I don’t know whether it is BALCO, hype, saturation, time delays or good sense; but the Olympics haven’t really made an impression on me yet. In the past, the Olympics have been a green light for guilty pleasures (curling anyone?). But this year, nothing has emerged to capture my attention.

Phelps? I admire his willingness to take on the Thorpedo. But how did he end up in the 4x100 relay final?

US basketball? Between the Pistons and Puerto Rico, maybe this will be a wake up call. But given the length of the NBA season and the physical stress that the Olympics add on top of that, I doubt it.

The old ladies of US Women’s Soccer? I’ll watch, because I’ve become a soccer fan. But they’re leaving on their own terms; they’re not being pushed out by younger players. Nothing happening to check a slide back into irrelevance.