "kick some Russian butt."
The Russian came back and destroyed the American, setting Olympic and world records along the way. The Russian then talked about the trash talk and said, "She should respect me and know her position. Now she knows."
You would think NBC would cover that stuff but I watched the TV coverage and didn't hear any of the comments. When the French swimmer talked about smashing the Americans in the pool, they wouldn't stop talking about it. When an American talks trash and it backfires, it's not mentioned.
Yep, that's fair and balanced coverage.
I'm also ticked that I can't see any live events. I'm also ticked I can't find the events I want to see. I'm also ticked I don't get to see the foreign stars I want to see.
To sum it up, as far as I'm concerned, NBC's coverage fell off the beam.

Olympics fun to watch

Holy crap!
I just watched a South Korean woman snatch 308 pounds over her head with ease.
That's freakin' amazing.
I guess that's why I love the Olympics. There are some incredible athletes around the world that we only get to see once every four years.
I wish we had a sports network that actually covered events other than baseball, basketball and football.
Michael Phelps has wowed the world, although I think the Serbian got screwed in the 100-meter butterfly. But, Phelps has been fun to watch.
I'm not a big gymnastics fan but I did enjoy watching those events, too. She didn't win, but that Shawn Johnson girl is something else.
Maybe the most impressive performance I've seen so far is Usain Bolt winning the 100 so easily. I've never seen a world record set when the athlete actually cruises the final 40 yards.
I'm really enjoying these events. This first week has been great and I'm eagerly looking forward to some great track and field next week.
I finally got to watch Russia's women's basketball team this morning and boy, was I disappointed. I know why they wanted Becky Hammon. She's, by far, the best player they've got. They lost to Australia by about 20 and Hammon was the only reason it wasn't 30. She had 20 points and took 11 shots.
The rest of that Russian team is as gutless as I've ever seen. I had no idea they were THAT heartless. They have the talent to push USA but, mark my words, they'll be competitive for a half before folding like a one-egg pudding.
Other than Russia's horrible showing, I've enjoyed the emotion of all these athletes. I can't wait to see what next week brings.

Wrestling with the heat

IT'S FRIGGIN' HOT!!!!!
Whew, if I could afford it, I'd travel to the equator just so I could cool off.
It's so hot, I cracked an egg on the sidewalk - a full grown chicken jumped out, pecked me in the forehead three times and clucked, "IT'S FRIGGIN' HOT!!!!!"
Anyway, a couple weeks ago Kelly Blair and I traveled to Monroe to watch a TNA wrestling house show. I must admit, I was a bit skeptical on the drive there. We speculated that most of the wrestlers on the TV show probably would not make the trip to Monroe, followed by a drive to Little Rock for another show the next night.
I was wrong. We were treated to a show which featured a genuine TNA star wrestler in every match. Kelly's favorite, Angelina Love, was there. I thought he was going to have to be hosed down.
My used-to-be-favorite, Roxxi Leveaux was also there. Apparently, she's not going to let her hair grow back as she's still fairly bald. Call me a pig but, I think women are more attractive with hair on their head.
The main event featured Kurt Angle, who lost to A.J. Styles. After the match, Angle took the microphone and spoke of his love for the business. He then stood in the ring while anyone with 20 bucks could come in and take a picture with him. While he was doing that, a few of the other wrestlers came around the ring and talked, signed autographs and posed for pictures for free.
I'm not an autograph guy, so Kelly and I headed for the door. But, Kelly did talk me into stopping into a Hooters for wings.
I must say, I don't get it. The wings at this restaurant aren't all they're talked up to be. I have no idea why this restaurant is so popular.
If our waitress hadn't flirted with us and wasn't wearing the shortest shorts I've ever seen in my friggin' life, I wouldn't have left that tip . . . and my jaw on the floor.