Half Armenian, Full Eagle
As I blogged yesterday, Michael Phelps surpassed all the other Olympic greats to stand alone with, now, 11 gold medals in the “200 m butterfly” and the “4 x 200 m freestyle relay”.
His first Olympic race was in Sydney and the 2000 Olympics and in the last 2 Olympics (this one’s not over), he has become the face of swimming since. I watched him swim in Athens and I have watched each of these golds.
GO USA!
With one of the best swimming races in the history of the Olympics, the USA wins the gold medal over France. The fact that France was trash talking the US team made the win even more impressive. This win kept Michael Phelps in the running for sweeping the Olympics with 8 medals.
The swimmer from France was in the lead prior to the last leg. Even with less than 50 meters to go, France was in the lead, but Jason Lezak of the US came from nowhere to split the 100m at 46.06 seconds shattering the former world record by 4 seconds.
Phelps already won one the day before, this made two. At the time of this post, Phelps won another gold medal, tying the record for most medals of all time. Tomorrow he is scheduled for two races, both for medals. Tomorrow he might be the best Olympian ever with 12 medals and 10 gold.
GO USA
In one of the most technically advanced opening ceremonies, Beijing proved that not only can they put together a 3 million dollar live show, but they can incorporate their 5,000 year history into it.
I DVRed the opening ceremonies and I want to write about each part of it, hopefully I will get around to it in the next few days.
The torch lighting ceremony was very creative. All eight were Chinese Olympic champions including the final carrier who they hoisted up to the top of the stadium and he “ran” around a projection that went around in 360 degrees culminating in the lighting of the cauldron followed by fireworks.
Good Luck Team USA!!!!!
Well, after a very upsetting Super Bowl in February, the Patriots were back in action today, but it wasn’t the first string. Pre-season, a lot of the back up players will get their chance to prove themselves to the team.
Matt Cassel didn’t do well at all in his first start, but Matt Gutierrez and rookie Kevin O’Connell played decent in comparison. Even though the Patriots lost to the Ravens 16-15, it was the first time we have seen the Patriots play a game since the Super Bowl.
GO PATS!!!!
Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie had an amazing series against Oakland this weekend. Jason Bay in his first three games with Boston has a 3 game hitting streak which included a triple to win the game in 12 innings Friday and a 3-run Home Run last night. Also with great plays in left field and his speed make him a real threat to the opposing team.
Jed Lowrie is replacing Lugo while he is on the DL. However, I don’t think Francona will want to take Lowrie out right now since he is on fire. Numerous big hits have left an impression of Lowrie that sits a lot better than Lugo. Send him back down to the PawSox and keep Jed up here where he is actually helping us instead of hurting us.
Just as hoped, Manny Rameriz is not in a Boston uniform and his “replacement” produced. Jason Bay not only scored the winning run, but the only two runs that Boston had. He walked twice, got hit by a pitch and hit a triple off the Green Monster before Jed Lowrie (rookie) got an infield hit in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Red Sox the walk off.
Welcome to the [Jason] Bay State (reference to Massachusetts being the “Bay State” in case you are unfamiliar)
It’s official, Manny Ramirez is no longer on the Boston Red Sox. One of the most notable and best players the Red Sox have ever seen is going to the LA Dodgers in a three way trade with the Pirates.
Pittsburgh gave up Bay and wound up with four young players. The deal was completed just before the 4 p.m. EDT deadline for making trades without waivers.
As of early Thursday, it appeared Ramirez might be on his way to the Florida Marlins. But when those talks fizzled, the Red Sox and Pirates found a willing third partner in the Dodgers.
“When a player like Manny becomes available, I don’t think there’s a manager in baseball who wouldn’t say they’re interested,” said Dodgers skipper Joe Torre, whose Yankees teams went toe-to-toe with Ramirez for years. “It was something that happened very quickly, obviously.” - source
Manny was a icon in Boston for the last 7 years, but after some of his comments and actions recently, I am glad the Red Sox traded him. Don’t get me wrong, I thought he was awesome, the Red Sox need a player who don’t cause so many problems. Sox are trying to win back-to-back World Series and Manny brings too many distractions.
I wish him the best of luck in LA, but PEACE!
I don’t know what the Red Sox have been doing lately, they have lost 8 games since the All Star Break out of a possible 12. Once the trade deadline passes, I believe the Sox will get back in it and make their stride to the top of the AL East.
“I thought they hit some decent pitches; they hit some bad pitches, too,” Beckett said. “Don’t get me wrong, I was definitely not perfect tonight.”
The Angels looked just about perfect in this three-game showdown between two teams who could meet again in the postseason.
“They’re playing really well right now,” said Beckett. “They’re feeling good about themselves and they should be because they’re playing good baseball. I wanted to go out there and set the tone. I just couldn’t hold it there.”
Beckett continued to have trouble in the sixth, so much so that the Angels landed a knockout punch. Again, Anderson was a problem, ripping a two-run homer that curled just inside the Pesky Pole in right. The Angels simply wouldn’t relent. Howie Kendrick followed with a single and moved to third on a throwing error by Varitek. Jeff Mathis followed with an RBI double and after a Chone Figgins single, Beckett was lifted in favor of Manny Delcarmen.
With runners at the corners, Figgins stole second. Making matters worse, shortstop Jed Lowrie couldn’t handle Varitek’s throw. The error — charged to Lowrie — allowed another run to score. Maicer Izturis produced a sacrifice fly, pinning the Red Sox in an 8-2 hole.
They will be fine, I’m not worried.
Brett Favre has been in the NFL since I was 6 years old and has been with the Packers since 1992, but he has said he was retiring about 5 times now, but he always comes back for another year. Last year he said he was done, but he just faxed a letter to the NFL for reinstatement.
“It’s obviously the first step in Brett coming back, but we’ll deal with that once he is reinstated,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “We’ll definitely have a plan in order. … We’ll address everything, as far as the details about how Brett Favre fits into our future plans, when he arrives here in Green Bay.”
Once his reinstatement is approved by the league, which is expected to be a formality, the Packers have 24 hours to either release Favre or bring him back on the active roster. Packers general manager Ted Thompson has said the Packers have no plans to release Favre.
The Packers own Favre’s rights until his contract expires after the 2010 season.
- source
I don’t know when Google launched this into beta, but it is awesome. Google calculates how long and what path you should travel when walking. There’s not much more to say other than awesome.
