Height 6'4" - Average American Adult Male 5"9"

Weight 195lb - Average American Adult Male 175lb

Wingspan 6'7" - For most people it's approximately equal to height (not so for Phelps)

Feet Size 14 - Average American Adult Male Size 10.5

12,000 calories a day - Average American 3,770

16 Olympic Medals; 14 Gold, 2 Bronze: Of the current 205 National Olympic Committees, 85 (41%) have never won a single medal. 153 (75%) have fewer total Olympic medals than the Baltimore Bullet. Finally, 170 (83%) have fewer Gold medals than one Michael "The Machine" Phelps. One individual, Larissa Latynina, did win more medals (18) but Phelps has most Gold.

China received a lot of attention as well.  But has the People's Communist Party leaders congratulate themselves, I wonder how the atheletes feel.  This article offers a glimpse into the imposed sacrifices olympic hopefuls are forced to make and why it sucks to live in a communist country.

Finally, congratlations to American Mens Volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon on winning gold after such an emotional rollercoaster.

Sources: Wikipedia, http://www.pipeline.com/~dada3zen/average.htm

Jahknow, mi couldn't blog during di Olympics. Di at'letes dem just had me inna uproar whe mi couldna constentrate.

Had to channel my Jamaican friends there just now. :) It is all done and dusted and it was truly the best Olympics ever for me as a Caribbean person. I don't know if any other Olympics could possibly compare for sheer joy, sheer amazing feats, the spirit of Caribbean unity and sharing each other's joy that enveloped the region. It was so absolutely wonderful to see our athletes truly shining the way we always knew they could when the drug-taking regimes got cleaned out of the sport. Not calling any names *coff* but they could only manage a few bronzes ... and some of those after they protest Caribbean athletes. Badmind and grudgeful, mi seh... only bronze fi dem! Dem haffi chat to wi back cos wi deh a finish line aready!

Anyhow, there were so  many islandistas and islandistos to be proud of at this Olympics. The Caribbean just BOSS UP the sprints - 6 out of 8 in the men's 100  metre finals and 4 out of 8 in the women's! Ye, it was like that.

But there were two islandistas who stood out the most for me - golden girls Shelly-Ann Fraser, the 100m champion and Veronica Campbell-Brown, the two-time 200m champ.

 They are a study in contrasts. Veronica Campbell-Brown was certainly the reigning and undisputed queen of Jamaican sprinting. Though she is only 26, this is her third Olympics  and she has medalled each time. VCB does not play when it comes to the big time. She is quiet, dignified and almost stoic in her demeanour. I have so much admiration for this woman. Particularly when Asafa was flattering to deceive over the last few years with records here and there but never the 'big ones, Ronnie Campbell always came through in the big moments. She is already JA's most decorated sprinter at the Olympics, surpassing the icon of every female Jamaican sprinter, the temperamental diva Merlene Ottey. Ronnie is rock solid and so I was never bothered by all the chatter from the American commentators about what and what Alyson Felix would do. I knew that Ms. Campbell-Brown would come through. I had no doubt.

Shelly-Ann Fraser is a completely different character. Where VCB is the queen and a known quantity, she could now be seen as the princess. Certainly when she clocked 10.85 to edge out Campbell at the Jamaican trials, people were dubious. Kerron Stewart they had heard of, Sherone Simpson for sure but many thought that VCB should have been given a 100m spot - Fraser was the obvious choice to be left out with her lack of racing pedigree compared to the three older sprinters.

But Shelly-Ann proved her worth and in her very first Olympics, captured the heart of the world, not just with her speed (10.78!) but her sweet and bubbly nature, that trademark always-gleaming broad smile covered in braces and her witty claims that it was the yam, dumpling and 'reggae power' that pushed Jamaican athletes to such heights at this Olympics. She is truly just adorable and cute as a button.

Her background is an inspiration - coming from one of the most crime-ridden, poverty-stricken ghettos in Kingston, the infamous Waterhouse, she defied the odds (and long they are in JA) to attend one of the island's most prestigious schools, Wolmer's Girls and then on to the University of Technology. She has now risen to the top. Yet the home she will return to is a one room shack in Waterhouse, a poignant reminder that she has only just arrived and of how incredible her story is.

