Olympic Thoughts: The Expected and Unexpected

By Guest Blogger Daniel Mochen\r\n \r\nI knew that this year\’s Summer Olympics in Beijing would be awesome in every aspect. I just didn\’t expect them to awe me like they did, that fast and that completely. Beijing has been waiting a long time to take the world\’s center stage, and they didn\’t hold back on any of the pomp and circumstance.\r\n\r\n

\r\n \r\nThe Opening Ceremonies were probably the grandest, most emotional production I have ever seen, and I\’ve been to Vegas more times than I can count on my hands. The 2008 drummers pounding their light infused drums in unison sent chills down my spine. I even got a little emotional at the raising of the Chinese flag, and I\’m not even Chinese. I don\’t want to spend too much time on the opening ceremonies, but I do want to stress that I thought they were magnificent. \r\n\r\nMore prevalent I\’m sure on everyone\’s minds is, \”Who will walk away with the first Gold medal of the 2008 games?\” We got our answer when Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic shot her away onto the Olympic podium (Air Rifle – Gold). I want to cover the biggest surprise, biggest upset and biggest \”We knew this would happen\” on the Olympics first day and a half. The biggest surprise of the day came when Mariel Zagunis and her U.S. Fencing team swept the competition, taking the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. This was huge given that the Americans had previously not medaled in this competition and trailed numerous nations in the world rankings.\r\n\r\nBeing that there have been no huge upsets as of print time, I will instead take this space to extend my condolences to the family of Todd Bachman, the American that was slain in downtown Beijing. Unfortunately, in a time of celebration, we had to be reminded that we live in a volatile, sometimes unforgiving world. \r\n\r\nIn the \”We knew this would happen\” department, Michael Phelps (swimming) broke a world record in advancing to the 400 IM final tonight. I for one, am looking forward to Phelps and female 400 IM record holder Katie Hoff, both of the U.S. go for gold tonight.