U-S-A

For the first time in a while, I'm actually interested in the Summer Olympics. You may even say I have Olympic fever. The opening ceremonies were amazing (to be honest I only saw highlights). And they should have been. I've heard they were budgeted at $100 million. Yesterday I got to see the cycling road race which was an outstanding race and some swimming prelims along with some beach volleyball before I had to get on to the Timbers match (which they tied 1-1, by the way). But what I've been waiting for was the "Redeem Team", USA hoops. After embarrassing ourselves in Athens, the men's basketball team looks hungry. In their first game they put the hurt on China. To be fair China is not very good, outside of Yao Ming and Yi, who both play in the NBA, but it's the way we are playing that's impressive. Our defense is stifling. We've got Kobe and LeBron creating havoc with whoever has the ball. Then off a miss or turnover we're off and running, and no one can hang with us in the open court. I have to give a lot of credit to Brian Colangelo, who assembled this team. He didn't just throw an all star team out there and hope that our athleticism would win us the gold. Instead he got Coach K to lead these guys, and convinced Kobe to play. And with selecting Chris Paul and Derron Williams we have two great young point guards, who are fast and hard nosed. Add Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, and Carlos Boozer on the inside, and we've got a lean, if not small, fast and determined team. And maybe the most overlooked and underrated member of the team is Michael Redd. In the past other countries would zone us up to keep us out of the paint, and we had no answer. Now we have a certified zone buster in Redd. Oh and did I mention 'Melo. He looked mean out there today, and we need that. We have to want to win. It won't be easy, though. The rest of the world has caught up with us. Spain and Argentina are legitimate threats, but as long as we play tough D and move the ball, no other country should come close. And at the risk of sounding conceited, that's the way it should be. Go USA!!!

the Dude