Bill Plaschke, Chicago Tribune...

No, it's not the Miracle on Ice, but the Americans' landmark victory over the favored Canadians at their own game, on their own ice, may come to be remembered as a sea change in Olympic hockey.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

NHL, Olympics olympic hockey, usa hockey, upset, 2010 olympics

Thirty years ago one of the most defining moments in US Olympic histoy happened:

Olympics usa olympic hockey, miracle on ice, sports flashback

TotalSports.com looks at 25 female olympians to watch...

Julia Mancuso, USA, Alpine Skiing

COMPLETE LIST

Just For Fun, Olympics lists, hot girls, hot female olympians, 2010 winter olympics

With the Winter Olympics here we look at the 21 year-old Finnish figure skater:

 

MORE PICS (Chickipedia.com)

Just For Fun, Olympics gsi hotties, hot girls, winter olympics 2010, kiira korpi

From USA Today...

Jamaica's bid to have its bobsled team compete in this month's Olympics has come up short.

The list of nations who qualified and entered bobsled events at the Vancouver Games, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, failed to include Jamaica — which had spent the last few weeks hoping that a slot opened in the field.

Those hopes were dashed, and on Wednesday, the Jamaicans acknowledged that all chance for 2010 was gone.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

Olympics 2010 winter olympics, jamaican bobsled team

from the LA Times...

That Rio won the 2016 Summer Games is easily understandable.

The International Olympic Committee fancies itself a force in global affairs. As in the case of breaking Olympic ground by giving the 2008 Olympics to China, the world's most populous country, Friday's vote was a chance for the IOC to say that by giving the Olympics to South America for the first time it will have aided the development of Brazil, the most populous country on the continent.

That Chicago was eliminated in the first round, as shocking as it seemed, also was surprisingly understandable, given the IOC's byzantine internal politics, its fractious relationship with the country whose companies have been its cash cow and the way the host-city election system is structured.

COMPLETE ARTILCE

Olympics chicago, 2016 summer olympics

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps returned to the pool on Sunday at the Charlotte UltraSwim, but he was far from golden. Phelps ended up winning two of the five events he entered at the UltraSwim in his first real competition since the 2008 Beijing Olympics last August, when he won a staggering eight gold medals in eight attempts.

“For my first meet back, I have no complaints,” Phelps told the Charlotte Observer.

Phelps was returning from a three-month ban after pictures of him smoking marijuana out of a bong surfaced in February.

 

Last week it was Baltimore adult entertainer Theresa White that came out with some new revelation's about America's Golden Boy, including a threesome with her and a friend.

According to the stripper Phelps' staminia is as good in the pool as it is in the bed.

"The sex lasted for about three hours. Michael should get another Olympic gold for marathon love-making!"

COMPLETE INTERVIEW/PICS

Just For Fun, Olympics michael phelps, swimming

Michael Phelps first swim... 

Just For Fun, Olympics michael phelps

From Jay Mariotti, Chicago-Sun Times:

Briefly, I weighed the possibility, recognizing that the current team is loaded 1 thru 12 with gifted stars in their prime, right down to final pieces Tayshaun Prince and Michael Redd. The Dream Team, remember, had a retired Magic Johnson and an old Larry Bird and had the feel of a traveling museum -- or, in Charles Barkley's case, a nightly party in Las Ramblas. Also, the Redeem Team is playing markedly better compe tition in a world that improved enough to catch up to the Americans, then beat them down.

But, please. In the Jordan vs. Kobe matchup, take MJ's scoring, defense and clinically insane competitiveness every time. And if James looks like the Incredible Hulk and plays like a Hummer rambling at 100 mph, I'd like to see him deal with Scottie Pippen's Doberman act. Karl Malone would create a mismatch at power forward. Wade is a force off the bench, but so was Clyde Drexler. Inside, I like the fury of Patrick Ewing and finesse of David Robinson over Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh. We never saw the best of the Dream Team because the mode was cruise control. We've seen the best of the Redeem Team. And so far, it's damned good. "For 40 minutes, it's nonstop movement and chaos,"Chris Paul said. "That’s what we try to do. We wreak havoc."

