Olympic Notes

A few notes on the Olympics - what I've seen and plan on seeing:

-The USA baseball squad had injury added to insult in their 5-4 loss to Cuba. The game lasted 11 innings, but international baseball adopted a new rule in which a team begins the 11th with runners on first and second, and the hitting team can choose to start anywhere in their batting order. Meanwhile, Jayson Nix, younger brother of current Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Laynce Nix, had to have surgery on his eye after a foul ball struck him. Earlier in the game, Nix hit a game-tying solo home run. USA manager Davey Johnson decided that this game didn't have enough storylines, and afterwards made a few disparaging comments about the Cuban team. Maybe this is why you're no longer a MLB manager, Davey.

-The USA baseball team is now 1-2, with 4 games remaining. They need to be in the top four in the standings to move on to the medal round. Here are their remaining games:

Fri, 9:30 pm (central time) - Canada (1-2 record)
Mon, 6 am - China (1-1)
Tues, 6 am - Chinese Taipei (1-2)
Wed, 6 am - Japan (2-1)

-Brewers draft pick Brett Lawrie is playing for the Canadian squad. So far he is 0-for-5 with a RBI.

-The USA softball team has been enjoying more success. The squad is 4-0, has scored 29 total runs, and has allowed just 1 run. You can check them out tonight on CNBC at 11 pm, as they take on Chinese Taipei. USA then will face the Netherlands on Sunday (6:30 am), and China on Monday (11 pm).

-USA men's and women's basketball is a combined 7-0. The women are 4-0 and are leading Group B, while the men are currently tied with Spain for the best record in Group B. Coming off of a 92-69 beatdown of Greece, the men's team will play Spain tomorrow morning at 9:15 am. The game will be televised live on NBC.

-It has not been a good Olympics for the favorites in the tennis competition. A day after Roger Federer lost to James Blake in the quarterfinals, Blake lost to Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in a match that featured some controversy. Meanwhile, the Williams sisters, favorites to reach the gold medal match, were both ousted yesterday. Federer, Venus, and Serena still all have a shot at gold though, in the doubles competitions. It will be interesting to see what kind of an effect the Games will have on all of these players at the US Open (begins August 25). Rafael Nadal, set to become the world's new number one, is the favorite in the gold medal match against Gonzalez.

-It's a good thing gymnastics takes center stage as a sport only every 4 years. The subjectivity, suspicions, conspiracies, and whining about judges is far too frustrating.

-Michael Phelps goes for gold number 7 tonight. I hear he's some kind of swimmer or something.