Greatest Olympian Ever (And Other Olympic News)

The whole thing is nuts - five races, five golds, five world records. Eleven career golds. The television cameras that can't get the rest of the field in the shot, because he's so far ahead. But I think what really describes the sheer ridiculous-shake-your-head-is-he-part-fish response any normal person has about Michael Phelps came last night. That's when Michael beat his own world record in the 200 meter butterfly and yet was visibly upset, throwing his goggles down by the pool. It turns out that his goggles were taking in water the entire race, so he just shut his eyes for the last 100 meters. So not only did he win gold, not only did he get another world record (his 24th), but he did it with his eyes closed. Greatest. Olympian. Ever.

***I now interrupt this post to inform you that it's not really Mon Chi Chi writing this entry. Mon Chi Chi was deemed by Chinese officials not attractive enough for international audiences, so instead the writing of Mon Chi Chi is being finger synced by a cuter monkey. We now go back to our normal posting.

Great article on badminton in the New York Times. They highlight Lin Dan, the Chinese rock star of the incredibly popular sport. He's the full diva deal - fits backstage, hot girlfriend, fistfights with his coach, teenage girls who scream and pass out around him... and of course, expected to take gold.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both got another round closer to facing each other in the tennis gold medal match on Sunday. Quarter finals look good for both - Federer plays James Blake and Nadal will most likely destroy Novak Djokovic.

***I now interrupt this blog posting again to inform you that Mon Chi Chi is in fact, not 12 years old, as rumored by rival bloggers. I have the credentials to prove it, and they are almost authentic looking. Also, I was accused of actually missing a baby tooth by a rival, and that is not true - fellow monkey Gleek hit me. True story.

On another note, I'd like to applaud NBC for doing one thing right - they've highlighted sports where - gasp! - Americans do not medal. Usually events not favored for us are shunted off to cable. With all of their sometimes incredibly nationalistic coverage, I was very relieved that they are scheduled to show all of the diving events on NBC in primetime, regardless of the fact that we are not favored in any of them. This almost makes up for the jackass that is Al Trautwig, who's gymnastics commentary is at best idiotic and at worst really, really idiotic.