Sporting Sensations

[Freypower]

Congratulations to Spain on their Euro 2008 win. Now perhaps Fernando Torres, who scored the goal and is seen here with the trophy, may be inspired to win some titles with his club...

[glenneaglesfan]

Congratulations to Spain! We were delayed at Dubrovnik airport on Sunday night, but they had the Euro final on and everyone was quite happy. Interesting that both captains played for English clubs.

[Glennsallnighter]

Yes! I thought of that too! It was an entertaining match!

And Congratulations to Venus Williams who beat her sister Serena to life her 5th Wimbledon Tennis trophy earlier today!

[TimothyBFan]

I am going to change the sport to the All American sport of baseball. Our beloved Chicago Cubs have 7 players in the all star game this year-including my favorite- Geovany Soto the catcher!! WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!

[glenneaglesfan]

Great news for you, TBF!

And Congratulations to Venus Williams who beat her sister Serena to life her 5th Wimbledon Tennis trophy earlier today!

Congratulations to Venus, and also to Rafa Nadal who beat Roger Federer to win the men's singles in a truly magnificent match which went to 10-8 in the final set.

[glenneaglesfan]

The Brits are doing surprisingly well in Beijing, but the man of the Olympics so far is one Michael Phelps. Congratulations to him winning EIGHT gold medals!!



Apparently he eats 10,000 calories a day!

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/200..._big_brea.html

[Brooke]

Isn't Michael something?! I've watched each of his events and he is unbelievable! Congrats to him!

Thanks for putting him in here, gef! I thought about starting an "Olympics" thread, but was too lazy!

[Freypower]

I didn't know if the Olympics would be a popular topic so I didn't start one, but I will have a rave now.

First: Phelps is the most astonishing thing I've ever seen. I can't help feeling as an Australian that Ian Thorpe could have been the greatest of all time (I saw Thorpe break two world records on the opening night in Sydney) but Phelps is a phenomenon. And he is from (Chorus): 'OHHHHH, BALTIMORE'....

GEF, I have to say good on the Brits. You may have noticed the embarrassing sour grapes and jingoisim emanating from down here. We hate being beaten by the Brits at anything. Yet when we win gold medals that doesn't stop us parading around with our so-called flag which still contains the British flag, does it? OOPS. Excuse the rant but Australians can be such hypocrites.

Our performance has been driven mainly by our women, particularly the swimmers. It was pointed out today that in Australia men play the big football codes or cricket. There is no encouragement for men to play other sports and so it is no surprise that they have underperformed.

I like seeing winners from countries that otherwise don't rate much of a mention on the global scale. A canoeist from Togo won his country's first ever medal. That's the sort of story I prefer, but Usain Bolt from Jamaica is awesome.

The Australian TV coverage has been a shallow, jingoistic disgrace. Hardly any of it is live (except of course for the swimming) and Australian medals are replayed ad infinitum. Then there are the endless interviews. I mean really - one of our gold medal sailors' AUNT was interviewed. Come on. Good luck to them but can we actually see the Games? I could write about this all day but that's enough.

[sodascouts]

I've been watching the Olympics with interest for the past week or so - I love 'em! I too am amazed at Michael Phelps and his amazing 8-medal streak. My entire family was cheering when the US swim team won that heart-pounding swim relay with Jason Lezak pulling ahead of the French team right at the end... wow! Nastia Liukin's amazing routines to win the all-around title... she has such elegance! The stunning stength of the Chinese men's gymnastics team on rings (although ALL those guys were powerful!)... I cannot BELIEVE the way they could just rotate their entire bodies using just two arms hanging from rings! As FP mentioned, the triumph of Benjamin Boukpeti,the African man who won the first medal his country had ever received... it's great. The diving semifinal is on tonight, which I also love to watch. I felt so bad for the young Haley Ishimatsu who didn't make it to the final round - as she's walking off, the sports interviewer comes up to her and says, "Can you tell us how you're feeling right now?" She tries to say "it was a good experience" but bursts into tears. Leave the poor girl alone! She couldn't have been over 15.

Women's beach volleyball ended today, to the disappointment of many men, I'm sure. I can't judge, though. I know my eyes were glued to the screen when those male swimmers were pullin' their swim trunks so low I figured it was gonna get X-rated if they weren't careful! Lean, hard, half-naked bodies, water steaming down muscular chests and chiseled abdomens... nah, I can't judge.

I'm actually glad the beach volleyball is over though. American coverage was spending WAY too much time showing every single match of that at the cost of other, less "aesthetically pleasing" sports.

[glenneaglesfan]

Fp, it has not gone unnoticed here that some Australians have been having a bit of banter - Brits only winning sports where they sit down, for instance! At least Christine Ohuruogu has proved them wrong winning gold in the 400m hurdle. Coverage here has obviously focussed on Team GB's successes - we are so used to sporting failure that I think it's only fair to celebrate success. However, we have had the opportunity to celebrate other countries' achievements, and there have been many extraordinary moments. We have the pleasure of Michael Johnson commentating on the athletics, and he was as amazed as everyone else as Usain Bolt pulverised his 200m world record.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olym...cs/7573079.stm

Natalie Du Toit of South Africa had a magnificent achievement coming 16th in the 10km swim when she is an amputee.

Honourable mention too to Tom Daley, who at 14 is one of the youngest ever Olympians. He came 8th in the synchronised diving last week, and takes part in the 10m heats tomorrow. He is a local lad, from Plymouth, and is the nicest young man you could imagine. He has been training for London 2012, so it was an amazing achievement to qualify for Beijing.

I know my eyes were glued to the screen when those male swimmers were pullin' their swim trunks so low I figured it was gonna get X-rated if they weren't careful! Lean, hard, half-naked bodies, water steaming down muscular chests and chiseled abdomens... nah, I can't judge.

Lol, Soda, I'm sure you meant water 'streaming' down muscular chests, or maybe not!