I regretted it. For one thing, I've seen a lot of sports movies about entitled white men winning shiny medals and honestly it's not a story I needed to see again. For another, I hate being proselytized to.

There are two protagonists: a Jewish fellow, Abrahams, and a missionary Christian fellow, Liddell. I liked Abrahams, but I didn't like Liddell.

Liddell first: he is super Christian. Every time he was on the screen he was talking about feeling God's pleasure as he ran and God made him fast and he wants to win to honor God, blah blah BLAH. We had to sit through multiple sermons. Look, I don't care if other people are religious on their own time, but I strenuously object to them waving it in my face all the time. As the saying goes, your right to wave your arms around ends right at the tip of my nose.

This wouldn't have been such a problem if the text of the movie hadn't agreed with him so strenuously.

But first, Abrahams. He's a fascinating character-- Jewish, and really angry about antisemitism. Now, righteous anger tends to endear me to a character but apparently the filmmakers didn't like him nearly so much. Liddell and Abrahams win Britain's two gold medals, but whereas Liddell gets the super-triumphant music and the cheering and partying, Abrahams gets...a discordant violin theme that made my brother, savvy movie-goer, predict, "heart attack!" Because it was the kind of music that plays right before something bad happens, and we were getting shots of screaming crowds but couldn't hear them (another sure indicator of Bad Stuff Afoot) but no, there was no heart attack. Abrahams won, but it wasn't triumphant. His teammates didn't even speak to him in the locker room-- he and his coach get stupid drunk afterwards, all alone. And it's supposed to be that his teammates are being nice to him-- "giving him space." I completely didn't get it.

Liddell had his race a few days later, movie-time (since he refused to run on Sunday), and when he won it certainly wasn't treated like a mixed blessing.

It was just such a frustrating message. Missionary Christian wins: a triumph for God! Now he shall go to China to do missionary work! Jew Fighting For Respect wins: well, good for him, but now what'll he do?

The movie ends with people shuffling out of Abrahams' funeral, one of his old teammates saying, "Well, he ran them off their feet," and then we get our little subtitles, "Abrahams married his sweetheart and became Important Athletics Guy!" and "Liddell went to China as a missionary, and when he died, all of Scotland mourned."

Argh, I'm not writing very coherently. I had a very bad day, and this was only the topper. But just look at these quotes! Compare their original reasons for running:

Eric Liddell: You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It's hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape - especially if you've got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you're dinner's burnt. Maybe you haven't got a job. So who am I to say, "Believe, have faith," in the face of life's realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me." If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race.

Sybil Gordon: [about running] Do you love it?

Harold M. Abrahams: I'm more of an addict. It's a compulsion with me, a weapon I can use.

Sybil Gordon: Against what?

Harold M. Abrahams: Being Jewish I suppose.

Sybil Gordon: [laughs incredulously] You're not serious! People aren't like that, people don't care. Can it be as bad as all that?

Harold M. Abrahams: You're not Jewish, or you wouldn't have had to ask.

Liddell wants to run "to honor God," and because he likes running. Harold wants to "run them all off their feet" (a great quote that nonetheless doesn't make it on IMDB's quote page) in order to demand a bit of respect from the word despite being Jewish. Now, I would've liked to see a movie just about Abrahams, seeing him vindicated. I was willing to see a movie where both men triumph and maybe there's a wishy-washy "respecting our differences" scene. But no, instead the men build up to the race separately.

Eric Liddell: I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.

Harold M. Abrahams: I'm forever in pursuit and I don't even know what I am chasing.

And then once they get there, Liddell spends all his time fretting about the fact that his race is on Sunday, whereas Abrahams spends all his time fretting about...winning?

Eric Liddell: God made countries, God makes kings, and the rules by which they govern. And those rules say that the Sabbath is His. And I for one intend to keep it that way.

...

[a teammate offers Liddell his place in the 400m, which is Thursday, and Liddell agrees.]

...

Duke of Sutherland: A sticky moment, George.

Lord Birkenhead: Thank God for Lindsay. I thought the lad had us beaten.

Duke of Sutherland: He did have us beaten, and thank God he did.

Lord Birkenhead: I don't quite follow you.

Duke of Sutherland: The "lad", as you call him, is a true man of principles and a true athlete. His speed is a mere extension of his life, its force. We sought to sever his running from himself.