In the end, Jordan would hang 16 in the fourth quarter and the Dreamers would win by eight points.

NBA, Olympics dream team, redeem team, tayshaun prince, michael redd, magic johnson, larry bird, michael jordan, kobe byrant, karl malone, chris paul, david robinson, dwight howard, chris bosh

From the Spoiler.com:

In a thoroughly well-timed move, the latest German edition of Playboy will be released tomorrow with a feature showcasing the four sexiest athletes to ever represent the nation.  

Petra Niemann is competing in her third Olympiad, and sailing is her game. “I’ve been working hard with my psychologist,” she told Playboy, as if to suggest this had something to do with sport or being naked.

Kayaker Nicole Reinhardt is one of Germany’s best hopes for gold in Beijing, and is grateful that her sport is about technique, so the “dickere und kräftigere” (”butch”) ladies have nothing on her svelte frame.

Romy Tarangul, just 20-years-old, has sadly been eliminated from the Judo competition already. Tsk.

Katharina Scholz is a field hockey starlet, and also a WAG of ex-national hockey captain Oliver Hentschel. She isn’t the first German from her discipline to pose in the buff for the popular magazine - the hilariously-named Fanny Rinne also did so prior to the Athens Olympiad.

Just For Fun, Olympics hottest women athletes, petra niemann, nicole reinhardt, romy tarangul, katharina scholz

Another classic from one of our favorites, Ryan Parker:

Just For Fun, Olympics michael phelps, ryan parker

From John Niyo, Detroit News:

Indeed, by breaking Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics, Michael Phelps certainly laid claim to throne in his sport, and his celebrity status and crossover appeal has only just begun to raise the profile for swimming in the U.S.

Sunday's win gives him 14 gold medals in his Olympic career, and 16 overall -- both the most in history. He had a hand in setting seven world records at this meet. He picked up a $1 million bonus from Speedo for matching Spitz's 36-year-old mark, and he'll reap untold millions in the weeks and months to come as his agent cashes in on Phelps' international fame.

Great stuff, to be sure. But the greatest?

Not yet. Phelps, in my book of lists, supplants all but Carl Lewis as the best the Olympics has ever seen.

Lewis gets the nod, if only for longevity's sake, winning nine gold medals over four Olympics. (It would've been five -- and probably 10 gold -- if not for that U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games.) And should Phelps return and win even more medals at the 2012 London Olympics, as he intends to do, well, then I don't think there'll be much left to argue.

Olympics michael phelps, swimming, greatest olympian, carl lewis, mark spitz

Have you ever heard sports fans going off about soccer games being decided by penalty kicks, screaming "if a baseball game is tied after nine innings, they don't go to home run derby"?  Well, in the words of a slightly senile football commentator...not so fast my friends.

I just got home and caught the tail end of the USA/Cuba baseball game and saw the two teams tied at 3-3 in the 10th inning.  Then, when the U.S. took the field for the 11th, I noticed two Cuban base runners at first and second base.

Did I fall asleep and miss something?  Is this some sort of dream sequence?  No, apparently it was neither.  Looking to put the final nail in the coffin of Olympic baseball, the good folks at the International Baseball Federation have implemented a new rule for the Beijing games.  It reads as such:

In the 11th inning each team's at-bat begins with runners on first and second base, and the managers get to choose who bats first.

Got that?  No matter where the team ended up in the 10th, the manager can just magically select who gets to start off an inning.  Now they can't just pick two random base runners and a batter; they have to go in order, so if the manager wants the #3 batter to lead off the 11th, he has to put the leadoff man on 2nd base, and the #2 hitter on 1st.

