OLYMPICS WRAPUP POST DAY #17: Capsules. I apologize for the crappy post yesterday.

Basketball, Women's: But at least I got to watch this. Lauren Jackson and the basketroos fall to Dawn Staley, Best Face of America, and the rest of them who actually make a commitment to USA basketball and come back for the Olympics and (I think) the major international tournaments. Maybe all the men's team lacks is continuity, because this is an all-star team like the men's team, but they get the job done.

Basketball, Men's: I shouldn't be too hard on the men because they did get the bronze medal job done, and so--since we have gotten bronzes in the past but we've always medalled--they avoid total embarassment.

As as aside: hey, there's a whole lot of Asian cast members on the new NBC show set on the....only.....Asian majority.....state. Yep! Once again, NBC has totally underwhelmed with their attempts to get me to keep watching their stations when the Olympics are done. We have a cop show set in Hawaii, a LAX drama with Heather Locklear (HA!) and Blair Underwood (double HA!) and a Friends spin-off. Meanwhile Bravo has a reality tv show about Miami plastic surgeons and their hideous girlfriends that they keep augmenting. It sounds train-wreck watchable--maybe--but if I have to listen to that girl complain about her boobs being too big one more time....well, I won't have to, 'cause Bravo's done Olympics-wise.

Anyway: We dispatched Lithuania in a workmanlike manner. Argentina dispatched Italy in a workmanlike manner. We should've played them for the gold and gotten trounced in that game instead of the semis, but--whatever. Everybody who took pleasure in rooting against this team can jump up my butt. Hate the NBA if you want to, but these are your people playing out here.

Track & Field: There was a lot of this. We won some relays. The Britons won one. Hicham El Guerrouj continued to be the big story as he took the 5,000 to add to his 1,500. That one Greek relay girl with the thin thin eyebrows--mighty fine. You know the one. And the Russian with the pierced belly button. And Monique Henderson--holy cats. Let's stop here.

Oh, and Team India made the final for the 1,600 relay. They didn't medal, but that's a great result for the world's secondest nation and first crappiest sporting nation. But they can take heart in this result. We're right on schedule for Bombay 2032.

Soccer, Men's: For such a dominant world soccer power, this was Argentina's first gold for soccer and their first gold of any kind in 50 years? It's all right, though, their anthem is like twenty minutes long--if they won too much the entire Olympics would be dragged out for like....twenty minutes. Is that right? Dragged out? I have no idea. U-S-A!

Wrestling: Cael Sanderson took the gold, beating a Korean in a good, competitive match.

Taekwondo: Steven Lopez took gold in a match I am waiting to see right now.

Handball: Women's bronze: Ukraine, continuing their great medal haul this year. Men's bronze: Russia. If you wake up/are awake at 3:45 this morning, you will see live gold medal handball on CNBC. I'll be there. I mean--I'll be watching.

Diving, Men's: The Chinese went gold-silver. SHOCKER SHOCKER SHOCKER shocker.

I think that's it for now. I love the Olympics--but they are wearing me down. Only one day left in what has been overall really good coverage from NBC. Putting on nonstop coverage for two straight weeks is a nice way of making the Olympics special. And there's been so much less jingoism this time. It's still American athletes we're covering, but that's what everybody does. And the Inspiring Stories were restricted to primetime and even then they didn't take away too much. In fact, I think the gymnasts took most of the personal stories away--I don't think there've been very many at all for the track people. Hey, way it should be.