What a weekend in Beijing

It was a wonderful three nights of races in the Olympics, even with an hour delay in this time zone.
If it wasn't Michael Phelps winning his seventh and eighth gold medals in the Olympics and his humility, given the situation, it was the two Jamaican sprinters, Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser running away from their respective 100-meter dash fields to win the gold.
It's reasonably easy to stay away from a computer or other media source when the event iss something you particularly want to see. Pity the poor folks on the West Coast. They had to wait three hours to see the coverage.
Tom Hammond, who calls the track and field events, should be a prize in the NBC announcing stock. His enthusiasm is appropriately timed, such as the two, 100-meter races. And he clearly does his homework, even though NBC doesn't spend a lot of time covering track and field during the three years leading up to an Olympiad.
Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines, who were poolside for Phelps' run to the eight gold medals, were equally as good. Both were prepared, and both were surprised (as were the rest of us) when Phelps won the butterfly title by 0.01 of a second.
It would be hard to top what's been done in the first week of the Games. But someone will.