The Dominance Continues

After defeating their most difficult opponents to date in the form of two very feisty Norwegians, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh will take a perfect 3-0 record with them as they advance to the medal round. May-Treanor and Walsh, dawning navy blue uniforms for the first time since official Olympic play began, the top seeded American team knew that they would be challenged by the Norwegians, whom Walsh said was the best serving team in the pool (the round robin pool obviously, there is no swimming pool in beach volleyball).

Decades of ping pong experience tells me that any competitor with a tough serve can be especially dangerous (my girlfriend has defeated me in ping pong about 97 times utilizing a very tricky serve that her grandmother taught her). The Norwegians' strong serve allowed them to make this matchup respectable, as they gave Kerri Walsh some problems when they sent the ball her way. But, in the end, we'll remember these Norwegians as nothing more than another notch on the Americans' belt. This thing was over in straight sets, 21-12 and 21-15. At this point, it's hard to imagine anybody taking May-Treanor and Walsh to three sets, never mind actually beating them.

What stood out to me most in last night's match, and remember I'm new at this so I really need to be guided by the announcers, was Misty May-Treanor's ability to dive fully extended and save a ball and then immediately recover and be back in the air in time to get a kill off of an assist by her partner. I'd like to see how many up-downs she can do in 60 seconds. I bet she would beat every single person in the world that I know, male or female.

Really, you don't like this song, you heartless empty-souled son of a bitch?




Russia and Georgia also faced off in beach volleyball, and I think this quote from Jim Caple's article really touches on the things that make this such a great sport. In comparing this match yesterday to the famous "Blood in the Water" water polo match between Russia and Austria-Hungary in 1956, Caple says:

"If it lacked the animosity -- to say nothing of the violence -- of the water polo match, perhaps it was because this venue was the beach volleyball pit. And the competitors wore sunscreen, sunglasses and bikinis. And tanned, long-haired cheerleaders strutted in the sand. And the sound system blared such classic Eastern European folk tunes as "La Bamba," "Highway to Hell" and the "Ghostbusters" theme."

At this point, there's no denying the powerful impact that this sport has had on me.


---------------------------------------------------------------

Chad Johnson wants to legally change his name to Ocho Cinco. Needless to say, I'm going to be very upset if he doesn't follow through. (From profootballtalk.com via shutdown corner)


This whole story just looks really bad for Spain, and it gets worse every time I read about Gasol and Calderon defending it.