Joes Map

Tonight at 10pm Michael Phelps will be competing for his eighth gold medal this year. The race that is coming up, the 4×100-meter medley relay, has historically been dominated by the American team. The Australians are the only team that seem to be able to give Phelps and his team a run for their money. If the US wins this race Phelps will have broken yet another record, the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic year.

George Carlin died on June 22 of this year, 2008. He had a long and very fruitful career as a stand-up comedian. Say what you will about him, love him or hate him for the things he said; but he always made us think, he always made us question, if only for a minute, the things that we take for granted, the things we assume are true. He made us think and really look at what goes on in the world around us. This is why I think George Carlin is one of the greatest philosophers of our time, like Socrates, he asked us the questions and lets us answer them. Unlike Socrates, Carlin always let us know how he felt on the issues. Agree with him or not, he was a man that stood by what he believed.

This is a sport that I did not know existed until this years Olympics. Two people spend four years training to dive in unison for a gold medal. I am not completely sure on all of the rules for this competition, but it seems things like hitting the water at the same time as your partner, coming out of your tucks at the same time, and starting precisely at the same time are the things that count. I was awe-struck as I watched part of this event and wondered how many hours were spent training to know your diving partner well enough to know his/her every move. Kinda creepy but kinda cool.

Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time. At least, he has won the most gold medals of any Olympic swimmer in recorded history. So far, Phelps has won six gold medals and has broken six world records. He has swum over two miles in eight days. He consumes 12,000 calories a day and burns 4,000 calories in one workout. As of this writing, counting his former medals, he is the most decorated Olympian in history. Twenty-six individual world records and no hint of stopping here.

Tonight was the last competition for the men and women gymnists in Beijing, China. There has been some controversy surrounding the games this year, specifically in gymnastics, but I don’t care about that. What I care about is who won the gold?

So without further ado, the medal standings. In the Men’s Individual All-Around competition, the gold went to Wei Yang of China. The silver was awarded to Kohei Uchimura of Japan, and bronze was placed on the neck of Benoit Caranobe of France. What an upset for America! There is good news though, we placed third in the Men’s Team Competition. China won gold and Japan came in second.

The women fared a little better in their team competition, where China took gold, the USA won sliver, and Romania beat out Russia for the bronze. The best part, of the Women’s All-Around competition, tonight was what the media is calling the one-two punch from Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson. Both of these women are from the United States, Nastia took gold and Shawn won the silver medal. China’s Yilin Yang stood in third place on the podium while The Star-Spangled Banner played.

Go USA!