The Other Swimming Heroes of the Beijing Olympics

Phelps is truly awesome and a nice guy, but the other American stars have been sidelined and I think it's NBC's fault that they haven't gotten enough credit. The Phelps phenomenon is getting a little tiring (not Phelp's fault).

So here's a tribute to Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, Aaron Peirsol, and Jason Lezak, among others. Coughlin's got unbelievable natural skills; Torres is just amazing and there's nothing she could have done better (really unlucky on the 50M butterfly); Peirsol is really good but sooo underestimated and probably the coolest guy at the Olympics; Lezak's comeback to beat the French and another solid showing to cement Phelp's eight medal (plus the Bronze individual) leave no doubt that this was a performance of a lifetime.

Congratulations to the whole team!

NBCOlympics.com Live Cycling Road Race Broadcast - No Voice Commentary

I'm glad that I was able to watch the Men's Road Race online live, but was really, really disappointed that there wasn't any commentary. I miss Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin's top-notch second-by-second coverage of the Tour de France--I was hoping that the same would be repeated here, but NBC didn't bother to pay even one commentator (the text comments don't count!) to cover this event!!!

It unfortunately shows that despite what Lance Armstrong did for American cycling, the bump in interest in the sport was temporary. Cycling will remain a niche sport in this country.

BTW, awesome finish by Samuel Sanchez.

Seattle's Best-Kept Secret

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Tracks:

Total: .51mi Swim

Swollen Ear

It was another good day to ride to work today. It was difficult again--I'm still out of shape--but I enjoyed it, especially in the morning when it wasn't so hot. On the way back, it was in the upper 70s (hot for Seattle) and 2 miles from home a bee or a wasp flew into my left ear and didn't want to leave. I swatted it a few times but a few seconds had already elapsed. 5 seconds later I felt a really sharp pain and I thought I was bleeding (I wasn't). Perhaps if I hadn't swatted it, it wouldn't have bitten me, since almost all animals don't take aggressive action unless provoked or hunting prey.

In any case, the pain wasn't that bad half an hour later but my ear is still pretty swollen. No hard feeling to the bee/wasp. Hope you're OK :-).

Total: 15.54mi Bike Ride

Rode to work today. It's been a long time. Before I left, I thankfully noticed that there was a leak in the rear tire of my old Volkscycle. The ride was tough, but it felt good to be back on the road again.

Total: 16.48mi Bike Ride