August 20, 2008 07:10 am We didn't care for it very much Monday night when that nasty storm knocked the NBC station off the local cable feed right in the middle of the Olympic Games. However frustrating it might have been, it did give us an opportunity to get our thoughts together about what we've witnessed over the last week or so. Our local connection to the Beijing Games is a bit tenuous, with former Hartwick College water polo standout Bronwen Knox contributing to the success of the Australian team, and SUNY Cobleskill grad Jen Kaido rowing for the United States' quadruple sculls squad. However, we joined with millions of Americans who followed the games in rooting on Michael Phelps, who can lay claim to being the greatest Olympian in history. Except, he appears so shy that he probably wouldn't claim anything. Winner of an unprecedented eight swimming gold medals in Beijing and 14 overall, Phelps is going to be a very rich man. So many endorsement opportunities will be coming his way that conservative estimates have him earning more than $40 million in the next 12 months. But Johnny Weissmuller, he is not. Weissmuller was shrewd. He lied about his birthplace and date of birth to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team twice in the 1920s and wound up with five Olympic golds and a bronze medal. That led to Weissmuller earning $2 million _ quite a chunk of change in those days _ appearing as Tarzan in 12 movies. Don't expect to see Michael Phelps saying "Me Tarzan, you Jane" in your local theater any time soon, although he will undoubtedly make the rounds of talk shows upon his return to America. You could make the case that there is something endearing about Phelps' "aw-shucks" personality when being interviewed after his races, but these aren't exactly "aw-shucks" times. He has said often that all he does is "eat, sleep and swim." Look for Phelps not on the silver screen, but on billboards, in commercials and in the London Olympics in 2012. With the swimming competition over, we note with sadness that unless there is a rules change, this will be the last Olympics in which softball and baseball will be included. Both sports belong in the games, period. More than a quarter of all the players in Major League Baseball this year were born outside of the United States. It is truly an international game. But, if anything, we feel sorrier about softball being eliminated. Yes, the U.S. team dominates, but the sport is played around the world, and eventually the rest of the countries will start to catch up, much like they did in basketball. A boy growing up playing baseball has opportunities from the Little League World Series to Major League Baseball. There is no big-time major league for a girl playing softball to aspire to. Now that she won't have the Olympics, either, it seems patently unfair.
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