The Best of London 2012

I believe that everyone has a talent for doing something. Is that vague enough for you?

Each person owns a gift or ability to demonstrate a skill to an extraordinary degree, though maybe not up to Olympic standards. The sad part about this theory is that most people never realize their talent, whether by choice or lack of exposure, so they will never be able to show it off. Still lost?

Could this have been me? We will never know.

For example, and to keep with the Olympic theme, I might be the greatest fencer the world would have ever seen, but I will never be able to show off my sword-fighting skills because where I come from, we stop playing with plastic swords from the dollar store after the age of five. We move on to tee-ball and pee-wee football. Thus my talents for wielding a sword in a fancy USA mask have gone untapped.

Not everyone is deprived of an opportunity to realize their talent. Instead many, by accident or grand design, find their destined activity, but do not possess the drive to continue on with it.

Another example, which also helps exhibit that these skills are not limited to the realm of sports. For the  better part of eight years, I played trumpet. During some parts of high school, I was playing more than five hours a day in several different groups. Not to "toot my own horn'' -- yeah, I just did that -- but I was a decent musician.

Based upon my theory, I had found a skill in which I was better than most at doing. However, I had different interests which I wanted to pursue as a professional, meaning my trumpet playing would have to take a back seat to them.

Had I stuck with playing the trumpet would I be in the Boston Pops? My grandparents might think so, but more than likely not. Those performers, like Olympians, are geniuses at their craft, a level only few attain. Had I stuck with playing trumpet could I have played "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" solo on a Saturday in the fall at UGA in the South corner? I like to think I could have.

All this is a roundabout way of getting to the people who found their niche and thrived to a level few only few will ever reach. In fact, the odds against a newborn child of becoming an Olympic athlete are 2,500 to 1, 5,000 to 1 to medal ,and 10,000 to 1 to become a gold medalist.

The undisputed greatest swimmer ever, Michael Phelps started off slow but finished his alleged final Olympic swim in gold medal fashion.

How many of you actually believe this? I give it two years.

The 27-year-old will become antsy, see all of his peers still fighting to get better, and join them after some time out of the pool. I am putting my money on seeing Phelps in Rio de Janeiro and not as a commentator.

Sure he is cocky, but Bolt has every reason to be. He is a legend.

Usain Bolt joined Michael Phelps in the legendary category at the 2012 Games. While Phelps finished as the Olympics' all-time winningest athlete 22 total medals, Bolt owned the track, winning every race he competed in with ease (100-meter, 200-meter and 4x400-meter).

Bolt left little doubt that he had earned legendary status with his winning margins alone, but he made sure in every post race interview and press conference to tell the world that he indeed is a "legend" because of his performances at the last two Olympic Games. Luckily for us all, Bolt admits he will be back for 2016.

The Americans also had tremendous results on the track, especially the women. However, one of the most compelling stories was in the Men's 4x400-meter relay preliminaries. Not only had Bryshon Nellum come back from not being able to walk after sustaining gunshot wounds two years ago, to running in the Olympics, but there was Manteo Mitchell.

Mitchell finishing his broken 'leg' of the 4x400M relay.

Mitchell broke a bone in his leg during his run and still finished the final 200 meters of his 'leg' -- of course the pun is intended. He told reporters that he knew he could not stop because it would not only be a disappointment to him, but to his entire team and country. USA's 4x400-meter relay team can fly home proudly with silver medals around their necks.

Then of course there are those American teams which proved dominance over the world, causing all of us as Americans to walk a with our chests out a little bit further: Gabby Douglas and the Fab Five, Missy Franklin, the Women's basketball and soccer teams, Serena Williams, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross, and David Boudia to name a few.

It is hard to believe that the London Olympic Games are over and we are four years away from another edition of the Summer Games. In the mean time, a 24-year-old male's greatest chance of becoming an Olympic athlete is in Equestrian at 1 in 62.

Anyone have a horse?

SEC Media Days, Cam Newton Street, Hold the Joe But More Kobe Please

We find ourselves in the middle of the beginning of the unofficial kickoff of college football. A little wordy, huh? It is easier to call them the Southeastern Conference Media Days, where coaches begin to make excuses for why their team will not live up to expectations (Steve Spurrier and Joker Phillips), respond with numerous wild card answers (John L. Smith and Les Miles), or simply fulfill an obligation to their conference (Nick Saban). 

No matter how your coach answers, the SEC Media Days are the biggest of their kind for the most competitive league in any sport so enjoy the make-believe camaraderie and hopefully we get a coach to drop gems like Missouri's T.J. Moe, "They say girls are prettier here, air's fresher, and the toilet paper is thicker."

Couldn't agree 'Moe', T.J.

This lonely student's sign reads: Protect the Paterno statue.

Some Students Ask for More Joe Please:
In more Joe Paterno news, students -- a population of two -- are camping out in order to protect the statue, which remains erect outside Beaver Stadium.

An anonymous flight from Ohio read "Take down the statue, or we'll take it down for you" (a hopeful me desires for this news to be true).

I wish I would have made note of this in my last post, but the chances of the statue being vandalized is somewhere around 100%. This is all the more reason to take the thing down from its current location and follow my instructions. Students from Penn State have tweeted that "these few students do not represent the entire campus population."

All the more reason for the "protesting" students to take advantage of their parent's investment -- because it does not last forever -- in room and board, and go back to their dorm and hold their own Paterno-crazed pity party.

Cam Newton Way Should be a toll road if plan comes to fruition:
He has NFL records. He was named the NFL Rookie of the Year. He has a statue at his alma mater (Can you even call it that when he only spent eight months there and did not receive a degree from there? Or Blynn Junior College? Or Florida? I digress.). But getting a road named after him? You must be out of your mind.

He is a 23-year-old admittedly "very immature" quarterback. And while -- speaking from experience-- this is to be expected for a man of his age, let's give him some time before we Georgians give him such an honor. For one, it would cost the residents of Scarborough Road in South Atlanta money, time and effort to change their address. Residents also report to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they are not ready to name a street after a person with a scandaled past.


A second hearing is still on the agenda where the proposition will likely be shot down. If the road does pass a second vote, can we all agree it should at least be a toll road?

Give me more Kobe
NBA Commissioner David Stern has come forward saying that at the next olympics it is possible we see the 23-and-under rule enforced. Within these parameters, USA basketball would still be able to use NBA professionals with onlythree players over the age of 23. This would help protect players in the NBA from participating in the Olympics and coming home injured a la Blake Griffin and Kyrie Irving.

If Stern gets his way, you won't see Kobe or LeBron in USA unis anymore.

Thirty-three-year-old Kobe Bryant thinks the same way I do about the Commissioner's proposal, "It's a stupid idea," Bryant said. I could not agree more with the Olympic gold medalist.

Whether or not to play should remain up to the players, who risk injury and fatigue in the next 82-game season. Some argue that NBAers in international play makes for a competitive disadvantage for the rest of the world.

Um... is that not the point of competition? To be the best? In addition to winning another gold this summer clips such as these will be recorded for all Americans to "Ohh" and "Ahh" over.

Kobe also told a Y! reporter earlier this week that it is "possible" he retires at age 35. Say it ain't so. Sure Bryant is made fun of for the number of shots he takes, but a 1 1/2 years ago he ranked as the ninth best player of all time (and his stock is only rising). Of course, he may be modeling his career even more so like his idol Michael Jordan by testing retirement and coming back as a player-manager down the road.