You go girls (ahem, ladies)

I stayed up late last night (again) to watch the Olympics and, once they got past the beach volleyball coverage, it was pretty entertaining.

On coming into work today one of my co-workers mentioned she stayed up late watching as well, but was upset the American women had "lost" in gymnastics. Lost?? Seriously??

True, they didn't earn the gold medal, but since when is taking home an Olympic silver medal considered losing?

Yes, I'm sure they were disappointed in their performance (they also didn't have the added incentive of a repressive government holding their families hostage), but c'mon, there's 10 or 12 other teams of young women in China now (not to mention all those who didn't make their national teams) who would willingly trade cell phones to switch places.

Good job ladies. You've done well.

Another gymnastic observation: There is no way in Hell three of the six girls on the Chinese team are 16. (I have an almost 4-year-old niece who is close to their size.) But, then again, they took home the gold, so who's to say they shouldn't be allowed to compete.

Olympic quotes of the day come from the Water Cube.

Russian swimmer Alexander Sukhorukov on Michael Phelps: "He is just a normal person, but maybe from a different planet."

Not to be outdone, British swimmer Simon Burnett commented, "I think I've figured out Michael Phelps. He is not from another planet; he is from the future. His father made him and made a time machine. Sixty years from now he is an average swimmer, but he has come back here to mop up."