Summer Olympics 2008

Well, there isn't even a need for an intro because we all know what we think about when we see the words "Summer Olympics 2008." Michael Phelps is just an absolute warrior. How a man eats 10,000 calories a day and can look like he does is beyond me. He swims his very hardest to gain a gold medal and then has had to do it all over again less than one hour later in some cases. I really never used to think that you could call a swimmer one of the best athletes in the world, but after watching him do what he has, how can you not???

And of course to top it all off, he is a great human being. He is one of the most selfless people you will ever meet according to his swimming coach. You better believe he is a MICHIGAN MAN, which explains it all. He has 2 more races to go to try and grab 8 gold medals which would pass Mark Spitz as the most all time and I wouldn't bet against him if I got the best odds in the world, because he is going to get it done. He rarely shows emotion when he is swimming individually, but we saw the real Michael Phelps in the relay against France where Lezak had one of the greatest 50 meter swims on the last lap in Olympic history. Phelps' face and emotion said it all. Even the calm, cool and collected Michael Phelps couldn't keep a straight face for that one. I had never been a big swimming fan or had any interest in watching it until I saw Michael Phelps. He is just as comparable to Lebron, Tiger and Peyton Manning. Those players make you want to watch the games because of how great they play their sport. Even Carmelo Anothony went to watch him swim because he just couldn't believe the hype this guy was getting. Maybe Phelps can return the favor and watch the USA basketball team known as "The Redeem Team," chase gold as well.

USA's Men's Basketball team has shown that they can play any style of basketball. They can run, they can play a halfcourt game against a zone and they can dunk all over you. Some may have been worried with only 3 true big guys on the team in Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer and the slim Chris Bosh, but it hasn't troubled them yet. Lets be honest with ourselves, there is no team on this planet that should be able to beat a team with Lebron and Kobe on the floor at the same time. Not to mention, they have the three best PG's in the NBA in Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams (ok, maybe Steve Nash is up there somewhere too). Dwayne Wade has been ok with taking the 6th man role and it shows since he is leading the team in scoring at almost 20 ppg. This team is on a mission to take back what is rightfully theirs, the sport of basketball.

Greece got a glimpse of just how determined they are after the American's beat the Greeks by 23 points after the Greece got the best of them in the 2006 World Championships. Spain is next for the U.S., who feature Pau Gasol and Jose Calderon from the NBA. They are the defending World Champions right now after taking the championship in 2006. The U.S. is learning how to win playing by FIBA rules. One of the key rules in FIBA is that once the ball hits the rim, it is live. There is no cylinder rule or waiting for the ball to come away before you can grab it. In international play you can snatch the ball away from the goal once it hits the rim and comes off. Lebron showed that he will take full advantage of that by doing it in one of the exhibition games.

USA leads China in the medal race, 45-41. China has more gold medals (26-14). But one thing is for sure, the U.S. should be assured to have atleast three more gold medals with Phelps swimming twice more and the U.S. basketball team hoping to accomplish what everyone knows they can.

STAY TUNED FOR MY PRE-SEASON COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW COMING NEXT WEEK...