The Volleyball Capital of the World

TON is a very happy man, because the United States is now the world's superpower when it comes to volleyball.
Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won the women's beach gold, which was expected.
Phil Dalhausser and Tom Rodgers won the beach gold for the men, which was also expected, even though they suffered the biggest upset in volleyball history in pool play.
And the women's indoor team made it all the way to the gold medal game before bowing out.
But perhaps the biggest surprise, and perhaps the most pleasant is the gold medal won by the men's indoor team.
Through several nail-biting matches, they always managed to make the big play to earn the victory.
I love Clayton Stanley and his gangsta serves. I love Riley Salmon and his scrappiness. I love Tom Hoff, the captain who hardly plays. But my favorite player is David Lee. There must be something about the name David Lee that requires you to be incredibly unsung but remarkably efficient.



But the nicest part of this gold medal is the fact that they won it for Hugh McCutcheon. Coaches don't get medals, but he deserves one. McCutcheon missed the first three matches to be with his family after his father-in-law was killed, and his mother-in-law seriously wounded after being stabbed at a Beijing tourist spot.

And when McCutcheon came back, he coached expertly. He called the right timeouts, made the proper substitutions and executed the key strategic adjustments.

After the gold medal match, McCutcheon left the floor to cry in the tunnel for a minute before joining his team in the celebration.

I Am Feeling Very Olympic Today Coach

The Olympics are a week old and I haven't said a word yet. Unfortunately I've been unable to watch as much as I'd like. I prefer to record huge blocks of coverage and watch what interests me.
I don't care about a lot of the sports, but for 2 weeks every 4 years I become a big fan of volleyball. I'm rooting very hard for the U.S. men's team which is playing through tragedy as their coach's father-in-law was killed in Beijing.

I enjoyed watching fencing and badminton. I've seen a few table tennis matches and marvel at the speed and spin on the ball.
I like the swimming and gymnastics, but track and field is more enjoyable to me.

I love the dominant beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, and their biggest fan.



But the beach volleyball match between Georgia and Russia isn't quite what it was cracked up to be. The matchup was billed as everything right about the Olympics; countries putting aside differences and coming together in the spirit of competition. But the Georgian team of Cristine Saka and and Andrezza Rtvelo is actually made up of two mercenaries from Brazil. The only thing Georgian about them is those made up names. Their real names are Cristine Santana and Andrezza Chagas. But no Georgian is complaining about having Rtvelo on their side.

The U.S. has some interesting pairs of teammates. Cox (Stephanie) and Boxx (Shannon) go together perfectly for the women's soccer team. Definitely a little better than U.S. sprinters Gay (Tyson) and Dix (Walter).

But those aren't my favorite names of the Games. I prefer Japanese volleyball player Yoshie Takeshita, whose jersey I'm sure would be a great seller.

The ladies love Australian boxer Brad Pitt.

But I like Israeli swimmer Nimrod Shapira Bar-Ar. In fact, interest in Nimrod was so high that Israeli journalists covered the swimming events. Michael Phelps was the big story so one Israeli paper put its own spin on Phelps's accomplishments, using this headline after the incredible 4X100 meter freestyle relay: "Two Jews and a Black Man Help Phelps Fulfill Olympic Dream."

Other than Phelps, the biggest U.S. star of these games is gymnast Nastia Liukin. A lot was made of her close relationship with her father a former gold medal winner for the former Soviet Union. But this picture of celebration after she won the all-around gold medal, was a little discomfiting to many who saw it. Once your daughter becomes a teenager I think a kiss on the cheek will suffice.



Maybe more excited that either of the Liukins was Bela Karolyi. A lot of people have criticized him for bias towards the U.S. team and the fact that he behaves like a fan, when traditionalists believe he should behave as an impartial observer. But NBC knew what they were getting when they hired him, and if they didn't like his enthusiasm, they wouldn't constantly replay his off-air moments. I think viewers are smart enough to understand he's the former U.S. coach, his wife is still a coach, and he's going to root for the U.S. As long as he's honest, I've got no problem with him. In fact, he may have been too honest when he called out the Chinese for using underage gymnasts.

There is one picture that surpasses the above Liukin kiss in terms of stomach-turningness. Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai injured his elbow while trying to lift 325 pounds.

All Moms Are The Same

While watching the Olympics with my mom she commented that she found Michael Phelps to be unattractive because of the shape of his mouth. Mrs. Poop's crazy mommy friends are calling him a "butter face" and when you look at him, his teeth are kind of fucked up.

This is not the best picture to illustrate my point, but it'll remind you if you've seen him.



While discussing this issue with some other people I realized that all moms are the same. Whenever they see someone famous with fucked up teeth, a mom will always say "he's got so much money, why doesn't he get his teeth fixed?"



Note: This is not a scientific poll, several moms may be counted twice or even three times if Poop On Me reads this.

China's Accidental Capitalistic Moment

The cute little girl who sang at the Opening Ceremonies as the Chinese team entered, didn't actually sing. Turns out she was lip synching because the girl who had the good voice, wasn't cute enough to be the face of the Ceremonies.
China said it was in the national interest to put on their best face, so to speak.
And the little girl who wasn't cute enough was happy that her voice was deemed excellent enough to be used in the ceremonies.
So as China relied on the most Communist of principles (the good of the nation) they unwittingly became a lot more like the West then they ever intended.
First off, it became a meritocracy, the best person for the job got the role. Second, they put personal appearance above all else, how very American.