The United States and the Olympics

I can say the Olympics truly are a great time.  I can never decide whether I enjoy watching the Summer or Winter Games more.  Both have their great stories and exciting matchups.

Every time a new Olympics starts I try to watch as much as I can, at least until the United States don't have a chance to win said event.  But, here I will just talk about the events that I will be making a point to watch.

I'll start with the Olympic Soccer Tournament.

The United States is fielding probably their best Olympic team of all time.  Brimming with fast, young talent and good mix of able leaders, the US is definitely expected to make some noise this year.

They have drawn into Group B with Japan, Netherlands and Nigeria.  The schedule looks something like this:

August 7th vs. Japan

August 10th vs. Netherlands

August 13th vs. Nigeria

One can't help but think that the US soccer team will be able to win this group.  I am almost expecting them to get through the group without a loss.

This tournament also serves as a nice springboard into the more intense stages of World Cup Qualifying and preparing for the World Cup.  This gives the younger players a chance to show the world what they are capable of, and maybe give the National Team Coaching Staff an idea of who they are going to use come time to announce the 2010 roster.

And after the group play, I don't really think a medal is that far of a thought.  It takes two wins to medal after the group stages.  Three gets you gold.

Could this be the year the United States earns it's first international football medal?  Maybe even championship?

Next, I would like to talk about basketball.

The US "Dream" Team has been pretty shaky in recent years.  Having not fared so well in World Tournaments and finishing with just a bronze medal in the last Olympics.

However, this year the team has high expectations and a seemingly revitalized sense of national pride in the star players in the NBA.

The US will be sending the Redeem Team to Beijing in search of returning to being the Global Basketball Superpower.

Like in soccer, the US is in Group B, however this group is a little bigger, six teams instead of four, and the number of groups are fewer, two instead of four.

The US schedule looks like this:

August 10th vs China

August 12th vs Angola

August 14th vs Greece

August 16th vs Spain

August 18th vs Germany

A gold medal is what is expected of this team, it has been said in the news, by players, and now I am not only saying that I hope for it, but I am predicting it.

It is time for the United States to start a new string of Gold Medal victories.  I can deal with a few second place finishes or bronze medals here and there, but in reality, we need to string a few Gold Medals together before those will just be attributed to, "oh it was someone else's turn", or, "you can't win them all."

I'd like to wrap up with swimming.

Primarily, Michael Phelps.

He has a rare chance to break all kinds of records in the pool and to bring glory unto himself and the rest of the country.

There is a lot of hype surrounding him, the question will be; can he live up to it?

Will he be able to perform with all the expectations tacked to his name?

Will this added hype make other athletes compete above their capabilities and cause whatever he does to become second or third place at best?

These questions will be answered shortly, and hopefully the answer will be, Michael Phelps wins gold!

I'm not sure what his schedule is, but I am pretty sure that if there is a race that day, he will be in one of them. So you can pretty much just tune into the swimming competitions and eventually you will see Michael Phelps swim.