Waukesha, WI, is a great place. I've been there for work. Everyone is superfriendly, but I hate the roads there - there's like 4 main streets that have the same name, the only thing differentiating them being N, S, E, W. Or something like that.

Anyway, they must be going crazy out there right now.

Come on, you know what I'm talking about!

They can now hang up a sign as you're driving into town - 'Home of America's ONLY Men's All Round Gold Olympic Medalist - And He Even Fell on His Ass!'

Wasn't it exciting yesterday?

Everyone was talking about Paul Hamm being in contention to be the gold medalist, then having several great opening routines. Then *BAM* he does the vault and lands in the laps of the judges. Close enough to do a breath check. Falls to 12th place. Even the announcers are like, 'Sorry, dudes, there's like, no chance he can get back now.'

But then everyone else falters.

So maybe there's a chance.

But those Korean guys are still pretty strong Not to mention kinda cute. But I don't think Paul was thinking that.

Then he has a kick ass parallel bars routine. The announcers think, hey, maybe he doesn't suck so bad. Maybe he still CAN get a medal. He'd look good in bronze.

The Koreans, Dae Eun Kim and Tae Young Yang, once again, kick ass. They KNOW they're gonna get a medal.

And of course, in true Olympic 'Kerri Strug'-like fashion, Paul is the very last one to go.

They say he needs a great score to get a bronze. An amazing score to get the silver. And he needs to raise the dead to get the gold.

And he did. Watch out for zombies on the streets today.

On the horizontal bar, he does 'the routine of a lifetime'. He pumps his fist in the air. He knows he got that bronze. He just knows it!

He sits and waits for his score. Then he gets it. His trainers are going apeshit for some reason. They're calling him the Olympic champion. He's thinking, 'WTF?' And then it starts dawning on him. He shakes his head no, in disbelief. It was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. His coaches are squooshing him like a rag doll. Men's All Round Gold!

And Waukesha rejoices.

And the Koreans hang their heads down - the gold just .012 away, almost in their hands. I felt bad for them. What they did, those two guys, was nothing short of incredible. This was probably the best meet of their lives. And they were awfully consistent, moreso than everyone else. But they got beat, by the guy who fell on the judges.

I believe that the Olympic committee has some sort of conspiracy to start a war between the US and Korea. First Apolo Anton Ohno beats out Kim Dung Song in short track (the '02 games) and now Paul Hamm beats out the Korean gymnasts by a hair. But really, this is just the beginning for the Korean gymnasts. Silver and Bronze is nothing to be upset about. Hopefully they go back, and they build a bigger, stronger team, a team that will medal at the next games. Wouldn't that be cool? But for these games, they belong to Paul Hamm.

I just loved Paul on the award stand. Usually I love it when people sing or mouth the national anthem. But as the camera focused on him, you could see such a flurry of emotions pass across his face. I could only imagine what he was thinking, but it's obvious that he was trying to keep it together, not to break down after all the stress and expectataions. Thinking about his road to get there, how hard he worked, his life flashing before his eyes, how he wished his twin brother was right next to him...

Sorry Korea. Please don't spam Paul's email box.

They were pretty impressive, too...I only wish that the rest of the Korean team made it to the podium in the teams.

But last night was Hamm's night.

And Waukesha's.

________

Other Shorts

- Love the squealing, screaming, giddiness of the women's relay team, SMASHING the 17 year old relay record. They definitely deserved it, and they're showing everyone that women are kicking some major ass in Greece.

- More women kicking butt - the US women's softball team (the men didn't qualify), US women's basketball (the men aren't doing to hot), and Women's sabre...50% of the team is women this year. We rock!

- If Michael Phelp's swim pant thingees rode any lower, I'd need more eye surgery, because that would totally blow my retina. How do those things not fall off?

- Poor American shot put guy, Adam Nelson. He was so hyped up (they all were) and he fouled 5 times. I thought he was gonna beat up the judge!

- Let's hear it for Brett McClure, Jaycie Phelp's fiance, who was in his first individual finals, and did better than he even thought he would. He was out there, not stressed at all, having a great time. That's what I love to see. People who have nothing to lose, that compete their heart out, but love every minute of it and soak in the wonderment of it all.

- Kayaking rocks. If it was kayaking on the old school Sega system, playing the Summer Games, I would have rocked the house, winning my gold medal in record time. I OWNED that game, I was awesome. Alas, in real life I can't swim. My big arm floaties would get in the way and I would lose horribly.

- Bob Costas. I still adore you.

...thanks for Noelle for her Google researching expertise

Posted by Yano at August 19, 2004 10:47 AM

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