Lord Birkenhead: For his country's sake, yes.

Lord Birkenhead: No sake is worth that, least of all a guilty national pride.

Harold M. Abrahams: And now in one hour's time I will be out there again.

Harold M. Abrahams: I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. But WILL I?

Harold M. Abrahams: Aubrey, I've known the fear of losing but now I am almost too frightened to win.

I just don't understand why winning is treated as somehow a problem for Abrahams when it isn't for Liddell. Both had people who thought they shouldn't run-- Liddell's sister was constantly worried that it would distract him from God, and wanted him to return to China with her as missionaries. Abrahams was quietly discouraged by anti-Semites at Cambridge. But Liddell's sister is happy to see him win, whereas the stodgy old men at Cambridge continue to hold their noses up.

It's one thing if the movie-makers just didn't feel like making a "triumph over racism" movie. But to make a "hurray for Christian white men, boo for Jewish ones" movies is taking it too far in the other direction. This movie was made before I was born, but that's really no excuse.

All in all, I would have preferred seeing a movie about the female athletes. There were some-- we saw them in the opening games-- and wouldn't it be fascinating, to see how women managed to balance culturally-enforced femininity with the rigours of sport in the 1920s? Or they could have made the movie about one of the other nations-- it was the first Olympics for six different countries. Or they could have picked just one of these protagonists and given him a fair shake!

But to set the two of them up as rivals, and then award all the cheers and happiness to the missionary Christian...that's a little repellent.

I am seriously missing the games and now having nothing of interest to watch on television.

Only 4 more years to wait until my next fix but it looks like London will be a stunning city to hold the next games judging from these photo's. (19 in all will only put 1 on, check out the link to view the rest)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/london_from_above_at_night.html

Michael Phelps fans simply are over the top.

The guy is golden.

It will not last long, but for now, he is simply the king of Blog space.

Nobody is touching him. He is still being "searched" in over top numbers.

Michael, you are Marketing Gold.

#1 - The Olympics are over, complete with a couple U.S. medal sweeps (fencing, track & field), team victories (football), surprising team upsets (water polo, softball), and all the gushing about China anyone can handle.  Yes, they put on a great show, and I enjoyed it all.  But I'm ready for a change, and for sports I can understand without the once-every-four-year commentators.

#2 - The 2008 Cubs season has been almost too good to be true.  The Cubbies continue to find ways to win, coming from behind (30-some times), getting calls to break their way (Lee to Samardzija after the bobble, anyone?), grand slams, small ball, etc.  And it has been beautiful.  But they are still the Cubs, and although they look poised to make a deep run in October, they can still break my heart.  I need to have something else to invest in, to either multiply the joy of a great baseball season, or ease the disappointment that so often defines Cubs fans...

#3 - Summer has flown by, and I'm not ready for it to end.  But college football gives me reason to be excited about fall. 

#4 - I've decided that I like vacations right around the beginning of the year.  Especially when they include several thousand of my closest orange-clad friends in some exciting location, like Pasadena, or Orlando, or Tampa or even San Antonio.  I'm looking forward to seeing where I could head in a few months...

#5 - College football is unpredictable (see: upsets of teams ranked #1 during 2007), and every game really matters. 

#6 - It's easier to stay on top of one game a week that it is to follow 6 or 7 games a week.

#7 - I love seeing what players live up to the talking heads' hype, who disappoints, and who surprises.

#8 - I now get the Big Ten Network.  And my first exposure (one night when the Olympics couldn't hold my interest) was a classic Big Ten game -- 1999 Illinois at Michigan.  I know where I was that day, and why I wasn't able to watch the game.  And I couldn't remember how my boys came back to shock the Wolverines.  But now I know.  Thank you, BTN.  You helped pump me up for college football.  And even though many of your shows are a bit cheesy, I'm glad I'll be able to watch the Illini from the comfort of my living room.  :)

#9 - Remember the last "Arch Rivalry" game?  Mizzou beat Illinois to open the 2007 season, but their victory was threatened by an impressive comeback that fell just short with a goal-line interception with under a minute left.  Both teams went on to have impressive seasons.  Can't wait to see what happens this year...

