YEAH!!!!

Quoted: BEIJING (AP) -- Michael Phelps locked arms with his three teammates, as though they were in a football huddle calling a play, then hugged each one of them.
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It took a team to make him the grandest of Olympic champions. And one last big push from Phelps himself.
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Going hard right to the end of a mesmerizing nine days in Beijing, Phelps helped the Americans come from behind Sunday in a race they've never lost at the Olympics, cheering from the deck as Jason Lezak brought it home for a world record in the 400-meter medley relay. It was Phelps' history-making eighth gold medal of these games.
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"Everything was accomplished," he said. "I will have the medals forever."

I am not enjoying the fu manchu or whatever he is going for here.

Quoted: For a man who performs extraordinary exploits in the pool, and who could take a record haul of golds in Beijing, Michael Phelps is having a remarkably ordinary time.
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While tennis world number one Roger Federer and the NBA-studded U.S. basketball team have been surrounded by admirers, Phelps has been relatively untroubled.
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"I was sitting in the dining hall the other day and Federer was in there and he just got swarmed," said the man who stands to dominate the Games if he shatters compatriot Mark Spitz's 1972 record.
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"Some of the basketball guys were in there last night and we had a chance to meet them and hang out with them for a bit and they got swarmed too. I've been fine. A few pictures here and there but nothing major."

I couldn't imagine living in a place with the amount of smog and haze shown here. I wonder if any of Beijing's clean-up measures will be carried over after the Olympics.

Quoted: A month to go and do you want to know how bad the pollution is in Beijing? Check out today’s photo from my living room. There’s another photo of what it looks like on a clear day (which was Sunday, our one good day after weeks of smog and haze).

Phelpsie has confirmed 5 individual events and three relays for Beijing.

Quoted: Michael Phelps on Wednesday confirmed the events he plans to contest at next month's Beijing Olympics in his bid to beat Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Games.

Nellie goes after Cuban's stupid remarks from yesterday about the Olympics being all about the monetary effects on the NBA ...

Quoted: The U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, which will include Dallas Mavericks' guard Jason Kidd, is one of the top honors an athlete or coach can have, and former Mavs coach Don Nelson said Wednesday that it's a travesty that Mark Cuban views the Olympics as strictly a financial proposition.
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"I couldn't disagree more," Nelson said. "It's not about the money. There is pride in these athletes. He ought to have more respect for his country. Everybody in the NBA makes plenty of money. It's not too much to ask that every four years you give something back to your country."

Mark Cuban doesn't like the Olympics because other people make money off of players he has under contract while risking injury that could cause him to eventually lose money. Ahh, the worries of the wealthy ...

Quoted: Mark Cuban has been articulate and consistent in his criticism of an Olympic model he considers hypocritical.
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His objections aren't muted now that two of his stars could compete in the Games this summer.

Interesting questions raised here ... is there such a thing as "technological doping"? Should swimsuits have minimal effect to show the true athletic ability of the athlete? And should you sacrifice your performance level because you need to stay true to a rival sponsor?

Quoted: The Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit is making such a splash in the pool that U.S. head coach Mark Schubert believes every record in the sport could fall at the Beijing Olympics.

Quoted: A brutal training regime caught up with Michael Phelps at the Columbus Grand Prix on Saturday when the American pulled out of the 400 meters freestyle after falling asleep on the diving tower.

Did I mention that I love the Olympics? A nice article on Phelps.

Quoted: Remember this guy? It's American swimmer Michael Phelps, who became the first swimmer ever to win eight medals at a single Olympic Games four years ago in Athens. He won six golds and two bronzes, and since then, almost impossibly, he has gotten better.