My thoughts on the Olympics

Being a sport management professor, I have a strong interest in the Olympic Games. I'm also a huge fan of some of the sports. Here are some of my thoughts after the 1st week:

• I'm really not liking the time difference. Prime-time events in Beijing are early morning here. Luckily, I am home with the kids and get to watch basketball every morning. However, to see some of the swimming and gymnastics (and softball), I have to stay up late (1 or 2 a.m.). Twenty years ago, the games were in the same time zone (Seoul), but there was no internet and events could be shown on a tape-delayed basis. I'm actually going to be in Seoul in 4 weeks so I will experience that time zone first hand.
• There is no way possible that all of the Chinese girl's gymnastics team is over 16. It's not even close with a couple of those girls.
• It was great to see Americans go 1-2 in the all-around gymnastics competition. I was particularly impressed with Nastia Liukin. Shawn Johnson received all of the attention heading into the games, but Nastia handled the pressure and won the gold. It seems like she has a great relationship with her dad (who is also her coach). Gretchen noticed how much taller she looked than the other gymnasts so she asked me to look up her height. She is all of 5'3".
• Michael Phelps might have put up a performance that we will never see again. NBC's ratings have been phenomenal, largely in part to Phelps. Seeing the race where he won by .01 seconds was amazing.
• Speaking of NBC, they are broadcasting more hours of coverage than all prior summer Olympics combined! They are broadcasting 3600 hours (2200 online and 1400 on TV). Our cable provider (AT&T) is a big Olympic sponsor so we have many channels showing the Games, including a channel with video on demand. We even have a channel broadcast in Korean and one in Chinese.
• I'm going to miss having softball in the 2012 Games. Watching last night, Team USA scored 9 runs in the 1st inning. I enjoy watching softball and hopefully it will be reinstated for 2016.
• Hopefully, the 2016 Games will be awarded to Chicago. Being in sport management, I think it's probably a long shot, but I'd love to have it here. Plus, it's only about 6 hours from Columbus and I think I could finagle a volunteer opportunity and get to work the Games.
• We got to witness the world's fastest man - EVER. Usain Bolt set the world record in the 100 meters even though he coasted the last 10 meters or so.
  
• The USA Women's basketball team has dominated the competition in pool play. Their closest game has been 36 points! Hopefully, they can win 3 more games and bring home the gold. I have a Katie Smith autographed Olympic basketball shoe (she is a former Buckeye).
• Finally, for my favorite sport - men's basketball. I will not miss a Team USA game. I really like the make-up of this team. My favorite player, Dwyane Wade, is showing everybody that he just might be the best player in the world. There are 2 Texans on the team (Deron Williams and Chris Bosh) and 2 Ohioans (Lebron James and Michael Redd). I still think Kobe is shooting the ball too much, but overall the team has played better than expected against a couple of strong teams. After today's game with Germany (UPDATE: US beat Germany by 49), the medal round will start. I am still concerned because one loss and you're out of the tournament. However, if the team plays like it has the first 4 games, they will win the gold medal.

I am looking forward to the last week of the Games. Obviously, basketball is at the top of my list, but I also look forward to track and field this week. It has been a great Olympics so far.