#10 - Since I got this far, I feel like I need to have 10.  Oh, wait -- College Game Day and College Football Final.  Love them both.  They give me a reason to wake up and finally go to bed on fall Saturdays...

Here is a tally of all the medals we have won by sport so far:

To think that we have been part of the Olympic tradition since 1928. We were among the first Asian countries that sent delegates to the games. Beijing is our country's 19th Olympiad (note: we boycotted the 1980 Moscow games because of our pro-American political policies). China joined in 1932 but did not attend most of the games until the 80's.

Indonesia and Thailand only joined in 1952. By 1952, the Philippines has participated in 5 summer games already. Comparing our medal standings with these two ASEAN neighbors is interesting. Let's take a closer look at Indonesia and Thailand's historical medal tallies.

Thailand:

Thailand is obviously better than us in Olympic Boxing, a sport that is also very popular in the Philippines. We have 3 bronze and 2 silver medals in boxing while the Thais have 6 bronze, 3 silver and 4 gold medals! So what has happened to the land of Manny Pacquiao? Thailand has 7 golds already! They have 21 medals overall.

Indonesia:

Badminton has been the goldmine of Indonesia. In fact, they have won 6 golds in this sport. Overall Indonesia has taken home 25 medals since 1952. Like Thailand, they are also competitive in Weightlifting. The Philippines has not won yet in this event.

Here are some more compelling facts. From 1924 to 1936, before the 2nd World War, our country has attended 4 summer games. In the same period, we won 5 bronzes. Then, post world war, we had 2 silvers and 2 bronzes in 15 Olympiads from 1948 to this year in Beijing. Let's do some simple math:

Pre-WWII: 5 medals/4 olympiads = 1.25 medals per olympiad

Post WWII: 4 medals/15 olympiads = 0.27 medals per olympiad

This computation may be crude and statistically flawed, but it helps drive my point. We are not doing well in the Olympics. I believe we should strive to improve our sports program first. More importantly, the country's meager budget is more wisely spent if used in solving more pressing issues like poverty alleviation, alternative energy sourcing and infrastructure development. Otherwise, we can not and will never be considered a "TRUE" Olympic host country.

Reference: Wikipedia

An exciting sliver of internetness has emerged despite an otherwise slow Friday: Jozy Altidore has posted a new blog on this NY Times blog! Let's take a peek at some of the most interesting parts.  First off, Altidore addresses the Olympics:

And the Olympics. Man, it seems like that was ages ago, but it was only a few weeks. I honestly don’t want to talk about. It was pretty disappointing for me as a whole. O.K., I guess I have to say something! Everyone was disappointed, even now when I think or talk about it I get a sour taste in my mouth. We had so many good players on the team and were so close to getting out of the first round. It’s hard to take and I don’t like to talk about it.

I know there were some things written about me being injured … I don’t know where that came from because I wasn’t injured. Maybe my left ankle is not the greatest, but I was more than fine to play. How much I played was really a coach’s decision. I had a game plan for myself, but I guess it wasn’t the same as the coach’s plan. My playing had nothing to do with my ankle, it was just how the coach made the lineup.

My Thoughts: Cue tears. We may never truly understand what was going on behind closed doors amongst Bob Bradley, Piotr Nowak, and Jozy Altidore, but this little bit of info is saddening. Jozy wasn't injured and Piotr still barely used him in the Olympic Games.  Blasphemy! Heresy! Sabatoge!  Jozy was a strong threat in the sub minutes he did see, so it breaks my heart to know that he COULD HAVE PLAYED a full 90.  We'll never know how our Olympic squad could have done at full tilt.  But let's HOLD UP a minute, Jozy did say "Maybe my left ankle is not the greatest," so maybe he was carrying a slight knock, and Nowak just wanted to protect him?  We'll never know.  Some people around the internet are whispering about Jozy's "attitude," similar to how we've heard about Kenny Cooper's "attitude," and I'm not sure what to say about that.  The one fact remains (in my opinion): Josmer Altidore, attitude or not, is the strongest and most potential-filled pure Striker our National Team has seen in the last 10 years, and maybe ever.  Let him play.

