Oh, my goodness! Did someone ever see a better initiation for an Olympics? I believe the Chinese have set a new standard for opening ceremonies with a pyrotechnics display that may never be rivaled. But these are the guys that invented gunpowder. So, why shouldn't they do it better than anyone else? I am in absolute awe, but when it really gets down to it, I probably will be more impressed with the performances of the athletes competing in this Olympiad. I have great hopes for all of the competition, but I hate all the attention being put on Michael Phelps. Four years ago he faltered in Athens in his attempt to best Mark Spitz's mark of seven gold medals. If he gets any amount of gold medals less than eight, everyone in the media will be commenting about how terrible it was that he didn't make it. Excuse me? We're talking about winning gold medals here -- beating the best in the world for eight times in a row. Even if he did his very best, there is no reason to believe that any one of the numbers in the field could also rise to the occasion and find that inner strength and resolve to nudge Phelps. So, I won't be sitting on the sidelines commenting about how poor Michael Phelps couldn't make it. I am going to cheer him on and support him one race at a time. Should he make it, I will be happy for him and the United States. However, should he be edged in any of his races, I will consider how fortunate he is to have an opportunity to compete against the penultimate of talented swimmers in the world and earnestly believe that he did his very best.
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