Super Swimming

In the words of the inimitable Harry Caray, HOLY COW! Did y'all see the nail-biter of the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay last night? It was AMAZING! For those that missed out, the U.S. men blasted the previous world record time and eked out a fingertip of a win over France, the gold medal favorites going into the race. The Superman award of the evening goes to Jason Lezak, the 32-year-old anchor who, despite hitting the water a half-second after then-world-record holder Alain Bernard, still wound up touching the wall first...by a mere 0.08 of a second. The victory means Michael Phelps still has the opportunity to beat Mark Spitz's record of seven swimming gold medals in one Olympics. And it means Lezak swam the fastest anchor leg ever - beating his own personal best by more than one second. And talk about an impressive field. The top five relay teams in the final - which included Australia, Italy and Sweden - all finished under the previous world record.

And to quote Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons, "Bonjourrrrrrrrr, yah cheese-eatin' surrender monkeys!" HA! I jest, of course. But there is a bit of poetic justice in beating a trash-talking French team that claimed victory days before the race. As former Olympian Gary Hall Jr. can confirm, it's probably not a good idea to badmouth your competitors before the big race. Back in 2000, the American announced his relay team would smash the Australian team "like guitars." He was forced to eat those words, however, when the Australian team took the gold - and then followed up their victory with a poolside round of air guitar.

So congratulations to Lezak, Phelps and fellow relay teammates Cullen Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale for their amazing win. The relay race will likely remain one of the stand-out moments of the 2008 Olympic Games. You can watch it here.

And just to show we don't harbor any grudge toward our French brethren, here is a low-cal, sugar-free French Toast recipe. Enjoy!

Going for the Gold

So in case you've been living under a rock lately, the 2008 Olympics start today. And I, for one, am uber-excited. I can't wait to see how many world records the part-man-part-fish Michael Phelps shatters - or to watch Tyson Gay race around the track for the gold. While I do love professional sports, there is something so heart-warming about watching little-known athletes compete solely for the love of the sport, rather than for the fanfare or money. And there always seems to be one particularly awe-inspiring moment that just brings tears to your eyes - such as the infamous Miracle on Ice game of 1980 or Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci scoring the first-ever perfect 10. I personally feel nothing sums up the spirit of the Olympic Games more than speed skater Dan Jansen finally winning the elusive gold or the sight of the injured British runner Derek Redmond hobbling across the finish-line with the help of his father.

For that same reason, I also enjoy watching So You Think You Can Dance - one of only two reality programs I tune into regularly (the other being the fabulous Project Runway.) The show takes enormously talented young dancers - who will most likely never achieve any significant level of fame - and gives them the opportunity to work with some of the nation's top choreographers. By the way, congratulations to Joshua for winning the season four title last night.

Back to the Olympics...does anyone remember the hi-LAR-ious SNL skit featuring John Belushi as a top athlete with a penchant for cigarettes and little chocolate donuts? Well guess who found a link to the video! AND, for all you chocolate donut lovers out there, check out this sucralose-sweetened, low-calorie version donut mix from Dixie Carb Counters.



And now, for a few more moving moments, check out the Redmond race as well as one of my favorite So You Think You Can Dance performances from the fourth season. Enjoy!