NBC Commentary- Usian Bolt or Kenenisa Bekele

NBC again highlighted Usian Bolt as perhaps the most electrifying star of this Summer Olympics, or some hyperbole like that.

I'm certainly not going to question the appeal of the Jamaican sprinter or the absolutely amazing quality of his record times. What he did, and how he did it, certainly is a shot in the arm for a sport full of posing, doping, and just plan bad acting people- and I'm a dues-paying USATF member and administrator and that's my opinion of the sport. He is young, flashy, fun, and really freaking fast.

But lost in the enormousness of what he did is the fact that Kenenisa Bekele won his own double. And it wasn't the 100 and 200 meters either. Granted, Lightning Bolt had to run in more qualifiers, but Bekele won the 10,000 meter and then came back and won the 5000 meter. Not only that, but he set the olympic record at both distances and was dominating in both races.

If you've run 5K and 10K road races you sort of have an idea what we're talking about here but to really appreciate it you have to have contested these distances on a track. these are two grueling middle-distance races that are just mind-blowingly difficult to contest on an oval. And unlike short track races like the 100, you have way more than 8 guys and everyone is on top of each other. These are tough races.

Bekele isn't the first to dual medal at both distances. And he's not a 6'5" flashing sprint. he's a 5'4", 123 pound Ethiopian who earned gold-silver in the same double in 2004. And while he didn't have to run a lot of qualifiers he did have to run a 13:40 5K semifinal to qualify for the finals. That's a 13:40 5K. Then he won the 5K by running 12:57.

Electrifying ? No. They cut away to women's high jump during the 5000. But did he dominate that race ? You bet he did. And his double. Quite a feat, done before or not.

I'm not saying Bolt isn't amazing. But I think it's too bad the quiet Ethiopian isn't getting a little more due...

Women's Olympic Volleyball

I have to say that I'm kind of surprised that they would play the gold medal match in that heavy rain. I mean, my own beach volleyball experience is pretty limited, but clearly heavy rain has an effect on the game, given that a wet volleyball is a way different thing than a dry volleyball.

I guess that it makes sense that beach volleyball is a rain or shine game and certainly NBC was counting on this as their primary item in the late evening category- it sure beats more diving, sorry diving folks, but enough is enough, not that we haven't had enough volleyball as well, but at least with volleyball i know what I'm looking at.

The two-person game is really an interesting dynamic- one that I prefer to what indoor or traditional volleyball has become. Back when we played volleyball in high school and college, you played through a six-person rotation, everyone got to set and spike, and you only went out if your team had seven or more players. Today's game, with its middle-hitters and other specialists, just isn't for me. Then again, I think if you can't play 3-4 downs you shouldn't be on the football field- where do the specialists end and the tub-o-lards that can't last three down without hitting the oxygen begin ?

In the end, I thought the gold medal match was pretty exciting, because it was close, because it featured the Americans versus the Chinese, which amped up the rivalry a notch given the medal count so far, and because the games were close. Take away the faked injury time-out in the second set and the whole match was fun to watch, quick paced and a good advert for the sport.

Women's Olympic Marathon

I really have to say that I was impressed by Constantina Tomescu-Dita's win in the women's marathon. In part because the early decisive move is one that should have failed, especially considering the source. This wasn't the world champion breaking free from the crowd after that seemingly slow start, but a woman who had faded badly 4 years earlier.

It's also encouraging- when you're 43, to have a 38 year old take a gold medal- the oldest olympic marathoner to win gold ever.

Regardless of the fact that NBC seems to have drunk the kool-aid on the air-quality issue and shown a willingness to blame everything but pollution for the hazy air, the winning time was a little slow for such a flat course, however, that could at least partially be explained by the seemingly-tactical nature of the opening third of the marathon, where no one seemed willing to take the race out.

I actually liked the coverage- all things considered I felt like I got a good feel for how the race progressed and that sprint for the silver was a nice reward for sticking with it and probably meant more to the TV viewers who saw the race unfold then the people in the stadium.

Downtime, NIN, and Whoops

I've been in a two week (or almost two week) downtime, which is why there's been no blog posts. It's an interesting time to shut down- middle of the summer, the Olympics going on, lots of races. I've read a number of other blogs of people who are all jazzed up because of the Olympics, nailing their workouts, and so on. It's the height of summer, after all, regardless of the temperature and the rain.

But that's no big. I need the rest. Even if I didn't agree with my coach that you need downtime after an ironman, and I do, I have a few areas in my legs that needed some time off.

But sometimes your music can undermine your best intentions. I started out of my driveway and the song that came on was Nine Inch Nails Head Like a Hole. When it comes to music, Nine Inch Nails has a special place in all my playlists. And Pretty Hate Machine ? It's the album that made me realise what I wanted music to be like. And Head Like a Hole ? the best song from the album.

This is what I get coming out of the driveway when I'm trying to ride easy ? When I'd spent all day- a very hard day- at work, waiting, just waiting for the ride ?

No fair !

But I had a great ride. Too bad that I got started so late that my wife missed Force 5's Wednesday Night ride....oops- and sorry.