Sunday, August 24, 2008


The Olympics are about over and China has won more Gold Medals than the US. Overall the US has the most medals counting gold, silver and bronze. Russian is in third place and I suspect they invaded Georgia because they were hacked off and wanted to get world attention for something.

Michael Phelps was the hero of the Olympics with winning 8 Gold Medals. Jamaica’s Usain Bolt was also a hero and is now the fastest man in the world. I was happy that our basketball team claimed the gold. The most controversial win was by the Chinese baby gymnastic team. You are supposed to be 16 to compete in the Olympics but these girls looked like they are just out of diapers. Age is a difficult thing to determine. Some of our Hollywood stars who were performing in the 40s and 50s are still 39 years of age. It may be required to get an X-Ray of the hands and wrist to evaluate the bone age before an athlete can qualify for the Olympics.

One of the interesting things about the Gold Medal is that it isn’t made of solid gold. It’s just gold plated. Since they were issued in China it may be they are only a piece of tin painted with a cheap gold paint containing lead. I hope none of the Chinese baby winners put the medal in their mouth, as babies are prone to do; they may develop lead poisoning.

One of the only true gold medals is the US Congressional Medal, which is the highest civilian medal and is issued by the President. A lot of famous Americans have received this medal. The Nobel Prize is a solid gold medal plus the money. The Congressional Medal of Honor for a military accomplishment is not solid gold. It really doesn’t matter that the medal is not made of solid gold. It’s just the idea of being first. In Michael Phelp’s case, those 8 gold medals will translate into several million dollars, so it doesn’t matter what they are made of. In some of the countries the medals may be traded for food.

With the conclusion of the Olympics, the TV on the porch will be off for a while. I don’t think I can stand to watch the political conventions for the next couple of weeks.

1 Comments:

Blogger jeff ludwick said...

Alas, the olympics have come and gone again and I didn't watch a moment of the circus other than the clips on the ten o'clock news which I see very seldom. I WAS proud of Aquaman for winning all of those medals, apparently the Chinese aren't very good swimmers, just gymnasts. The olympics always seem dull to me and even more so when you think of all of the millions of dollars the "ametuers" will make when they get back to the good old U.S.

I believe I do not have a corner on the market with my apathy for the olympics. I heard an ESPN reporter say that synchronized swimming is the most dangerous olypmic event because if one of the swimmers got a cramp she would simply drown and sink to the bottom of the pool because no one would notice...........maybe the Belton Police Department should give it a try.

11:41 AM  

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