Now on the surface this doesn't seem awful; I find it somewhat similar to the college football overtime setup (which is ok except for the whole taking the special teams aspect out of the game and creating outrageously ridiculous final scores).  But, baseball's selling point is that the game keeps going until there's a winner.  There's no contrived method to end it quickly, it's supposed to keep going as is.  This sort of slaps the traditionalists in the face.

For those of you that want to see how this works in action (as well as see a particularly nasty injury occur to Jayson Nix), click her...oh that's right, I could be hauled off to jail if I link to an Olympic site, picture, or video.  Never mind.

Olympics olympic baseball rules

I couldn't do justice to the Michael Phelps story so I have attached a link by Pat Forde of ESPN.  It is a great read on Michael Phelps who is possibly the greatest Olympian of our time.  Phelps is already the most decorated Olympian in history and if he wins his next three races he will break Mark Spitz record of 7 gold medals in one Olympic.

Here is a breakdown of his races so far.

RACE BREAKDOWN

• Pat Forde's breakdown: Phelps is looking to become the first Olympian to win eight golds in a single Games. Here is a race review...COMPLETE STORY

• Race No. 1 -- 400-meter IM: Phelps kept pace with teammate Ryan Lochte and László Cseh in his weakest discipline, the breaststroke, before putting the hammer down in the freestyle to win his first gold of the Games.

• Race No. 2 -- 4x100 free relay: Phelps almost saw his run end, but Jason Lezak came back in the final leg to help the U.S. men edge France to win gold in one of the most memorable relay races in Olympic history.

• Race No. 3 -- 200 freestyle: Phelps easily won his third gold of the Games and ninth of his career in one of his strongest events. He also broke his own world record (1:42.96).

• Race No. 4 -- 200 butterfly: It wasn't even close, folks. Phelps controlled the race from the beginning to win, breaking his own world record and becoming the most decorated gold medalist in Olympic history.

• Race No. 5 -- 4x200 free relay: Phelps chose to swim the first leg of the relay and immediately set the tone. By the time Peter Vanderkaay swam the anchor leg, the Americans held a five-body-length lead.

• Race No. 6 -- 200 individual medley: Friday morning Beijing time, Thursday night in the U.S.

• Race No. 7 -- 100 butterfly: Saturday morning Beijing time, Friday night in the U.S.

• Race No. 8 -- 4x100 medley relay: Sunday morning Beijing time, Saturday night in the U.S.

Just For Fun, Olympics michael phelps, swimming, greatest olympian

Way back in 1988, back when I was a wee junior in high school, I had a thing for Olympic swimmer Dara Torres.  Watching the Seoul Olympics on what seemed like a 36-hour delay, she was just all that was right with womanhood.  And then I realized I would never meet her, and went back to oggling Sandy Fischer (name changed to protect the much more innocent than I wished) in trigonometry class.

Fast forward to 2008, where Torres is competing in her fifth Olympics at age 41, in a sport where most participants are over-the-hill at 25.  Dara has had to go through an unbelievably rigorous training program to get ready for the Beijing games, as chronicled in great detail by the New York Times.

But, as she was preparing for last night's 4x100 freestyle relay finals (which the U.S. took silver in), what I noticed most about her was not her swimming prowess, but...well, her downright dude-ish look.  Not even so much her body (which so far as any tests have shown, is free of PED's), as much as her face.

Now, I'd love to show you pictures from the event, but NBC in its infinite wisdom has decided to lock down all pictures and video from the Olympics (because God forbid anyone might see a picture of an Olympic event and develop an interest in the games - I swear it's going to be a fantastic day when NBC finally understands the internet).  So I can only link to a photo gallery with some press pictures - she's picture #2.

However, here's what she looked like in a Maxim photo shoot a few years ago.

...and here's a pic from the Times article...

Yikes.  It should be noted, however, that these pictures were taken prior to her WWE title match against Batista, which she won by disqualification after outside interference from Triple H.

Just For Fun, Olympics dara torres