Jozy then goes on to address some of the loan rumors:

So now I at least know that I’m going to be here at least until January. Everyone knows I was supposed to go to another La Liga team on loan. But I think I’ve now done well enough and we have those injuries that the coach said I’m going to be staying around and if I do well the coach said he would keep me for the whole season. With Nihat and Rossi hurt, we just want to make sure we’ve got things covered.

So that appears to answer any questions we had about Jozy's supposed move to Vallodolid.  Jozy will get his chance in the fall term to prove his worth, and if he can play well, he'll stick around.  Sounds good to me.  Rest assured I will have my eyes peeled on Sunday, hoping that Jozy takes the pitch and turns in a good performance.

What do you think about the Olympic situation? Trust Bob Bradley and Nowak?  Or did Nowak just pull the same thing he did with Adu at DC? I encourage you to OVERREACT! That's what internet soccer blogs are for.

--psc

Full post at Behind Blondie Park

Fri Aug 29, 12:38 PM ET

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday handed the country's only Olympic medalist in Beijing a $100,000 cash reward for her performance at the games.

Swimmer Kirsty Coventry smashed the world record to win gold in the women's 200 meters backstroke. She also captured three silver medals.

Mugabe handed the U.S-based swimmer the cash at a ceremony in Harare carried live on state television.

"Our national spirit must exude joy and pleasure and say you have done well, daughter of Zimbabwe. We are proud of you, we wish you well. She's our golden girl ... take care of her," he said at the ceremony.

The U.S. dollars, scarce in a country struggling with an economic crisis marked by a severe shortage of foreign currency, were carried in a briefcase by Zimbabwe's central bank governor.

Other members of Zimbabwe's Olympic team received between $2,000 and $10,000 each.

(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="Micahel Phelps"][/caption]

Two things happen every four years.  One that I love and one that, by the end, is completely on my nerves. 

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS.

Not in the "I only watch Track, Gymnastics, and Swimming" type of way, but in the "I'll watch synchronized diving and love every minute" type of way.  I'm an Olympic freak.  I get excited at the idea of an opening ceremony, I cry at the closing ceremony, and I have built my own makeshift version of the Olympic torch.  I am also known to randomly bust out with a mean humming version of "The Olympic Song" and sing the national anthem with pride every time one of our guys wins a gold medal.  It is my own since of pride and patriotism at its finest.

I have also fallen madly in love with Michael Phelps. 

I HATE THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

Let me clarify, I don't love it the way I love the Olympics and I feel I should.  This is a special event and a special time in America.  I should live off its patriotic nature.  I should get excited at the idea of a National Convention, I should immediately cry upon thinking of casting my vote, and I should "bust out" into a mean humming version of National Anthem.  But, I don't do any of these things.  It is one of the greatest events America has to offer and I could really care less.  It is almost too much for me to handle.  I take that back, it is to much for me to handle.  This has had non-stop news coverage for over a year and enough is enough.  Come November I'll be casting my vote in an effort to say "Here, you got what you want out of me...now stop, please stop!" You know, the same way I would give a horrible subway singer $5 in an effort to make him go away.  It's not a compliment, it's bribery.   It's like baseball season where 100+ games is to many.  I don't want to see you struggle, change up your batting order, and work on "figuring out how to win in November."  CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE WINNING IN NOVEMBER. 

And no, I haven't fallen madly in love with either of these guys yet.

Were Japanese people satisfied by the performance of their athletes at the Olympics?

Did you watch the Olympics? (Sample size=516)

Yes 75.0%
No 25.0%

Which sports did you watch? Results only doesn’t count. (Sample size=387, multiple answer, top twenty reported)

Rank Percentage
1 Swimming 84.8%
2 Judo 76.2%
3 Softball 72.1%
4 Track and field 67.7%
5 Baseball 67.2%

Which athletes, teams do you think were successful? (Sample size=516, multiple answer, top thirty reported)

Rank Percentage
1 Kosuke Kitajima (swimming) 88.4%
2 Softball team 71.2%
3 Yukiko Ueno (softball) 62.0%
4 Saori Yoshida (wrestling) 60.6%
5 Kaori Icho (wrestling) 58.8%
6 Chiharu Icho (wrestling) 54.9%
7 Kyoko Hamaguchi (wrestling) 51.2%
8 Masato Uchishiba (Judo) 50.6%
9 Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda (badminton) 50.2%
10 Kohei Uchimura (gymnastics) 48.6%

