Team Sports

I've watched quite a bit of coverage, and have been particularly interested in the pointed comments about the focus on the whole "team aspect" as opposed to individual competition. Butler Shaffer notes:

...watching track-and-field competition ranks as one of my favorite spectator sports. The athletes competed in events I had, until then, never even heard of (e.g., steeplechase, hammer throw, walking, etc.) It was, for the entire weekend, a purely individualistic form of competition (this guy was the world's fastest runner, etc.)

And Lew Rockwell enforces the same point:

For me, the key is to avoid the team sports like basketball and softball, and cheer the great individual performances, regardless, needless to say, of nation state. After all the ancient games were all about individual excellence, and that is what counts today. The only exciting team sports are the running and swimming relays, in which individual performance is highlighted anyway.

Ditto to both posts, because I take exception to the ascendancy of team sports in the Olympics. However, the worst of all is the fact that the spoiled and self-important NBA players get to play in, and ruin, the basketball competition in the Olympics. I cheered in 2004 when those bloated, arrogant fools lost to ..... Argentina. Needless to say, I was not pulling for the US in basketball this year, either.

Yeah, Yeah...Synchronized Swimming

At least one competitor made a point about her sport being "difficult and requiring great endurance and skill." I suppose the SS'ers are tired of people sneering at their sport. I don't like synchronized swimming because I don't think team events belong in the Olympics. Second, it's boring. Third, I don't like it. Indeed it requires tremendous conditioning and strength - no argument there. Those gals are tough. But nothing changes the fact that I don't like synchronized swimming as an Olympic sport.The US Women Are Fat

I observed something quite interesting throughout the Olympic games this year. I'll get in trouble for this candid statement. The US Olympic athletes mirror that which we see in everyday life, and that is, the US women are fatter than women from most of the other countries. When I saw the US synchronized swimming team all standing together in a group pose, fresh out of the water, I was appalled that they were all overweight. Every single one of them had a sizable excess of body fat, especially on their legs. Very large, soft, fat legs. Not one of them was lean, and not one gal had any muscular definition in her legs. It was just excess fat on top of any muscle they did hold.

Then there followed a group shot of the Chinese team, and what difference! All of those gals were lean & mean, cut, athletic, and low in body fat, just as an athlete should be.

It's the same for some of the swimmers, and many of the gymnasts as well. The size of US gymnasts has swelled in recent years. I went to the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in Columbus, Ohio in March, and almost every young gymnast on the floor was plump and lacking athletic lines. At the end of the day, it sometimes does not matter what your output is if what you are putting into your body is sheer crap. Many of the US female athletes do not maintain appropriate diets.

Diving and Swimming

I always love the diving competition. Divers always look great - beautiful, ectomorphic bodies with great muscle definition and body lines. Many of them are a work of art. Once again, the Chinese divers were great to watch: young, poised, and chiseled out of stone. But I fell in love with AussieLand's Matthew Mitcham as soon as I saw him dive. I later saw this story about him being openly gay, but heck, I knew that the first time I saw him. I cheered for him and I pulled for him to win. I don't cheer for athletes because they are competing for the United States. There is something about each individual athlete that draws my attention and affection, and whatever captivates me - spirit, will, talent, personality, or desire - has nothing to do with the country for which the athlete competes.

Male Gymnasts

I like female gymnastics somewhat, but I especially love the men's competition. Male gymnasts have the most spectacular bodies anywhere! Chiseled, lean, strong, and perfect. Tiny waists, hulking arms, flaring shoulders, and a bountiful chest. The rings competition is especially fantastic.