Anyway, I'll have my official medal predictions tomorrow, as well as a few other thoughts, but first here are some tidbits from the days leading up to the Games that I found interesting:
- They've made the decision on the final torchbearer, although, of course, that person won't be revealed until the end of the Opening Ceremony. Most think it's down to the great rower Steve Redgrave or decathlete Daley Thompson. My choice would still be Roger Bannister, but if it is between those two, I hope it's Redgrave. Thompson has turned this into a war of words, saying that Redgrave wasn't as great an athlete as he was because Thompson did the decathlon and Redgrave was "just a rower." (I invite Daley Thompson to try rowing and tell me how easy it is.) That's completely uncalled for. That's not what it's about. Just being in the discussion to light the Olympic Cauldron is an honor.
- Speaking of the Opening Ceremony, the IOC made the unprecedented decision of allowing marathoner Guor Marial to compete in London under the Olympic flag. Marial is from South Sudan, which just became a nation a few months ago and doesn't have a National Olympic Committee yet. He lives in the U.S., but doesn't have American citizenship. Sudan invited him to run for them, but seeing as South Sudan just broke away from Sudan, he declined. But instead of making the "Man Without a Country" sit out the Games because of politics, the IOC did the right thing. He won't win a medal, but could finish in the top 20.
- Unfortunately, politics always come into play when the Opening Ceremony is involved. IOC President Jacques Rogge deined Israel's request to have a moment of silence for the victims of the 1972 terrorist attack during the Opening Ceremony. They had a ceremony at the Olympic Village on Monday instead. I can kind of see the thought process that the Opening Ceremony is a celebration, but you still have to think there could be a place to work in a moment of silence. Bob Costas has called the decision "baffling" and "insensitive," and he plans on saying as much when the Israeli team is marching into the stadium.
- For some reason, they made it a point to mention on NBCOlympics.com that the U.S. women's soccer team won't be marching in the Opening Ceremony. I'm not sure why this qualifies as "news," since for me it falls into the "Duh!" category. The France game is in Glasgow, Scotland, and they have another game in Glasgow on Saturday against Colombia. So, yeah, flying to London for the Opening Ceremony on Friday night, then going back to Glasgow really wouldn't have been the smartest of ideas.
- The U.S. coaches won't be attending the Opening Ceremony, either. In an attempt to get the entire thing done in less than three hours, they're limiting the team processions to just athletes. I have no problem with this. The athletes are the ones people want to see, and they're the ones who deserve this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What isn't clear, however, is if the "no coaches" thing only applies to the large delegations. If it does, that isn't right. Either no coaches are allowed to march or all of them should be.
- Details of the Opening Ceremony have been leaking all over the place, and they announced last week that at least a half hour of the cultural portion had to be cut entirely. The ceremony doesn't start until 9:00 local time and the Tube stops at 12:30. Since they're anticipating a majority of the fans using public transportation, it has to be over early enough for them to be able to get home. (Why don't they just keep the Tube running a little later?) And they're evidently going to use some sort of "counter" during the Parade of Nations to make sure the athletes don't delay the Ceremony by walking too slow.
- There are some transportation problems. Two separate buses taking athletes from Heathrow to the Olympic Village got lost last week. My favorite reaction to this hiccup was British Prime Minster David Cameron saying that the Australian team "got a better tour of London than you could pay for." London's cabbies are also upset that they can't take the designated "Olympic lanes" on major roadways. Their flimsy reasoning is that "London is a working city and people need to get around." The cabbies have known this was going to be a "problem" ever since London got the Games seven years ago. They've had plenty of time to come up with some sort of alternative plans, so my advice is, "Get over it!"
- The security firm that they hired didn't train enough people. As a result, they're short on security personnel. Cops have had to be reassigned, and they've even called in the good old American TSA to help out.
- From what I can tell, the live streaming on NBCOlympics.com doesn't include a simulcast of the broadcast network, but it does for all of NBC's cable channels. And it doesn't look like you can watch the Opening Ceremony, which starts at 4:00 New York time, online. We've got to wait for the TV coverage at 7:30.
- Since he's a pansy, Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the tennis tournament. The defending gold medalist, he was supposed to be Spain's flag bearer. But Nadal feels "he won't be competitive." I'm capable of reading between the lines. He'd rather be a punk and not even show up than lose to somebody he's supposed to beat. And you wonder why I hate Nadal...
- Lastly, just in time for the Olympics, the IAAF has modified track & field's controversial false start rule. The current rule is that any athlete who false starts is immediately disqualified. They've modified it slightly to say that a twitch or slight movement while the runners are still in the blocks isn't necessarily a false start unless their hand crosses the line or their foot comes off the blocks. This is 100 percent a reaction to last year's World Championships, when Usain Bolt was DQed in the 100-meter final (which was a legimitate false start). They don't want a repeat in London. Usain Bolt is the biggest star in track & field. They can't run the risk of him getting disqualified because of a false start.
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