It begins...

Okay, not that I have any real need for confirmation of my status as a sports junkie, but if I did, it would clearly come every 4th summer (and once every 4 winters, to a slightly lesser degree, as well) with the arrival of the Olympics. I don't get all caught up in the nationalistic/patriotic stuff anymore, in fact, I really don't buy into it at all anymore. The "ideals" of the Olympics have long since been replaced, at least in my view, by the standard US/Western ideals of consumerism, marketing, and cash. It's a shame in my opinion, but I still love the event, because I simply love sports, of virtually any kind. This is the part of the entry where I acknowledge that during the '06 Winter Games I was repeatedly glued to the TV watching curling matches that I had DVR'd during the day. That's right: curling. I'm sure some of you, even some who are relatively tuned into sports, don't have a clue what that is. But I do, and in fact, I can probably give you a fairly complete run down of all the rules, as well as some rather fundamental strategy.

You see, the one thing I've always had on most people who claim to be sports junkies is the sheer breadth of my knowledge of various sports. If a sport has ever seen some sort of feature time on TV, or on a major sports media outlet, there's an excellent chance that I can talk at least somewhat intelligently about it, even if only for 5 minutes. Additionally, unlike a lot of American sports fans, I generally keep tabs on the "major" Olympic sports (gymnastics, swimming, track,etc) throughout the 4 years between Olympics. Not at anything resembling an expert level, but I've generally got a clue what to expect, at least from the American athletes, in these sports prior to the beginning of the Olympics.

And, of course, NBC is doing everything in it's power to indulge my Olympic addiction. In addition to offering an absolutely ridiculous 1400 hours of coverage of the 16 day event across 6 TV channels (I think I might only get 4 of these on my current cable package), the network is going to stream 2200 hours of live coverage across it's website. How freaking crazy is that? To put this amount of coverage into perspective (if that's even possible), it's worth noting that the 1400 hours of TV coverage by itself represents more TV coverage than has been given to every other previous Olmypics combined. Should I choose to, I should be able to watch any event I want. Insane. I may have to waive my "no TV before 8" rule for 2 weeks in August. So, if I disappear in mid-August, you all will know why.

And really, I don't have to wait until August to get started, because the US track and swimming trials are going on right now, and are getting pretty significant online and TV coverage as well.

Anyhow, here's a few tips and updates for those who will be tuning into sports in August that they haven't watched in 4 years:

Gymnastics: Pursuit of the perfect 10 is now a thing of the past. When the new code of points was introduced for this Olympic cycle, the scoring system was completely redone, and 10 is no longer the gold standard. Gymnasts get graded on the difficulty of their routine, as well as their execution (where 10 is still the perfect score), and those scores are added together. So goodbye to 9s and 10s, from now on you'll be seeing 15s, 16s, and 17s. The US women are the heavy favorites to win gold, led by the last 2 world all-around champions - Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson. On the men's side, reigning Olympic all-around champion Paul Hamm is back after taking 2 1/2 years off, but his comeback efforts have been hampered by injury. He should still be on the team assuming all goes well with his rehab.

Swimming: This is going to seem like a repeat, because the story of the '04 games is the story of the '08 games - the USA's Michael Phelps. At age 19 in 2004, Phelps fell just short of his quest to match or eclipse Mark Spitz's 7 gold medal performance in 1972, winning 6 golds and 2 bronzes. At age 23 in 2008, he's at it again, and is presently trying to qualify for the Beijing team in 6 individual events, which coupled with the likelihood that he will appear on 3 relays would give him a shot at 9 golds. Whether he tops Spitz's single Games performance or not, it seems almost a foregone conclusion that Phelps will win enough gold to become the most decorated athlete in Summer Games history, with the current record sitting at 9 gold medals.

Track: Along with baseball and cycling, track and field has been the sport most impacted by the recent crackdown/revelations regarding performance enhancing drugs, and US athletes have been at the center of the controversy. Former stars such as Tim Montgomery, Marion Jones, and Justin Gatlin have all fallen from grace since 2004, and it will be up to the current crop of talent, led by names such as Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, and Sanya Richards to demonstrate that those days are, in fact, past. Athletes will be subject to a much higher level of scrutiny in the 2008 Games, including, for the first time, blood tests during the Games.

So, there's your primer. Chances are I won't actually disappear in August, and will instead be right here to give commentary after commentary. I'm sure at some point I'll find time for work, food, and sleep as well.