Which scenes involving Japanese sportspeople were emotional for you? (Sample size=490, multiple answer, top twenty reported)

Rank Percentage
1 Kosuke Kitajima winning two gold medals in swimming 71.6%
2 Softball team winning the gold medal 70.2%
3 Kosuke Kitajima winning the 100 metres breaststroke in world record time. Crying in the interview 54.3%
4 Japan getting the bronze in the men’s 400 metres. All four hugging after the race 44.3%
5 Ayumi Tanimoto winning the women’s 63 kg judo gold by ippon. Hugging her coach and crying tears of joy 34.1%
6 Women’s badminton pair Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda beating number one ranked China and getting 4th place 32.2%
7 Masato Uchishiba winning the men’s 66 kg judo gold and shouting out his son’s name 30.0%
8= Kaori Icho winning her second consecutive gold medal in the women’s 63 kg wrestling 28.6%
8= Yuki Ota winning Japan’s first silver medal in fencing 28.6%
10 Saori Yoshida winning the women’s 55 kg wrestling gold and doing a back-flip 26.3%

Source: Looking back at the Beijing Olympics (What Japan Thinks)

Related News:

Beijing Olympics question Japan's commitment to sports (Mainichi)

Kabul: Rohullah Nikpai's victory in Beijing drew all the buzz, somewhat obscuring the other history-making contenders of Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004 Olympics. In this post we present two Afghan athletes -- two Hazara sportswomen --  who made their own history in the Olympics.

Rubina Muqimyar, born July 3, 1986, was the only female athlete on the Afghanistan Team participating in the Beijing Olympics. She is a second-time Olympian, her first time being Athens in 2004, where she got the 17th position in women's 100m Sprint. She was the first woman in the history of Afghanistan to participate in an Olympic event.

Fariba Rezayee, born September 3, 1985, was another female star who participated in the Judo event in Athens Olympics of 2004. Her family had left Afghanistan as refugees to Pakistan because of the subjugation of the Taliban era. She first started training as a boxer, but then focused on Judo. Fariba represented Afghanistan in Judo in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Together, Rubina Muqimyar and Fariba Rezayee are two history-making girls who have not only defied the odds of a repressive society, but also broken the centuries-old chains of ethnic persecution and deprivation. Our special tributes go to them.

Photos courtesy of Reuters , BBC

Full Disclosure: I was once on the U.S. Bobsled Team, though I didn't go to the Olympics. My Olympic experience consisted of throwing a "Watch Mark Watch Bobsled" Party, getting very angry, and waking up in the Rodin sculpture garden eight hours later in front of his sculpture "The Gates of Hell." My subconscious is a bit melodramatic.

Also, nothing entices me more than while a super gay helium voiced man speaks tiny gymnast girls run around in the background. Now I DEFINITELY want some of that special Ortega sauce. I better call my stockbroker and start buying shares of Ortega, this stuff is going to take me to easy street!

When my sweet husband sent me a text this morning asking if I had heard who John McCain chose as his running mate I answered "no" but let my mind float over the list that has been so thoroughly talked about of late.  I had a secret hope that he had chosen Mitt Romney.  I like Mitt (I apparently know him well enough to call him by his first name!).  I liked him when he came to Salt Lake to do the Olympics.  I also liked watching him as he has spent the past few years campaigning for President.

So when Dave texted back that Sarah Palin was chosen, I was surprised.  And then I smiled.  It is an interesting move, to say the least, of the Republican party.

My perception of politics is that it is more of a game where one party is constantly trying to gain the advantage over their opponent than it is about the issues of our day.  Both sides will say what needs to be said to win the election.  So without getting into the issues or perceptions of politics, I only want to ask the questions...

Is Sarah Palin qualified to be a running candidate on the presidential ticket or is she being used by the Republican party to gain the women voters left behind by Hillary?  And if she is being used, is she ok with this?  Is she ok with putting her husband and five children in the center of the spotlight when any number of things can be said to and about you to gain the upper hand?  Is this a good political move for her to further her career and does she feel a strong call of patriotism to step up and try to make great things happen for our country?  I am sure she has though through all of these points.  She seems to have a great head on her shoulders. 

