Team America: The True Olympic Champions

By Stephen Daniel

Columnist

August 26, 2008

Mid to late August is a time for hibernation in terms of watching sports. I can watch the Padres vs. the Giants in mid season? Boring. NFL preseason? Yes, I can watch the highlight players for 15 minutes, and none of it counts, fantastic. In all honesty, watching sports in August is just unexciting. However, every four years, the summer Olympics comes and saves us from the dull summer events, and this year was no exception. 

The Olympics in Beijing was one of the most exciting Olympics in recent memory. From the depth defying opening ceremony, to Michael Phelp's unbelievable dominance, to achieving our old glory is basketball, the Olympics were a sight to see. Despite the tape delays, moment after moment was exciting TV, and for Americans, it was an Olympic games to remember, because of the teams.

After years of disappointment the men's basketball team, the "redeem team," finally lived up to its expectations and won gold in convincing fashion. Finally, Lebron James can reclaim his crown and will no longer be referred to as Lebronze James. The United States played with harmony and style. There was some showboating, but there was also a sense of teamwork and flow that made this team much different than the team in Athens. 

There were some amazing stories for the teams in the Olympics. The women's basketball team continued its dominance. The women's soccer team claimed redemption against the Brazilians in a game down to the wire. The men and women's water polo teams both struck silver despite being the underdogs for countless games. Yet the disappointments seemed like victories and the US athletes could hold their heads up high.

There were stories of tragedy in this Olympics. Men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law was stabbed and killed in Beijing. Two weeks later the men's volleyball team overcame tremendous odds and remained undefeated by beating the reigning Brazilian champs in an emotional thriller. Although, the win could never make up for the loss of a life, McCutcheon put his head into his hands and left the court. Truly, it was a great day for him and his family.

There were some team disappointments. Women's softball lost in the gold medal game, women's volleyball could not quite pull off the last win, men's baseball finished with a bronze, and men's soccer, well, acted like men's soccer. However, even the disappointments looked like gold compared to Athens.  

Even the individual events, like Michael Phelp's unbelievable five solo gold medals was almost pushed aside when watching the men's 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Where, Jason Lezak tracked down the heavily favored French on the last turn, beating the French by hundredths of a second. As Michael Phelps raised his arms in victory and released a primal scream that was surely heard back in the states. It was realized that this was not just another medal for Phelps. This was an American victory, as a team.

There will be arguments of who was the best country in the Olympics this year. The Chinese

certainly have a great argument capturing 51 gold medals and being 10 medals short of beating the United States. However, almost all of the Chinese medals were earned in single events. They deserve a great deal of credit for all of the talent they have produced. However, almost all of the American teams stood on the podium and watched their flag raised high in the air. Whether they heard the national anthem of this country or not, those individuals stood as one unit as they fought to win for their country. 

Medal counts aside; the teams for the United States were invigorating and exciting to watch. And as cliché as it sounds, they proved that the name in the front was more important than the name on the back. Celebrate your wins; Olympians of America, you earned it.