The quadrennial gathering of athletes and participants known as the Modern Olympiad, has begun. In London, and no, I didn't mean 'Let's not go to England', I meant 'Let's not go to the triple x entendre'. XXX Olympics brings to mind, maybe, a collexxxion of pornographic industry giants (hah) getting together to set new records for sexual conquests and imaginative world records in semi-deviant positions and combinations. Or, maybe it was just me whose mind wandered in that general direction, even if just for an instant.
At any rate, over ten thousand 'athletes' from nearly 300 Olympic-Organization-recognized countries, along with 50,000 support staff, trainers and other assorted hangers-on, not to mention over 1,900 horses, tons and tons of various equipment and essential supplies, plus television broadcast crews, documentary teams and reporters, 5-million+ spectators............you get the idea; London is the place to be, or not to be.
By my count, over 300 gold medals will be awarded. Make that: medals will be handed out in 300+ categories (more than the People's Choice Awards and ESPYs together). There, obviously, will be multiple medallions in the team and partner events, so well over 3,500 medals will be distributed. And, in this country especially, the medal count will be touted and stressed on an hourly basis. Well, China has 7 golds so far, but WE have 13 total medals, the same as China and as many as any other country in the Whole Wide World Of Olympic Sports. So there. No other country has sent more contestants than the USA has dispatched to the UK to "bring home the Gold". England has 541 (they didn't send anyone, they're already there), the USA 530, Germany 392, China (not unrecognized Taiwan) 380, France 330 (no war veterans included), Japan 293, Italy 284, Canada 277 and (South) Korea 245. That rounds up the top ten, as far as number of contestants.
Ever heard of a place named Nauru? The Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is the world's smallest republic, covering just over 8 square miles (twice as big as Berthoud). Nauru is in the western Pacific just a few miles below the equator and northeast of Autralia. The Republic of Nauru has sent two participants to the XXX Olympiad, one in judo and the other for weightlifting. Bhutan, the British Virgin Islands, Gambia, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Timor-Leste are other countries that have sent two competitors to bring home the gold, or at least a suitcase full of cool souvenirs.
Bhutan is a small kingdom in the Himalayas between China and India. It is home to the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, Gangkhar Puensum, at 24,840 feet. The Kingdom of Bhutan sends two shooters to London, both women, one in archery and one in the 10m air rifle. The British Virgin Islands are a group of about 60 islands southeast of Florida in the Caribbean. They are sending one man and one woman to run the 100m at the Olympics. No surprise there. Gambia (officially Republic of The Gambia) is the smallest country on the African continent. It is completely surrounded by Senegal and the North Atlantic Ocean on the Gambia River, from whence its name derives. The Gambia also sends a male and female 100m dasher. Mauritania is in northwest Africa, bordered by the Atlantic and the Sahara Desert. They are also sending two runners, a man in the 200m and a woman in the 800m. São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe are two islands forming Africa's least populous country. The republic is located off the west coast of Africa almost smack dab on the equator in the Gulf of Guinea. Guess what: one male, one female runner, 100m and 100m hurdles, respectively. Sierra Leone is on the very western coast of Africa, a small speck, just above the equator. That country sends a man in the 200m and a woman in the long jump. We've heard of Somalia for some time as an uncivil and violent country, without order and the location of "Blackhawk Down", in its largest city of Mogadishu. Somalia is the easternmost tip of Africa, jutting out into the Indian Ocean. The Somalian Olympic Organizing Committee somehow organized long enough to send, you guessed it, a man and a woman to run the 1500m and the 400m. The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, more commonly known as East Timor, is the eastern tip of the Timor Island in the Southeast Asian Maritime Archipelago (Indonesia), halfway between Australia and Viet Nam. Timor-Leste sends two marathoners.
I've not watched much of the Olympics yet. A little badminton, water polo, girl's volleyball, 10-meter women's air rifle, women's beach volleyball, basketball, men's swimming, cross-country equestrian, soccer. Wait a minute, I've watched more than I thought. But still, if they want me to watch more, they should get baseball and golf in the damn Olympics. And bowling, too. Women's boxing? Bicycle motocross? Come on! Why not Beer Pong, Hide-and-Seek or Shuffleboard?
Baseball was an official Olympic sport in 1992 (Barcelona, Cuba-gold), 1996 (Atlanta, Japan-gold), 2000 (Sydney, USA-gold), 2004 (Athens, Cuba-gold) and 2008 (Beijing, South Korea-gold). In 2006, the International Olympic Committee voted baseball and softball out of the 2012 Olympics, the first recognized activities to be eliminated since polo (the horsey kind) in the 1936 Berlin Games (when Jesse Owens shoved the proverbial middle finger up Hitler's ass). For the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, golf and rugby are scheduled to replace baseball and softball. No indication that Beer Pong will even be a demonstration sport, officially. Maybe that's more of a winter sport. They have winter shuffleboard (curling) in the Winter Games. Hide-and-Seek could be held at both Summer and Winter Games.
It is always very entertaining when we get to watch the dozens of human-interest stories involving individual quests for Olympic accolades. You know, like the struggles of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony battling through the obstacles of their multi-million-dollar careers to bring Gold-Medal-Glory back to the good ole US of A. Or Michael Phelps battling to prove that smoking dope is not a detriment to success at the Olympic level. How about the double-leg amputee guy who is competing in the 400-meter and 4x400 meter relay? That's Oscar Pistorius of South Africa. Or, the legally blind guy from South Korea, Im Dong-Hyun, representing his country in the 72-arrow archery event! WTF! Will there be a Bela Karolyi sighting at the women's gymnastic venue this year?
At the end my history and geography posting. I decided to lay off the Rockies and Yankees this time, mostly because they're losing. Even with Ichiro in the lineup, the Yankees lost two of three to the hated Red Sux, at Yankee Stadium, cutting the Yankees' lead over Boston to a mere 9-1/2 games with 61 games to go in the regular season. The Rockies? Fuggeddiboudit. The Rox have to win 26 of the remaining 62 games left to NOT lose 100 games this season. They have to go 44-18 just to finish at .500! Maybe the Rockies brass could be as gracious as the Seattle Mariners' organization and trade Todd Helton to the Texas Rangers, so he could have a shot at some post-season hardware. Go Yankees, Go Ichiro!!!!!!!!!!
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