My mind is flooded with questions about this woman; this mother of five children; this wife of 20 years; this woman who doesn't have decades of public service under her belt only to be asked to serve in such a lofty position.

And yet, I smile.  I smile that come November, we will either have an African American President, Barack Obama, or Sarah Palin, our first woman Vice President.  What an amazing time to be an American.

Jiang Xintian is a Chinese actor who was born deaf and dumb. She hosts a show, in which she uses her hands to speak and has been very successful. Xintian was chosen to light the torch. She held the torch in front of a concave mirror erected at the Temple of Heaven, which is an ancient temple that was completed in 1420 and symbolizes the link between heaven and Earth.

The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, said "The flame will symbolize over the next 10 days the unique sporting spirit displayed by Paralympic athletes," during the opening ceremony.

The international portion of the Paralympics Torch Relay was canceled, but instead 850 Paralympic athletes will carry the torch along two routes throughout China. The torch will pass through 11 different Chinese Regions over its 10 day trip. The two routes are designed to display Ancient China and Modern China, with the Ancient Relay beginning today and the Modern Relay beginning on Saturday.

The torch will return to Beijing on the 5th of September and will be brought to the opening ceremony the next day.

German ingenuity at it's finest:

How sad.... a gardenophobe talking about the garden!  I must be going absolutely mad.  In fact the last 24 hours have made me think the same thing too.  What is it about humans?  Why do they still have to comply with the ancient routine of bearing a grudge?  It's an absolutely pointless waste of energy.  It never achieves anything apart from ill feeling and it occupies time that could otherwise be used for much more enjoyable pastimes. (mowing the lawn perhaps? ..... perhaps not!)  I hope for the sake of my own sanity that we've now managed to extinguish what was becoming an epic war battle among some of our members.

The Olympics have now finished too.  By virtue of the fact that we spent the first week of the festivities relaxing on a warm sandy beach somewhere, worrying about not who was to win the next Gold, but what cocktail to sip before dinner each night.  I have to say though, that the closing stuff was worth the watch, if only to see Uncle Boris doing the usual buffonery as the new flag bearer!  What a character.  I can't help but smile when I see him fulfilling is public obligations.  Good on you Boris!

What next I wonder?  Methinks more of the world should get to know about us.  Watch this space!!

Nigel.

Last week, I did an analysis of the Olympic Medal Count, using a weighted system for the medals (Gold = 4 points, Silver = 2, Bronze = 1) and dividing it by the Top 20 medal winner's population numbers. In that analysis, Jamaica won hands-down, only needing about 87,000 people for each medal.

This week, having taken my analysis as far as I'm going to take it (for now, anyway), I created something called the "Efficiency Ratio". The Efficiency Ratio is where I looked at how well each country did in relation to what percentage of medals they should win based on their percentage of the world's population. In this analysis, a score of "1.00" means a country won the exact percentage of medals that they should have based on the size of their population.

Breaking it down, I calculated the Efficiency Ratio by taking the overall percentage of medals won by each country (Weighted or Total Medals) and divided it by that country's percentage of the world's population. For example, China won 12.64% of all Weighted Medals and has 19.83% of the world's population, giving them a 0.64 Efficiency Ratio. The only country in the top 25 medal winners who performed poorer than China was Brazil at 0.46. Interestingly, these were the only two countries in the top 25 that performed below an Efficiency Ratio of 1.00. The rest of the countries are overachievers with Jamaica, once again, leading the way with a 36.37 Efficiency Ratio. The top 5 are rounded out by Norway (15.49), Australia (14.85), New Zealand (13.71), and Belarus (11.46). The U.S. comes in 21st at 2.59, more than four times as efficient as China, but only about half as efficient as South Korea (5.12).

Other areas for exploration are more common measures of GDP and other economic figures, but what would be really interesting to look at would be the total number of medals awarded not by event, but by individual. For example, instead of counting basketball as only one gold medal, it would count for 12, since it's a team sport with 12 players. Relays in track and swimming wouldn't be just one gold medal, but four. Honestly, I'm not sure why it's not counted this way somewhere and it may be, but I'm done for now.

Download the spreadsheet here. (Sorry, but for some reason wordpress doesn't allow the uploading of Excel files, so I had to save it as a pdf. Lame, I know.)